The Alphas Mate

9.

Wow, okay so this Layla'h chick and Chris were close, I think, as Luke goes on.

"They were like their own little family. Layla'h and Lexi are the same age so Layla'h would go to school with Lex, they would hang out and do homework together, go to the Mall, that sort of s**t, just like Chris hung out with Rhys and I, but sooner or later either one of them, Chris or Layla'h would seek out the other. Everything was strictly friends, they never crossed the line, they were just each other's person. When Chris turned 18 and didn't find his mate, the whole pack was convinced that him and Layla'h were mates and they just had to wait until she was 18. Chris being 6yrs older than her each year, that went passed with no mate looking more and more like it was Layla'h. The first day you showed up here a couple of months ago when you were tracking the rogue, remember?" he asks me, remembering I nod so that he would continue, darting my eyes toward Chris, noticing he was looking worse and worse the more Luke talked about him and this she-wolf.

"So yeah the day you showed up here was Layla'hs 18th birthday. We all went about our days. Layla'h showed up here to see Chris first thing in the morning. No mate bond. It turns out they weren't mates. It devastated her. Since her parents died, Chris has been her person and now they both knew he wasn't her person. Layla'h hasn't had the easiest life on top of her parents and being a ward of the pack then living by herself, she kept to herself a lot. The other kids at school thought she was strange or whatever because she didn't have parents. On top of that, she's always had problems shifting. Her first shift Chris found her passed out just about half dead in the middle of the forest. She was in a coma for a week. We don't know what happened or didn't happen. The only thing the doctor and Chris's parents could come up with was that she wasn't strong enough because she's a tiny wee thing. So after that she started warrior training to build her strength. She didn't try shifting again for two years after the first time. Dan was with her that time to try and help her, she managed a part shift before he had to command her to stop, he said her screams were the worst thing he has ever heard. So before her 18th birthday she had never fully shifted, no parents, Chris is her person."

I could see where he was going with this line of the story but still don't fully understand what's going on. This she-wolf sounds like she had a really f****d up life and she's only 18.

"So finding out they weren't mates just about broke her. She cried and cried, so Chris did what Chris had always done, he picked her up wrapped her in his arms and sat back down at his desk and kept working. Took phone calls, answered emails, had meetings. Everyone who walked into this office that day and saw her passed out on his lap knew what had happened so nobody talked about it, we just went on business as normal. Layla'h doesn't do well with change. You showed up in the afternoon, there was no way Chris was leaving her by herself so he talked to you over the phone, I showed you round got you settled in here while Chris finished his work day in here before taking Layla'h upstairs to bed. We saw him when he came down for dinner but it wasn't until the next day after he knew Layla'h was okay that he would actually sit down and meet with you properly."

Yeah I remember now. It makes sense. It wouldn't have at the time and would have properly pissed me off if they had explained then why he couldn't meet with me, but now with the back story, I totally understand and would probably have done the same in his shoes.

"So life was hard for a couple of days, a week after that. The change was hard for both of them but more so for Layla'h. They sat down and talked about it one night and decided that neither of them had found their mates yet, that they would date, get to know each other on a more romantic level make sure they actually worked as a couple. Layla'h planned on going to college so her years at college while they were still dating would expose her to new people and she might find her mate. If neither of them did by the time she has finished and they decide that they work well together, then they would become chosen mates instead. Simple, right? They told us. We're the only ones that know they aren't actually mates. The rest of the pack has no idea. Life continued on. She graduated from high school and started working for the pack over summer, they got closer, spending even more time together. Layla'h finally completed her first full shift one night while Chris was away. Rhys found her the next morning at her place not in a very good state. He carried her to the shower, showered her, dried her, dressed her, brushed her hair, carried her back to bed, fed her etc before she passed out again for the rest of the day. That's the only time any of us know that she's fully shifted. Over the last couple of months she pretty much moved into the pack house with Chris because she was packing her stuff and getting ready to go to college. She's supposed to be starting in two weeks. Life is good. They spent every second of every day together when she didn't have stuff she needed to do."

Bloody hell, this is some out of control love story going on here.

"How come I've never met her in all the times I've been here?" I asked, wondering out loud. I've met Lexi but never Layla'h.

