Moments later, Julian returns to the dance floor, scanning the crowd.

"Has anyone seen Nyra?"

--

At first, he assumes she went to the bathroom. But after five minutes, he starts to panic when he realizes Nyra is nowhere in sight.

He pushes through the sea of dancing bodies, squeezing between a group of three girls grinding against each other.

"Hey..." he taps Leah’s arm. "Have you seen Nyra? She was here just now..."

Leah shakes her head, clearly too drunk to be of any use right now.

"N-no." She slurs. "You see her."

Julian groans and presses his thumbs against his temples. God help him tonight.

"Yeah, thanks." He waves her off, walking back to the pool deck.

He grabs a passing guest.

"Have you seen Nyra?"

The guy shrugs, then runs to the corner to puke.

Everyone is either too drunk to notice anything, or they simply say they don’t know. It’s frustrating.

Elena joins him seconds later and notices Nyra isn’t with him.

"What’s wrong? Where’s Nyra!?"

"She’s gone," Julian responds, exasperated. "And she was just right here. Now everyone says they haven’t seen her."

Jason appears next, still pressing ice against his bruised face, followed by a tall brunette named Joy, who had been dancing with Nyra and the other girls earlier.

"What’s wrong?"

"Nyra’s missing," Julian responds. "Did any of you see her?"

Joy nods. "I think she left after some guy brought her the punch that you sent. He said she felt dizzy and left."

Julian’s face pales. "I-I didn’t send over any drinks."

"W-what?"

"I said I didn’t send over any drinks." He grabs Joy’s hand. "Did you see the guy? Did you see which way she went?"

"No, I’m sorry." She sighs, then excuses herself. "I think... I think I’ll go find my friends too. Bye."

"What the fuck..." Jason curses, dropping the ice pack. "We need to find her right now!"

"Fuck, fuck! This is all my fault." Julian runs a hand through his hair. "I shouldn’t have left her alone."

Meanwhile, Adrian, who’s been watching them for the last five minutes, frowns. He sees Jason, Julian, and his sister--but there’s no Nyra.

Wait... where is she?

He excuses himself from his friends and rushes over, completely ignoring Jason.

"What’s happening? Where is Nyra?"

"She vanished," Julian says frantically. "We’re about to search inside the mansion, they couldn’t have gone far."

"I’m in!" Adrian says without a second thought.

Julian shoots him a skeptical look, but nods. They need all the help they can get right now.

They split up.

Julian takes the east wing with Elena. Jason heads to the gardens, while Adrian searches the main hallways.

Jason curses under his breath at the number of people he runs into making out in the garden. They’re either too drunk to help or too busy eating each other’s faces.

Upstairs, Adrian shoves the first door he sees open, only to find a couple in the middle of having sex.

"Get out!" the girl shrieks, pulling the covers over their bodies. "For fuck’s sake! Doesn’t anyone knock these days!?"

Adrian ignores the outburst.

"Have you seen Nyra?"

"No," the girl snaps. "Leave!"

He mutters a string of curses and slams the door shut.

Julian and Elena are also searching frantically upstairs. They check the mini bar, the guest rooms, the library, even the storage closet and the bathrooms--anywhere someone completely blacked out could end up.

Finally, Julian reaches a door at the end of the corridor that is completely suspicious.

It’s locked from the inside. No answer when he knocks.

"She’s in here. I’m sure of it," he tells Elena.

Adrian hears the commotion and comes up behind them.

"Move."

Adrian doesn’t wait. He slams his shoulder into the door again and again until it finally bursts open.

Inside the dimly lit room, all three of them freeze.

Nyra is lying on the huge bed, clearly drugged, her red bikini top pulled down, exposing her chest completely.

One of the guys is taking pictures, while the other is holding her arms.

They freeze in fear, clearly not expecting anyone to actually break the door down.

Adrian sees red.

He launches forward before anyone can react. His fist connects with the first guy’s jaw, sending him crashing into the wall.

The one with the phone tries to run, but Adrian grabs him by the neck, slamming him onto the floor.

"How fucking dare you!" he growls, punching him again and again until the guy is bleeding. "How dare you put your filthy hands on her!"

Elena moves quickly, pulling the covers over Nyra’s body before grabbing the discarded phone from the floor.

