Chapter 142
Dron couldn’t figure out which way was up.
His entire head felt as if it were in a fog.
Slowly, he opened up his eyes and looked around the room. At first he was startled because he wasn’t waking up at home, but then he remembered that he wasn’t home. He was on the forsaken island of Skoq.
He groaned and sat up in the bed. Before he could even get his bearings, he realized that he wasn’t alone. His eyes jerked in the direction of the intruder only to see that it was Vexum.
The alpha was standing at the door, staring at Dron as if he were waiting for him to sprout another head.
"What are you doing here?" Dron asked as he stretched his neck from side to side.
"I’m making sure you’re not still crazy." Vexum spat out.
"I was never crazy to begin with." Dron answered before he swung his feet over the side of the bed.
"Are you sure? Because you were certainly acting crazy."
Dron didn’t want to fight with him. He was still trying to figure out exactly what was going on. The last thing he could remember was the intense anger he felt when he realized that he couldn’t get in contact with Tempest. The anger was still there, but it wasn’t as strong as it was before.
There was a soft knock at the door, and Dron groaned again. Was he about to become a sideshow? He didn’t have time for that.
Thankfully it wasn’t another one of the alphas in his crew that was coming to visit with him. It was Tine.
She sighed when she got a look at Dron and looked up at Vexum. Something unsaid passed between the two of them. A second later he left the small room, leaving just Tine and Dron alone.
"What is with all the secrets? Is there something going on that I don’t know about?"
"Something that you don’t know about? No. You know all about it." Tine answered as she pulled up a chair and sat down calmly on the other side of the room. It wasn’t lost on Dron that she was still keeping her distance. He wondered if that was because she thought that he would do something to her.
He wasn’t a woman beater. There was no need for her to be scared of him.
"Something I know about? Well, that’s new. Tell me what it is that I know about. According to everyone else, there’s very little that I know about."
"You know about having a fated mate. Something no one else on this island can understand."
Dron’s eyes flicked to hers, and his jaw clamped shut. That’s what all this was about. Tempest.
"Everyone knew I had a mate. That’s not new information."
"Yes, everyone knew you had a mate, but it was thought to be an arrangement of sorts. A contract marriage as are all the other mates in the land. But what you and Tempest share is much more than just a contract marriage. She is soul bonded to you. She’s your fated mate. A gift from the moon goddess."
"What of it? It doesn’t change anything."
Tine scoffed and got up from her chair. She paced back and forth in a small area. "Are you kidding me? Of course it changes things. Now that people know that Tempest is your fated mate and the bond between the two of you is much more than just some short-term agreement, they’ll be much more likely to believe what she is saying and far more likely not to want to go up against you. They all know that you can’t be swayed. No one wants to test it."
Dron tilted his head at that. Something more had changed. "Why are they less likely to test me now? What happened? What have I done?" He scoured his brain trying to remember more of what happened before he woke up, but it was still a fog.
"You nearly took out your entire squad. You were so focused on getting back to Tempest that you nearly ripped their heads off. It took all of us and several doses of alpha instinct suppression toxin to get you knocked out. Far more than I’ve ever seen any other Alpha take. For a minute I thought you were immune and we would all feel your wrath." Tine shrugged her shoulders.
"I did?" Dron blinked a few times. He was starting to remember. Starting to realize what he’d done. He remembered being absolutely insane with anger and jealousy because he couldn’t get in contact with Tempest. He remembered his men coming into the room and trying to hold him down. He remembered his resolve to forgo the entire mission so he could get back to Thraqe.
The moment he thought of it, he felt the anger starting to rise inside him again. Why hadn’t Tempest answered.
He raised his wrist and used the communicator to scroll to her name.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to get in contact with your Tempest again?"
"Of course I am. What if something has happened? What if this whole mission is for nothing? I need to be able to contact her. It’s... been too long."
Tine put her hand up as if she were going to stop Dron from what he was doing. Dron simply narrowed his eyes on her as if daring her to get in his way.
"You’re not going to be able to get in contact with her. We’ve all tried several times."
"Why not? Have you heard anything more?" Dron asked and took a step in the woman’s direction.
"I don’t know anything for sure, but if you want to know what I know, you have to promise to keep your cool." Tine put a hand up and took a step back.
"Fine, tell me what you know." Dron crossed his arms over his chest.
"We believe that Tempest and a few others have defected from Thraqe."
"Defected!" Dron screamed out. "What do you mean by that?"
Tine sighed and tried to keep her words as calm as possible. At least that is what Dron thought she was doing. It was as if the woman were speaking to him as if he were a child on the verge of a tantrum. He hated it but also knew that she was only doing it because she thought it would keep her safe.
Unfortunately for her, if Dron found out that something had happened to Tempest while he was here, there was very little anyone could do to keep anyone on this island safe. He would burn the entire world down to get back to her.
