The Alphas Sanctuary

Gone

Alex and Gage sat in Alex's office. Alex waited for the questions to come; but Gage only sat there staring at him. "Say something" this silence was getting to him.

"I'm not even sure I know what to say. So I guess I'll start at the beginning. Did she see you that night?"

"Yes"

"She's your mate isn't she?"

Alex closed his eyes and sighed. "Yes"

"What the hell dude!" Gage had never felt so angry with his friend before. This was huge and not something you don’t tell your friend. Not to mention that Alex had lied to him!

"It's complicated"

"She's your mate designed for you, the hard work is done how in the world is that complicated!?"

"That! That's what's complicated!" Alex shot back at Gage. Gage looked at him with confusion painted over his face. Alex sighed and elaborated. "What happens when you find your mate? You meet and instantly fall in love, mark each other and get down to making pups. That's not what I want."

"SO YOUR GOING TO REJECT HER!?"  Gage found himself even more angry then he thought possible.

"Who said anything about rejection? Plus, well in truth, that's not the worse part.” Alex cleared his throat. “Shi is gone." Alex held his breath while Gage processed what he just said.

"Well shit.... When did that happen?"

".... In the car when I told you nothing was going on..."

"ALEX!"

"I know I know. I don't even know what to do, I can't shift, can't sleep can't eat.

"This is a mess dude."

"Yes I'm aware"

Now that Gage knew everything it was time to think of a plan. Gage was the smartest man Alex knew, if anyone could figure this mess out it was him. He hoped.

"Well this sure explains why I felt drawn to her and protective,  she is our Luna.  Would have made more sense to me had you told me!"

"I panicked.  I really never thought I'd wanted a mate, not after what happened to Isabella. Plus  I was doing fine on my own.  But now I've made a mess of everything." Alex hadn’t brought up his sister in years, but this wasn’t about her, this was about him. Gage knew the story well, even though no one ever spoke of it.

"We have time,  we can fix this. " Gage hoped that was true. If they didn't figure this out soon they would lose the Luna and their Alpha. "Let's put our heads together. But first,  we need to go talk Apryl. She deserves to know what's going on. Especially if this is why you have been avoiding her. She’s been staring at her phone for two weeks now and asking about you!”

“Really, she asks about me?” Maybe he hadn't completely blotched this.

“Yeah, it's kind of annoying actually. Now lets go.” 

Alex had exactly five minutes to figure out how and what exactly he was going to tell Apryl. He had never told anyone the truth about who he was. She didn't seem freaked out from their moon goddess conversation earlier so he definitely has that working in his favor. Gage was right, he needed to talk to her Alex feared that if April rejected him Shi would never come back and that would be the end of his life. Just thinking about it hurt his heart. He would have to risk it, for he had no other choice.

Gage parked the car, the lights streaming from the cabin door told Alex something was wrong and he instantly was on edge. Gage also noticed that her front door was open, without a word they were out of the car and running up the stairs. Furniture was overturned, her belongings littered the floor, obvious signs of a struggle. They searched room to room yelling her name, but they were met with only silence and more disorder throughout the cabin.

"Gage, do you smell that?" A scent mixed and lingered faintly with Apryl's.

"It's not someone we know. Not a rogue and no one from town." Gage scratched his head.

"Has she told you anything about her past?"

"No, nothing. It's like she didn't exist before she came here but I always got the feeling she was hiding something. "

"I did too, I think she came here to get away from someone." Alex felt the anger boiling up inside him. She didn't share with them anything that could help them find her, and she was just gone. She was in grave danger and he could feel it.

"We need to find her, now!" Alex would surely die without her. Shi was already gone and he felt himself weakening from the loss of his wolf. If they lost their mate they would die and the Blue moon pack would suffer the loss of not only their Luna but also their Alpha, and that wasn't an option.

"You can't shift. We will have to track them on foot. The scent is faint but still here we should be able to keep up with it if we leave now. Should we call for the others?"

"No. We don't have time to wait for them, plus they don’t know what she smells like. Let's go." Alex was out the door and on the trail in seconds with Gage hot on his heels. Alex would find her if it was the last thing he ever did. He couldn’t lose her, not after he finally realized he wanted her.

Apryl found herself curled into a ball in the corner of a dark musty smelling room. The walls were chipped and peeling and the only light came from a dim light gently swaying above her head. Her whole body hurt. It was the kind of hurt she felt before and knew well. He found her, and he had brought her here to this dismal place to die. Just like he always promised he would do if she ever tried to leave him.

This time was different, she felt different. She had finally fought back, she wasn’t going down without a fight. She was finally starting to find herself, to make a home and a life for herself. She wasn’t going to let that easily be taken from her again, not this time.

Gage would know something was wrong by the way the house was in disarray. He would get help, he would find her. He loved her, didn't he? They had grown to be close friends in the past two weeks. She looked at him like a brother, someone to always look after her. She regretted not telling him about her past, perhaps if she had she wouldn't be in this situation. If she could just hang on long enough Gage would find her.

Then she thought of Alex and the sweet smile she occasionally was blessed with. She had no idea how he felt towards her. But she knew she had feelings for him. She just didn't know what they were yet. She thought about his smile and the way it made her insides melt. She thought of how he made her feel safe, and she focused on that to keep her grounded. She needed to survive, to see him again. 

A door across the room slowly creaked open. A man stood masked in the shadows. She didn't need to see his face, she knew it as well as her own. 'picture the feeling you get when you're with Alex. You can do this.' Footsteps came closer, she held her breath staying silent.

"Hello princess" , his voice causing chills over her body. 

He found her.

He was going to kill her.

Hardin.....