I Was The Only Omega In The Beast World-Chapter 79: CP: Following The Scent

The scream that tore from Naga’s throat was barely humanoid.

He’d been coiled in the den, half-dozing while Leo and Granite packed, when the mate mark on his chest suddenly EXPLODED with sensation.

Danger. Terror. Falling. Water. Cold.

Alex.

He shifted to full serpent form in an instant—thirty feet of scaled muscle and deadly intent—and shot out of the den with a speed that left scorch marks on the stone floor.

Leo was right behind him, already shifted to his full lion form, mane blazing white in the moonlight.

"ALEX!" Leo roared, the sound echoing across the settlement. "WHERE IS HE?!"

Granite emerged from the den at a dead run, his massive bear form shaking the ground with each step.

"What happened?!" he demanded.

"The mate bond—" Naga hissed, his hood flared to maximum width, venom dripping from his fangs. "Alex is in danger. Extreme danger. I felt him FALL—"

He whipped his head toward the communal washrooms, serpentine senses tracking the fading scent trail.

"There," he snarled. "He went there. He hasn’t come back."

They reached the washroom area in seconds.

The broken railing.

The muddy footprints leading to the edge.

The long gouges in the mud where something—someone—had scrabbled desperately before going over.

And far below, the rushing sound of the river.

Leo made a sound that was half-roar, half-howl of anguish.

"No. No no no—"

"He’s alive," Naga said sharply, pressing a clawed hand to his chest where the mate mark still pulsed faintly. "I can feel him. Faint, but there. He’s alive.

" He’s—he’s downstream. Moving fast."

"The river," Granite said, his voice tight with fury and fear. "It feeds into the coastal region. If he went over the edge here—"

"He’s being carried toward the ocean," Naga finished, his mind already calculating distances, current speeds, survival odds.

The mate mark pulsed again—stronger this time.

And then, miraculously, a response came back through the bond.

" I’m alive. I’m okay. The babies are okay. I’m downstream. I’m safe. "

Naga sagged with relief so profound his serpent form wavered.

"He’s okay," he gasped. "He’s alive. He’s OKAY."

"Where?" Leo demanded. "How far? Which direction?"

Naga closed his eyes, focusing on the bond.

The pull was clear—northeast, following the river’s path.

"Twenty miles downstream," he said.

"Maybe more. Moving slowly now—he must have reached calmer water."

"Then we go," Granite said immediately. "NOW."

"Wait," Boulder’s voice cut through the panic.

The second approached rapidly, flanked by several warriors.

"What happened?" he demanded. "We heard roaring—"

"Alex went over the cliff," Leo snarled.

"Someone was here. There are footprints. TWO sets of footprints near the broken railing."

Boulder’s expression went from concern to rage in an instant.

"Who?" he growled. "Who would DARE—"

"Find them," Granite ordered, his voice carrying the weight of a hundred years of authority despite having officially stepped down. "Search every den. Question everyone. I want whoever did this found BEFORE we return."

"And if we find them?" Boulder asked.

"Hold them," Granite said. "For Alex to judge. This is his choice—he’s the one who was harmed."

"But Chief—"

"No," Granite interrupted. "No executions without the bearer’s consent. Those are my terms. Understood?"

Boulder looked like he wanted to argue, but he nodded. "Understood. We’ll find who did this."

"Good," Granite said. Then he turned to Naga and Leo. "Can you track him?"

"Yes," Naga said immediately. "Even through water. I can follow his scent, and the mate bond gives me direction. We’ll find him."

"Then we leave now," Granite said. "Boulder—you’re in charge until we return. Pebble, you observe and learn. This is part of leadership—handling crisis when the chief is absent."

Pebble, who had arrived breathless and concerned, nodded seriously. "I won’t let you down."

"I know," Granite said gently. Then, louder: "Prepare travel supplies. Weapons. Medical supplies. We leave in ten minutes."

The settlement erupted into organized chaos—bears rushing to gather supplies, prepare packs, ready weapons.

Naga shifted back to humanoid form, his serpent lower half still coiled and ready to move at incredible speed.

Leo paced frantically, unable to sit still, his tail lashing with barely-contained violence.

"If someone hurt him," Leo said quietly, voice shaking with rage. "If someone TOUCHED him—"

"We’ll deal with it," Naga said, placing a hand on Leo’s shoulder. "Together. But first we find him. Make sure he’s truly safe."

"He said he was safe," Leo said desperately.

"Through the bond. He said he was okay."

"Then we trust that," Naga said firmly. "We trust Alex. He’s survived worse. He’ll survive this."

"He’s six months pregnant," Leo whispered.

"And he fell off a cliff into freezing water. How is he OKAY?"

"Because he’s Alex," Granite said, approaching with three loaded packs.

"Because he has a spirit guide that performs miracles. And because he’s too stubborn to die when his mates are waiting for him."

Despite everything, Leo’s mouth twitched in something almost like a smile.

"True," he admitted.

The mate marks pulsed again—gentle, reassuring.

Alex, wherever he was, was resting. The bond felt calmer now, the panic fading into exhaustion and determination.

"He’s asleep," Naga said softly, reading the bond’s signals. "He’s safe enough to sleep. That’s... that’s good. He needs rest."

"Then we travel while he rests," Granite said. "And we reach him by dawn."

"Agreed," both mates said in unison.

Ten minutes later, three figures left Bear Territory at a dead run—a serpent lord flowing across the ground like liquid death, a white lion moving with predatory grace, and a massive bear whose every step shook the earth.

They followed the river downstream, following scent and bond and desperate hope.