Chapter 183 Your Fault


    Chapter 183 Your Fault


    ROWAN


    Where <b>is </b>she?


    She was nowhere to be found.


    O


    O


    0


    s


    I scoured every corner I could think of, but all I saw were walls and silence. The emptiness echoed louder than any scream could. My pulse hammered at the same question over and over, one that had no answer.


    Where was Tessa?


    I stood in Cade and Arden’s apartment, my fists pressed against my ‘thighs, my throat too tight to swallow. Arden’s sobs broke through the air over and over again. She sat pressed against Cade, tears streaking her cheeks in steady streams that she didn’t bother wiping away.


    I felt numb.


    If Arden knew, if she had even the faintest clue where Tessa might be, she wouldn’t be crying like this. She wouldn’t be trembling against Cade’s chest with that kind of grief.


    Cade’s arms tightened around her shoulders, pulling her closer, his hand smoothing over her back in steady strokes. His lips. were pressed tight. I looked at him, at the way he held her, the way his entire focus was her and her alone.


    That was how you should treasure a mate.


    Cade didn’t need to say anything–his silence was enough.


    Cade nced up at me then, his brows knit. “Do you want me to organize a search for her?”


    For a moment, my tongue pressed against the roof of my mouth, and no sound came out.


    I bit my lip hard after. I couldn’t ask that of him.


    I shook my head slowly.


    “I’ll figure it out,” I muttered.


    The words were brittle against the sound of Arden’s weeping. Cade studied me for a long second, but he didn’t push. He then turned back to Arden, his focus narrowing once more to her trembling frame.


    I turned away.


    Her cries followed me out the door, echoing down the hall even as <b>I </b>shut it behind me.


    She wasn’t anywhere.


    Not in her sses, not in her dorms. Her bed was neatly made–like no one had touched it in days. My fellow South members shook their heads when I asked, their eyes darting with confusion, but none with answers. Not a single one of them knew where she was.


    Every “no” I heard was another stone on my chest, pulling me down deeper, heavier, until even breathing felt like work. Finally, with nowhere left to turn, <b>I </b>went to Zaria.


    Her dorm smelled strongly of perfume, and when she opened the door, she looked at me with bright eyes.


    “Tessa’s gone?” she eximed when the words left my mouth. Her eyes widened, but only for a second. Then, <b>as </b>quickly as they’d red, they dulled.


    She shook her head with a scoff, her arms folding over her chest. “She’s probably going toe <b>back</b><b>. </b>She does this for attention.”


    4:34 PM P P


    Chapter 183 Your Fault


    The way she said it struck me harder than I had expected.


    0


    <b>+5 </b>Free Coins


    I looked at her and studied her. She was leaning against the doorframe, unbothered. Her eyes were sharp but not with worry. At that moment, my heart squeezed.


    If her sister couldn’t even care enough to know where she was, what did that say about Tessa’s world?


    I clicked my tongue, cutting through the silence.


    “I see that you don’t care about her at all,” I muttered, bitter at the edges.


    Her eyes widened, shock shing across her face. “What?”


    All I could think about was every moment Tessa tried tough off her pain, every time she’d hidden her trembling hands, every look in her eyes that screamed that she was alone, even when she was surrounded by people.


    Had everything I thought I knew about her family been a lie?


    I shook my head, the answer sour on my tongue, and turned to leave.


    “Wait, Rowan!” she eximed, her hand shooting out to grip my arm.


    But I brushed her away.


    I had searched everywhere. Each dead end only tightened the knot in my chest, each empty shadowed path only made my wolf restless, wing inside me, pacing, and demanding–Find her. Now.


    But where? Where could she have gone when she was hurting?


    My feet moved without thought, carrying me to my cafe. The aroma of roasted beans lingered in the air as I pushed the door open, and the bell above gave its soft chime. Francis looked up from behind the counter. He had been working here from time to time, wanting <i>to </i>help me out.


    “You look like shit,” he said as soon as he saw me.


    My brows furrowed deeper, but I didn’t answer.


    Instead, I walked to the counter, grabbed the first mug I could find, and poured myself a coffee from the pot. I didn’t even care if it had been sitting there for hours. I brought it to my lips and drowned it in a single go like it was whiskey.


    Francis‘ eyes widened “Damn, Rowan. That’s eight espresso shots,” he said,


    I pursed my lips. I knew one person in this cafe who liked his coffee this strong. That was when the memory of yesterday hit. <ol><li>me. </li></ol>


    When I had gone to the Hades‘ dorm, Maisey told me that Tessa hadn’te home in days, but someone came in to collect her items. She hadn’t said who, iming not to know his name. However, standing here now, with the bitterness of the strong coffee still on my tongue, I knew the answer.


    I mmed the mug onto the counter and turned, storming toward the kitchen.


    I saw him there instantly. His narrow shoulders faced me as he busied himself with something at the counter.


    I walked up and grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around. His eyes snapped to mine, and he red.


    “What?”


    I stared at him, trying to pierce past that mask of indifference. My instincts screamed at me with an answer I already knew but didn’t want to ept.


    “You… you know where Tessa is, right?”


    Owen’s brow arched.


    “She’s probably in her dorm,” he said simply.


    <b>4:34 </b>PM P P ?


    Chapter 183 Your Fault


    0


    s


    “She’s not,” I snapped, my wolf rumbling beneath my skin. My fists clenched, nails digging into my palms. “Don’t y games with me. You collected her things.”


    For a moment, there was silence. Then Owen closed his eyes.


    “She was in the hospital,” he said.


    My heart froze.


    Hospital.


    My mate. Was she–was she hurt?


    “H–Hospital?” The word scraped out of me.


    Owen scoffed, shaking his head. “She asked me to get her some things, and when I came back…” His jaw tightened as his eyes cut into me. “She wasn’t there anymore.”


    My vision tunneled. She had been in the hospital. She had needed help. She had been sick–and I hadn’t known. I hadn’t been there. Again.


    “What happened to her?” I demanded.


    “Now you’re curious?” Owen barked. His eyes red as he red at me. “Now you care?”


    My hands curled into fists, but the guilt in my gut was heavier than any anger.


    “She was sick,” he spat, “and stressed. Because of you.”


    My wolf whimpered inside, retreating and ashamed.


    Owen took a step closer, his eyes locking with mine. They were unyielding.


    “I wouldn’t be surprised,” he said coldly, “if she left because of you, too.”