Amber

Devon hung up the phone and raked his hand through his hair, and then he met my eyes. There was worry in those grey depths tinted with flashes of his wolf.

"What is it?" I asked, my voice little better than a whisper. Had something happened to his pack? My heart beat while I waited for his slow response.

"Megan's disappeared."

"Megan?" I swallowed. She was not high on my list of favourite people, although I had liked her well enough before I realized she'd been with my mate. Still, I didn't want anything bad to happen to her. "What happened?"

He exhaled. "Apparently, she's been ranging our territory, and even going beyond it alone ever since the whole situation with the vampire... Damn it, this is all my fault."

"We don't know what would have happened if he'd met her in a different situation," I said, trying not to think about the image of him coming out with her.

"It wouldn't have been worse than what happened."

I didn't really have a good argument against that.

"It's worse than just her disappearance. At first everyone assumed she was still wandering like she had been doing, letting her wolf run free. Once they realized she was gone, no one could contact her, and my scouts followed her trail and they found traces of hunter activity. Oliver's fairly sure that she was taken by them—just like our sister."

His arms went around me and he buried his face by his mark. "I know it's a messed up situation, Amber. I really do. But she's still one of my pack, and my friend. I know—"

"You have to go and try to save her, obviously."

He looked at me with gratitude in his eyes. "Amber..."

"I trust you not to do anything with her now that we're together."

"I don't deserve you, beautiful."

"Well, something apparently thought you did. I'll just finish up here and follow you. If that's okay?"

He looked at me, his brows furrowed. "You could come with me."

"I just really want to do this, Devon. It's like closing the door on the past. Please? And I need to tell Dan what happened. It can't be over the phone."

He frowned, his eyes flickering. He closed them for a long moment and reopened them back on solid grey. "Then I'll go back first, after Sarah gets home so she can guard you. You two can follow as soon as possible."

"Yes, that will work."

He leaned in towards me again. "The last thing I want to do is leave you here."

"I don't want to see you go either..." Fear clutched my chest. "Don't let them hurt you, Devon."

"I'll be careful. I have someone to come back to now." We kissed again, our mouths melding together in perfect harmony.

He broke off our kiss, texted Sarah, and packed his bags, and then we waited together for Sarah to get home, his arms wrapped around me.

Realistically nothing was going to happen, but I understood his need and I was in no hurry to see him go so I didn't argue.

Sarah burst in through the door, her eyes holding the same worry as Devon's.

He pulled me close and kissed me hungrily. "Stay safe, I'll see you soon."

"You too," I said, feeling a deep sadness grab hold of me. I didn't want to be away from him. I told myself it wouldn't be long. We'd finish packing, and I'd see him again in a couple of days. There was nothing I could do to help by dropping everything and running, was there?

Sarah and I followed him outside. He got in his car. "I'm going to miss you more than I can say, Amber."

"I'm going to miss you too, Devon." Had he felt this bad when I had walked away from him the first time? Guilt that I ever left him warred with my loneliness.

I watched him drive away from the sidewalk.

Sarah turned and went back into the house. "I know you're going to miss him, but the sooner we get done, the sooner we can potentially leave."

I should have gone with him, but now there was nothing left to do but hurry and follow.

—————

Packing went from an orderly task to a much more haphazard one, since if things went well we'd be leaving about a week earlier than we had planned. While I worked, my mind drifted to Devon and I deeply regretted not returning with him. We spoke on the phone, but the moment we hung up I only missed him more.

Sarah had invited Dan over to help us, as a method to get him somewhere we could talk privately in person.

I waited for him to arrive with some nervousness. I tried to figure out how I would have felt if something had happened to Devon when I had first met him, but it was clouded by how much the idea of him being harmed hurt me now.

Sarah buzzed Dan in. He walked in without knocking, and glanced at our stacks of boxes. "Looks like you're doing pretty well with the packing.

She shrugged. "Well, we can always use another set of hands."

"Your alpha there not enough manpower?" he asked, joking.

I didn't want to drag it out. "He had to head back to the pack early. And we've got some bad news and thought we should tell you in person."

He looked mildly curious, but not concerned. "Oh? What is it?"

I spit it out. "Megan's gone missing."

He didn't say anything. He looked at me blankly for a long moment, before he finally asked, "What happened?"

Sarah took over the explanation. "According to Oliver, she'd been reclusive and spent a lot of her time running around in her wolf form, ever since, well, you know. Apparently she strayed from pack boundaries, and the scouts think the hunters took her."

We waited for his reaction, but his face remained impassive and he stayed silent and still for a long moment. "I need to go," he said, and he turned and walked straight back out of the apartment without another word or a backwards glance. Sarah and I looked at each other, not sure what to say.

—————

Sarah and I began packing everything down to the moving truck the next day, since we'd managed to get one earlier than planned. I helped Sarah with the furniture, which was easier than I expected, probably because Sarah's wolf strength took the bulk of the weight, or maybe I had gained power from my growing desperation to get back to Devon.

I had been feeling more energetic since he had marked me, so maybe I'd gained some benefit from his werewolf strength.

I grabbed another box, and turned with it, only to almost slam into a solid body. I yelped, and realized that Dan had returned. "I'm coming with you," he announced.

"Okay," I agreed.

He took over moving furniture with Sarah, and I kept grabbing boxes while they did so, and soon we were finished.

"How did you two accumulate so much stuff?" Dan asked as we got into the cab of the truck. Naturally, the weak little human got stuck in the middle seat between the werewolf behind the wheel and the vampire in the passenger seat.

Sarah shrugged. "I like shopping."

"And she kept sneaking stuff into my closet when I wasn't looking."

She rolled her eyes. "Might as well not let clothing go to waste."

"We're different sizes. Those weren't hand me downs."

She smiled bashfully as she put the truck into gear. "I guess I was discovered. Sorry, I just kept finding stuff that would look too good on you to pass up."

Dan was quiet as we drove.

"How are you holding up?" I asked.

"I'm fine."

He didn't seem fine, but I wasn't going to press him further.

As we drove, my eyes grew heavy, and I ended up leaning on Dan and napping, only to be woken up when they stopped to gas up and change drivers. I stretched and went in and grabbed a couple of snacks along with the others, and then we were off again.

I was relieved when we reached the pack territory. The renewed sense of security and my desire to find Devon immediately almost overwhelmed me the moment we crossed the border.