Nina
I leaned back against the airport terminal wall, scrolling anxiously through my recent texts to Enzo. There was nothing new, aside from my frantic messages asking where he was. My calls had been going straight to voicemail all morning, just like they had been the night before.
Even though dread was threatening to take over me, tried to hold onto some hope. Maybe he had forgotten to charge his phone again. Yes, that had to be it.
“He’ll probably be here any minute,” Jessica said, her blue eyes following my concerned gaze down the empty airport terminal. “Give it another few minutes.”
I mustered a strained smile. She had been saying that for the past twenty minutes, and yet he still hadn’t shown up.
Still, seeing no signs of him emerging as the plane emptied, my palms grew clammy, my pulse quickening.
Finally, the last tired stragglers passed through the gate.
No Enzo.
My throat tightened. Please, no. Had something happened?
“I’m going to talk to an employee,” I said. Jessica met my gaze and nodded, unease darting through her own eyes.
Offering Jessica a stiff smile, I slipped over to the counter. “Hello,” I said, trying my best to keep my voice steady. “My husband was supposed to be on that plane, but he’s not here. Can you check for me?”
The agent looked up at me over her wire-rimmed glasses and shot me a curious look. “I suppose,” she said, sounding a little annoyed. I watched as she tapped away on her keyboard, my fingers worrying the hem of my shirt beneath the counter.
“Name?” she asked.
“Enzo Rivers.”
The woman paused, then nodded to herself. “Looks like a passenger by the name of Enzo Rivers never boarded when the plane departed three hours ago. He must have ‘ missed the flight.”
I swallowed. “You’re sure?” I asked.
“Positive,” she said. “I can make an announcement just in case, but…”
“No,” I said, shaking my head numbly. “Thanks.” With that, I returned to where Jessica was waiting for me.
“He never got on the plane,” I whispered hoarsely. “Enzo isn’t here. Something’s wrong, I know it.” Tears burned in my eyes but I choked them back furiously. I had to focus on how the hell I was going to find him.
Jessica’s face turned ashen as I spoke. “Are you sure?” she asked. “Maybe he just missed the plane, so he stayed an extra night and forgot to tell you?” She sounded as desperate to believe it as I was.
I frantically pulled up my text conversation with Enzo, but there was nothing new. Nothing since thirty minutes ago, when I had texted him: “Did you land yet?”
Later, I stood in the middle of our little main office back at HQ, where everyone was gathered: me, Luke, Lori and Jessica, Matt, and even Daphne now, who was sitting cross-legged on the edge of the desk.
“He didn’t call me back, either,” Matt said, slipping his phone in my pocket. “I’m sorry, Nina.”
I let out a worrisome sigh. We had all tried calling Enzo multiple times, but no answer. What was even more worrying was that his phone had been ringing last night, but now it went to voicemail each time we called, meaning that it was likely dead.
“Maybe I should go back to the supernatural realm, tell your father-” Daphne began, but I cut her off with a shake of my head.
“No. I won’t trouble him without more information. I need to be certain that something bad happened before we go getting my father involved.”
The room fell silent after that. My heart was lodged painfully in my throat as a myriad of terrifying possibilities whirled endlessly through my mind.
Ronan’s return couldn’t just be a coincidence, I thought to myself, not when Enzo had gone missing the same day.
But I had to cling to hope that he was unharmed, that we would get him back.
“Luke,” I said suddenly. I fought to hold my voice steady.
We exchanged one silent look of understanding.
“I’ll book the next flight,” he said, his fingers already tapping on the computer keyboard. “We’ll find him, Nina.
Maybe he just overslept and lost his phone.”
“Yeah. Maybe.”
Within just a couple of hours, Luke and I were hurdling thousands of feet above the earth. The sun was making its climb into the sky, but from up here it almost looked like sunset already. Normally, I would have been busy marveling over the puffy clouds and bright colors, but not today.
He should have been home this morning. He should be in my arms now, but he wasn’t.
Where the hell was my husband?
“Hey.” Luke’s soft voice broke the relentless whirling of my thoughts. I forced myself to meet his steady eyes, which grounded me even though we were thousands of feet in the sky. He had always had this uncanny ability to pull me back down to earth when I needed it the most.
