A/N: longer chapter this time :) I'm attempting to be more descriptive haha, anyways, thanks for reading <3

Chapter 8 Part 1

Simon’s POV

Vince hadn’t been a man of many words, nor had he commanded a room as one would expect. Despite the unavoidable attention being the previous alpha, and even from that night eighteen years ago brought, it seemed he quite enjoyed the sidelines. Or from the little time I had spent here, that’s what seemed to suit him best. He hadn’t asked to shoulder all the responsibilities, and it was clear that he couldn’t handle it all. With all the expectations and pressure, he just wanted a break, and so did I. But not like this, not running away from home, from his family and friends. Not from me.

Without him here at the pack, it left a deafening silence in the pack. To others, it might’ve been considered peaceful, almost unnoticeable that he was missing; but to me, the vast hole he left behind gripped my entire being, nearly too painful to bear. 

So much so that I hadn’t been paying attention to what Sam had said in the car, nor had I seen Xavier approaching us in the parking lot. It all felt like a fever dream, one I wanted to snap out of and wake up back here in the packhouse with Vince. Or next to Sam at the clinic doing menial desk work with Ava and Clara. Anything was better than knowing Vince was somewhere out there and no one had a lick of where he had gone.

“Simon?” It was Sam again, this time his hand squeezing mine. 

“Sorry.”

Xavier, who had been a few strides ahead of us, turned with a gentle smile. “I’m sure you’re worried sick, but we have people out there looking.”

Begrudgingly, I nodded. Sam’s grip loosened before falling to his side. “They’ll find him. He couldn’t have gone far.”

“It’s not just that I worry about,” I said quietly. Neither of them said anything to that as we headed toward the Rogue Center. The facelift it had gotten was shocking, given how quickly it had been redone. Not only did the building look more inviting, but it had got an expansion, as well as an enclosed outdoor space specifically for rehabilitation. 

As we neared the entrance, Sam placed his hand on my shoulder. “You don’t have to stay for the meeting if you don’t want to. I’m sure Rowan would love to see you.”

As much as I’d love to spend time with him, I wasn’t sure I’d be in the right mindset to play with him, not when my mind was preoccupied. Rowan didn’t deserve to see me this distraught and upset. Still, I gave the two an apologetic look. “You sure? I can stay.”

Xavier nodded. “It’s alright. I think Jonah and Lilah would love to see you too. That is if you want, you’re free to do as you please. Although Aspen will probably ask you to visit.”

“Yeah, I should.” 

“Well, the meeting’s going to start soon. You’ll be okay?” He prompted. After I assured him it’d be fine, even though internally I was on the verge of freaking out, he grimaced. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner. I was scared to tell you, honestly. That, and I had hoped he was just lost and made it back by the morning. It was wrong, and I should’ve just told you.”

“I understand,” I told him, biting my tongue from saying it was okay, especially when it hadn’t. “You don’t have to apologize, Xav.”

He pursed his lips into a small frown before opening his mouth to say something. Sam interrupted him though, “I should be apologizing too. I felt it was better to wait and see too.”

“Text me when the meeting is done, I’ll probably visit my home or Aspen and them.”

Sam nodded before pressing his forehead to mine, his hand squeezing mine again “We’ll find him. He’ll be fine.”

I know he meant it to comfort me, and although I wanted to believe him, there was no way for sure we’d know he’d truly be okay. He could’ve been injured, stuck in a hunter’s trap, or worse for all we know. Still, I hummed before smiling faintly at Xavier. “We should talk about finding him after the meeting. I want to know who last saw him and where they’ve searched so far.”

Xavier nodded before gesturing Sam inside. “We shouldn’t be long, we can meet in the council room after.”

The doors shut after them before I let out a shaky breath. All the fears and unwarranted negative ideas of where Vince could be were swirling around my head. I needed answers, and I wasn’t going to be a sitting duck till the meeting was over. Surely, there had to be some kind of clue as to where he had gone, right? Meeting with those who had last seen him would have to wait, but what about physical clues. Were there notes, maybe a scent trail, or a photo that would indicate something?

But Vince was impulsive, maybe seeing me at the party had led to an impulsive decision to run, with no time to write a measly note or photo for us to follow. That, and I had to trust that Xavier’s search parties had already attempted to track his scent. Then again a scent is stronger to someone’s mate than anyone else, but it had been days since then, and it had rained the night of Rowan’s party. Had it been washed away, or would my wolf and I still be able to hunt it down?

But running out there blindly, without even telling Xavier and Sam, or anyone else for that matter, was a terrible idea. As impulsive as Vince running off without telling anyone where he was going. I had to think of something else, probably just distract myself from all of this until I could get information from Xavier and the betas. I needed to think things through as Sam mentioned. We’d find him eventually, I just needed to be patient. 

