Moonstruck ✔️

chapter 26

Dominic Sullivan

I grasped my hair in frustration. My desk was over-piled with stacks upon stacks of paperwork. Regarding the pack, finances, whatever else that was buried beneath the countless piles of paper. I was tired. I hadn't slept in a good two days. The most I managed was two hours composed of several mini naps.

I didn't even know what was bothering me so much, my subconscious was just wide awake worrying about every little situation. Bugging me about every little thing that needed to be done or was overdue. That's how I ended up in my office. I had barely left this room, this chair even. Unless it was to grab food or an energy drink.

I sipped on my Monster can, continuing to read through papers and sign my name where it needed to be signed. The energy drinks helped for a while, well, the first day. Now it barely did anything except fill my bladder.

I missed Shay. I missed my bed. I missed fresh air. I missed sleep. I didn't have any motivation to keep going anymore. My eyes wouldn't focus properly anymore, my hands had blisters from holding the pen and no one came up to see me (specifically because I told them not to talk to me until I finished.) But it got lonely in here. It was too quiet.

The loudest thing in the room was the clock on the wall behind me which I wanted to smash against a wall. The constant ticking drove me mad.

I lowered my head onto the wooden desk, taking off my reading glass and rubbing my sore eyes. I rested my head against my folded arms and let some much-needed sleep take over.

* * * * *

I jumped awake as the door to my office burst open. I squinted my eyes to adjust to the bright room. It was now dark outside, finally, I managed to get a few hours of sleep in me.

"What do you want," I grumbled tiredly at Jake. "I thought I told everyone to leave me alone until I finished everything I'm not-"

"Shay's missing," he panted in a panicked tone.

I froze in my seat.

"The fuck do you mean 'he's missing'?" I frowned. "He went out with Trin to the town outside the woods-"

"No, he's proper missing!" Jake exclaimed. "No one's seen them return, both Trin and Shay are gone. Dom, it's eleven at night - there's no way in hell they're still out shopping. Every shop is closed by now."

"They're both not home?" I panicked.

"No!"

"When did they leave?" I stood up, grabbed my coat and headed out of the house with Jake right by my house. "How long have they been gone?"

"Since four," he panted. "Do you think this has something to do with the attacks?"

"Fucking hope not," I snarled. "Is Owen still here?"

"Yes," Jake nodded.

"Good, grab him and gather a search party," I ordered. "I don't want him out of our sight until we know for sure who did this. I'm going ahead to see what I can find first, we'll meet up later."

He nodded, hurrying away. I wasted no time in shifting and running through the woods and past our pack border. My paws dug through the dirt as I went as fast as possible, sniffing out the remnants of Trin and Shay's scent that led through the woods. It was facing away, mixing with the rest of the forest and soon, it would completely disappear.

I pushed on, swerving between trees with the wind rushing through my dark fur. When I eventually arrived outside the town, I shifted back and exited the woods. I hurried over to the small, empty town, still able to smell Shay and Trinity's scent ever so slightly. It was difficult to distinguish, it was mixing in with the strong scents already present in the town. The pollution in the air from all the cars, the smell of fast-food grease and the disgusting waste spilling out from the bins.

I followed the faint scent of my mate and sister. It lead me to a couple different places but none of them particularly stood out to me until I reached the parking lot. This must've been the last place they were since I couldn't smell them from here on out.

My eyes scanned the parking lot, just barely noticing the red splatters spilt on the floor beside one of the cars nearby. I kneeled beside it, touching and sniffing what the unfamiliar liquid was.

I sniffed it. Blood. Dried blood. This wasn't recent, so whatever happened must've happened hours ago. The splatters continue to one of the parking spaces until it stops, making it seem as though it stopped because they got into a car.

I couldn't identify whether the blood was Trin's, Shay's or a mix of both but my gut told me it was definitely theirs.

My phone pinged, showing a video attachment from an unknown number. My heart skipped a beat as I saw who was in the thumbnail.

Shay.