An Omega's Desire

Chapter Thirty-Six: "Emotional Defeat"

Sean called Mark and within minutes, the Pack's best Alphas and Betas searched the area. They left nothing unturned and took pictures of everything. Even as the rain started and increased steadily into a downpour. It was like Zedekiah had planned this around the weather to cover whatever tracks and scent remained. Sean stood hugging himself in the middle of the road among the flashing lights of the cop cars. As distressed and broken as he was, he could only imagine how his dad felt. His dad kept trying to help, but the patrols kept pushing him away. While his dad looked collected on the outside, Sean could see the fear and pain behind his eyes. His hopes of finding her were disappearing as fast as the rain fell. Sean felt so numb, even as his tears mixed with the rain. He couldn't hear anything. Everything felt so distant. It didn't feel real. It was like a nightmare that he just couldn't wake up from. After hours of searching, the head Patrolmen approached his dad. Everyone was soaked to the bone and exhausted. Some were even covered in mud like they'd dug things up with their bare hands. His dad hugged himself, backing up from the Patrolmen and shaking his head. They were giving up the search.

The Patrolmen reached out to calm his dad, but his dad finally broke. Shoving the Patrolmen, he tried to run off into the wood line. Only to be grabbed by a Beta that was exiting the woods. The Beta lifted his dad off the ground and his dad yelled something, but Sean couldn't hear it. His heart was sinking to the ground. The Patrolmen rushed over to help contain his dad, but it took three of them to restrain him. Sean dropped to his knees as his legs gave out. Tears ran down his face and he found it hard to breathe. Any pain he had suffered in his life was nothing compared to this. The fear of the unknown. The pain of regret. Could he have stopped it? Why didn't he stop her? Why didn't he go with her? He felt shattered to his core. An officer moved over to him to put a hand on his shoulder, but nothing helped. No touch or kind words could fix this. Tia cried and yelled at the Patrolmen, she was just as distraught that they had to stop looking. Just like them... Her puppy was lost to an unknown fate. When Peter arrived, he took Tia into his arms. Both of them sinking to their knees in the road to cry. Tia's mate eventually picked her up to take her home and out of the rain.

Yet, for him and his dad, going home was not a relief. There was no Alpha or Beta to help them feel safe. To give them hope or make them feel like things would be alright. Mark's mother arrived to try and help. Being the Luna, it was her job to look after the Omegas in situations like this. However, there was nothing she could do to settle his dad. His dad's eyes became wolfed out as he yelled and screamed at everyone around him for giving up. Then when they tried to drag him away from the woods, he bit the Alpha holding him and flipped a Beta on his ass that tried to stop him. He took off toward the woods, almost making it this time before a Alpha shot him with a tranquilizer. Sean got to his feet, snarling loudly with the thunder overhead. He didn't want anyone hurting him! Mark's dad rushing in to grab Sean as he took off toward the Patrolmen that shot his dad. Sean thrashed and jerked in Cliff's arms. He snarled, snapped, and clawed like a wild animal as Cliff tried to restrain him. He managed to twist and sink his teeth into Cliff's arm, causing Cliff to yelp. Cliff grabbed the back of his neck, his nails piercing into his skin in anger to try removing him. Until in the blurry mess of rain, Mark came running over to yell something at his dad.

The sight of Mark made Sean's bite lessen. Cliff shoved him off and Mark caught him before he hit the pavement. Dropping to his knees with him, Mark wrapped him in his arms. His deep voice breaking through the silence that clogged his ears to tell him lovingly. "I'm here. Easy. We'll find her. I've got you. It's going to be alright." All Sean's anger melted away, leaving him a crying mess in Mark's arms. Running past them, Sean briefly heard Nathan yelling something to the Patrolmen over by his dad. Mark slowly picked him up off the ground, wincing a little as he carried him toward the house. Once inside, Mark told Nathan something about Sean's dad, before taking him upstairs to the bathroom. Carefully setting him on the bathroom rug, Mark pried off his drenched clothes and dried him off with a towel. Sean had no energy to stop him and felt like a shell of who he was. Drying him down, Mark kissed his cheek and helped him up to escort him to his room. Sean leaned into Mark; his feet barely able to hold him up. Mark took him to the bowl chair, setting him down on it. His warm hands cupped his face, telling him sweetly. "Sean? Look at me. We're going to find her, but I'm going to need your help. Understand? I need you to be strong for me."