Cecelia's POV
I realized I'd stopped breathing while my lungs burned for air. I gasped while trying to fill them but the images kept coming. Golden being lifted while someone carried him through a doorway. More metal walls while I could hear water sounds outside like waves crashing.
"What's happening to her?"
Marcus asked while sounding worried.
"The bond," Zeke said while his voice was tight. "She's connecting
to Golden through the maternal bond."
"That's not possible," Marcus said. "Maternal bonds don't work that way."
"They do under extreme stress," Zeke replied while keeping his eyes on my face. "When a mother's fear for her child is strong enough the bond can create a link even across distance."
The images got stronger while I saw more details now. The warehouse had high ceilings with exposed beams while metal
shipping containers were stacked against one wall. Golden was still crying while the blue light under his skin pulsed brighter. Someone said something I couldn't hear while then suddenly the connection cut off like someone had slammed a door.
"No," I screamed while trying to grab onto the vision but it was gone. "No, bring it back, I need to see more."
My breathing was too fast while the tunnel spun around me. I couldn't get enough air while panic made my chest feel like it was being
crushed. I was going to pass out while everything was going dark at the edges.
"Cecelia, look at me," Zeke commanded while his Alpha voice cut through the panic. "Match my breathing, in and out, follow me."
He took a deep breath in while holding my face so I had to look at him. I tried to copy him while breathing in but it felt wrong and too hard. He breathed out slowly while I
attempted to match him again.
"That's it," he encouraged while
taking another breath. "In through your nose, out through your mouth."
We breathed together while gradually the panic started to fade. The bond between us glowed warm in my chest while Zeke was pushing calm at me through the connection. It helped while my racing heart slowed down and the tunnel stopped spinning.
"Better?" he asked after a few minutes.
I nodded while my throat was too tight to talk yet. He pulled me against his chest while one hand
rubbed up and down my back. The other warriors stood around us looking uncomfortable while they clearly didn't know what to do with their Luna having a breakdown in the middle of a tunnel.
"What did you see?" Zeke asked quietly against my hair.
"Golden," I managed to say while my voice came out scratchy. "He was on a table with blue light coming from his skin. Someone was doing something to him while he was crying and scared."
Zeke's arms tightened around me
while through the bond I felt his rage spike hot and violent. "What else?"
"A warehouse with metal walls," I continued while trying to remember every detail. "High ceilings with beams across them. Shipping containers stacked up. And I heard water outside like ocean waves."
Marcus was already pulling out his phone while looking at maps. "That narrows it down. There are three warehouses that match that description within the range those vehicles could reach."
"Which one is closest to the ocean?"
I asked while pulling back from Zeke to look at the maps on Marcus's screen.
"This one," Marcus pointed to a location on the coast about forty miles from where we were.
"Old shipping warehouse that's been abandoned for five years."
"That's where he is," I said with absolute certainty while I could still smell the salt from my vision. "I smelled ocean salt, not river water. It has to be that one."
"Are you sure?" Marcus asked
carefully. "Because if we commit all our resources to one location and you're wrong we lose time we can't get back."
"I'm sure," I said while looking at Zeke.
"The bond showed me that place because that's where our son is right now."
Zeke studied my face while I could see him weighing my certainty against the risk of being wrong.
Finally he nodded while turning to Marcus. "We go with Cecelia's instinct. Call the teams and redirect everyone to that coastal warehouse."
"You're trusting a vision?" Marcus asked while he pulled out his radio but looked skeptical.
"I'm trusting the mate bond," Zeke said while taking my hand. "If Cecelia says that's where Golden is then that's where we're going."
Relief flooded through me while I'd been scared he wouldn't believe me. We turned around while heading back the way we came since the coastal warehouse wasn't accessible through these tunnels.
The walk back felt faster while I was practically running toward the ladder that would take us up.
Once we were above ground I felt like I could breathe properly again. The open air and sunlight were so different from the dark cramped tunnels while I took deep breaths
trying to calm down. Zeke kept his hand on my lower back while guiding me toward the vehicles.
"How long to get to the
warehouse?" I asked Marcus while he coordinated with the other teams on his radio.
"About an hour if we push it," Marcus replied.
"I'm having the other teams converge on the location from different directions so we can surround it before going in."
An hour felt like forever but it was better than days searching blind through tunnels. We got into the back of Zeke's vehicle
while the driver took off fast toward the coast. Other vehicles followed while forming a convoy heading to
what I hoped was finally the right place.
Zeke pulled me against his side while his arm came around my shoulders. I didn't resist while settling into the warmth of his body felt like the only safe place in a
world that had gone crazy. His hand rubbed my arm while neither of us talked for a few minutes.
"Tell me about when you were pregnant," Zeke said quietly after a while.
I looked up at him surprised. "Why do you want to know about that now?"
"Because I missed it," he said while his voice held pain I felt through the bond. "I missed your whole pregnancy and Golden being born and his first everything. I can't get that time back but at least I can
know what happened."
I settled back against him while thinking about those months that felt like forever ago. "I was sick a lot at first," I started. "Morning sickness that lasted all day while I could barely keep food down for the first three months."
