Light trickled in through the windows of Quinn's room as the sun rose slowly in the sky.

Ellie knocked on her daughters door "Quinn, are you in there sweetheart?"

No response.

Huh that's strange, she said to herself before opening the door and walking in.

Empty.

Maybe she's with Alivia she reassured herself before walking back out. She made her way back to the pack house to help finish setting up for breakfast.

Once everything was finished, Ellie made a couple of plates and headed back home in hopes her daughter had returned.

"Quinn" she called out. "Quinn! Are you home?"

Silence.

Ellie tried to mind-link her daughter but to no avail. She couldn't get through to her.

'Alivia, are you awake?'

'Yeah, Im up' Alivia replied through the mind-link, a little groggy from the party the night before.

'Is Quinn with you?'

'No. Christopher said he saw her going home last night. She should be there' Alivia responded with worry.

'She isn't here Alivia' said Ellie, panic starting to overcome her.

'Don't go anywhere, I'm coming over right now!'

Alivia scrambled out of bed almost falling over as she tried to put her yoga pants on.

"Ruben, wake up" she yelled.

"It's too early..." he said putting his arm over is eyes. He heard Alivia scrambling to get dressed and lifted his arm, opening one eyes. "What is it?" Ruben said groggily.

"Quinn never made it home last night. I'm going to her house, I'll see you later" she kissed him on the cheek and started out the door.

"Keep me updated," he said suddenly awake "and let me know if I can help!"

Alivia burst through the door of Ellie's home. "I'm here! Where do you want to start?"

"Her room," Ellie said. "But it doesn't even look like she made it home last night"

"Let's just see if there's anything we can find in there," Alivia said making her way up the stairs.

Alivia rushed inside, looking through every door in Quinn's room with no sign of her. She noticed her closet had been almost emptied out. So have her drawers, she thought, opening and closing them all.

She walked over to her vanity and notice an envelope. "Ms. Oliver! Could you come here?" She shouted.

"What is it?" said Ellie running into the room.

"She's gone" said Alivia with tears in her eyes. "She left early for culinary school. She says that Alpha Charles approved the trip. Did you know about this?" Alivia asked exasperated turning to Ellie with a look of confusion on her face.

"No!" Exclaimed Ellie taking the letter from Alivia's hands and scanning over it. "I had no idea. She wasn't supposed to be leaving for another month."

"Why would she leave without saying anything?" Ellie asked.

"I don't know.." whispered Alivia when there was a sudden knock at the door.

"Hello? Ms. Oliver? Is anyone home?" Asked Christopher from downstairs.

"Up here, Christopher!" Shouted Alivia "We're in Quinn's room."

"Sorry for letting myself in, the door was open" Christopher said pointing behind him. "Where's Quinn? I need to talk to her."

"She isn't here" said Ellie, tears forming in her eyes.

"What do you mean she isn't here?" Asked Christopher slightly taken aback.

"She's gone.. left last night, apparently." Said Alivia, her voice cracking.

"Gone?" yelled Christopher, "gone where?! Where the hell has she gone?!"

"According to the letter she left, she's gone to culinary school. It was approved by Alpha Charles."

"Why did no one say anything?!" He exclaimed trying to calm his wolf.

"No one knew" said Alivia lowering her eyes to the ground at his outburst. "She didn't tell anyone she was leaving. She wasn't supposed to leave for another month."

"I, I... have to go" said Christopher running out of the house, grabbing onto the railing as he practically tripped down the stairs. As soon as he made it outside, he shifted into his wolf, paying no mind to his clothes at all.

Why did she leave without saying anything? His wolf let out a loud growl at the thought of his mate leaving. I should have gone to her last night. I should have told her how I felt, another growl escaping. She'll be back eventually and we'll be waiting for her. There nothing else we can do.

*********************************************

Quinn stared out the window of the plane, marveling at the fluffy white clouds and smallness of the world below her.