"I’m saying after we finally got you calmed down enough that you were knocked out and no longer trying to rip everyone’s heads off, we looked through your communicator and realized that you were trying to get in contact with your mate. We tried to call her through your device, and it didn’t go through, which was not the expected result. We’ve never had issues reaching our colleagues in Thraqe from this settlement. I then theorized that something might be wrong with your communicator, so I used my own. I still was unable to get through." Tine slowly sat back down in the chair, and Dron sat on the edge of the bed. The last thing he wanted to do was make the woman uncomfortable, thinking that maybe she would stop talking.
He wanted to know everything. Dron was waiting on pins and needles for her to get to the part where she’d thought that Tempest had defected.
Tine continued talking, "Once I figured out that I wasn’t able to get in contact with your mate through the typical channels, I reached out to my people there in Thraqe for them to do some digging. Turns out Tempest, and a few other individuals have all left the grand city of Thraqe without permission. No one knows exactly where they have gone to, but Prince Jaqen is in a foul mood over it and has ordered the entire city to be searched. Homes are being ransacked. Things are bad."
Dron’s jaw fell open before he snapped it shut again. He couldn’t understand. There had to be a reason. What if she were kidnapped? What if someone came into his home and took her away from all she knew.
"She wouldn’t just leave. She knows the dangers. She wouldn’t defect." Dron shook his head from side to side. There had to be another reason.
"She would leave if she had a good enough reason." Tine raised an eyebrow in Dron’s direction. "I saw what you were going through. Saw how the sickness affected you. If she is feeling even a morsel of the anguish you are feeling, then she has more than enough reason to leave."
Dron thought hard about what the woman was saying. She couldn’t really believe that Tempest would put herself in danger like that. Tempest would never...would she?
"Who else is missing?"
"Why does that matter?" Tine suddenly looked away as if there was something that she didn’t want to tell Dron.
"It matters!" Dron barked.
Tine closed her eyes and dropped her head for a second. "Mexyn, the omega; Gerax, the scientist; and Rynax, the merchant alpha."
Dron’s heart slammed to a stop in his chest.
Tine was right. Tempest did leave, and she took an entire scouting party with her.
Mexyn to help her navigate the strange landscape. Gerax for any medical and cultural knowledge. And Rynax... a protector.
Dron felt his body starting to shake. Tempest was out in the wilderness somewhere with another Alpha. The disrespect and jealousy he felt in his body were unlike anything he’d ever felt before.
Dron wasn’t an idiot; he knew that there were going to be times on the journey that Rynax would have to get close to Tempest. He knew that in the wilderness he would have nothing but time and opportunity to get his hands on what was rightfully his.
Dron couldn’t allow it. He jumped to his feet and lunged straight for his pack. If Tempest was on her way to him, then he would have to go find her. There was no way that he would just leave her with Rynax. Not for one more minute than he had to.
"What are you doing? Where are you going?"
"What do you think I’m doing, woman? I have to go and find my mate. If she was foolish enough to try and find me, there is no way that I’m leaving her out there. I’m leaving."
"That’s not the best option." Tine stood from her seat again.
"I can’t leave her with...him." Dron final word was much softer than the rest.
"That’s what I thought the problem was. Jealousy is an intense emotion. Hear me out first, please." Tine came to stand in front of Dron but didn’t dare put a hand on him.
That was the best decision that she could’ve made.
"You have one minute." Dron spoke through clenched teeth.
"If you leave, there is a strong chance that you’ll miss her. There are many ways to get through Skoq, and I don’t know the one the other omega will choose. You could be running right past Tempest and you’d never know."
"I know. I can feel her."
"That is true. I believe that is why your alpha instincts are in such great flux right now. Your body knows that your mate is near. It’s reaching out for her. Still, you don’t want to take that chance. She is protected, she’s with someone who knows the land, and she has a doctor with her in case something goes wrong. You going out there would just put them all in danger. Also, what if she is feeling the same flux as you? I’m sure the closer she gets to you, the more erratic her decisions will become. You’ll be forcing her to act rashly. Out in the wilderness. Away from more people that can help her."
Dron squeezed his eyes shut and groaned loudly. He knew that Tine was right. Knew that he had to let this play out a little more, but the idea of leaving Tempest alone with Rynax felt as if there was a dull blade slowly being dug into his skull.
"Rynax knows his place." Tine continued as if she could hear what Dron was thinking. "And even if he doesn’t, Gerax and Mexyn are there as supervision. He would never do anything that would completely go against his way of life and reputation in the eyes of others. You have nothing to worry about for now. Trust your mate."
Dron didn’t want to have to put trust in anything. Unfortunately, he knew he had to.
There was nothing more for him to do besides wait.
Wait for Tempest to come around that corner and into his arms once again.
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⏸ PAUSE■ STOP