"I'm sorry I wasn't there," Zeke said while his arm tightened around me.
"Fatima helped," I continued while my voice went hard at her name. "Or I thought she was helping while actually she was probably reporting everything back to Layla."
"Don't think about her right now," Zeke said. "Tell me about Golden."
"He was active from the start," I said while a small smile came to my face remembering. "Always moving and kicking especially at night when I was trying to sleep. Fatima said it meant he'd be energetic when he was born."
"Was the birth hard?" Zeke asked.
"Awful," I admitted. "Eighteen hours of labor in a tiny clinic with no pain medicine because the village didn't have anything stronger than basic supplies. But then they put him in
my arms while he looked up at me with these huge eyes and none of the pain mattered anymore."
"What did he look like?" Zeke's voice was thick with emotion.
"Tiny," I said while remembering Golden's little body wrapped in a blanket. "So small I was scared I'd break him. He had a full head of dark hair that curled at the ends just like it does now. And when he cried it was the loudest sound I'd ever
heard from something so small."
Zeke made a sound that might have
been a laugh or might have been a sob. "I wish I could have been there."
"Me too," I admitted while taking his hand in mine. "I kept imagining you being there even though I knew it was impossible. When the doctor asked if I wanted to call anyone I almost called you but then I remembered you didn't want us anymore."
"I was such an idiot," Zeke said while pain flooded through the bond. "Missing Golden's birth is something I'll regret for the rest of my life."
"You can't change the past," I said while squeezing his hand. "But once we get Golden back you can be there for everything else. His first day of real school, learning to shift when he's older, all the things that matter."
"I want that," Zeke said while turning to look at me. "I want to be there for everything and I want you there too. Both of you staying here with me where you belong."
"Zeke," I started but he interrupted.
"I know we haven't figured everything out yet," he said. "But I
need you to know that I'm serious about us trying again. Not like before when I was too scared to really commit but actually trying for real this time."
My throat got tight while I didn't know what to say. Part of me wanted to tell him yes immediately while another part was still scared of being hurt again. The bond hummed between us wanting me to agree while my heart was pulling toward him despite my fear.
"Let's just focus on getting Golden back first," I said finally. "Then we can talk about what comes after."
"Okay," Zeke agreed while clearly wanting to push more but respecting my need for time. "But I'm not giving up on us Cecelia."
"I know," I said while resting my head back on his shoulder.
We drove in comfortable silence while the landscape outside changed from woods to open fields to finally the first glimpses of ocean in the distance. The smell of salt air came through the vehicle's vents while my vision had been right about being near the coast.
"Tell me about his first words," Zeke
said after a while.
I smiled while remembering. "Mama was first obviously. He was about ten months old while we were sitting on the beach watching boats. He just looked at me and said mama clear as anything."
"What was second?" Zeke asked.
"Fish," I said while Zeke laughed for real this time. "We lived in a fishing village so everything was about fish. His third word was boat while his fourth was water. It took him forever to say anything else because those four words covered
everything important in his world."
"Does he like the water?" Zeke asked.
"Loves it," I said. "He'd spend all day at the beach if I let him. Building sandcastles while chasing waves, collecting shells to show me. One time he found a crab and wanted to
keep it as a pet while I had to explain that crabs need to live in the ocean."
"What did he say to that?" Zeke was smiling while I could tell he was picturing our son.
"He said the crab could sleep in the ocean but visit him during the day," I replied. "That's how Golden's mind works. He tries to find solutions to problems even when the problem doesn't really have a solution."
"He sounds amazing," Zeke said quietly.
"He is," I agreed while my chest hurt
thinking about Golden scared somewhere. "He's the best thing I ever did even though having him wasn't planned."
"I'm glad you had him," Zeke said. "Even though it meant doing it alone which never should have happened."
"Things work out how they're meant to," I said while not sure I believed it but wanting to.
The ocean was getting closer while I could see the water now through the buildings that lined the coast. Marcus was talking on his radio
coordinating with the other teams while everyone was getting into position around the warehouse.
"Five minutes," the driver called back to us.
My heart started beating faster while fear and hope mixed together until I felt sick. This was it while we were finally going to find out if my vision was right or if we were chasing another dead end.
Zeke must have felt my fear through the bond because he pulled me closer while pressing a kiss to the top of my head. "Whatever we
find in there, we face it together."
"Together," I repeated while holding tight to his hand.
The vehicle slowed while pulling off the main road onto a gravel path that led to an industrial area. I could see a large metal building
ahead while it matched exactly what I'd seen in my vision. Shipping containers were stacked outside while the warehouse sat right on the water.
"That's it," I said while pointing. "That's the building from my vision.
"Everyone in position?" Zeke asked Marcus.
"Teams surrounding the building now," Marcus confirmed while watching his tablet that showed dots representing our people. "No movement detected inside but thermal imaging shows heat
signatures."
"How many?" I demanded.
"Four, maybe five," Marcus said. "One appears smaller than the others."
Golden.
