"Thelonious," Gia growled, pacing the area of the woods where he had apparently disappeared into thin air.
Her cousin had been missing since the previous night during the full moon, and she was beginning to worry. First she was angry, but now she was worried.
She didn't want to return to the pack without him, because then everyone else would worry, and there was enough unrest lately without adding a missing Theo into the mix. Her uncle, the pack's Alpha, would not react well to his eldest son missing, and she didn't want to get Theo in trouble unless it was absolutely necessary—not that he didn't deserve it.
Since when was it okay for the Alpha and Luna's son to just run off and disappear? What was he thinking? He had responsibilities to the pack. There were expectations. People relied on him. How selfish could he be?
Luna August seemed to take Theo's occasional wild streak better than his father. She would chuckle and roll her eyes or grumble to herself as if she were angry, but she could never disguise the crooked smile that gave away her true feelings.
Alpha Graeme would tease her, blaming her for their son's antics. She was too lenient on him, he would say. She encouraged his wandering spirit by never reprimanding him.
That was back when it made more sense to punish the young heir of the Hallowell pack, but now that Thelonious was twenty-one, it seemed like a lost cause. Obviously he was no longer a pup. He could make his own decisions about where to go, what to do, and with whom to do it as long as he returned to the home that relied on him and continued to fulfill his responsibilities. And if he came back with another tattoo from the human world, what were his parents going to do? Give him a time out?
Gia had heard the stern voice of her uncle Graeme plenty of times, though, and when his Alpha commands and his dominant aura were deployed, that was enough to make her tremble in fear and never stray from his expectations if she could help it. They all had a role to play in the lycan pack. They all had a place, and Gia wore hers with honor. Her pack and her family were sacred, and her role as a healer like her mother was something she took great pride in.
Her twin brother David was more rebellious than she was, especially since he had their cousin Theo setting an example. They were all the same age, but those two were particularly close—closer than she and Theo were at least. Sometimes she wondered if David and Theo weren't the real twins, because they seemed to be together more than she and her brother ever were.
It didn't bother her, though. Everyone in the pack was like family, but her cousins were truly like siblings. And Graeme and August felt like her second set of parents—even though she was definitely more fearful of Uncle Graeme's temper than his own children were.
"No luck?" David asked, jogging to her side.
"Nothing," she groaned. "Where the hell could he have gone? It's like he just disappeared into thin air!"
"Shit," David said, running a hand through his sweaty dark hair. "I don't understand. He didn't even act like it was planned. We were all at the bonfire, and then when the chanting started…"
"He just sprinted away," Gia finished for him, sighing heavily and gazing out into the distance as she replayed the memory over in her mind.
It was a full moon, which meant they were all gathered for the bonfire last night. Those pairs who were mated took part in the fertility ritual once the chanting started, but Theo wasn't mated. None of them were yet. So usually they all left together at that point and continued their own ritual of drinking moon wine until they passed out under the stars on the deck of the Hallowell tree house.
Instead, Theo sprinted off into the night.
"Lord Theo," David growled. He was getting irritated. He only ever called Theo that when he was annoyed with the entitlement that their cousin sometimes seemed to have—like he was untouchable. Like he could do whatever he wanted without having to answer to anyone.
Sure, Theo was the next Alpha. Everyone knew that. But Alpha was a role that should require humility rather than a massive ego.
And it was pretty shitty of their cousin to just leave them like that last night without so much as a word about where he was going. They had been searching for him all night! And now they would be responsible for delivering the news of his absence.
What were they supposed to tell Uncle Graeme? That his son's scent disappeared under a tree?
"Guys!" Theo yelled, suddenly appearing from under the very tree where his scent had led to a dead end.
Gia yelped in surprise and David jumped about a foot into the air like a predator had just pounced into their path—except there were no natural predators of lycans.
"Goddess!" Gia exclaimed, holding a hand over her rapidly beating heart. "What is wrong with you?"
"Where were you?" David's mouth hung open as he glanced back at the tree. "Were you… with the fae? Is that a portal?"
Theo's excited face froze, trying to decide what the answers were to each of those questions. "It's complicated," he decided on the vague answer with mirth in his eyes.
"It's… complicated? I was joking," David's eyebrows pinched together, and then his gaze darted back to the tree once again.
"Theo…" Gia walked forward cautiously. "Where were you? We couldn't track you. You just disappeared."
"I found her," he replied, a wide smile curving on his face.
"You found her?" Gia frowned. "Who?
But David seemed to understand, and his smile grew to match his cousin's.
Theo raked a hand down his face as if he couldn't believe it himself. "I found my mate."
[This chapter is dedicated to "My Lycan Mate of Suicide Forest" readers who have been supporting me from the beginning. We wouldn't be at this point in the story without you lovely souls. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.]