My Rare

ULRIC KNIGHT

The silence inside my parents' house is suffocating.

I sit hunched on the edge of the couch, elbows resting on my knees, the weight in my chest pressing heavier with every second. The fire crackles faintly in the hearth, but it does nothing to chase the cold wrapped around my bones.

She's not here.

She was in my arms this morning, breathing into my neck, her fingers warm against my skin. Now there's only the echo of her voice.

My mom moves softly through the living room, not saying much. She's always known how to hold silence in the right way, not to fill it, not to fix it, just to be there.

She sets a mug of tea on the table in front of me. She doesn't expect me to drink it.

She brushes her hand across my shoulder and gives me a light hug then moves to sit beside my dad, who's across from me, watching quietly. His arms are folded, his face full of concern. I haven't seen my father this serious since he was the Alpha.

"She'll come back to you, honey." my mom says finally, her voice soft but sure.

I close my eyes. The bond inside me burns with absence. My mark on her should ground me, but instead, all it does is remind me that she's not here. It's like reaching for her and grabbing nothing but air.

"She didn't just vanish," I murmur. "Someone took her. From right under me."

"You didn't leave her unguarded," my father says calmly. "you were with her the whole time, you left for only a moment, it's not your fault."

I open my eyes and look at him. "yes, it is."

I see his face scrunch up in concern for me but he doesn't say anything more.

Arius gas been quiet ever since I got here, but I can feel his wrath surrounding my being.

A second later, the sound of the door opening breaks the dreadful silence.

Hayden steps in, his boots carrying the road dust with them. His clothes are the same as when I last saw him. No sleep. No pause. His face is drawn, sharp lines under the eyes, jaw tight.

He nods toward my parents. Then looks at me. "We've gone over the town again. Every street. Every inch of the territory. We sent scouts across the forest lines. We have no trace of Aelia."

Something in me tenses.He doesn't realize it yet, but he's just pulled a wire too tight.

"She's not just Aelia," my voice coming out snarly, eyes fixed on him. "She's your Luna."

Hayden stiffens. "Of course–I didn't mean any disrespe–"

I stand slowly, cutting him off with just the weight of my movement. "Then say it like it matters."

Hayden lowers his head ,"My mistake," he murmurs after a beat and looks up, "Our Luna."

The silence that follows doesn't ease anything. I look away, jaw ticking.

"Sorry," I mutter. "Didn't mean to snap."

"I'd have lost it too," he replies. "If it were my mate out there, I'd be burning the forest down already."

The tightness in my chest doesn't ease but I nod once. "Thank you."

He steps forward, gaze steady. "I know this is…" He hesitates. "I know this is tearing you apart. I can feel it in the way your aura's shifted. But we're going to find her, Ulric. We will...and I'm not saying this as your Beta but as your best friend."

I stand slowly, dragging a hand through my hair, the weight pressing harder now that I'm upright. "Send men to the outer towns. The small ones too, border villages, old settlements. If there's a single trace, I want to know about it."

"We've already started on that," Hayden says. "But I'll triple the force. And I'll lead the southern sweep myself."

"Good."

I drag in a breath through my nose and move toward the window. The light outside is fading, dulled behind heavy clouds. The sky is bruised like it knows something is missing from it too.

My hand rests against the frame feeling cold and still. The last place she stood is burned into my mind.

Her laughter.

The sound of her breath against my neck.

Her smile when she looked at the water.

And then...nothing. "Ulric!"

"I keep replaying it," I say after a moment. "Every second. Every sound. If I hadn't walked away to the car. If I had just...stayed."

"Ulric," my mom calls out gently. "You're not a god, Ulric. You're a man. A strong one. But not all-knowing. This isn't on you."

"But it is," I say, barely above a whisper. "Because I'm the one who's supposed to protect her. I'm the one who marked her. And now, she's out there somewhere.....and I wasn't fast enough."

The words settle heavily into the room.

My dad speaks this time. "Then make sure whoever took her gets what they deserve."

I nod once, not trusting my voice.

Arius rises again, a low growl slipping through me, threaded with grief and fury. My skin feels too tight for the rage coiled underneath.

I close my eyes and I make a promise.

"I will find her," I murmur. "Even if I have to tear through every corner of this land. I will not stop." Not until she's back in my arms again, safe and sound.

Hayden watches me from across the room, his jaw set. "None of us will."

"And when I do…" My voice is lower now. "Whoever took her will regret the moment they even thought of touching what's mine."

My fingers curl into fists. "They won't get the mercy of a clean death."

Arius growls low in agreement.

"They will know exactly what it means to steal a Luna from her Alpha."

And they will never forget it.

❦︎ To Be Continued ❦︎