The Alpha's Omega Mate-Chapter 126: Betrothed.

~Kai’s POV~

"Kai, I think it’s best that we return to the pack now. She’s not here and if she indeed used a cloaking spell, then there’s no way we can find her." Xander complained to me for the nth time since we began looking for Dahlia.

And it’s not like I could blame him, we’ve been at this for several hours and we’ve not seen a trace of her. Not even a minute sign that she’s been anywhere around here. But still, I didn’t want to give up now. I couldn’t bring myself to; not when something deep inside of me felt like I was doing the right thing.

Not when it felt as though there was an invisible tether leading me to her.

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, ignoring the way Xander turned to me in confusion. By the look on his face, I was sure as hell that he had his questions, but never in my wildest imaginations did I think that the first thing he spewed was what he would ask.

He drawled; "Do you love her?"

I froze. "Xander! I barely know her!"

"And I know you well enough to know that you’d not be here if she’s someone you ’barely know’" he scoffed, making me roll my eyes as I continued to clear the bushy path in front of us with a wooden stick.

"Who is she?" Xander tried again, and this time, when I looked up at him, I realized to my disappointment that he wouldn’t let this slide.

I murmured; "She’s Dahlia."

"I think I’ve heard that before."

"Deep down, I feel she’s someone I used to know, but I’m not so sure yet. And that’s what I’ve been trying to find out."

At that, Xander spun around to face me, his expression unreadable. He asked; "And how intimately did you used to know this person?"

"Very intimately," I mused, looking away to prevent him from seeing any emotion on my face. "She was meant to be my betrothed."

At the sound of my words, he gasped but he made no comment. He didn’t even seem like he’d heard me but turned away to stare at the ground like it was suddenly the most interesting thing around. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

It was way into the morning now, and the morning sun beat down on us mercilessly as the winds blew fiercely in our faces. I took in another deep breath, trying to see if I would catch her scent... still nothing.

I sighed; "I don’t think it’s fair for me to string you along like this. I don’t think she’s here and I’m not returning until I’ve found her."

Xander lifted his head slowly, his amber eyes wining like the scorching sun overhead. He smirked knowingly at me and asked; "And what are you implying?"

I shrugged; "That you should return to the pack while I continue to look for Dahlia."

"Are you saying that you want to look for her alone because you’re suddenly worried about me, or because you want to have some couple chats with her when you finally find her?" He asked, a teasing smile gracing his lips.

Despite myself, I smiled back but ignored his question. Instead, I said; "I’m worried you’d soon begin to nag at me."

"As per usual. I’m still your wife, remember?"

Now, I couldn’t help the chuckle that slipped past my lips. Whatever Xander was doing, trying to distract me from the monsters in my head, it was working. I snorted; "Say that to Leilani when you see her later today!"

"Nah, I’m not seeing Leilani today!" He sassed, and I couldn’t help but grin at the way his eyes lit up at the mention of his girlfriend. "I’m not leaving this goddamn forest until we find your lady dearest."

I groaned; "She’s not my lad—"

"But she’s your betrothed?" He asked teasingly, and I nodded.

"I’m not even sure about that yet. It’s why I need to have a conversation with her. I need to know if she’s the same as Nyx’ara. I need to—"

"Wait, wait!" Xander snapped, interrupting me. "And why do you have these many questions about her? How long ago have you seen her?"

His question made a pang of pain strike my chest, and with it was a guilt that I couldn’t explain. I picked the bridge of my nose in frustration and let out a long sigh. "Many years ago," I whispered unsure. "Twelve, fifteen years ago? Maybe even more."

His eyes widened. "That’s an extremely old flame." He smiled, "one I doubt you’re supposed to be ’this’ worried about."

I rolled my eyes in response.

"What does she look like?" He asked suddenly, his voice serious, and I begrudgingly turned away from him as I began to walk away. "I’m serious, Kai. What does she look like?"

"She’s pretty." I said slowly, and then deciding that that was not enough, I continued; "...she’s petite with fiery ginger hair, blue eyes and lips that I seldom dream about."

Xander nodded. "That child matches her description. Though I doubt that’s your betrothed, let’s check her out." He muttered, pointing at a distance.

My eyes followed his fingers and a gasp escaped my lips when I saw a child sitting at the edge of a far cave about several feet away from us. She sat under the scorching sun with a small stick in her hands and her hair acting as a curtain as she mindlessly traced words and shapes on the sand.

I immediately rushed forward to go to her but was suddenly held back by Xander whose eyes flashed with danger. He hissed under his breath;

"This place is usually occupied by rogues and feral. Be careful. So I’d advice you not to charge headfirst into something that could be dangerous."

I looked straight into his eyes and nodded, but somewhere deep down— probably a deep twisted part of me —I was certain as hell that this wasn’t dangerous in any way. I could feel it in my heart that Dahlia was close.

Hell, that may even be her daughter.

Orion had talked about her having a daughter, right? Right? So I was certain that that could as well be the child. Moreover, she looked too much like Dahlia not to be her.

I smiled, one that didn’t quite reach my eyes, "I know. But that child isn’t a rogues. Can you no longer smell rogues when you come across them? Also, that child looks so much like Dahlia."

Despite my words, Xander still shook his head firmly. "And is your Dahlia, your betrothed, a kid?" He snapped, obviously now more concerned with the prospect of this being dangerous than whatever emotional obligations gnawed at me.

I shook my head at him. "No, but Dahlia has a kid." I spat back, "she’s missing... not just her, but her kid too."

"Oh. And you think that’s her?"

"I feel it’s her." I answered, and with that, threw caution into the wind as I began to march in her direction.

...I just hope I’m right.