Oddly enough, it hadn’t been my childhood home or Aspen and Sarah’s place my mind drifted to. It had been Vince’s room—or what once was ours. It probably seemed insane, but even my wolf urged me to go there. My legs were already heading toward there, hellbent on entering that room again. We hadn’t even stopped as we passed my old house, nor at Aspen and Sarah’s, the packhouse a beacon calling me home. 

Maybe it was the idea of being in a familiar place, or the idea of his scent being there, permeating the air with that enticing allure, but I just had to be there. The betas that guarded the packhouse had stiffened as I approached the main entrance, until one recognized me, halting the younger betas from intervening. I hadn’t remembered his name but I smiled and bowed my head in gratitude. The downstairs had remained the same, with the exception of a formal portrait of Xavier along the wall of the previous alpha’s faces, and one of Michael’s between his brothers, presumably done posthumously. Underneath it shared the date he was sworn in, his birthdate, and the death date. 

To the left of his portrait, I paused to take in Vince’s, one done when he had been younger, mid-twenties at most. Even from the painting, that strained and stressed look he often wore had been depicted perfectly. The lines that marred his forehead, to the narrowed eyes, the painter encapsulated them all. 

The dates listed under the frame were something I couldn’t forget, everything had happened on or surrounding those dates. My birthday, the day he was sworn in, to the day I had been kicked out. I turned away from it, before heading up the stairs to the second floor. 

A strange sense of nostalgia ran through me as I reached the end of the corridor, the door to Vince’s room shut. Even from here, it felt vacant, barren, and cold.

With a deep sigh, I propped the door open, half expecting for his scent to overwhelm my senses. Instead, it was rather disappointing; just the faintest trail of his scent remained. So faint, I wondered if was just my imagination, reaching through the depths of my memory for it to be true. With my eyes shut, I honed in on it, whether it was truly there or not, it was a relief to smell the familiar scent of pine. In the back of my mind, my wolf’s muscles relaxed ever so slightly. Intensified, even the sheer idea of it enraptured both of us, a sense of calm washed over us. Only for a moment, of course, but it felt cathartic. The permanent worry that had settled over both of us temporarily eased. 

As I took a few steps into the room, memories of our time here flashed in my head, both the good and the bad. From my first memory of us, struggling with sleeping arrangements, to the last, where I had ended things so abruptly and walked out on him. A cold feeling grew in my chest at that memory. There were a million ways I could’ve worded things kinder, done things differently, or simply just stayed. Yet, I chose this, thinking it would bring us both happiness when it had been undoubtedly the worse possible choice I ever made. We weren’t happy at all, in the end. Not like either of us had hoped we’d be, not like how we’d promise we’d be.

My fingertips trailed against the mahogany dressers. It hadn’t changed much since I left, the same stark modern look of the room making it look sterile and less homey. Aside from the rich reddish undertones of the wooden dressers, there was no distinct character in the place. Something I had commented to Vince what felt long ago. 

Slowly, I turned to the one thing that did share some sign of home in this place. 

The picture frame was staged on top of the dresser. I had taken it during my time here unannounced; a candid photo of me and Vince. He hadn’t even been smiling, but it so encapsulated him that I couldn’t help but smile fondly at it. Whether it was the camera or placing my head on his shoulder, there was a mix of confusion and shock on his features, his forehead furrowed slightly and jaw clenched as tightly as his lips were pursed. 

Aside from those hand-written letters, that photo had been one of our only tangible memory. I wanted more of them, memories of us. 

My eyes trailed to the couch, the same one we had both slept on occasionally. Where we had sat a couple of nights and talked, even argued. Panning over to the bathroom, the memories of his wolf presenting himself for the first time resurfaced, the times we had kissed replaying over and over. 

And then I looked to his unmade bed—our bed. The nights we spent laying there—opening up to one another, drowning in our vulnerability—my heart ached. I wanted to feel that again, displaying our hearts on our sleeves, engrossed in the warmth of the bond. Even if it had been short-lived.

If it hadn’t been for the betas nearby, I’d lay in the sheets, curl into a ball in hopes his scent was still here. But that wouldn’t bring him back here any quicker, nor would it provide us with any clues as to where he had gone. But goddess was it tempting.

Patience, I reminded myself. 

With a frustrated groan, I turned, only to see Sam in the doorway. He didn’t make a move to enter the room, as if there had been an invisible barrier barring him from entering. That, or he didn’t feel it appropriate. Regardless, my shoulders sagged, relieved to see him. I glanced at the bed one last time before walking up to him, surprised to see his deepened frown. He seemed unsure what to do as I wrapped my arms around his torso, wishing his hug had done more to comfort me. Sadly, it was as cold as ever, but I still held him tightly. His arms tentatively wrapped around me for a moment and my overactive mind stilled for a brief moment.