Fear had turned the inside of Logan's mouth into ash. His knees felt like jelly and his stomach had turned to lead. "Aella, Aella!" He called over and over again, walking around the surrounding of the cabin several times.

If she were here, she would have answered you by now, his wolf spoke up. He let out a yell of anger and frustration and kicked a nearby tree so hard that its bark cracked.

"Fuck!" He yelled, his voice echoing through the nearby trees. He ran through the woods, trying to sniff out her scent, but she seemed to have disappeared into thin air. No scent, no footsteps, no trace, nothing. He moved back to the cabin and went inside, collapsing into the chair.

Several conflicted thoughts ran through his head at the same time. Was she kidnapped? Was she fine? Did she seize the opportunity to run away from him?

He shook his head at that last thought. Aella would not run away from him, no. Their bond was too strong now. She could not do it even if she wanted to. He started to feel the emotional strain of her absence and slipped to the ground, wrapping himself in the quilt and thinking of what to do.

He closed his eyes and his mind flashed back to the previous night when she had talked about trust and love. She had asked him if he would still trust and love her irrespective of whatever she did. Was this what she had meant? Had she been planning to somehow make a run for it?

He would have loved her irrespective of anything that happened, he knew this deep down in his heart. What could he do anyway? He had no choice; the Goddess had bent his ironclad resolve not to fall in love with anybody. After so many internal struggles and conflicts, he had finally accepted that he could not do without his mate. And now when he had accepted, the Goddess was still punishing him for it by somehow causing the both of them to separate. It was like he could not win either way.

It felt like he had been cursed to never feel happy for a long period of time. Every time he felt like things were falling into place, the universe would find a way to crush that happy feeling. It had happened over and over again, especially with Aella. When he had seen her dance with another wolf on Louve and Casper's wedding, it had awakened some feelings inside of him: feelings that he could not explain even till today. It had been so strong, strong enough to drag her away from the dance floor because seeing her with another man had made him feel a murderous rage.

He was missing her, badly too. The sheets around him still smelled of her cinnamon scent, of their mind-blowing sex, of their late-night conversation. He wrapped the quilt even tighter around his body like a cocoon. It was like having a part of her with him. He missed her so much.

He opened his eyes again and took a good look at the cabin again. Like a beacon of light in a dark tunnel, he began to see a few things that stood out around the room. A few things that were wrong. He frowned and sat up, still looking around.

A few coals that were inside the fireplace had been upset. They stood outside the fireplace now, glowing like the eyes of a deadly animal. There were some ashes to go too. It looked as though something had mistakenly rolled into the fireplace and scattered a few coals and ashes.

Something. Or someone.

He reached forward and picked up a piece of coal, rolling it around his fingers and frowning. The coal was still hot and would have burned through his palm but the burn healed as fast as it came. He was a werewolf; he healed fast.

He threw the coal aside and flung the quilt to the side. He stood up and looked around more. Some antique ceramic dancing figures that had been mounted on the shelf had been upset too. They lay on the floor, their broken pieces lying about.

Logan stepped over them and continued his searching of the room. He saw a few footprints on the slightly dusty floor that led to the back of the cabin. He bent low, studying them. They couldn't be Aella's. Last night she had been barefoot; she didn't like wearing shoes anyway. And the footprints were heavier, he saw. Heavily serrated too. They reminded Logan of wide combat boots.

He followed the boot steps outside through the back door, hoping to get a trail. However, the footprints stopped at the entrance of the door. There were no further prints leading anywhere.

Another bout of fear gripped Logan's heart as he saw this. He knew that whatever had happened to his mate was not ordinary. He tried again to reach her through the mind link but again, silence answered him.

He sat on a nearby tree stump and gripped his head, wincing as a piercing headache came over him. Mate, mate! His wolf screamed while running around in frantic circles in his head. He could not even gather the strength to shut his wolf up. He felt like his whole life was coming apart.

His head began to replay memories of himself and Aella together. He remembered when they had met for the first time, on a patrol by the border. He remembered how fast he had imprinted on her. He remembered their fights, each and every one of them. How there had been a big wall of distrust and hatred between them at first. He knew that but for their shared mating bond, they would have barely been able to tolerate each other. He knew now that the Goddess had joined them together as mates for a reason. They were two very stubborn and proud people in their own rights, and the Goddess needed them to break each other down.

It had worked though, he thought. Now their bond had grown so much that he could not do without her. He felt like a plant that would wither without sunshine. Aella was his sunshine. There was a sort of finality to her disappearance that he could not explain. It was as though he would never see her again.

Why hadn't he cherished their moments more, he thought. He should have made every moment with her count, both the small ones and the big ones. He had been a jerk in several ways to her. Now he realized that he never really appreciated what he had with her until now when it was lost.

He'd thought that even if he lost everything including the position of Alpha, he would never lose Aella. But now he seemed in threat of losing the two of them. He was powerless to do anything over Aella's disappearance, but at least he could try to save his position as alpha. That much he could do, and maybe it would save him from running mad with worry for Aella. And with that last thought, he turned and ran into the forest towards the direction of the pack house.