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I dial her number, my hands shaking. It rings and rings before going to voicemail. I try again with the same result. Her ringtone slices through the living room like a haunting lullaby. “She doesn’t have a watch,” I murmur more to myself than them.
My panic spikes.
“Damn it!” I curse, hanging up. “What do we do?”
Zane’s face is a mask of regret and fear. “We need to find her before something happens. This is all my fault.”
“Yeah, it fucking is.” I snap the bond closed on my end. I’m mad at Zane and hurt that he could ruin this for us, but anger won’t help us find her.
“We’ll figure this out,” Malachi says, trying to keep us grounded.
I run a hand through my hair, my expression troubled. “We need to figure out the legal implications of this. I’ll start researching discreetly. If Aria is truly undocumented, we could be facing serious charges.”
Malachi nods grimly. “Good thinking, Quinn. We need to know exactly what we’re up against. The new law complicates things significantly. “Let’s think. Where would she go?”
“Somewhere safe,” I say, my mind racing. “She might try to find someone she trusts.”
My thoughts land on one person—Cayenne. She’s across the country, but she’s the closest ally Aria has.
“I’ll call Cayenne,” I say, pulling out my phone again. The line rings twice before she picks up.
“Quinn?” Her voice is groggy and confused. I know she usually stays up late, sleeping during the day. “What’s going on?”
“Cayenne, it’s Aria,” I blurt out, my voice trembling. “She’s gone. We had a fight, and she ran off. We can’t find her. She left her phone and everything.”
“What do you mean she’s gone?” Cayenne’s tone shifts instantly, sharp and demanding. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
I take a deep breath, recounting the argument, Zane’s outburst, and our frantic search. With every word, my fear and guilt grow.
We fucked up.
“This is bad,” she says when I finish. “Really bad. She’s vulnerable, and if Noah finds her before we do…”
“Cayenne, we need more information about Noah.” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. “We know he is dangerous, but what exactly are we dealing with here? What should we be looking out for, and for the love of all the fates, can you send us a picture of him?
“You’re asking me this now?” Cayenne’s voice is a mix of disbelief and anger. “I told you about him. He’s dangerous. He is lethal. He killed Aria’s aunt and nearly beat Aria to death. I barely got her out of the state alive.”
The gravity of her words hit me like a punch to the guy. We knew Noah was a threat, but hearing the details again makes me realize how badly we’ve underestimated the situation.
“I know Cayenne. We…we lost focus,” I admit, shame coloring my voice. “We let our shock over Aria’s omega status blind us to the bigger picture,” I say, guilt weighing heavily in my voice. “We knew she was in danger, even if we didn’t know all the details. We should have focused on protecting her, regardless of her designation or our feelings about it.”
There’s a moment of tense silence before Cayenne interrupts. “I can’t believe this,” she snaps, her voice sharp enough to make me wince. “You knew about Noah. That’s why you were supposed to be protecting her in the first place. How did you lose sight of the real danger here? I trusted you with her safety, and you’re telling me you forgot the very reason she needed protection?”
Her words cut deep, each one a reminder of our failures. I can almost see her pacing, her frustration palpable even through the phone.
“Do you have any idea what Aria has been through? What she’s still going through? And now she’s out there, alone and vulnerable, because you all got distracted by your own petty issues? This is exactly what I was afraid of when I asked for your help.”
I swallow hard, the weight of our mistake crushing me. “You’re right, Cayenne. We screwed up, badly. But please, we need to focus on finding Aria now. What else can you tell us that might help?”
“She wasn’t lying,” Zane mutters, glancing at the door.
I look up at the others, their faces mirroring my own shame and regret. Malachi steps forward, his usual composure cracking under the weight of our failure.
Malachi runs a hand over his face, his usual composure cracking. “We failed her on multiple levels,” he says, his voice tight with regret. “We knew she was running from something, but we didn’t dig deeper. We let our surprise and hurt over her secret distract us from the very real danger she’s in. And now…” He trails off, the weight of our mistake hanging heavy in the air.
Zane nods, his face a mask of guilt. “I…I was so focused on feeling betrayed that I didn’t stop to think about why she might have kept her omega status a secret. We knew she was running from something dangerous, and I just…I forgot.”
Dash runs a hand through his hair, frustration evident in every movement. “We were supposed to be her protectors, and instead, we became another source of fear for her. God, how could we have been so blind?”
