We've only been driving for a few hours when the weather slows. The snow storm has calmed, winding down to a soft flurry rather than a gusty downpour. I sit impatiently in the front seat, ready to find my mate. It's pitch black outside, night descending quickly.

I don't doubt that Opal is capable. She's strong, and she's smart. She undoubtedly knows how to take care of herself on the journey down to Colorado. I just have a bad feeling deep in my gut as I stare out the window at the misty mountain scapes. It's like my intuition is trying to tell me that there's something more going on, something that I don't know about.

Glancing at Ace, I decide to shrug it off for now. I should be putting all my energy into finding Opal instead of worrying about unknowns. There's no way to find out everything until I find her, or grill her Dad. I decide on the latter for now, because it will get me some answers sooner.

"So, how was Opal doing before, you know.." I trail off as Ace turns his full attention on me. He stares at me with too much scrutiny for me to feel comfortable.

I clear my throat, not knowing where to look.

"What, before she ran off in search of your sorry ass?" He questions, throwing his head back in the direction of the road and shaking his head. "I don't know what to tell you, kid. She was quiet, reserved. She still talked about you on occasion, and I knew she missed you. I just... I never thought she would do something this drastic."

I detect the pain and frustration in Ace's voice, it's an intimate side to him I've never seen before. He's typically joking and laughing so much you can't see what's on the inside.

Obviously, I don't point this out. I want to get as much as I can before his wall goes back up.

"Did you notice any changes or anything with her? Before she left?" I dig, and Ace's knuckles turn white as he clutches the steering wheel.

He's gone so quiet that I don't even detect his breathing. The only noise in the Suburban is the windshield wipers fighting the snowflakes.

"She tried to pretend that she was alright, but I knew it was bull. She just seemed to be doing better when she disappeared. I was patrolling the borders when I got the call that Opal ran away. Rain went to her parents and told them, but she passed out before she got through the whole thing. She started her shift mid sentence."

I lean forward, Ace grabbing my attention with both hands.

"What did she say?"

"She said that Opal was leaving to find you, that you two are mates, and something about finding you before it was too late."

I feel my eyebrows climb my face, my forehead furrowing.

"Too late? What did she mean by that?"

Ace clears his throat.

"I have a theory. I'm just hoping I'm wrong. Goddess, I pray that I'm wrong. Could it happen this fast?"

My heart sinks.

"What? What is it?"

Ace shakes his head, clenches his jaw, holding the wheel with a steel grip.

"Mates are a delicate business. I don't know a whole lot about it, because it's rare, but when mates meet and go a long time without marking each other, bad things can happen."

I sputter, not knowing what to say. Why didn't they teach these things to us? Why am I only just now hearing about this?

"But... why? How do you? What bad things?" I struggle to even form a coherent sentence.

Why would the Moon Goddess do something like that?

"As I said, I don't know much. It's not common. Lycans don't reject their mates. The pull is so strong that even those who don't want it eventually give in. Ezra for example. That cocky son of a bitch thought he could defy nature itself, but he couldn't."

The story of Kelpto and Ezra is one that's commonly known around the pack. Ezra was an ass, but he changed his ways for his mate.

But something still doesn't make sense.

"So why would no one tell us about what happens when you don't mark each other?" I press, anxiety curling around my heart.

"Because it's rare, and it takes years before that even becomes a problem." Ace explains.

I clench my teeth, helplessness leaking into my bloodstream and pumping into my ears.

"And what exactly is that?"

"Death. Destruction. Bad things."

My mind starts to slip into a dark place, my brains syncing into a black out of despair. I never knew the bond was so destructive. So unforgiving.

"It won't come to that. We'll find her in time. Trust me." The confidence in his words is not there. I don't trust him. He may be my mate's dad, but he can't comfort me right now. No one can. Besides Opal.

The only thing I want right now is to see her and make sure she's ok. It's been so long since I've laid eyes on her. The last time I saw her was in the hospital after her fall. Her fall that was my fault. Everything bad to happen to her is my fault. She came after me, she could die because of our bond not being consummated.

And I can't even get more information on this whole thing. Not even Ace knows enough about it. It's beyond frustrating. It's downright terrifying.

My breath shortens as we pull into a tiny town. The fury climbing my arms and legs resonates in my lungs, throbbing inside my heart. I haven't had an attack like this since I was back at camp, and being in a cramped car seat isn't helping me at all.

