“Where is she?” Carter exclaimed to himself, his voice higher than usual and frantic as he rummaged through Amy’s empty apartment. He could tell something was wrong. He didn’t know how, but the energy about the place was off. As if she hadn’t been there in far too long. “Where did she go? Shit!”
Carter slammed some books off the desk and hurt his hand as he tried to calm himself down and figure out what the next step to take should be. She wasn’t at the grocery store. She wasn’t at the bank. She wasn’t at home. Where else would she be?
He was trying to use his dragon senses to follow her around, but it was hard for him to focus. Everything in this apartment smelled like her. There was no indication of where she might’ve gone. Was she with the enemy? Had she found a new man to try to spend her life with? Humans had no concept of what it meant to have a fated mate. But she wasn’t a human, was she?
She was a descendent. And not just a potential. She was one, for sure. Gavin had confirmed it. Everything had confirmed it. Carter knew better than to deny the evidence any further. Amy was his fated mate. And he had spurned her. Left her in danger. Not only from the enemy, but from herself. And now she was missing. How could he make this right?
Carter wanted to shape shift badly. He wanted to be able to grasp onto her scent and track it down like a bloodhound. But that wasn’t something he could do. Not in her apartment. And certainly not in an area where he would be spotted. That would defeat the purpose of maintaining a quiet watch over the area like the Elders had instructed them to. If they weren’t able to abide by the rules, he could ruin any potential chance of returning back to their home world that the dragon shifters had. He had to be careful about this and use his head. There had to be a way. Fate would be their guide, right?
Carter growled and took off out of the apartment, running full speed through the hallways until he was back in the open air. He willed himself to think of any other place where Amy might be, and suddenly, he remembered the waterfront.
The memory was like a punch in the stomach. He felt like a total jerk for treating her the way he had. But how was he supposed to have known that she was his fated mate? Everything had been so confusing and overwhelming. He couldn’t blame himself for this, could he?
And yet, he was. He had to make sure she was all right. He would do anything to keep her safe.
Carter took off running for the waterfront, doing his best to stay out of sight. Anybody who saw a man running that fast would say it was abnormal, and he would probably be looked at as a scientific specimen rather than a human. That was something that was to be avoided at all costs. And yet, this was still more subtle than flying through the air in his dragon form even though that would be the best possible way to find Amy in a hurry.
When Carter made it to the beach, he was breathless and wild eyed, looking around for any sign of Amy. He was shocked when she saw that her car was in the parking lot, and ran to it, his chest heaving as he searched the vehicle for any sign of life. Amy was nowhere to be found however, and as he scanned the beach, he realized that she wasn’t there either. So, where was she? Where had she gone? What had happened to her? Was she in the hands of the enemy?
Carter released his grip on the vehicle and headed to the sandy beach, his dragon senses to try to pick up Amy’s scent. It seemed nearly impossible, but he found himself pleasantly surprised when he was able to get a faint whiff of the woman. It brought a surge of adrenaline to his chest, and his excitement was quickly curbed by horror when he caught scent of someone else with her. Somebody menacing. And then, he smelled her fear.
Carter let out a low growl and quickly found himself hot on the trail. He wasn’t going to let anybody hurt Amy. He would find them and hunt them down and kill them if he had to. That was all there was to it. Nobody was going to lay a hand on her. She deserved to be safe.
It infuriated him to have to follow the rules that were set by the Elders, even though the Elders had completely abandoned them. Why should he put Amy’s life more at risk just to accommodate some grumpy old man who didn’t even care about him? Who cared if the people in this place knew he was a dragon shifter? It was their own preconceptions that caused the issue to arise, so what good was it for him to hide who he was? None of it made sense, and all of it served only to piss Carter off. He wanted to be himself openly, 100%. He didn’t want to hide himself any longer.
And yet, when he made a move to shape shift into his dragon form, Carter couldn’t allow himself to do it. He was disappointed by his own convictions and his loyalty to the Elders. He wanted to say fuck it all, but inwardly, he simply couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he moved forward on Amy’s trail, keeping himself closely fixated on his forward momentum.
He was doing a good job of keeping up, but suddenly, a new concern began to plague him. What was he going to do when he found her again? He wanted nothing more than to make sure she was safe, and he would stop at nothing to do so. But if he was successful in his mission, that meant he would have to face her again and find a way to try and make up for the way he had treated her under the bridge. Was she even going to want to speak to him again? He had acted like a total asshole. He was going to have to win her trust and somehow convince her that they were fated mates. Max had played hell in trying to convince his mate that they were fated to be together. Carter had just made the situation 1,000 times worse for himself. What was going to happen? What if she refused him?
No, Carter shook his head. He wasn’t going to let that be an option. He was going to make sure they knew exactly how he felt about her and why he had reacted the way he had. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to talk her into believing that he was a dragon shifter the way Max had, but then again, maybe he wouldn’t have to. Why was it so important that she know about the dragon shifters anyway?
The question gave Carter a pause. No, he knew he had to be completely true to himself. He had to be open and honest about his identity. That meant he would have to do the work that was required of him in order to take Amy as his fated mate and live with her for the rest of his life. And nothing sounded better to him than being able to do that. So that’s what he was going to do.
No matter how difficult and complicated it was, he was going to have to tell her the truth. Maybe she wouldn’t be able to accept it, and maybe she would. But either way, the truth remained. And it was one that was worth fighting for. He was going to tell Amy exactly who he was. And he was going to make sure she understood the depth and sincerity of his feelings. She hadn’t been able to deny them since the moment he had laid eyes on her. And so, he was going to be honest. Just the way he appreciated honesty.
He just had to find her first. Carter’s purple-hued eyes narrowed, and he inhaled sharply. He could do this. All he had to do was stay focused. He was a dragon within, so he can utilize his abilities without shape shifting. Maybe it was a little bit harder, but he could do it. As urgent as it was, he had to abide by the rules until there was no other option.