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Levi stirred, his face pale, his eyes worried as he looked between us.
They turned their eyes toward me.
“Damn it!” I slammed my fist against the wall so hard the wood splintered. My whole body shook with anger. “Why would he shut you out when he needs us most?”
I stayed connected to him as I drove, his emotions pressing against me. Rage. Pain. A restless heaviness that wouldn’t settle. My grip on the wheel tightened, but I didn’t dare pull away from the bond. If he was drowning, then I needed to feel it too. 1
“Isn’t he in the mansion?” she pressed, worry already clouding her expression.
My heart dropped. Drove out? Panic surged through me. Lennox was drunk. How could he get behind the wheel like that?
“Louis, what is it?”
“Stay with Levi,” I said firmly. “I’ll go check on Lennox.”
By the time I reached Lennox’s house, my chest was already tight from holding his emotions. I pulled up quickly and jumped out, rushing to the front door. The housekeeper met me before I could even knock.
I grabbed at the bond immediately, forcing my mind into his. “Lennox! Where are you?” I asked while rushing back to my car.
But before I could finish, the bond snapped closed. He shut me out completely.
I put on the car, heading back toward the mansion as fast as I could. My mind spun with fear. If he was drunk, angry, and alone–then anything could happen.
“I can’t,” she whispered, “He’s… he’s blocking me.”
4 didn’t waste any more time. Grabbing my keys, I rushed out and slid into the car. The engine roared to life, but my focus was elsewhere–on the thread that bound me to
Lennox.
But what about Levi? My eyes narrowed on him. He seemed lost in thought, spacing out as if caught in something only he could feel.
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Fear gripped me harder than his anger ever could. My breathing quickened, my palms damp on the steering wheel. “Please, brother. Don’t shut me out. Let me come to you. Just tell me where you are-”
She looked shaken but closed her eyes. I watched her face tense, her lips parting as if she was reaching out. Seconds dragged. Then she opened her eyes again, fear flashing
in them.
Tears welled in her eyes as she shook her head. “I tried… but he’s shutting me out, Louis. I can’t reach him. Until he unblocks me, I can’t teleport to him.”
I turned to Olivia, who stood near Levi, who had just been healed from the deep cut. She did a good job by healing him completely. A mark wasn’t even left.
Silence pressed down on us, broken only by my ragged breaths. Lennox was out there -drunk, furious, alone. 4
Yes. That had to be it. That was why Olivia wasn’t feeling him the way I did.
“Tell me where you are,” I pushed, desperate.
Halfway down the road, Levi’s voice brushed into my mind. “Louis…” His tone was strained, laced with worry. “Let me know the moment you reach Lennox. Promise me.”
“I need to be with Lennox,” I answered quickly. “He’s always irrational when he’s angry or in pain. I have to be with him.” My words tumbled out in a rush as I turned to leave, but Olivia stepped in my way.
“Where are you going?”
The room fell into a tense silence, broken only by Levi’s low, pained voice. “Then we’ll find another way. If the bond won’t guide us, we’ll track him by scent… by his car… anything. But we will find him.”
“I have to leave,” I announced.
Which only made it clearer. Lennox hadn’t blocked us. He couldn’t. Our bond as brothers was too strong, too deep to be shut out.
Louis‘ POV
Her words hit me like a blow. My chest tightened, fury mixing with terror. “What do you mean he’s blocking you?!” I snapped, pacing the room, my hands trembling.
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I shook my head. “No… he should be at his house.”
“Olivia!” I almost shouted, my voice sharp and frantic. She stood quickly, her eyes wide.
His concern steadied me. My lips curved faintly, the weight on my chest easing just a little. At least Levi still cared–still loved him enough to worry. That love, that bond,
hadn’t been broken.
“Mind link Lennox,” I pleaded, barely able to breathe. “Do it now! I can’t… I can’t reach him fully. Please–just try!”
My chest heaved, rage and helplessness twisting inside me. “If you can’t reach him, then how are we supposed to find him?! He’s drunk, he’s angry, and he’s alone out there–anything could happen!”
Her lips parted as though she wanted to say more, but nothing came. Her silence made me frown. Didn’t she feel it? Lennox was her mate. Even without his mark, she should sense his emotions–his pain, his turmoil. Unless… he’d blocked her.
His voice came back, rough and heavy, almost slurred. “I just need fresh air. I’m fine.”
“No, no, no…” I muttered, slamming my hands against the wheel. My whole body shook with panic. The thread was still there, but it was silent now, locked.
Olivia’s voice cracked. “I can’t feel him, Louis. Not his anger, not his pain—nothing. He shut me out completely. I can’t even teleport to him.”
I turned back to Olivia, desperation clawing at me. “Can’t you think of him? Can’t you pull him to you somehow? You’re his mate–you’re supposed to find him!”
It was only Olivia he had closed himself off from. 2
I drove as fast as I could to the mansion. Arriving, I rushed back inside, my chest burning, my head spinning with panic. I didn’t stop until I got to Levi’s room. I shoved the door open and found Levi on the bed with Olivia beside him,
“Alpha Louis,” she said nervously, wringing her hands. “You just missed him. He… he drove out a few minutes ago.”
“No.” His voice was flat now, cold. “I don’t want to see anyone, I just… I want to be alone.”
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