The Alpha's Omega Mate-Chapter 173: A dysfunctional locator spell.

~Zarek’s POV~

Nyx didn’t leave, and that alone kept me in more bad mood than I would like to admit.

I didn’t agree to her taking Leila away from me forever, and in response, she retaliated by saying she wasn’t leaving her child— our child— with me either, thus leaving me torn between letting go of both mother and daughter, or keeping them both.

I chose the latter.

Pushing thoughts of my pesky stubborn-as-a-mule past fling to the back of my mind, my heart raced in my chest as I watched Dr Ava mumble something under her breath, whilst waving a small wash cloth in her hands as she continued to recite an incantation that sounded too eerie, I struggled to pay attention.

Suddenly, the air in the room shifted, charged instantly with an electricity that rattled me more than I would like to admit.

She abruptly stopped mumbling her incoherent words under her breath, her forehead creasing into a frown, and gods when she pried her closed eyes open seconds later, I stepped back in surprise... and maybe fear, for they were glowing a bright maniacal hue.

"Shit," she mumbled, shaking her head as if trying to dispel some forces I couldn’t see and then her shoulders sagged. She lifted her gaze to meet mine, whispering; "It’s not working."

Now, that riled me up. I ground my teeth together as I glared between her and the vials of concoctions arranged neatly on the floor; But I didn’t miss the panic in her eyes, or the way her body seemed to tremble slightly from whatever this was.

"Do it again." I snapped.

"But this is the thirteenth time, Alpha Zarek." She cried tightly, "the cloaking spell isn’t lifting, and I don’t know w—"

"Then try again!" I snorted incredulously, my desperation seeping into my voice.

I knew that what I asked of her was inhumane. I knew that she needed her time... her strength; But every moment we spent in here felt like a waste of time to me. It felt as though Dahlia was in an invisible danger, and that there was nothing I could do to help her.

"You created it right?!" I snapped suddenly, ignoring the way she flinched fearfully. "You can just reuse the items you used for it. Heck, aren’t these the remnants of the exact one you made?!" I snarled, pointing at a small open jar by her foot.

And at the sound of my voice, Ava looked down at her legs and sighed, nodding. "Yes, it’s it."

"Then use them!" I growled, "do what you can. I promised to help you find the incense and its antidote, and I have! This should be your own end of the bargain."

"But I am trying to keep my end, aren’t I?" Ava snapped now, obviously flustered. "I have been trying for hours nonstop to trace her and her daughter, haven’t I?"

"Then what the fuck is happening?" I shrieked, causing Ava to roll her eyes at me.

She threw her hands into the air in annoyance, screaming; "What is happening is that she doesn’t want to be found, either that or she is..." her voice trailed off as her lips suddenly clamped shut.

It felt like a light switch had suddenly been turned off in her head— or turned off as the case may be as her gaze darkened. She froze, just as her face suddenly went ashen.

"No."

My heart plummeted.

This isn’t good... I can feel it... something isn’t right.

But despite the steady thumping of my heartbeat, and the fearsome thoughts now gnawing at the back of my mind like a fucking string, I managed to mumble out, my voice now not above a whisper; "Or she is what?"

Ava gulped. I noticed the way her eyes darted unfocusedly around the room. She took in everything; ranging from the carpeted floor to the high ceiling, and to the padded walls... the painting on the walls. Hell, even the hem of my cloak. But never my face.

Focus Zarek... take a deep breath in... and another out.

"Ava, talk to me..." I whispered now, my tone almost placating. "Or what? What are you not telling me? What do you think is making the cloaking spell refuse to lift?"

Ava glanced away, her eyes finding the floor. Watching her string her fingers together made me more panicked than I alsteady was.

I wa just about to open my mouth, to snap at her, to force her to speak, when suddenly, she looked up at me slowly. Shaking her head, she mused; "I think someone stronger than I am is ensuring that the spell doesn’t lift... that or the fact that she may be dead."

I stumbled backward, my heart squeezing tight in my chest. An enstranged cry tore out from the back of my throat before I could stop it, and my wolf— Moartea— whined as though physically struck.

"That’s not true... that’s not possible." I moaned, squeezing my eyes shut.

"I don’t know. I only think—"

"Do it AGAIN!" I growled, ignoring the way Ava cried out fearfully before rushing back to pick up the once discarded items on the floor.

She took in deep breaths and soon resumed waving the wash cloth—one she insists had been used to clean Dahlia up during her stay at the hospital.

