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Artem

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I was glad I was going with Star and Chay, but when Chay set her condition that I was to watch from afar it kind of irked me. But then, not ten minutes after getting to the mall I got a text message from Chay.

:C: Just like I expected, she doesn’t want me to spend money on her, so you are going to go and buy everything that I tell you to.

:A: Seriously? Why won’t she let you buy them?

:C: Think about it genius, she thinks she doesn’t deserve them. And so I won’t buy them like I promised. But I never told her that you wouldn’t buy them.

:A: That’s sneaky, but I’m totally in. What am I buying first?

:C: I will send you pictures of what she is most interested in.

:A: Got it.

The first thing that Chay sent a picture of was Star looking at a little green purse along with the store name it was at. I knew that I was going to have my work cut out for me. That’s when I called Kent and asked him for his help. I might not be able to carry all this myself.

I had bought the purse as instructed and was waiting for more messages to come my way when Kent joined me.

“So, you’re on a treasure hunt for your mate today, huh?” He smiled.

“She won’t let Chay buy her anything. But Chay is sending me info on what it is she wants and I can get it for her.”

“How much are you going to get?”

“As much as she wants.” I grinned at him, thinking of how happy Star was going to be.

After a few more minutes I got a message from Chay that actually had Star wearing this really pretty silver dress. I felt my heart pound, my jaw drop, and butterflies take flight in my stomach. She looked so beautiful, so glorious, so perfect.

“Whoooooo. Now that’s a nice look for her.” Kent was looking over my shoulder and whistled when he saw the picture. Instantly I saw red and growled, but I got myself under control. This is my best friend, my beta, not to mention he has his own mate too.

“She does look beautiful doesn’t she.”

I expected to get a message that said I needed to go buy that dress, but it turned out that Chay forced Star to get the dress and then they were off to get some shoes to go with it.

From there I was sent to get a specific pair of shoes, a shirt, some sunglasses, a watch and a necklace, so many different things at so many different stores. The bags were piling up but I was looking forward to making my Star shine with a massive smile on her face.

Kent didn’t seem to be having the best time, since he was holding onto all of the stuff that I was buying for Star. He would stay outside the store while I ran in and found the item. It was an efficient routine.

After a couple hours I got a message that they were getting something to eat. I thought it was the right time for us to take a break as well. I knew they were at the pretzel stand so I decided to sit on the opposite side, near the pizza place. Kent was content with that, he loved pizza more than I did.

For some reason, I just felt off. There were a lot of people in the food court, but they were just walking around, they weren’t buying anything at all, just milling about. Whatever was going on, it was making me feel uneasy.

“Does something feel off to you?” I asked Kent just as he was about to shove a piece of pizza into his mouth.

“Not really. I mean there are more people in this area than I expected, but nothing that really feels off. Why?”

“I don’t know. I just get this feeling that something is wrong. Like something is about to happen.”

“Like what?” He was confused now, his pizza completely abandoned.

“Something to do with Star and Chay.”

“Do you want to go check on them?” I wanted to tell him no. I wanted to be able to say that it was all just my imagination. I wanted to just ignore it and just say it’s me being paranoid and over protective. But I couldn’t do that, something wouldn’t let me.

“Yeah, I think we should. I think I need to go see what is going on with them right now. I need to see them, both of them, to make sure that they’re safe.”

“Alright. Do you want me to go with you or stay here?”

“Stay here, if Star sees you or me carrying everything then she will know what we did.”

“Good point, then you go check on your mate and your sister and I will guard your things.” He laughed lightheartedly, trying to tell me I was blowing it all out of proportion, but I knew that I wasn’t.

I rose to my feet slowly, moving with fluid yet alert steps. I was monitoring all of the surroundings the best that I could. I was looking for people who looked off, people that smelled off, and people that felt off to me. This was going to be a tense few moments.

While I was walking toward the place I knew the girls were supposed to be I caught a whiff of something stale and disgusting. It smelled like the people from Star’s family. Seriously, how could they all smell so horrible?

That scent made me go into panic mode. Did they know Star was here? Were they trying to get her? Would I be in time to save her? I had to find her, and quickly.

I looked at the tables and the line near the pretzel stand. I saw Chay standing in line, but I didn’t see Star at all. Star should have been with her, or sitting somewhere close to her. Where was she? Where did she go? Did they have her?

As soon as those thoughts flitted through my mind I heard a howling scream of pain quickly followed by a curse and someone yelling.

“ARTEM!”