There are already several pictures of Nyra’s chest on it. And if they hadn’t come in at that moment... then what?

The guy has stopped struggling, but Adrian is still throwing punches. His entire jacket and fists are now a bloody mess.

"Adrian, stop!" Julian shouts, rushing in. He tries to pull Adrian back, but the Alpha is too strong for him.

Jason literally has to run in and fling Adrian off the boy with all his strength before the punching finally stops.

"Are you mad?! You’ll kill him!"

"That’s what I want!" he growls, trying to push past Jason and get back to the bloody boy, who’s now barely breathing.

Julian checks his pulse, exhaling in relief that the boy is still breathing. Then he shoots Jason a you be etter hold your friend down look before stepping into the hallway to make a call.

"Lock down the entire estate! No one leaves. Yeah, and pull up the CCTV footage. Yes, thank you!"

--

"Get a grip on yourself!" Jason snaps at him. "If you kill him, then how are we going to find out what happened?!"

"I don’t care!" Adrian pants, running a blood-stained hand through his hair. "I’ll fucking kill them. I’ll--"

"Adrian?"

Nyra’s soft, strained voice reaches them from the bed, cutting off his rant.

The moment he hears her voice, all the fight leaves him. He ignores Jason, rushes toward the bed, and scoops her up gently, cradling her against his chest.

"What are you doing? Where are you taking her?" Julian stands by the door, ready to argue.

But Elena stops him."He’s her mate. Let him take care of her. Let them bond."

Julian curses under his breath, reluctant, but nods, letting Adrian carry her out of the room and down the hall to a quiet guest bedroom, away from the entire ruckus.

Elena follows quickly with blankets and a first-aid kit.

"I’m trusting you this once, so take care of her."

"I will," he nods. "I promise."

Elena sighs softly, handing him the supplies before stepping out to help Julian coordinate everything.

---

Alone in the room, Nyra clings to him as he lays her on the bed, pulling a blanket over her.

"I’ve failed you so much," he says, pushing her hair back from her sweat filled the temple. "But this time, I’ll find out who did this. I promise."

Nyra whines, clearly disoriented, clinging to his shirt.

"Adrian, is that you?" She blinks up at him, touching his face. "Touch me," she begs, her voice slurred and needy from the drug. "Please... it hurts. I need you."

Adrian’s jaw clenches.

He wants to so badly. Everything from her outfit to her hair makes him want to go feral tonight. But for the first time, he forces himself to ignore his own desires.

He can’t do that to her. Not like this.

Instead of taking her, he gently pries her hands away, pulling the blanket back over her.

"No, Nyra. Not like this."

She pouts, tears slipping down her cheeks.

"I know, I know... because I can never be Anna, right?"

Oh, God.

The guilt Adrian feels in that moment is immeasurable. He’s been such a jerk to her for absolutely no reason.

Adrian brushes the damp hair from her forehead, glancing back at the door to make sure they are alone.

"You will not remember this tomorrow..." He leans closer. "...but let me tell you a secret."

"I’ve not stopped thinking about that day we spent together. That was... you are the best I’ve ever had." He smiles to himself, running a hand through her hair. "And knowing I was the first? I mean, that’s..."

He cuts himself off.

"To be honest, I don’t know if it’s the bond or something else, but I haven’t been able to get it out of my head."

Nyra’s glassy eyes meet his.

"Really?"

"Yeah," he admits truthfully, his throat tight. "I want nothing more than to have you again. To touch you, to feel you. But you’re drugged right now."

He thumbs her tears away.

"And you’re still upset with me. You probably won’t even remember any of this tomorrow, but I can’t take advantage of you like that. So don’t think it’s because I don’t want you, okay?"

She doesn’t respond because she’s already passed out, her breathing slowly evening out.

His wolf stirs beneath his skin, still angry and restless, clearly not satisfied. He can’t believe those guys dared to put their dirty hands on her. On what is his.

And how didn’t he even notice something was wrong? Why didn’t she signal him through their bond?

Was she that mad at him?

Adrian exhales heavily, exhausted and weighed down. He has a lot of atoning to do, a lot to apologize for, and he has no idea where to even fucking start.

He looks down at his blood-covered hands.

Okay, now he knows where to fucking start.

Because whoever did this...

He would make them wish they’d never been born.