She quickly resumed her mumbling, her incorrigible incantations; but after a long moment of watching her glow like a fallen star while she tried to sniff out Dahlia, and I mean that literally, she stopped. Her eyes painfully forced themselves open, and from the look in them, I didn’t need words to know what she was feeling.

Hurt.

Fear.

Desperation.

"I cannot find her."

Those simple four words lanced through my chest, tearing what was left of my heart into rougher uglier pieces.

"No..."

"She may be dead."

"Dahlia isn’t dead." I muttered under my breath, my voice coming out strained and raspy. "If she was I would’ve known, I would’ve felt it. I didn’t."

My words made the woman in front of me stiffen visibly, but ignoring her and her piercing stare, I turned away and left for my chamber, refusing to let her see the extent to which her words hurt me, refusing to let her see how scared I was for Dahlia’s sake.

I stealthily made my way into my room and after successfully slamming the door shut behind me, locking myself up in my personal haven, I let myself crumble to the floor like a pack of cards.

My chest hurts, my heart hurts... in fact everywhere hurts.

"Dahlia please, do not be dead..." I choked out as tears slipped out of the corners of my eyes, "please..."

I closed my eyes, willing my heart to be the one to find her. My world stilled. My heart stopped beating for a nanosecond as I drew in sharp lungfuls of breath. But still, I didn’t feel it. I didn’t feel her presence or her absence.

She felt gone... as if she’d disappeared into thin air. As if she’d never once existed in the first place.

An anguished cry made its way out of the back of my throat and this time, I did nothing to hold it in. Hell, even if I could, I wouldn’t have.

I let myself cry for her... to mourn her. I let myself drown in the pain of losing her whilst praying to the moon goddess that I was wrong. That Ava was wrong.

I hoped to the heavens that Dahlia was safe, and that her child was just as safe as I slipped into blissful unconsciousness with only past memories of them acting as my tether back to reality.

—

~Orion’s POV~

’Dahlia isn’t an Omega? She’s even royalty?’ These thoughts and several others plagued my mind as I made my way into the fortress.

My mind replayed the events of the day, especially the ones revolving around Dahlia, and the more I thought about them, the more hurt I became.

It made me irritated to think that she was alive and well, but upon the realization that she’d done it to keep herself and her child safe, I doused down my anger, focusing instead on how I could keep this hidden from Zarek, especially since I’ve promised Dahlia.

I walked slowly into the house in a daze until I stumbled into something— or someone, and that managed to snap my out of whatever trance I was in as I looked down to see who it was.

"Dr Ava?" I grunted out, shocked to find her in the fortress, and more surprised when I noticed the several small vials clutched tightly in her hands.

"Beta Orion," she rasped out, her voice low, and I didn’t miss the dark circles blooming under her eyes, or how she seemed frail... tired. She looked like she’d just run a marathon. "Good afternoon."

"What’s happening here?" I couldn’t help but ask, my eyes not missing the way she stumbled away from me slowly, grinding as she struggled to catch her breath before trying to sidestep me. "Why do you seem so...?"

"I’m tired." She simply stated, finishing my question with ease. "I was working all day, trying to create a locator spell for Alpha Zarek, but it was unsuccessful."

A locator spell?

For who?

My eyebrows shot up and slowly, I took in the objects in her hands, my eyes trailing along the small translucent bottles in her hands, and then her face... and then back to the bottles.

And then I caught a scent.

Faint... barely there.

But maybe because I’d smelt it today, several times, I was able to catch it. Maybe it was because its recipient was someone who now lived rent free in my head, I didn’t miss it.

My eyes widened when I noticed the small wash cloth hanging over Dr Ava’s shoulder and I tilted my head towards it, my eyes widening when Dahlia’s scent rushed into my nostrils.

"You’re looking for Dahlia?" I asked softly, unable to hide the shock in my voice.

Ava didn’t respond right away but from the look in her eyes, I knew I was right.

I didn’t push it further. I didn’t say a word. I simply sidestepped her and waltzed into the house, smiling because I knew that Zarek didn’t even need a locator spell to find Dahlia, smiling because I knew that he only needed to take a run to find her. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

She was right under his nose.

Right under our noses... for a very long time.

I felt Ava’s eyes on my back as I walked off, felt the way she shuddered even without looking back at her. A smile tugged at my face when the craziness of the entire situation taunted me— a smile that quickly fell off when I heard the choked sounds coming from Zarek’s room.

It sounded foreign because it was something I’d never heard before. But I knew what it was. Could feel it even from here.

He was sobbing.

He was in pain.

Good gracious!