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[Memory]

SEBASTIAN

What would I tell my beta and everyone else about what Sasha told me? But wouldn’t that sound insane? Repeating everything she said, word for word, ‘to find her.’ While it was crazy, I had no other way of stating it other than how she said it. In my mind, that sounded insane. Still, they needed to know.

I stood by the window in my office, my hands knotted into white-knuckle knots, perplexed, and detached. Regardless of her warning, I had to admit that seeing her again since that day made my pulse race and a similar dread gripped my gut as if she had told me something I didn’t want to know.

It just made little sense. Find her. But who? Whom was I meant to find? The pain coursing through my body transported my whole being backward, back to the past, when I lost her. It seemed like an eternity in my heart. However, in actuality...

THREE YEARS AGO

“Why must it be you, Sebastian? You’re the Alpha. Why don't you send Rory instead? I’m sure the contractors will not mind,” she questioned, propped up on her elbow, her gorgeous sun-kissed hair splayed out on the pillow under her luscious figure.

“I wish I could, sweetheart.” I eyed her from the foot of the bed as I packed my overnight bag.

The hardest thing was leaving her, especially since she was pregnant with our first pup. When I saw her lying on our bed, all I wanted to do was make love to her.

“Do you realize how difficult it is to leave? Or having to spend my first night apart from you since we met?” I inquired, hurriedly zipping the overnight bag shut.

“Torturous?” she asked in a playful tone. Sasha climbed out of bed and approached me. Her enchanting figure was voluptuous in the seductive nightgown from Hell, which exposed her delicate shoulders and accentuated her round hips and breasts.

“Oh, my dear darling Sasha, you don’t have the slightest clue what you do to me, do you?” The sight of her made my cock throb in my jeans. I swallowed the knot in my throat, desiring her touch.

I had gotten a call from the contractor about some resources needed after returning to the packhouse earlier. When I asked why he couldn’t just email me what he needed, he gave me some ridiculous excuse that I couldn’t understand.

Since we mated, I had never had to leave my mate alone, nor the pack in Rory’s capable hands for more than a few hours.

After I finished packing, I drew her into my arms and let them glide over her body, feeling the contours of her ass and widening hips. Honestly, I loved pregnant Sasha. I had more to admire and much more to savor.

“You, my darling, are a devilish temptation.” I pointed out, my finger tracing across her lips. “Open for me.” Her hands rested on my chest, obliging to my simple command, and she parted her legs.

One hand wrapped around her neck, while the other teased her clit with several forceful flicks. I slipped a finger inside her, massaging her g-spot and frantically flicking her clit with my thumb. Only stopping now and again to give it slowly, forceful flicks.

“Sebastian…”

My name sounded from her parted lips, encouraging me to intensify my onslaught on her pussy. Sasha craned her head to the side, exposing her mark in submission. She pressed her nails into my flesh, eliciting a growl deep within.

“My love, please,” she begged, rolling her hips to meet my thrust.

I inserted another finger, watching as her body unraveled under my scrutinizing gaze. Nothing could ever be so beautiful. The magnitude of her unrelenting orgasm kept me intoxicatedly preoccupied. I didn't even notice when her hand dropped from my chest and toward the zipper of my jeans.

Her gaze remained fixated on me as she reached into my pants. Sasha took a tight but delicate hold of me and began stroking my shaft. She sped up her movements and sent her other hand to fondle my testicles, causing me to growl.

“Fuck!”

In an instant, I yanked her off the bed and dragged her to the foot of it. Unable to bear her exhilarating touch any longer. “Steady your stance and spread your legs,” I commanded as I took off my t-shirt and pants.

Slipping a hand between her thighs, I could feel the juices from her first orgasm drenching my hand. Impulsively, I ripped her lacy thong and tossed it across the room. It landed with a not-so-subtle slosh.

“You’re soaked, my love,” I murmured. My hand combed the roots of her hair, clutching a handful between my long fingers. I massaged my cock down the opening of her pussy with my other hand, listening to her groans and murmurs, pleading to have me inside her.

I twisted her hair around my fist and clutched her hip as I drove into her. Sasha arched and shrieked as she felt my muscular length deep inside her. Whether I was too rough, she said nothing but screamed my name as I hammered into her dripping cunt.

I drew back, stroked my shaft, and plunged myself deep into her, rubbing my fingers over her pulsing bundle of nerves. The further I pushed, or the faster I barreled between her walls, the more she begged.

I couldn’t help but notice the roundness of her ass, and I couldn’t help but want to spank her.

“Oh, Sebastian... faster... please.” Her words of encouragement stayed with me, and I brought my hand down on her left cheek, stroking it afterward. She yipped as she massaged her breasts.

I waited for a time, sensing her delight through our bond as our skin tingled with electrical sparks. Pulling her back hard against my chest, I craned her neck forward, locking my lips to hers in a frantic and intense kiss.

“You’re going to be my undoing,” I grumbled, squeezing her nipples between my thumb and index finger. I pushed her down on the bed, flat on her stomach, assailing her ass.

Given that I was leaving her for twelve to twenty-four hours, I intended to keep her satiated until my return. I plunged my cock within her without mercy again, grabbing her hips.

“Finish me, Atticus,” she cried out, driving her claws into the bed linens.

Atticus snuck in without notice, seizing control of my body and driving our mate to a climax she would never forget.

