My Lycan Mate of Suicide Forest

Zagan and Zoe were still walking through the dense woods when a sudden shock wave radiated out from the direction of the castle. It was strong enough that it pushed Zagan back several feet, his shoes sliding against the earth as he leaned forward into the blast to stay standing.

His black eyes narrowed. That either had to have come from the Winter alyko or the Luna, and at this point he wasn't sure which seemed more likely.

"Come on," he snarled, stalking off toward the castle now that the air had returned to normal.

But then it occurred to him that there was no longer the soft, reliable rhythm of Zosime's heartbeat at his back. He turned to face where she had been standing to find that she wasn't there. Zosime had literally vanished.

Zagan launched into the air and landed on a tree limb high enough to see out into the containment area of the island. There was no trace of Zoe anywhere.

"Now what?" he growled, jumping between trees before alighting on the grand stone walkway outside the containment facility.

The facility looked anything but designed for containment, but that was the trick he had discovered over the years. Finally, he seemed to have figured out how to keep the alyko contained and yet also thriving.

The so-called containment consisted of four separate symmetrical wings, one designated to each element that the fae drew their abilities from: earth, air, fire, and water. Once new arrivals from an alyko harvest arrived, they were cycled through the elements to see where their power predominantly lied before being assigned to a wing. And then that wing is where they stayed.

While each of the wings were the same size and shape—each were six stories high with curved windows lining the exterior walls to the outside—they were all significantly different in design. There were copper staircases and fireplaces licking the interior walls in one, fountains and water cascading down walls in another, an interior forest climbing the common area of the third, and so on. It was a marvel of modern architecture that sharply contrasted with the crumbling old castle obscured by its bending forest of trees.

When viewed as a whole, the most striking part of the facility, though, was the central, elevated area that rose far up above the other four wings. It appeared to be an elaborate roof garden with a lotus shaped dome that was left open to the sky. A reflection pool sat in the center of the dome, reflecting the sunlight, moonlight, and starlight. It gave the whole building the appearance of a flower with four petals and one elevated stigma that could beam someone up into the heavens under the right conditions.

No one occupied that central area of the facility yet. It was viewed as a bit of a mystery by the residents. Even when they were allowed to wander onto their own respective roof gardens and get a better look at the central lotus with its glittering windows, there were no hints as to what its purpose was.

Zagan glanced up at the earth and air wings that jutted out on either side of the front entryway. If Zoe had mysteriously disappeared from right beside him, he wondered if anything strange had happened to the alyko here. There were strong barriers built in to some of the more interior and underground rooms where the powerful alyko were kept, but the rest of the facility was breezy and open with minimal restrictions. The alyko allowed to wander relatively freely throughout those areas had weaker abilities and posed little risk to the lycans on Zagan's team.

But now that a powerful Winter and an alyko Luna were here on his island, perhaps he would need to rethink the barriers in place. He didn't know what caused the shock wave that nearly knocked him off of his feet, but if it was also somehow responsible for Zosime vanishing, then he was woefully underprepared for what else it might cause.

"Boss!" Seth spotted Zagan and came running out of the glass doors. "I was just about to call you."

"Did something happen?" Zagan asked, his face unreadable.

Seth was used to it. The vampire rarely revealed what was lurking below the surface of that steely dark facade. Sometimes Seth imagined Zagan was just an empty vessel, walking around for the next hunt only. The hunt seemed to be what drove him.

"All of the alyko from the exterior rooms seem to have just…" Seth's throat bobbed. He didn't know how to explain it. It was impossible.

"Vanished?" Zagan finished for him.

"Yes. How did you know?" the lycan asked, stunned.

Without answering, Zagan strode forward into the facility that he so rarely visited. The lobby was bright and sunny, light cascading in through the sky lights above. A security desk sat in the very center with a young lycan standing, staring in disbelief at the video feed from various parts of the facility.

A second male came running into the lobby. "It is as it looks. They are gone," he reported.

"And the inner rooms?" Zagan asked, circling around to the center of the security desk where the young lycan moved out of the way.

"They are secure," Seth reported from his side. "How could this happen?"

Zagan didn't know, but he was going to find out. He was eager to get back to the map in his office to see what had been recorded.

"Gather everyone and search the island just as you would during a harvest," he told his second. "Alert me the second you find anything."

Before Seth could ask any more questions, the vampire was gone.

Zagan alighted in front of the new male pup's cage and ripped the door off. His patience was gone. He was going to have to tear down this whole island to find his missing alyko and then reimagine a way to keep them.

Sage's head popped up in surprise from where he had been nestled against the hay. He was tired and weak and dirty, but he was hanging on to the hope that he would see the Luna again. Hopefully she was okay. Sage knew exactly where he was, and if the vampire had gotten him, he had likely gotten the Luna as well.

"You are still here I see," Zagan said and strode forward, grabbing Sage by the collar and lifting him up out of the hay.