Chapter 15

Dakota

I am so mad right now. I’m mad at the world, I’m mad at myself, and most of all, I’m mad at Eric for leaving me like this. What is it with this vampire and leaving announced?! I stomped inside Storm’s study like Wreck-it Ralph who’s getting ready to demolish things. “What the fuck, D!” Storm exclaimed in surprise. “Amara. I need to talk to her. Where?” His eyebrows furrowed deeply and not in a way where he’s wondering why I’m acting this way, but in a way that says I am not in the mood to handle any disrespect or silly tantrums. Okay, well that had me backing off a bit. My brother, the alpha, rarely gets pissed, but when he does it’s pretty terrifying and the look he just gave is an actual warning. I sighed deeply my shoulders falling forward in defeat.

“I just need to talk to Amara, can you pretty please tell me where she is,” I pleaded. He stared at me for a few beats, possibly assessing if he’s going to turn me away to teach me a lesson or if he should take pity on me. Please, let it be the latter. “She’s with Hunter training the young ones at the barn,” he curtly answered before turning his gaze back to the scattered papers on his desk. Yes! “Thanks.” I made my way towards the barn located behind the packhouse and sure enough, Amara was busy having a sparring match with Hunter. Both were concentrated as they circle one another in their wolf forms. As much as I want to pull Amara away from here to ask about her brother, I don’t think Hunter, especially Storm would appreciate that. So, I sat on one of the stools near the door and waited.

“Hey,” Amara greeted, wiping her forehead with the towel hanging on her shoulder. “I need to talk to you about your brother.” She stopped the moment I told her this and looked at me with all seriousness on her face. “What’s the matter?” she asked and I stood up signaling for her to follow me as the conversation we are about to have is not something that I want everyone to hear, not even Hunter.

“Did Eric talk to you last night?” I asked as soon as we were far from everyone. “The last time we talked was when we came to visit. Why? Is there something wrong?” I took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of my nose as I tried to contain my anger. “What’s wrong is that he left sometime last night and left this damn note as his means of goodbye.” Amara took the letter from me and read it. “Holy shit! Oh my god. This is.” Amara rambled as she rubbed her forehead with her hand. “I know! It’s super clear. He’s telling me that he’s not coming back,” I finished what Amara was going to say. I started pacing back and forth with my arms crossed over my chest. None of us know where he went, so looking for him would be like a needle in a haystack. We wouldn’t know where to begin.

“Has he said anything to you? Anything that we can use as a possible clue?” Amara shook her head and went very still looking over the horizon. “What’s happening?” I asked and she shushed me before closing her eyes this time. “What are you doing?” I asked in exasperation and she shushed me more urgently this time. “Quit it, I’m thinking.” Well so am I, I thought to myself, but I let her think what she’s trying to think about and buried myself in my own thoughts. “We have to talk to Storm now.” I almost tripped and fell when she suddenly pulled me towards the direction of the packhouse in long strides. Okay... I don’t know what the heck is going on, but I’ll take it since it looks like we’re getting somewhere. I think.

We strode inside the study and came face to face with an annoyed-looking Storm, but the look was quickly replaced with warmth as soon as his eyes landed on his mate. “What’s going on, baby?” Storm asked Amara as he stood up to gather her in his arms. Geez these two. "My crazy ass vampire brother has gone missing and left us a sort of suicide-ish note," she started and Storm looked at her in disbelief. "What do you mean?" I huffed and went closer to my brother holding up the letter Eric wrote. "Here." He took it and when he was done he simply placed it on top of his desk. "You do realize that he's trying to protect you, right?" Storm asked in a hushed tone and I already know where this is heading. "We know that, but it doesn't mean that he should go off on his own," I answered while Amara nodded in agreement.

"And what is it exactly that you want to do?" He asked crossing his arms over his chest. His gaze shifted from me to Amara a couple of times as he waited for any of us to answer. " I-I don't know okay! All I know is, I can't let him die out there on his own. I can't..." I stopped myself from saying anything further and Amara gasped. "What?" Storm asked. She looked at him once before coming towards me to lock me into a comforting hug "You guys... You... He allowed you to mark him didn't he?" I didn't need to say anything to confirm anything. I'm pretty sure my silence answered the question.

"Baby, can you hear me out?" Amara asked as she let go of me, breaking the quietness that filled the room. "I- Why do I have the feeling that I'm not going to like this?" Amara only shrugged as she pushed on. "Of course, you won't. Now, I know Eric is anything but weak. He's a primus and that speaks volumes about his ability and strength as a vampire, but he's about to walk into a war that he may never come out of alive. He protected me with his life. He even chose me over his father. You witnessed that. And so I want- no, I need to protect him too." Storm shook his head vigorously. "He left without saying anything to any of us because he knows the extent of danger he's about to face. He clearly doesn't want to put you guys in that situation or to get involved," Storm said looking directly into Amara's eyes. He hasn't said no, but he hasn't said yes either. He's thinking about this, so I need to say something to make him fall for it hook, line, and sinker. "What would you do if it was Amara who did this?"