Deak continued to walk as the voices in his head pushed their influence on him. It was getting harder to keep control.

We must return to our mate, Malakai whined in Deak’s head.

Deak put his hands to his head as his body shook angrily; No more thoughts. He didn’t want to think anymore; he just wanted to feel numb. He turned and headed down a darker side of town, not caring where it took him.

He felt someone bump hard into his shoulder.

“Watch it,” the man sneered as he walked past Deak.

“Excuse you,” Deak responded.

The guy turned to look back at Deak. A devious smile slowly crept across his face. “What are you going to do about it?” the man taunted him.

Deak started to chuckle as he shook his head. “I guess you need a lesson in some manners,” Deak retorted.

The man walked up to Deak and attempted to size him up. Although Deak was taller than the man in question, the man was bulkier and stockierk. None of that mattered to Deak; he knew he could still take this guy and win.

“Follow me, I have just the place to settle this.”

Deak looked at the man questionably. Was it worth following this guy? His wolf was getting anxious with all this pent-up aggression building up inside them.

“Vita’s not going to like this,” he said to himself as he started to follow the man.

He looked at the deserted building that the man was leading him to.

“This way back here is the entrance,” the man told him as he stepped through the busted gate and made his way to the side of the building.

Deak was hesitant but continued to follow. He hoped that whatever this guy was taking him would help quiet the voices in his head. It didn’t matter what he needed to do; as long as it helped, he kept telling himself. He pulled out his phone, pinged the location, and sent a message to Marco.

Deak: If you don’t see me in a few hours, I may need some backup.

Deak put his phone back in his pocket as he walked through the side entrance.

The place inside looked as bleak and desolate as the front, but he could hear a faint sound of music and cheer in the distance. As he got closer, he heard fighting and a chain clanging. Where had this guy taken him?

Deak followed the man down a flight of stairs and into an underground arena. There was a large crowd of people surrounding a circular arena that was encased with a chainlink fence.

Cage Fighting.

Deak lifted his brow as he watched the two contenders fighting in the match. Both were fit and strong, showing their strength as they tried to take down the other opponent. Deak had his own guess as to who would win. This definitely piqued his curiosity.

“So, what do you think?” the man who brought him asked.

Deak looked at the man. “How did you know?”

The man smirked and answered, “You didn’t back down, and by the look on your face before I passed you. You look like you're fighting some demons inside you. I’ve known people to say that this helps. It was worth a shot.”

Deak smirked as he nodded. “So, how does it all work?”

“We list your picture and stats; you step into the ring. If you win, you get forty percent of the winnings. If you lose, you get fifty bucks and a thanks for participating.” he answered. “So, are you in?”

Deak sucked in a breath as he continued to watch the match in front of him before giving the man his answer. He smiled when his guess turned out to be right when the fight ended.

“Yeah, I'm in.”

***

Vita’s anxiety grew as she continued to look for Deak. He wasn’t answering his phone or any texts she had sent him. She was getting worried and also angry. Why was he acting like this? Why was he being so discreet? She thought they were in a good place and progressing in their relationship.

Vita’s phone started to ring. She quickly pulled it out and answered.

“Vita? It’s Amanda. Is Deak with you?”

Vita sighed as she rubbed the top of her forehead in frustration. “No, he’s not with me. Is everything okay?” she asked as she sat on a bench.

“He’s not answering any of the messages I’ve left him.”

At least she wasn’t the only one he was ghosting at the moment.

Vita shook her head and answered, “I’m not sure. We haven’t had much luck finding another way to eliminate the curse and some other things that have happened.”

“Well, maybe I shouldn’t bring up what I’ve found. It might not be a good time.” Amanda admitted.

“What did you find?”

“Hudson and I are here at Deak’s place, and—”

Vita interrupted her. “Amanda, don’t go inside. Someone was inside the house, and we don’t know if they are still there.”

“Wait, you know already.”

Vita continued to rub her head; when would this stress go away and let her breathe? “Yeah, I, uh, astral projected to his house while I was there. Someone was able to grab me and tried to choke me, telling me I wasn’t supposed to be there.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, but Deak got angry and stormed off; I haven’t seen him since.”

“You keep looking for Deak. I’ll handle things here with Hudson. He’s called for warriors to come and help us check if anyone is still here. We will fill each other in on whatever we find.”

Vita smiled as she felt a little bit of her stress start to leave her. “Yes, of course. Thanks, Amanda.”

“Hey, just because I’m not there doesn’t mean I can’t have your back. We’ll figure this all out; I promise.”

Vita nodded as she fought back the tears that were threatening to fall. Crying and getting upset weren’t going to help her find Deak. Yes, it would help release some of the tension she was feeling, but she needed to use it as fuel to push her through to find Deak. And once she did, she would give him a good piece of her mind.

“Thanks, Amanda, I’ll talk to you soon,” Vita said before ending the call.

Now to hunt Deak down.

***

Marco pulled Tabitha away from the others and took her somewhere they could talk privately. “Tab, you can’t keep ignoring me and wait for this to disappear. We need to talk about this.”

Tabitha crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. “What’s there to talk about? Clearly, you don’t like how I’m acting.”

Marco closed his eyes as he tried to calm his nerves. He pulled out his phone when he got an alert. His shoulders slumped when he looked at the message.

“What’s wrong?”

“We need to talk with Esha and then find Vita. I think I know where Deak is.”