I grapple for the door, rolling down the window. As soon as the glass patrician is down, snowflakes gust into the cab. Ace curses loudly.

"What are you doing? Freak show." He throws at me like I'm crazy, but my head is already out the window, gasping for fresh air, no matter how cold it is.

The heat doesn't subside. The urge to punch something, to crush, to hurt, it's overwhelming. I squeeze my eyes shut, melting snow sticking to my eyelashes.

"Can you pull over? I need a minute." It's more of a demand than a request.

"You need a whole lot more than that, but yeah. I need to get gas anyway. Hold on." He pulls off the road, driving into the closest gas station and parking. Before the car stops, I'm already out, stumbling across the parking lot.

When I get far enough away, I lean against a lamp post, trying to catch my breath and failing miserably. The noises of the little pit stop town annoy me. Trucks and humans thinking they own the earth. It makes me sick.

I picture Opal in my mind, perfectly remembering her intelligent eyes doused in blue, her short, soft hair. Her smile. Her shy voice. Her nose buried in a book, sitting under a cedar tree in the woods.

Air rushes into my lungs, a relief after the struggle. The anger fades away. I know the worst is over. My body and my mind are my own once again.

"Need some help?" The unrecognizable voice is too close to me, and I turn my head to cuss out the human who dared get close to me.

Only, it's not a human.

The faerie stares at me with a grin, looking all too pleased with himself. His dark eyes glimmer in the snow, and for some reason I feel like I've seen him somewhere before.

The sight of him shocks me, and I automatically move backwards, my back touching the lamppost.

"Who are you?" I murmur, completely entranced by a species I've never seen, but heard so much about. A creature unknown.

The sharp features and pointed ears are a dead give away, but the aura is unexpected. He's powerful, not suffocatingly, but I can feel his strength in the air.

His hands are in the pockets of his jeans, he appears so unbothered that I feel defensive.

"That's a good question with a long explanation." He sighs, his smile faltering. He glances over his shoulder. I follow his gaze. Ace is inside the gas station, likely buying too many snacks for the road trip. "Like I asked. Do you need help?"

I straighten.

"I don't know. Do I?"

"I think so. If you're looking for that little werewolf girl, you'll need my assistance."

Those were the last words I was expecting.

I'm on him in a second, grabbing his shirt collar and staring into his eyes.

"Where is she? You've seen her? Who the hell are you?" I growl, getting in his face and wanting nothing more than to cut his throat open. I don't know much about faeries. All I need to know is how to kill one.

"Keifer! Dude!" Ace is there in a moment, without notice. He attempts to pull me away, but I hold tighter to the fae.

"He knows where Opal is." The stranger narrows his eyes while Ace lets go.

"What?"

"I know the general area, yes." He admits, mirth in his voice. "I followed her out of sheer curiosity, once I saw her leave the pack. She stopped at this exact gas station in fact."

I resist the cutting urge to wrap my hand around his neck and squeeze until his eyes pop out.

"Who are you?" Ace presses, and the faerie's smile falls away, it seems that he's finally feeling serious enough to answer the question that we need to know. One simple sentence could ease my deadly curiosity.

"I won't tell you my fae name, but my human name is Beau. Beau Stringfellow."

"Holy Shit." Ace whispers, and I glance at him in confusion, a burning sensation of foreboding in my gut that tells me something isn't right.

Beau, or whatever his name is clears his throat. When I stare back at him, he looks me right in the eyes, his shining, bright confidence completely gone.

"I'm Hendrix's Father."

His admission has my world crumbling. I stumble back, not knowing what to believe. Is this even possible? I watch the Faerie with a new gaze. His familiar face, his dark eyes and hair, sure enough he looks like a male version of my adoptive Mother.

I don't know many details about the past when it comes to my Mom's Father, but I know he abandoned her and his Wife when Mom was little. It's something only an asswipe would do. It was a forbidden topic when I was growing up. It traumatized Mom, changed her life for the worse.

I don't know how to respond to this new found information. I stand steps away from this man who I should be closely connected to, yet is a stranger to me.

How is he a faerie? Where has he been? Why is he only showing up now? They're all questions that flit around my mind endlessly. I don't know which one to ask first.

Ace claps me on the shoulder, sighing in resignation.

