It didn’t take long for Indigo to reach the point she had been at. She turned her head, presenting her neck to her mate, and he snarled in response. He put his mouth on her neck and licked her shoulder before opening his mouth and sinking his teeth into her skin. Indigo shouted her pleasure and came with so much force that she almost forgot to breathe.

  Nico continued pounding into her through her release and he let go of her shoulder to howl out his own. Exhausted and content Indigo slowly lowered her shaky arms to the bed of the truck and lay down. Nico followed her and lay on top of her so she could still breathe but also so that they were still connected.

  After a few minutes of catching their breath, Nico rolled to the side, slipping from her very well-used pussy. He pulled her body to his and wrapped himself around her, surrounding her with body heat. She was fulfilled in a way that she never had been in her entire life. She closed her eyes and drifted into a contented sleep.

  Indi woke in a sweat and couldn’t move her body. She started to panic until she heard his soft voice.

  “Indi, honey, it’s me, Nico.” Indi felt his warm body pressing against her and smelled his unique scent. She breathed deep, calming herself. When she opened her eyes she noticed that the sky was now completely dark and if the trees weren’t in her way she was sure she would see a sky full of stars.

  Indi turned her gaze into the concerned eyes of her mate and realized it was time to confess her dreams. They were connected now. Even though she hadn’t bound them through her psyche like any peacock mate would she could still feel part of him inside her.

  “Hey. I know you have something you need to tell me and we can handle whatever it is together.” His voice was gentle and understanding and above all else sincere. Indi felt that she could trust him with anything and everything and that he would stand by her.

  Just as Indigo was about to explain to her mate a loud, anger-filled roar broke through the woods. They both instantly recognized Caleb’s lion and sat up and hurriedly got dressed. When they were clothed they jumped into the truck and Nico drove straight to the clan house.

  They jumped out and met on the porch stairs. Nico grasped Indigo’s hand and they stepped through the door. There was snarling coming from the family room so they made their way toward it.

  Caleb was pacing the floors and Owen was watching his alpha, seemingly waiting for a command. Eira was on a kitchen stool facing her angry mate.

  “Caleb, this isn’t going to help her. You need to calm and decide who to send.” Eira’s voice was kind but underlined in steel. Caleb turned and snarled at his mate. Eira slipped from her stool and waddled over to her mate. She wasn’t tall enough to meet him eye to eye but she pushed him with her hands on his chest and snarled right back.

  “Don’t you snarl at me, you overgrown house cat!” Eira never yelled, but she did this time. Usually she had a deathly soft voice when she was angry and everyone would scatter. Eira turned and started waddling toward the stairs while muttering threats of bodily harm to her mate.

  Many clan members were present but no one made a move to go after the alpha mate. They all knew that while she loved and cared for every one of her people, when she was mad you left her alone or you got hurt. While she was pregnant that was truer than ever.

  “Dammit, stop.” Caleb growled and Eira turned to face her mate with a death glare in her eyes at his order.

  “What?” She had that deathly quiet thing this time and everyone held their breath. Caleb walked over to his mate and looked down at her glaring face. He tried to place his hand on her rounded belly where his children lay and she swatted his hand away before he could touch her. He huffed at her and she bared her teeth at him. Indi could see the changes in her best friend more every day. Eira had picked up many mannerisms from the shifters around her.

  Caleb bent his forehead down to his mate’s and closed his eyes. Eira allowed it and Caleb sighed releasing some of his tension.

  “Love.” Caleb said the word quietly but with shifter hearing everyone had heard. “You are everything to me and I’m sorry I snarled at you.” Again the words were whispered but everyone had heard and they waited with bated breath to see what their alpha female would do.

  “Good. Don’t do it again.” Eira’s words were for Caleb and she stepped into his body so that her touch would sooth the animal inside him. He placed his hand where their children grew in her belly and took a deep breath. Then he turned to his people.

