“Has anyone actually confirmed that Dakota made it home safely?” Thomas asked, his tone casual but his expression concerned.
“It’s been over an hour now.
Someone should probably check on her.” Maya’s stomach twisted with guilt that she’d been so caught up in celebration that she’d stopped thinking about her sister.
“I’ll send someone to check her room,” she said quickly, gesturing for one of the house staff.
The young woman hurried off, returning several minutes later with a confused expression.
“Miss Dakota’s not in her room, Alpha.
Her phone is there on the nightstand, but there’s no sign of her.
Her bed hasn’t been disturbed.” A ripple of unease passed through the head table, spreading outward as nearby guests registered that something might be wrong.
“Check the grounds,” Richard ordered immediately.
“She probably just needed more extensive space.
Check the gardens, the walking paths, anywhere she might have gone for privacy.” Several pack members stood to assist, their movements quick and efficient as they dispersed to search the estate.
Maya watched them go, anxiety building in her chest despite her attempts to remain calm.
But twenty minutes later, when the searchers returned empty-handed and increasingly concerned, Maya’s anxiety transformed into genuine fear.
“She’s not on the grounds, Alpha,” Thomas reported grimly.
“We’ve checked everywhere, gardens, trails, even down by the stream.
Her scent trail leads through the gardens for a short distance and then just…
disappears.
Completely.
Like she vanished into thin air.” Richard’s expression darkened.
“Scents don’t just disappear.
Keep searching.
Expand the perimeter.” The celebration had effectively paused now, guests exchanging worried glances as pack members mobilized.
Maya stood, unable to sit still.
“I’ll help search.” “You stay here with the guests,” her father said firmly.
“Ethan, you too.
We need to maintain some semblance of normalcy while we handle this.” But as hours wore on and the search expanded beyond the estate grounds with still no sign of Dakota, normalcy became impossible to maintain.
Allied families began making polite excuses to depart.
Pack members formed search parties, combing through nearby territories and neutral zones.
Richard began making calls, first to local pack contacts, asking if anyone had seen his daughter.
Then, to Dakota’s friends from university, his voice grew tighter with each negative response.
“No, she hasn’t contacted me,” one friend said, confusion evident.
“I haven’t heard from Dakota in weeks.
Is everything okay?” Another friend: “Dakota?
No, sorry Alpha Winters.
The last time we talked was maybe a month ago?
She seemed fine then.
What’s happened?” The university’s administration was equally unhelpful.
“Miss Winters hasn’t been enrolled for the last three months, Alpha.
Not since her referral and subsequent medical leave.
We have no record of recent contact.” Each dead end made Richard’s expression darker, his control more tenuous.
Maya watched as her father worked through every possible lead, every contact Dakota might have reached out to, every place she might have gone.
Nothing.
It was as though Dakota had simply vanished, just like three years ago when she’d disappeared into that frozen river.
Except this time there was no storm, no obvious danger, no logical explanation for why she would flee her own sister’s engagement party and disappear without a trace.
“This doesn’t make sense,” Maya said quietly to Ethan, her voice shaking.
“Where could she have gone?
She doesn’t have her phone, doesn’t have money…” “Maybe she went back to the city,” Ethan suggested, but even he sounded uncertain.
“Back to her old apartment or….” “I already called the building manager,” one of Maya’s brothers interrupted.
“Her apartment has been vacant for two years.
She never renewed the lease.” Maya felt panic rising, memories of the last time Dakota had vanished flooding back with painful clarity.
The weeks of searching, the desperate hope that slowly gave way to grief, the devastating acceptance that her sister was gone and probably dead.
She couldn’t go through that again.
“Father,” Maya called out, her voice carrying across the hall that had grown quieter.
“What if, what if something happened to her?
What if she’s hurt somewhere, or…..” “We’ll find her,” Richard said firmly, but Maya could see the worry in his eyes, could see the way his hands clenched with barely controlled fear.
“We found her before, we’ll find her again.” But as the night wore on and search parties returned with nothing, as every lead turned into a dead end, the terrible possibility began to settle over everyone.
Dakota had vanished.
Completely.
Without a trace.
Just like three years ago.