"Maybe we should take this elsewhere. The humans are watching." I glance around at Ace's comment, seeing a few mortals eyeing us cautiously. Whether they know it or not, they can sense the unease and power of an angry lycan. They detect imminent danger.

"You're right. But you," I turn to Beau. "You're coming with us. And, you're going to tell us everything."

He nods, a smirk growing on his face.

"All right, it's the least I can do after all."

"No kidding."

"So, you've been spying on the pack for how long?" Ace presses, sipping a coffee as the waitress walks away. I can't help glaring. We're stuck in a human diner, it's not crowded thankfully, but I can't say the same for the booth that my shoulders are squeezed into.

"Ever since Hendrix moved into the pack. I've always watched out for my daughter, from afar that is. I haven't felt the need to intervene until now. I've tried to convince Cedric to let me see Hendrix, since she now knows of the supernatural world, but he's denied me any visitation with her." He shrugs, picking up a french fry and eyeing it like it's a slimy worm before tossing it down.

I narrow my eyes at him, leaning forward and pushing Ace aside in the process.

"You're saying my dad knows about you? You finding your mate, you leaving my mom to become a Faerie? You stalking her?" I wonder, completely full of doubt.

"Correct. I'm hoping now that I have a chance to help, I can get myself in his good graces." He responds, his face becoming serious as his posture stiffens. "I want to see my daughter again. And if you promise me that much, then my son and I will help you find your mate, you have my word."

"A son? You didn't mention that." I say in rebuttal. My mom has a brother. This is all a lot to take in.

Ace swears under his breath as Beau nods.

"He was born only a few years after I left my human family."

"You mean abandoned?" I ask, cocking my head. I don't plan on letting that slide.

"You know what having a mate is like, but you don't know about Faeries. I can't simply leave the Fae realm for the human one. Fae are tied to our home. Once I became a faerie, I couldn't come back to Earth for months. By then, hurricane katrina had already hit. There was nothing I could do." He hangs his head, actual guilt leaking into his words.

It's hard to believe his emotions, but somehow I do. We also need him. I need Opal, so I need him too. He's the only one who knows where she is. I don't care about his explanations right now, I just want my mate.

"You have a deal, just tell me where she is." I demand, clenching my fists and wishing I could break something. The image of Opal in my head has me hopeful and full of fury. Ace shifts beside me, tapping his fingers restlessly on the table top.

"I don't know about this. Alpha Veiler won't be very happy. If he didnt want you on the pack grounds before, I don't think he will now." He relents, eyeing me and switching his green eyes back to Beau. The Faerie looks bored and uninterested in the situation at hand, even after practically begging for our help to see his daughter.

I narrow my eyes at him before turning to Ace, frustration broiling under the surface of my seemingly calm exterior.

"I don't care at this point. Opal is more important to me than how my Dad feels. I'm sorry if that upsets you, but she's your daughter. You need to be just as determined to find her as I am." I rant, throwing my hand around and trying to keep the darkness within me under control. It's becoming increasingly difficult to stop the burning desire for destruction catching fire within me.

Ace opens his mouth to respond, when suddenly the human waitress is back, refilling his plain white coffee mug with the dark liquid that mortals seem to live off of. The sound of the drink filling the cup drones on forever as Beau and Ace stare at her expectantly. Our conversation relies on her leaving.

Right as the woman finishes her task, she immediately turns to Ace and I with a smile. She is obviously feeling flirtatious as her hip juts out at a painful looking angle, putting her hand on her waist.

"Are you sure there's nothing I can get for you boys?" She wonders, and I cringe.

Growing up with my mate, I've never found another female attractive. The thought of being with anyone else is disgusting to me.

"We're alright. We won't be here much longer." Ace is quick to respond, and usually he would reciprocate the attention, but he doesn't so much as wink at the girl. As soon as the human saunters away with the coffee pot in hand, Ace growls low in his throat.

"I would do anything to save my daughter. I'm in. But someone needs to call your Dad to let him know." He insists, seeming eager to get to Opal, just like me.

I shake my head, standing from the cramped booth.

"He's already pissed enough at me. I say it's your call to make."

Ace's eyebrows slant in disapproval, and I feel like there's an argument on that to come later.

"Where to Faerie?"

A grin splits Beau's face, and he takes a long sip of his coffee before responding.

"Boys, we're going to Yellowstone."

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If you're reading this, you are brave :)

Hello again!! 3 Chapters today!! Read on my lovely people ❤️❤️