  “Dahlia has been taken. She disappeared from campus yesterday and no one has seen her.” The anger at the announcement could be felt in the room. Dahlia was one of Caleb’s little sisters. Dahlia and Celeste were twins and twenty-two. They were finishing up their final year at college and now one of them was missing. Caleb also had two brothers that were born at the same time as he was, Gabriel and Elijah. When a shifter went missing it was always a big deal but with Dahlia being the sister and daughter of two very powerful alphas it was lockdown mode.

  “I want any and every family member who is out of town for school or just traveling back here now. No one leaves the town and everyone is to return. No exceptions. The wards that have been put around this town to shield us are perfectly functioning and will continue to keep everyone safe.” Caleb explained this and everyone started pulling out phones and leaving to retrieve loved ones.

  Nico, Indigo, and Owen stayed and approached the alpha.

  “I’ll go, Caleb,” Owen said, standing tall and foreboding.

  “Thank you, Owen, I appreciate it.”

  “I’ll go with him,” Nico spoke up and looked over at Indigo, squeezing her hand.

  “I’m going too,” her soft voice replied, and all the men immediately started protesting.

  “No, you aren’t.”

  “You can’t.”

  “It’s dangerous.”

  “Enough.” Eira’s voice stopped them all.

  “You are not going. It’s most likely hunters who took her and I don’t want you involved.” Nico’s attitude made her angry but she also understood that he didn’t want his mate in harm’s way. That was why she was going, so that she could help keep Nico safe. Indigo felt badly for the girl who had been taken, but at the end of the day Nico was at the core of her thoughts.

  Hunters were the stories that shifter parents told their kids about. They were a small group of humans that knew shifters existed. They believed that shifters were evil because they could change into an animal. They had made it their mission to get rid of any and all shifters. But they were also just as happy to humiliate and use shifters while watching them deteriorate, go crazy, and eventually die from the treatment they are given.

  “All the more reason for me to go. I know hunters and I can help.” Indi was firm on this point.

  “No. I don’t want to risk the hunters getting their hands on another one of us. Especially a woman,” Caleb informed her with all of his alpha power until Eira pushed her way into the little circle the group had formed.

  “Ha. Indigo can do things you can’t even imagine. I want her to go. She can help watch your back. You have to take every advantage you can get going up against hunters.” Eira turned to her mate and stopped his protest. “You have to go, Caleb. If it was Indi there is no way anyone could stop me. I don’t know your sister but she is a part of you and that means a part of me. If you stay here you will be worse than if you go. So go get her and bring her back to safety.” Eira was so earnest in her declaration that Indi came up next to her and hugged her.

  “How can I leave you?” Caleb whispered as he drew her into his arms. The others faded back to let the alpha pair have their conversation.

  “Easily. I am telling you to go. These babies and I will wait until you are back. If I wasn’t so huge I would be going with you. I know I can’t help like this but you need to go.”

  Caleb kissed Eira sweetly and turned to them. “Let’s get ready. We leave in thirty minutes.”

  “With Indi.” Eira shook her head at Nico’s protest. “That is my condition. Indi goes or no one goes.” At her statement, everyone stopped talking. “Indi.”

  “Yes?” Indi directed at her friend.

  “Bring them home, all of them. I know you can and will keep them safe.” Eira was so convinced at Indi’s ability that she was sending her into danger. Indigo simply nodded her head and walked out the front door with her mate, ready for anything that came at her.

  Chapter 5

  Three hours later they were all pulling into the college town where Dahlia had been attending school and where she had last been seen. It was around 7:00 a.m. and businesses were starting to open along the main street. They had decided to take two cars so Indigo and Nico had driven in his truck and Caleb and Owen were in Owen’s. Indi kept her eyes moving around the entire area for anything. She didn’t feel the presence of an immediate threat but she wanted to remember everything as best as she could. Knowing her environment and the local geography had saved her and Eira on more than one occasion and old habits were hard to break.