I hope they aren't too mad at me she thought. I'll call them when I land. Right now, I have to try and get some sleep.

For a while she struggled with her thoughts. Her wolf was upset that we left without telling their mate, without telling anyone. Quinn couldn't get the wolf inside of her to settle, haunting by the flurry of feeling the animal was projecting on her human. Finally, she decided to push her beast way back into the recesses of her mind so that she could finally drift to sleep.

She was startled awake by the man talking over the intercom. Before she knew it, the plane landed and they were ready to disembark.

As soon as she got off the plane and collected her luggage, she had the attendant outside call her a cab. She found a cheap hotel near campus, deciding she'd worry about more permanent accommodations tomorrow.

After settling in she found the courage to turn on her phone. The messages came pouring in... it seemed everyone was trying to get a hold of her.

Quinn read through the text and cleared all the voicemails and missed calls. She was disappointed by the sudden realization of who hadn't attempted to contact her at all. His name was absent from the list of people searching for her.

I guess I was right about him Quinn thought. Pangs of pain flowing from her stomach to her throat.

She sighed, trying to shake off the disappointment and deciding it was best to give her mother a call. Even with the note, Quinn knew her mother would be worried. They've never been away from each other before.

"Mom.."

"Quinn! Baby.. I'm so glad you called. Are you okay?!"

"Yeah, mom, I'm fine. Listen, I'm sorry for not telling you I was leaving. I.."

"Baby, we can talk about that some other time. Right now all that matters is that you're alright. We were so worried.."

"I know mom, I'm so sorry," Quinn said as tears formed in her eyes. "Mom, I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Of course Baby, get some rest. I love you" said Ellie chocking back a sob.

"I love you too. Bye mom."

Quinn stared at the phone trying to decide if texting Alivia was the right idea. Ugh. She decided she had to. She couldn't go any longer without talking to her best friend.

'Alivia.. how mad are you at me?' She typed on her phone, hesitating before hitting send.

'Livid.' Responded Alivia. 'You could have told me. I wouldn't have said a word'

'Would you not have pestered me into staying to look for my mate had I told you?' Asked Quinn.

'THAT ISNT EVEN CLOSE TO THE POINT, I'M YOUR BEST FRIEND!'

'But I'm right, aren't I? I couldn't have told you. I needed to leave'

'Okay...' responded Alivia 'you're right. But, I'm still mad'

'lol fine but I really am sorry...'

'It's okay. I'll just be counting down the days until you're back home lol'

'How are things? I know I've only been gone a day but I hope everyone isn't too upset '

'Everything is fine.. Chris came looking for you this morning. He seemed pretty upset when he found out you left... Any idea what that was about?'

'Uh, no...' Quinn lied 'no clue what he could want. How is he?'

'He seemed a little upset by your disappearance. I haven't seen him since though.' 'He's probably getting ready to look for his mate since he didn't find her at the party'

He didn't tell anyone, Quinn thought feeling disappointment once again. I can't blame him, I'd be ashamed to have me as a mate too.

'I'm going to bed, ttyl?'

'Yeah' said Alivia 'text me when you're up'

'K, love you. Bye!'

'Love you too. Bye Quinny.'

After getting the hard part over with, Quinn felt she finally had the courage to open the gift Christopher had given her that night. There were a couple of things in the box. The first thing she noticed was a hand written cook book. It was old, but seemed to be full of amazing traditional recipes.

She was so enthralled with the book that she almost missed the other gift. It was carefully wrapped in delicate red tissue paper and placed in the bottom corner of the box.

Quinn's jaw dropped when she unwrapped the paper and saw what was inside. It was a lovely pear shaped moonstone with a delicate gold band. My birthstone, she whispered to herself. Quinn had never received such a thoughtful gift from anyone other than her mother and Alivia. She slipped it on her ring finger, set the book on the nightstand and laid down in the hotel bed. I'm never taking it off she told herself, admiring it as she drifted off to sleep.