The Nights Song

Chp 14

*Crescent's POV*
The next day

I grinned to myself as I stepped onto familiar territory, Nightsong territory to be exact, and sprinted towards Ashers hut.
"Asher I-" I paused as I took in the scene before me. It looked like no one had been here for a few days at least, the bed was unmade, a few papers were strewn around and Aster -Ashers stuffed green Dino that his parents gave him- was on the floor.

I pick him up gently and buried my nose in his fluff, breathing in Ashers scent to calm my panic.
After I'd calmed down I trotted to Hawke and Mira's hut and went in without bothering to wait for permission, but they too were gone. I frowned in confusion before heading to Mav's hut and finding her sitting on her bed, reading a book as always.

"Oh thank goodness, I was worried that everyone just disappeared." Her head shot up at the sound of my voice and she smiled.
"I knew you'd be back." I smiled and pulled her into a hug.
"Of course I am, it just took a little longer than expected. Where is everyone?"
"Well, mom and dad are helping Isla and Jael -and visa versa-. Everyone's looking for you and Asher." She explained as she pulled away.
I frowned.
"Ashers been missing for a few days now, he left when him, dad and Isla found a house but didn't find you. He asked me not to tell mom and dad where he is."
"Well can you show me where he is? I'm not your parents."

She rolled her eyes and gave me directions to wherever Asher is before wishing me good luck and going back to reading her book.
I left her hut and headed in the direction of the hangout Mav told me about.
I followed to faint pathway to a clearing with a few logs lying on the ground, probably to use as chairs.
"Ash?" I called, frowning at the lack of my mate.

A low growl brought my attention to the left, where Asher sat against a tree, hugging his knees to his chest.
"These stupid hallucinations..." he grumbled, the dark circles under his eyes making me feel bad.
"I'm not a hallucination Ash, it's really me." I set my bag down and walked over to him before pulling him into a tight hug.
"I missed you so much." I mumbled, inhaling his scent to fight back the tears.
"You're really here...?" He asked shakily, clinging to me.
"Mhm, and I'm not leaving." I pulled back slightly to kiss his cheek.

"Can I mark you?" He mumbled into my neck, making me shudder.
"I can't lose you like that again....." I frowned and rubbed his back.
"Go ahead Ash, I'm ready." He pulled away from the hug and leaned in to kiss me when Mav came up.

"Hey guys sorry to interrupt, but the adults are back and I told them I found y'all so let's get moving." Asher grumbled something about timing as we stood up and followed her back to the pack.
Asher took my hand in his as we walked and interlaced our fingers.

We walked into a large hut -probably for meetings- to find a large circular table in the middle of it, around it sat my parents, Ashers parents, Akari, Jack and both my siblings.
"Sorry guys, I figured we should invite the missing people to the meeting where we figure out how to find them." Mav declared as she sat beside her mom.
"Oh hey Cress." My brother greeted, seconds before he paused and then sprinted over to me and pulled me into a tight hug, demanding I never scare him like that again.

It's funny how back with Alex and Wren he couldn't care less about me, and now he's acting like my father...

I laughed silently to myself and hugged back.
"Cress!" My little sister Arie screamed, bounding over and joining the hug.
"I missed you guys too, but I'd like to keep my hearing."
"Anyone else confused?" My uncle asked, staring at me.
"Well, Cress came to me a little while ago so I sent her to Asher, whose location I knew, and Cress got Asher out of his funk." Mav shrugged as if it was nothing and she does it every day.
"And you didn't think to tell anyone!?" Mom asked incredulously, only slightly upset that she wasn't the first to know I wasn't ok. Note the sarcasm.
"I just did." Mav retorted sharply.
I sighed heavily.

"Guys the important thing is, I'm back, I'm ok and I guess Ashers out of his funk, whatever that's supposed to mean. Can we move past it and get some food? I haven't eaten since this morning." I cut in before my mom could say anything more.
"It's only 10 in the morning..." dad muttered.
"Sounds like a perfect time for lunch." Without waiting for a response I dragged Asher and Arie out of the hut, I would've dragged Terry too, but sadly I only have two hands. Luckily though Arie helped me out and snatched his wrist so he'd get dragged along as well.
We marched into the dining hut and i immediately went for steak, something I had all the time with Fuego.
"Hey what's wrong? How come you just frowned?" Terry asked, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"Nothing, I'm fine." I gave him a small smile.
"Just thinking about something."
"Like?"
"It's not important."
"Seems important if you're frowning about it."
"Cress!" My best friend Robin shrieked excitedly, bounding over and pulling me in a tight hug, saving me from my brothers interrogation.
"Hey Robin, I thought you left the pack to find your mate."
"I did, and I found him! But I missed you so I dragged him back here, I guess he's always wanted to see Alaska so he's exploring the pack grounds while telling me 'OMG ROBIN ITS SO MUCH COLDER HERE!!!' Or 'DO NOT PUT YOUR BARE HANDS IN TO WHITE STUFF IN THE GROUND, ITS COLD!!!!'"
I snickered softly and sat down at a table with her, Asher, Terry and Arie.

"I can't wait to meet him, he sounds amazing." I complimented.
"He gets it from me." She did a sassy hair flip before scarfing down her food so I could meet her soulmate faster.