Eiravyn realized that the time was ticking and he needed to do something. It was still early afternoon and he did not have time on his side.

Where is Serena?

His heart ached and it was almost too hard to breathe, and he was unable to sit still. She was a human and shouldn't be wandering alone in a kingdom filled with vampires.

What if she was kidnapped?

What if she wandered off, and one of his enemies captured her?

Eiravyn was angry at himself for leaving her alone so he went down to ask the servants he had assigned to her, wondering if she told them something about where she wanted to go today.

He went to the first floor where all the maids and servants were currently busy with decorating the hall. He called for Valois and asked him to bring the two girls to him right now.

When Aurora and Astrid got there, they were visibly shaking, as they wondered if their king wanted to punish them now for failing to do their task.

"Where is Serena?"

"Yo… your majesty. I th… think she must be in her room." Astrid managed to stutter out.

Eiravyn pinched the skin between his brows in frustration. "She's not there. Did I not ask you to always be with her?" Eiravyn asked and his kingly tone leaked through the room, his low voice made them freeze.

Eiravyn sighed suddenly. There was no need to pass blame now that the deed had already been done. He thought, but just couldn't help it.

Seeing that Eiravyn was on the verge of panicking, Astrid could not believe her eyes. Who was this girl to make their king act this way? She thought to herself.

When a thought came to her mind, "Your Majesty. I'm not sure, but I saw my lady looking out at the garden this morning with a gaze full of longing. I think she might be there."

Eiravyn did not wait to hear more than that, as he dashed down.

Astrid and Aurora exchanged glance. 'Just what was happening today?'

…

"I want extra patrols around the entrance of the royal house!" Eiravyn shouted into the mind-link of Celrean. "Tell them we're searching for a girl in her late teens, wearing a blue t-shirt and blue denim jeans. Warn them to not approach her when they spot her, and they should notify me immediately!"

With that Eiravyn walked out of the royal house and headed towards the garden.

Eiravyn frantically sniffed the air in the garden. There was no hint of the familiar creamy vanilla scent.

He rubbed his face with force.

This situation almost made him go crazy. He was mostly worried because she was new to this place and it was only her second day here. What if she was trying to come back but was lost somewhere? And that was why he asked his patrols and knights to search for her in case she was lost somewhere in the royal house.

Normally, patrols and knights can't contact Eiravyn through the mind-link. That is reserved for Caspian and Celrean, and even those two knew not to disturb him unless it was very important.

Knights, guards and other members of the kingdom follow the chain of command which allows a handful of people to contact Caspian, his right-hand aide.

Things related to knights and security will always get to Celrean, Caspian will be contacted on any issues related to the citizens of the kingdom, and anything that involves the royal house will go to Valois.

In this case, since Eiravyn had ordered the search for Serena, the patrols who found her contacted him directly.

Eiravyn told himself not to panic that she was probably around here somewhere but he could not shake off the feeling that she might be hurt. What made him even more worried was that the feelings and emotions he once felt, he could no longer feel them again. It was almost like he was shut out of her mind.

Eiravyn tried to gain access to the mind-link he'd felt her emotions from earlier and tried to project his own need for his mate, when her mind blocked him out with a sudden force that almost threw him off.

He knew he should be upset but he felt glad because now he knew she was around here somewhere and was not hurt. She was very much active — for her to have the strength to slam the mind-link on him.

Eiravyn was still very surprised at how they had a mind-link despite the fact that they had not even completed the mate bond.

He was lost in his thoughts when the voice of a knight said to him and projected the area his mate was to him.

Eiravyn matched there immediately, when he recognized the spot. His steps heavy and fast before eventually breaking into a run through the garden, and he felt his muscles tensing to the point of aching, but he still kept pushing.

Eiravyn's step paused when he saw three knights standing at one end of the garden, their gaze fixed on a particular direction he knew too well.

Since he had ordered them to not approach the girl if found, they all stood at a far distance and only watched over her.

The knights stiffened when they spotted their king approaching, and they all lowered their heads in submission.

Without sparing them a glance, Eiravyn whipped his head to the left and a low, painful growl escaped his lips when he saw Serena sitting alone on a moss-covered bench beneath a weeping willow, her head on her lap.

"You are all dismissed." Eiravyn said curtly. "Call off the search. The girl is found."

Even when Serena heard his voice. She still kept her head lowered.

Eiravyn sighed deeply. The sudden burden lifted off his shoulders when he saw that his mate was fine and doing okay.

Eiravyn sniffed the air, to catch the familiar scent of sweet addictive vanilla cream. He sighed with great longing.

Before approaching his mate, no words were spoken but the air was tight and it was hard to breathe, but Eiravyn didn't care. He had seen her glow earlier and wondered if she had seen the light because he was sure her servants and Ava had not noticed it.

- - -

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.