The security room felt like a coffin, cramped, airless, the hum of monitors and the faint buzz of fluorescent lights drilling into my skull. I leaned over the desk, my golden eyes locked on the grainy CCTV feed as Karen fast-forwarded through the timestamps, her fingers trembling slightly under the weight of my alpha aura, which I couldn't fully rein in.
The bond with Naomi throbbed in my chest like a raw wound, her presence faint and fading, pulling eastward into the unknown. Every second stretched into agony; my mate, my love, carrying our pup, vanished. Nervous energy coursed through me like lightning, my hands clenching into fists, nails digging into palms. Lucy sniffled in the corner, Jessy hovering protectively beside her, while Vance's voice crackled over the radio from outside
