Page 43 of Bloodstained Chrome

Justice is sitting on the ground, resting against his bike, with his elbows on his knees, rubbing the sleep from his face. Tucker is standing nearby, talking quietly with Abel, Dane, and Zavier.

Corbin is standing off to the side with Aziz and Orpheus. None of them look even remotely pleased.

They look ready for war.

"There he is." Justice stood the second he saw me move. I let out a growl, only for him to hold his hands up. "Easy, Primal."

Easy? There wasn’t a damn thing easy about any of this.

"Sibley." The word tore out of me before I even realized I was speaking, still half-shifted.

Justice’s expression darkened immediately. "We know."

"No." I force myself to my feet, every muscle screaming at me to stay down. "Where is she?"

No one answers.

I look from face to face, searching for someone who could tell me where she is. Corbin steps forward, looking far too calm for my liking.

"We don’t know," he answers, shaking his head.

The words hit me harder than any punch ever could.

"What do you mean, you don’t know?" My voice rises with each word. "She was here. We were in my room before . . ."

"We’ve searched every inch of the property." Corbin keeps his tone calm, though I can hear the frustration beneath it. "There isn’t a scent leading away from the clubhouse. Whoever did this covered their tracks."

"No."

My head shakes by itself.

That isn’t right. It can’t be.

Everyone around me keeps talking. Tucker and Abel are explaining something about tire tracks, while Justice asks whether the neighboring roads have been checked. Tucker is already organizing groups to search the surrounding woods.

Their voices gradually blend together until they became nothing but meaningless noise.

I can’t hear them anymore. I can only feel her.

The sensation is so faint I almost miss it. It isn’t physical. It isn’t even a scent or a sound.

It is pulling.

I frown and press my hand to the center of my chest.

There. Again.

The strange tug tightens ever so slightly before easing again, as if someone is gently pulling on an invisible rope wrapped around my heart.

My lion lifted his head within me.

Find her.

My breathing seizes.

The bond.

I’ve seen it for myself, time and again, with my brothers and their mates.