Jarko came out of the pizza parlor, ready to congratulate his brother on laying the hot blonde inside before he became a claimed man. Even with his vampire sight it took him a moment to realize that Hannibal was nowhere to be seen, he had completely disappeared. In a panic he tried to smell the man's scent but there were too many people around and the slight trail he did find ended a block away. If King had been taken he would be crucified and then eaten for dinner… after he'd starved for a few days.

Even with that grim thought in mind, he knew if he didn't alert the king and his mate's crazy ass mother, he'd answer to a far worse fate, even if Hannibal was found safe and secure in the meantime.

"Hello?"

"Vitani, we've got a problem."

"Oh god, what?"

"I lost King," Jarko said, trying not to let his voice shake.

"WHAT!" Drake shouted from the background and Jarko immediately went to shrink away from the phone.

"Daddy, calm down! I'm sure Jarko didn't mean to and getting angry isn't going to help anything; knowing my son he ran off for some alone time!"

"Or he ran off to get away from me? How could he just leave Zoe?"

"Shut up!" Vitani yelled at her father, she was the only person with that privilege other than the man's parents, "You're just talking crazy now because you're scared. He wouldn't leave Zoe or you. Now either something happened to upset him and make him run off or someone took him, either way, you need to be calm to deal with it. Jarko?"

"Yes Vitani?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm not sure, I was following him."

"Does your phone have GPS?"

"I can find him through the bite!" Drake growled.

"Fine, we'll be there soon."

Not even fifteen minutes later Jarko was joined by and enraged vampire king and his daughter, who calmed the closer they came to the blonde muscled vampire.

"Now I see," She said, "Come on you two, let's go make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"What are you talking about Vitani?" Drake growled.

She smiled sadly, "You'll see."

Drake stayed confused until Vitani put the passcode in for the door and opened it to reveal the apartment from King's memories. They had left Jarko in the lobby and his anger melted away quickly because he understood why Hannibal would not have wanted the blonde here for this. He noted the wet floor near the pool but otherwise the room was in perfect condition.

Vitani shook her head; Hannibal should never have come here alone. As she looked around she shook her head at the sight of the pool and then sunk into her mate's chair. His scent was everywhere, all around her in that moment and she freely let the tears fall from her eyes. Drake placed a hand on her shoulder and it spurred her into action.

She took the stairs two at a time and moved to her son's room. Though he wasn't inside, it was obvious he had been if the broken picture was anything to go by. She left the room without looking at the picture, more focused on finding her son. Drake however stepped over to the pile of glass, as he carefully picked the captured memory up, he was not surprised to his mate's family surrounding him. He put the picture into his pocket for safe keeping; perhaps after this was over Hannibal would like to keep it.

Vitani moved straight to her and Deacon's room. Something told her that would be where Hannibal ended up; it was hard to imagine him anywhere else. Opening the door proved her right, he was sitting on the edge of the bed, head in his hands.

Kneeling on the floor in front of him, she pulled his hands away and made him look at her, "Doodlebug, what were you thinking? Why didn't you call me?"

"I don't know; I couldn't have thought straight if I tried at the time. How do I forget about him?"

"You can't; haven't you learned that yet?"

"I go from loving him to hating him so fast! Sometime I swear if he was standing in front of me, I'd fall into his arms and other times I swear I'd kill him all over again."

Vitani laughed shortly, "I'm no better, little prince. It's not wrong to feel that way either. You might get the chance sooner than you think."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing hunny, nothing… now's not the time to go into it and it would only confuse you. It would make your feelings go even more haywire. You need to focus on forgiving him and then forgiving yourself; grudges and guilt do nothing but eat at us, and us alone."

"… I love you Mom."

"I love you too, little prince."

…..