I woke in the morning with a smile already on my face. The memories of last night rose up within me, reminding me of the life I was about to start with Clarence, my sweet, sweet omega. It would take some hard work, but I’d go through anything for him to make sure he was provided for.

“Hey, baby,” I said as I reached out for him. But my arm found nothing but bed sheets, and when I opened my eyes I saw I was alone.

What the fuck!?

Terror struck me like a bolt of lightning, and I sat up in bed. I sniffed the air, but the scent of my fated mate was barely there, most of it lingering on the bed beside me.

I rocketed to my feet and raced into the living room of Martin’s apartment, hoping to find Clarence sitting on the couch with a smile on his face. But I knew I wouldn’t, and when I saw the empty room, my heart sank.

I pounded on Martin’s door. After a second, he opened it, staring through sleepy eyes at me.

“Have you seen Clarence!?” I asked him, feeling panicked.

“Who?” He asked. “Oh, your omega from last night? No, I haven’t. Why?”

“He’s not here!” I told him, pacing the room like a madman, my blood pressure through the roof.

“You think he just stepped outside for a smoke or something?”

“He doesn’t smoke!” I cursed. Of course, I didn’t know that, but something told me I was right. Even though I knew inside that wasn’t a possibility, I opened the door to Martin’s apartment and stepped outside. Sure enough, he wasn’t there.

“Shit!” I slammed my fist against my leg, hoping the physical pain would distract me from the mental pain. It didn’t.

His scent was so faint out in the front yard, I couldn’t understand it. It was as though he had put on a pheromone blocker and run off on me or something. But why would he do that?

I started to question myself as a million scenarios ran through my mind.

Had I done something wrong? Was it something I said?

Had I somehow scared him off? That couldn’t be possible! He was my fated mate and we both knew it. But maybe…maybe somehow all that talk about being together terrified him…

“He got parents around here?” Martin asked, pulling a shirt over his head as he came out of his bedroom.

“Shit – I think so!” I replied, racking my brain.

“Maybe he went to see them?”

“Come here,” I said, motioning toward him. “Tell me – do you smell anything?”

Martin stepped up beside me, lifted his nose and searched the air for Clarence’s scent.

“Mmm, it’s faint,” he said.

“Like he pheromone blocked, right!?” I yelped.

Martin turned to me, a sad look on his face and nodded. My heart broke.

“But…why?” I said with dismay, feeling all the life and energy of last night starting to seep out of me like water through a sieve. I looked out and saw my bike in the driveway, and without waiting, I leapt off the porch and hopped on it.

“Where are you going!?” Martin yelled as I fired it up. The engine roared to life and I kicked it into gear.

“To find my mate!” I shouted back as I wheeled the bike onto the road and gunned it.

* * *

I drove for five hours before I had to stop to eat, and even then all I could do was cram a burger down my throat before I was back on my bike.

I’d covered the entire town, parts I’d never even seen before, parts I never wanted to see, searching for a stronger hint of Clarence’s scent. But it never came.

There was nothing downtown, or on the outskirts either. I checked the surrounding neighborhoods one by one, and even the trashy rundown area by the tracks. My nose was working overtime, but Clarence’s scent was gone.

My bike was running low on fuel as I pulled over on the bridge looking out over the river. It was all I could do to keep from breaking down, but as I gazed down below me at the cool waves flowing down around the bend, my eyes gave out on me.

Tears poured down my cheeks and my chest heaved as I began to sob. It wasn’t possible – it wasn’t fair! I’d met my fated mate, shared one unbelievable night with him, and now he was gone!?

I hadn’t realized just how empty my life had been until I met Clarence. I’d already started planning our future, visualizing it in my mind as I lay in bed with him before falling asleep.

It wasn’t so much that he was gone, it was that I didn’t know why he was gone.

If he had been kidnapped, I’d at least know what I had to do – search this entire country until I found him.

If he’d left me because of something I’d done, I’d know I had to go find him and make it up to him.

But without knowing, just waking up alone with not so much as a scent to tell me the direction he’d gone, was simply torture.

“Clarence,” I muttered under my breath as I sat on the bridge, alone, wondering what had happened to my life. “I’ll find you. I have to.”