The Forgotten Heiress novel Chapter 85

Miles away, Nick's thoughts were running along the same line.

Every breath was torture. He felt like a man treading water in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight. His desperation was suffocating him; he couldn't seem to get enough air into his lungs. Nick took a deep breath and tried to rub away the ache over his heart.

It was pointless

Nothing took the pain away; he found solace in nothing, not even in sleep. The nights were unbearable; in his sleep, his worst fears came to life. The vivid nightmares, of a life without Jessica or finding her too late, kept him from seeking his bed until he was overtaken with fatigue.

And every day that went by, he found it harder and harder to get out of bed in the morning.

Suddenly, he heard a noise and snapped around, his hackles raised and lips curled up, to face the intruder.

"I knew I'd find you here."

Matt spoke in a calm voice, with his eyes lowered to the ground, as he stepped in to view. Upon noticing the submissive stance Nick stifled back a growl. He fisted his hands, hung his head back and took a deep, calming, breath of the forest air.

Of the woods that surrounded his home, this was his favorite spot; the boulder where he had shared his first meal with Jessica. Most days, he spent his free time here. Reminiscing of that long ago day and the many other ones he had spent with her. Those were the memories that kept him going; reminiscing always brought a smile to his face.

"Just talked to Christian," Matt told him.

Matt's tone of voice clued him in on what was coming and Nick began to pace back and forth feeling like a caged animal. Most days he acted like one too. His despair was causing him to lose the tight grip he had on his wolf. Little by little his wolf was taking over.

Matt noticed when he looked into his eyes and told him in a soft voice lazed with a hint of authority, "calm down Nick."

Nick snapped around and growled. "Calm down? You ask me to calm down when you don't even know what it feels like-"

"Yes I do," Matt told him softly.

He couldn't actively search for Jessica because he was too busy leading those who wished her harm on a wild goose chase. Instead he had to send his most trusted people out to look for her and each time they returned it was with the same result.

"Now what do I do?" Nick asked Matt. "It looks like they bought a plane ticket for every plane leaving every airport in the country and it looks like they are all dead ends." Nick shook his head imagining the amount of money they must have spent to get her away from him. "It's been so long, the trails are getting cold, and where do I look now?" He whispered, sounding lost, looking at the ground.

Matt sat down next to him without a word and gave Nick a couple of seconds to compose himself because Matt was sure that what he was about to say was going to rattle him even more. "We need to start checking hospitals," he told him softly.

"Hospitals?" Nick looked at him and shook his head. "She is a shifter she has no need for doctors. Unless she is dyi-" The afterthought had him going pale.

"Or pregnant," Matt added quickly and softly.

Nick looked at Matt dazedly and parroted, "Pregnant?"