The Light in Us

47. Zeke

47

Zeke

“ A nything?”

“No,” I mutter. “For the sixth time, no .”

The sixth time this hour.

I can hear Teddy’s feet treading a hole into the carpet at home. “You haven’t seen anything at all?”

“Teddy, it’s the middle of the night.” I don’t move my eyes away from those windows. “Hopefully she’s in bed and everything is fine. You should get some sleep too.”

That’s what she wanted. But the more I stare at that house, the more my chest feels tight. The harder it is not to go in there and carry her out.

He sucks in a breath. “As if I’m going to sleep when Fallon is there. I haven’t slept for two damn days , Zeke.”

I can feel how hard the guilt is hitting him, for not telling us sooner. “I—,”

My passenger door opens, and my hand slams out as a figure slips inside. I pull my punch back just in time. “Fucking hell, I nearly took your head off.”

Fox pushes back the hood of his navy sweatshirt and hands me a coffee. “We can both pretend that’s true if it makes you feel better.”

“Oh good,” Teddy says in my ear. “You got my package. Careful, he bites.”

“Teddy sent you?” I ask as he ends the call.

“It was a mutual decision. Wild is with them.” Fox leans forward. “Which one is hers? Have you seen anything?”

Silently, I point. “Nothing. Which is supposed to be a good sign.”

Fox nods. And then he settles back, his arms crossed.

The hours crawl by. Neither of us talk.

It’s still dark out when a light flips on in the kitchen, filtering through the closed blinds. We both stiffen, waiting.

But it doesn’t flicker.

My heartbeat thumps in my ears. “Good sign, right?”

My pack leader says nothing. We can’t see anything else. The blinds are too thick for us to see any silhouettes.

Another hour passes. The sunrise begins to crest over the trees, spilling light over the street in front of us.

And then the door opens.

We watch as a red-haired alpha steps out. He stops, turning to say something over his shoulder, tugging at the sleeve of his suit.

Frowning, I stare at the alpha who follows him. Broad, stocky, blonde-haired. The red-haired alpha is laughing, clapping him on the shoulder.

Neither of us say anything.

The third and final alpha is tall. Dark-haired. He pauses on the doorstep, looking over his shoulder. He says something to the blonde alpha, who shakes his head, gesturing at him in a clear hurry up motion.

Fox and I watch in silence as they walk off down the street.

“Was that—,”

“Wordsmiths,” Fox’s voice is like stone. “Fucking Wordsmiths .”

The Smith pack. Our closest competitors. The assholes who set Teddy up and bully the omega authors on their roster into signing ridiculous contracts that they can’t escape from.

My hand moves to the door, waiting for them to turn the corner.

And then we’re out. Our feet thud down the quiet road as we race to Fallon’s house, jumping up the steps. I turn to check behind us as Fox pounds on the door. “ Fallon !”

But there’s no answer.

Fox doesn’t wait. Doesn’t hesitate. He lifts his boot and kicks the door open, slamming into it as it flies off the hinges with a crash of splinters and wood. “Fucking Wordsmiths .”

His voice is full of anger and disgust as we move inside slowly.

Fallon’s home is… empty. There’s no photographs, no knick-knacks.

Several coats are hanging up in the small hallway.

My mate doesn’t have a coat, but these assholes have coats to spare.

I start building up a picture of her life, and every piece feels like a rock settling on my chest, cutting off my breathing. “Fallon!”

I call her name again, echoed by Fox as we move through. A few empty beer bottles are stacked on the side, but the pristine white kitchen is otherwise empty.

There’s no color here. No vibrancy. No life .

I’m here, baby. Where are you?

We walk silently down the hall, pushing open doors. The three alphas each have their own room, easily identifiable by the scents that spill through the doors. Their possessions litter the spaces, comfortable-looking beds and personal items dotted around.

“Zeke.” There’s no expression on Fox’s face at first glance. He disappears inside a room, and I hear the furious sound of him swearing. “Do you see what I see?”

I pause in the doorway.

Our mate’s scent soaks the room. There’s a depth to it that tells me that this is her bedroom, layers built over time.

“Did we miss her?” Fox mutters. He spins, as if he missed something the first time.

I don’t say anything. I can’t.

If I open my mouth, I might lose it.

Fox shifts past me. I hear him moving down the hall, but I can’t move.

The bed is small, tucked into the corner of the room. Slowly, I move toward it. My fingers graze the bedding.

Where are the blankets? The pillows?

Only a single, thin comforter sits on top of the bedding.

Jaw clenching, I move over to her dressing table, sending a silent apology for going through her things before I yank it open.

It’s empty. There’s a hairbrush. Some deodorant, and a few Kirby grips for her hair.

Every drawer is the same.

There is nothing to suggest an omega lives in this room.

I’m breathing faster now. Fox appears in the doorway as I rip open the doors to her small closet. It’s fucking tiny , far too small for an omega. This wouldn’t even hold Teddy’s belts .

We both stare in.

“Empty,” I say flatly. The black dress we’ve seen her in is hanging up on the side of the closet, but there’s nothing else.

Fox reaches inside, crouching as he picks something up. When he stands, he holds out the torn piece of material. From a blouse, maybe.

His voice is deeper than I’ve ever heard it, a molten anger leaking from every pore that floods the air around us. “Find her.”

I’m praying as we spread out again. That she doesn’t use that room much. That everything is in her nest.

She wouldn’t be the first omega to forgo a bedroom altogether, or to keep one just in case.

But I know. I know that’s not what we’re going to find.

When we find the locked room, I’m the first one to slam my foot into the door. This one is tougher than the entrance. Reinforced.

And it locks from the outside.

Fox grabs my shoulder, but I shake him off and I go for that fucking door, rage a snarl in my throat. He pushes me to the side, and then we’re both hitting it with the force of two furious fucking alphas scared for their mate.

My mate is on the other side. And when I get in there, I’m taking her away from this horrible, cold place and we will not look back.

Never again, I vow. She’s never going to feel like this ever again.

Never again.