  Nico had hardly spoken to her the entire drive and she knew he was upset that she was there. She wasn’t sure how to reassure him so she had stayed silent. Now she was thinking that they needed to communicate before they were thrown into a very deadly situation.

  “Nico?” She turned to look at him and his jaw clenched.

  “Yes?” he answered with more growl than his usual timbre, and she understood his wolf was riding him.

  “We need to talk. I know you aren’t happy that I’m here but I can promise you that I will be useful and not get in the way.” As she finished they parked on the school campus next to Owen and Caleb. He turned bright golden eyes on her and scowled. Indi didn’t know what to do next so she waited. He released a deep breath.

  “Is that why you think I’m mad? Because you might get in the way?” he demanded, and the anger seeping into his eyes confused her. Indi licked her lips in an attempt to avoid speaking for a moment to her mate.

  “Well, I don’t know of any other reason that you might object to.” At her response he growled at her and reached over, grabbing her shoulders. He pulled her to him and she didn’t fight. No matter how angry he might be, she knew that Nico would never hurt her.

  “I am pissed as hell because you are out in the open. This is a very dangerous mission and I do not want you in any danger!” He snarled and she stiffened. He eased his hold but continued his intense stare. “You are my mate, Indi. I would kill for you and I would die for you. But I never want to worry about you in the hands of hunters. I know about your past and everything in me is screaming to take you back home and lock you up so that you will be safe. I’m fighting my wolf and my instincts to allow you to be here.” When he was done explaining Indigo melted against him. He looked down at her in confusion, obviously expecting her to be pissed off at him.

  “I understand, Nic. I don’t like the thought of you in danger either. We’re mates and though you are stronger we both have abilities to contribute to finding Dahlia. After this is all over I expect you to take me home and make love to me for days.” At her last statement his eyes darkened and she felt the hardness of his cock grow underneath her. He growled at her and seized her lips with a demanding kiss. Indi returned the kiss with as much passion as he had given her.

  Their kissing became more heated and Indi started rubbing her ass against Nico’s jeans where his cock was threatening to punch through. They suddenly froze at the knock on the driver-side window. Nico growled and turned to the person who interrupted them.

  “You can be as pissed as you want but the sooner we find Dahlia, the sooner we go home and no one has to watch the two of you having sex in a car.” Indi blushed at Owen’s words thinking of the night before when they had sex in the back of the truck. They both took deep breaths and Indi moved off of his lap. She could smell the arousal throughout the truck and was grateful when Nico opened the door. She followed behind him and they immediately set off toward the dorms.

  Nico was exhausted. Between claiming his mate, the four-hour drive, not sleeping in over twenty-four hours, plus not sleeping well without claiming his mate, it was all taking a toll. But he would go through as much sleeplessness as need be to get Dahlia back. He remembered meeting all of Caleb’s family years ago when he and Caleb had first met. Dahlia and Celeste had been about ten years old and the most annoying things he had ever encountered. Celeste had followed Owen anywhere he went, driving him crazy. Dahlia hadn’t been as bothersome but she had been fascinated with boys in general. Not to the extent that they worried about her having lots of boyfriends but more like Lena, in the sense that she wondered what made them do the things they did. She had always been curious and somewhat oblivious to her surroundings. Surprising for a shifter with all of the extra senses, but it had just been her.

  Nico turned to look at his mate eating next to him. They had all looked for any clue they could and nothing. They weren’t even sure the last place she had been seen. Her dorm room had no psychic levels of trauma that Indi could sense and there was no lingering scent of fear or anything suspicious. They were taking a break to eat but none of them were giving up until they found something that would help them in their search.

  Celeste had already been taken back home to her parents, under much protest. Caleb’s father Lawrence was on his way to meet them with members of his pride to help hunt for his daughter.