“You’ve been shaking your leg for the past ten minutes,” he said.
I looked down to see that he was right; I had been twitching my leg nonstop, bouncing it on the ball of my foot. I quickly stopped, stretching my leg out beneath the seat in front of me to give the muscle a rest.
“Sorry,” I said, my face turning a little red. “I’m just-”
“We’ll find him,” Luke said softly, reaching out to touch my hand. “I promise.”
I nodded. Maybe Luke had been right earlier when he said that Enzo may have just overslept and that his phone had died. After all, that would be the most logical explanation.
Maybe, in just a few hours, we would all be laughing over the situation as we booked our flights home.
And yet, something in me said otherwise.
“We’ll be on the ground soon,” Luke said, leaning back in his seat and momentarily shutting his eyes. “Try to stay calm until then.”
I nodded weakly, doing the same. I leaned back in my seat, letting my heavy eyelids fall shut. I hadn’t slept at all last night, so now was my chance to get some shut-eye.
After all, I wasn’t any use to anyone if I was sleep-deprived.,
“I’m coming, Enzo,” I thought to myself. “I’m coming…”
I was jolted away by the plane bumping down onto the tarmac, and my eyes shot open to see Luke unbuckling his seatbelt beside me. His eyes met mine in a silent affirmation; we had made it.
Almost as soon as the plane came to a stop outside the terminal and the pilot announced that we could leave, Luke and I shot up out of our seats. Luke quickly grabbed the one carry-on we had brought between us, just enough to get us through the night if need be.
But hopefully, we wouldn’t be staying for longer than that.
As Luke and I made our way off of the plane and through the crowded terminal, only one thing was on my mind:
Enzo. We had to find him. We had to bring him home.
And all I could do was hope beyond all hope that he was okay, and that the dread in my stomach had been unfounded.
Nina
The receptionist at the sleek hotel front desk flashed me a polite smile as Luke and I approached. My shoes seemed to echo as they clicked on the marble floors, and I looked around warily, taking in the sight of all of the wealthy hotel patrons that were milling around.
“I feel out of place,” | whispered to Luke. “Everyone looks so… rich.”
Luke stifled a chuckle at my words. “We’re a couple of country bumpkins, aren’t we?”
I would have laughed, if it weren’t for the circumstances.
While the other city goers and travelers around us were dressed in luxury and designer outfits, I was dressed in my usual t-shirt and jeans, with one of Enzo’s flannels thrown over the top.
Little did any of these people know that I was the daughter of a powerful werewolf king, but I preferred it that way.
Luke, as always, wore a battered graphic t-shirt and equally-battered jeans. Even though he had flesh on the outside now rather than just bones, he had kept his style of oversized clothes that looked like they had been stolen off of a thrift store mannequin.
Normally, it was endearing. Here, it made people stare at us. But appearances weren’t exactly my main concern these past couple of days.
“Welcome,” the receptionist said, an older woman with her silver hair pulled back into a neat bun. “Checking in?”
I swallowed, hoping to force a bit of fake confidence into my tone as I addressed her. “I’m actually here to visit one of your guests,” I said.
The woman shot me a curious look. “Oh? What’s the guest’s name?”
“Enzo Rivers,” I replied. “He’s my husband. He should have checked in a couple of days ago.”
The woman nodded, typing the name into her computer. I watched as she clicked around for a moment, humming to herself; then, she frowned. “I’m sorry, our records show that Mr. Rivers failed to check out this morning.”
My chest constricted painfully even as I fought to cling to composure. “I’m sorry,” I said. “Failed to check out?”
The receptionist shot me another curious look. “Yes,” she said. “It’s not uncommon; perhaps he simply forgot.
He never came down at the usual check-out time, and when our cleaners went to check, his things were gone.”
I paused, glancing over at Luke. He shot me the same wide-eyed look I was giving him. “This can’t be possible,” I found myself saying to the receptionist. “Surely you must know something. I mean, he’s my husband, and-”
“May I see some ID, Mrs. Rivers?” the receptionist asked gently. With trembling fingers, I handed her my driver’s license. Nina Rivers. Her compassionate eyes told me she understood as she handed the ID back.