Watching her body convulse was still my favorite thing to do from the passenger’s seat in my body. My wolf grabbed her by the neck as my cock spasmed inside her clenched walls. Every movement sent a jolt through me.

After that, I carried my limp mate into the bathroom and washed her, placing soft kisses on her bruised skin.

***

I couldn’t be happier, sitting at the bedside, watching her sleep. She looked stunning and serene. If only I didn’t have to say goodbye to her. I wiped a few stray hairs off her face and pecked at her lips.

“I love you, sweetheart. I’ll do my best to return as quickly as possible.”

Having bade her my last farewell, I retrieved my bag from the floor and moved toward the door. However, before I opened it and departed the room, I cast one last glimpse at her sleeping form. “Moon Goddess, please watch over her,” I mumbled as I closed the door behind me.

“I’m leaving, Rory. Please look after my mate and the pack. I’ll come back as soon as possible. If anything goes wrong—”

“I’ll call you Sebastian. Just get back before our Luna has a fit for her mate.” He responded with a chuckle through the mind-link.

“Thank you, buddy.”

***

Hours later, I pulled up in front of Greg, the contractor’s temporary office. By the time I wrenched open the door, it was about six o’clock in the evening. I shot a sneer at him for making me drive out here.

“This better be good, Greg.” A raised brow seemed to irritate the man, who just huffed in frustration.

“Mr. Maddox,” he said as he rose and extended his hand for me to shake. “I sincerely apologize for bothering you at home, sir.”

I dismissed his hand. The sooner this was over. The earlier I could return to my mate. “Is that right?” My tone was cynical, but my expression was pragmatic.

“Yes, sir.” His lips twitched, a touch of trepidation on his face.

“Then tell me.” I sat in a seat in front of his metal desk. “What am I doing here?”

Greg disassembled what seemed to be hotel plans on his desk. His fingertips stroked the designs, occasionally craning his neck upward to meet my gaze.

I could see him concernedly analyzing the arrangement of the sketch, but he immediately pushed the notion aside. I didn’t have the patience today to sit through his hesitation about why he asked me here when I could have been home with my mate, caressing her body in so many ways.

“Unless you like wasting my time, Greg, I have better things to do.”

Just then, before the man could utter a word, an ache beyond anything I had ever felt surged through my chest, almost like scorching flames from the depths of hell, searing my skin. As I doubled over, clutching my chest, the intensity threatened to paralyze me.

“Mr. Maddox, what’s wrong?” Greg asked, concerned for my well-being.

Realization washed over me in alternating waves of pain and numbness. “Sasha,” I cried out, barely restricting Atticus from releasing his pain in a gut-wrenching howl.

I tried standing, but my vision blurred as small dark spots danced in my eyes, making it hard to see. My ears rang out as the pain intensified when another surge of pain shot through my heart, then my neck where my mark lay.

“Phone,” I croaked through gritted teeth and clenched fists. “Get me my phone.”

Understanding finally dawned on his stubbled features, and Greg sprinted from behind his desk to the front, where my body lay in curls on the floor, like a newborn in its mother’s womb, pain-stricken and immobile. However, before he could reach where I was, I pointed outside to my car. It took a bit. Still, Greg understood and went to get my stuff. While he dug around inside the bag, the agony worsened by the second, taking me down into a rabbit hole of never-ending torture. My heart vigorously attacked my ribs while my blood boiled like molten lava beneath my skin.

“Here you go, sir.” He handed me the phone and stepped back, his eyes darting across my body, full of suppressed anxiety and concern. Often enough, I noticed he would wipe his brows, then wipe his moistened hands on his slacks.

My hands shook fervently, but I wrapped my fingers around my phone. As soon as I unlocked it, Rory’s texts poured in one after another, causing my stomach to drop to my feet and the blood to drain from my eyes.

[Rory] Something happened, Alpha. You must return to the pack at once.

Despite the flood of texts, that was the only one I read before staggering to my car and tossing the phone on the passenger seat. After that, Greg followed me outside and tossed the bag where he had found it.

I hauled my ass back into my territory after he encouraged me to drive safely. I didn’t know if I would make it back alive after swerving and evading oncoming traffic.

Please don’t ask me how I drove two and a half hours from the city. Something was wrong, I realized, and I needed to get home.

However, as soon as I arrived outside the packhouse, I jumped out of the car. Of course, the engine was still running, but that was the last thing on my mind. I dashed inside, balancing myself against the walls, screaming for my mate.

“Sasha!” I shouted, crawling through the foyer and into the sitting room. An eerie silence drenched the rooms, devoid of a single member. “Rory!”

I received no response.

Then, a pitter-patter of footsteps sounded from the stairs, drawing my attention to it. Eventually, Rory came staggering in my direction, his face solemn and apologetic.

“Sebastian, I’m so, so sorry,” he cried, wiping his face with the back of his hand.

“Where?” I paused, taking a breath as pain rippled like waves inside me, making it difficult to breathe, move, or even keep standing. “Where is she?”

“Sebastian.”

“Goddamn it, where is she? What happened to my mate? What happened to Sasha?” I yelled at him; my eyes narrowed to slits.

“Sebastian.”

I kept hearing my name, but Rory’s lips were no longer moving.

“Sebastian, come back.” His deep voice resonated in my ears, breaking my thoughts, and bringing me back to the present. “Alpha, wake up!”