  “What next?” Owen asked Caleb, clearly looking for the alpha to give him and order so that he could go about what needed to be done. Owen was strong enough to be an alpha but for his entire life he had been a right-hand man. Nico had grown up with Owen and they had always had each other’s backs but Owen wanted orders. He seemed to thrive on being able to provide a service to people. Nico was sure it was because of Owen’s parents and losing them so young but he wasn’t about to get into that with the man that was like a brother to him.

  “I’m not sure yet. We could talk to some more people but it seems that Dahlia has continued to stay away from groups and was content to be by herself.” The frustration was evident in Caleb’s voice and Nico wanted to help his alpha but he wasn’t sure how.

  “Don’t.” At Indi’s whispered word they all turned to look at her. She was staring right at Caleb. “Don’t blame yourself. She is a twenty-two-year-old college student and you two were just at a time in your lives when you weren’t close. This isn’t your fault, Caleb. Turn that loathing energy from inside you and use it to find her. She doesn’t blame you and you shouldn’t blame yourself.” The men all held their breaths not exactly sure what to say.

  “Umm, Indigo, how do you know that?” Caleb asked quietly, intent on the answer. Nico watched his mate as she shrugged her shoulders. She was putting jam on her toast while talking, like there was nothing unusual about what she had just said. She is so damn adorable.

  “I just do. It happens that way sometimes.” Indi didn’t elaborate but Nico could tell that the men wanted to ask more questions.

  “So she’s still alive?” Caleb asked clearing his throat at the end, trying to control his emotions. Indi looked up from what she was doing at his question. She was waiting for him to elaborate and he did. “You said she doesn’t blame me, not she didn’t blame me. Is that because she’s still alive?”

  “Yes. She’s alive, Caleb. I don’t know much of anything else, but she is alive.” Caleb just nodded at her words and Nico reached over and squeezed his mate’s thigh. She turned to look at him and he gently smiled at her. He was proud of her but this wasn’t the best time to start gushing over his mate so the smile would have to do.

  After they were done eating they all stepped outside to continue their search. Before Caleb could utter a word about their new destination Indigo turned to their left and started walking.

  “Indi?” Nico called out to his mate but her steps didn’t falter. Nico followed after her without thinking about his alpha’s response. She was his mate and he would always protect her no matter the opinion of his alpha. Nico heard Caleb and Owen following behind him but no one said a word. They just continued to follow Indigo.

  Shifters were always known for their strength and resilience so after walking for the better part of an hour they weren’t tired but Caleb was getting fidgety. Nico figured he was questioning whether he should be following Indigo with no guarantee that it was related to Dahlia at all.

  Indigo turned and walked into the woods that they had been skirting for the last ten minutes. She stopped about one hundred yards into the woods and turned to face them.

  “Here,” was the only word she said, and Nico recognized that Indi wasn’t completely with them yet. It worried him a little that this might happen often for her but he pushed his doubt aside. She was his mate and if this happened every day then they would deal with it. Nico, Owen, and Caleb spread out around the immediate area, sniffing and looking for any sign of Dahlia or anything to point them in the right direction.

  Indi couldn’t move. Something had overcome her and she knew she had to walk a certain direction. She was aware enough to hear her mate call after her but she couldn’t stop. Something was compelling her to go in this direction and she was certain that it had to do with Dahlia.

  Indigo always felt a little odd when things like this happened to her because it felt like a magnet was pulling her toward her destination. She could fight it but it was usually unpleasant.

  After walking for some time she entered the woods. Though she had never met Dahlia she could feel herself getting closer to the other shifter’s presence. She suddenly stopped in the woods. This was where Dahlia had been taken from. She said one word to Nico, Owen, and Caleb, and that was “here.” Her journey wasn’t over because her mind suddenly flashed to a picture of a young woman. She recognized the woman as Dahlia from a picture and just as suddenly she was jolted into Dahlia’s body. She watched out of Dahlia’s eyes as everything happened. She was a passenger in the woman’s body and mind.

 

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