“When was the last time anyone saw him?” I asked. “He’s tall, muscular, with curly brown hair and brown eyes. He wears a lot of flannels.” I fluttered the flannel I was wearing now to show her.
The woman paused, thinking hard. Then, she nodded, and her face seemed to fall ever so slightly. “Yes, actually,” she said. “He was in the bar yesterday, around noon.”
Luke and I exchanged glances again. “Was he with anyone?” I asked.
The receptionist thought again, and this time, her face fell even more. “A woman.”
A woman. Those two little words hit me like a freight train, but I refused to believe them. “You must be mistaken,” I said. “He was here on business.”
The receptionist’s eyes flitted back and forth between me and Luke. “I’m so sorry, dear,” she said softly. “I know it’s often difficult to learn the truth about these things…”
The truth? Hot bile burned in the back of my throat as the implication hit me. No, absolutely not. After everything we had been through, he wouldn’t have betrayed me like that.
But… if something had happened against his will…
Blinking back helpless tears, I held up my left hand, my diamond ring glinting on my finger.
“There must be some explanation,” I choked out. “He would never…not to us…” Unconsciously I cradled my rounded belly, our unborn child. Ours. If nothing else mattered, Enzo cared for this baby more than life itself.
The receptionist looked stricken. “I-you’re right,” she said. “I shouldn’t assume, of course. Let me pull up the security footage. Perhaps I’m mistaken.” Visit Job n i b .co m to read the complete chapters for free.As she tapped away I turned to Luke, devastation written across my face. He said nothing, but his eyes spoke volumes; not Enzo. He would never do anything like that.
We were fated mates. No, it wasn’t possible. There had to be another explanation.
When the receptionist finished typing on her keyboard, she turned the computer screen so I could see. She pointed, and there he was: Enzo, walking out of the bar… with none other than Mila on his arm.
I felt my heart turn to ice as I watched the footage. They walked together, arm-in-arm, smiles on their faces. He was saying something, and she was laughing along with him. No stumbling, no fear, nothing…
Nothing out of the ordinary, except for the glaring fact that a woman was wrapped around him.
Seeing them like this was like a dagger to the heart. Luke kept a supportive grip on my shoulder as tears blurred my vision. Enzo, laughing with another woman… seeking comfort in her embrace…
No! He adored me. I was carrying his child! But the kind receptionist’s pitying eyes reflected my darkest fears back at me. That I had lost him.
“The room?” Luke asked urgently. “We’d like to see it.”
The receptionist hesitated. “I’m afraid allowing non-registered guests upstairs violates hotel policy-”
Luke’s fists clenched at his sides. I could sense his fury boiling beneath the surface, but his voice remained calm, his words laced with a quiet command. “Please make an exception, just this once.”
“…Very well. I can escort you up briefly.”
The ride up the elevator and walk down the plush hallway passed by in a miserable fog. The receptionist unlocked room 204 and allowed us inside the tidy, innocuous space.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I had been holding as we walked inside. Here it was: just a standard double with two queen beds and typical hotel decor. The image of Enzo here with someone else, especially Mila, haunted me.
“I’ll give you some privacy,” the receptionist murmured. ”
Just ring the front desk when you’d like to leave.”
After the door clicked shut, Luke immediately began inspecting underneath the neatly made beds and peeking in closets. “I don’t believe it,” he said frantically, overturning cushions and blankets and even chairs. “Enzo would never. Something is fishy here.”
But his words felt far away to me, muffled. I numbly sank down on the edge of the mattress, devastation threatening to swallow me whole. The subtle indentations on both pillows. Two half-finished water glasses by the bathroom sink…
Had Mila seduced my husband away from me? Was he slipping from my grasp just when we needed each other the most?
“Nina! Look at this.”
Luke’s sharp voice grabbed my attention instantly. I looked up at him where he stood at the end of the bed, his eyes wide.
Wordlessly, he held up several thin silver strands pinched between his fingers, glinting in the sunlight