"Man, I don't know she must have been off doing something every time you've been round because lately it's gotten that common to walk in here to find her curled up on the couch or Chris's lap that nobody blinks an eye at it now. He holds a lot of his meetings with her tucked under his chin, it doesn't matter who he's meeting with, Alpha, warrior, pack member. And if you start the meeting and she's not here, you can almost grantee she will show up half way through, you don't even hear her come through the door, she'll just walk in quietly walk round the desk and climb on his lap. Kind of sickly really, but that's what those two are like. Anyway, everything was great until yesterday. Yesterday the girls went off to training. Then they have their self-defense class they teach. Layla'h was busy until about lunch time when she was gonna come have lunch with Chris before going to town to pick up the last minute things she needed for school. Alpha Wade showed up with his group of people and his daughter. Well, Chris and Jenny took one look at each other and worked out they were mates. Rhys and I made sure nothing happened between the two of them and got Jenny out of the house for the day so Chris could explain to Wade why he didn't claim his daughter right away as his mate and then give him time to discuss it with Layla'h. We had a meeting all morning, we finally broke for lunch and we left Chris here by himself knowing that Layla'h would be here soon and before we knew it, all hell broke loose. Jenny decided that she had had enough of being out of the house and wanted to find her mate. She didn't know he was actually with someone else and in love with someone else. She showed up so Chris decided to try and explain to her what was going on, she ended up on his lap, the two of them making out when Layla'h showed up. Saw the whole thing and ran. Lexi screaming at her brother was what snapped him out of it. He chased her home she wouldn't let him in, we dragged him away so Lexi could go in. Lexi found her on the floor in wolf form, couldn't get her to shifted so called asked for Dan to go over, Dan tried to get her to shift but stopped when she started growling at him. Lexi rang again wanted Wade to go over, we took Chris too just encase by the time we got there she had been in wolf form for over 4 hours while very upset. I went in to talk to Dan and come up with a plan because we didn't really want Chris around her not knowing if it would make it worse. When I saw her I knew we couldn't let Wade anywhere near her and had no choice but to let Chris in. Chris tried coaching her to shift without commanding her so he wouldn't hurt her anymore. That didn't work it just pissed her wolf off more, the two of them ended up destroying her living room by fighting in wolf form before Chris finally won and got her to change back. By the time she shifted back she was awake but non responsive. Chris held her until she passed out put her in bed and we left, leaving her with Lexi and none of us bar Lexi have seen or talked to her since. Now she's disappeared to goddess knows where." Luke finishes by blowing out a loud breath and slumping back on the couch.

Well he wasn't joking, it was a story. It could have been shorter but it makes a lot more sense with the back story of their/her life. We all sit quickly with our own thoughts for a while before something comes to me.

"You left something out didn't you?" I ask before continuing. "Earlier Rhys said she could be in danger and you said just before that you didn't want Alpha Wade to see her in wolf form. Why?"

I have a feeling I already know the answer to this question but I want to hear him say it.

"Because she's beautiful. The most beautiful silky smooth, light fluffy pure white wolf I have ever seen and huge. Way bigger than a normal sized she-wolf, more the size of an average size Alpha wolf." Chris whisper's out.

"Ah, and now we don't know where she is." I state.

This could be a problem. She could be in danger. At least they were smart enough not to tell anybody else a part from their circle and myself and Dylan know what color she is.

"We need to make sure we keep that her wolf is white to ourselves. We can't take the chance of anybody else finding out about her. We still haven't been able to find out why the rogues want her. I was hoping coming here and seeing her wolf might help us work it out. But that is out, for the moment. Did you guys notice anything about her wolf that's not normal?" I ask.

"Other than her size which isn't normal and her pure white coloring with the single black line above her left eyebrow, she managed to hold her own against Chris alright for awhile but I don't know how much of that is training." Luke says as they all look at each other to confirm that someone else didn't notice anything else.

"Mmm well that doesn't really get us any closer to finding out what the rogues want with her. Didn't you say Lexi was the last person to see her? Maybe it's time to talk to Lexi and see if we can find out where she is at least, and that will solve one problem." I say, we need to find her and make sure she is looked after. For whatever reason the rogues want her and we need to make sure that doesn't happen, while trying to work out why they want her. As for the rest of it. Well Chris knew she wasn't his mate and he still decided to go there, there really isn't anything that can be done for that. I watch as Luke gets up from his seat and makes for the door to go and find his mate so we can question her. Once he exits the room I swing my eyes towards my Beta Dylan, quirking an eyebrow at him in a silent question to see what he thinks of all this. The only response I get from him is a shrug of his shoulders. I'm not going to get anything out of him until we're alone, so I go back to watching Chris while we wait in silence, even though he hasn't moved a muscle throughout the whole conversation.

We sit quietly until a commotion in the hallway has every head snapping towards the door just as Luke walks in with Lexi following behind.

"What is going on in here? Is there a reason you have dragged me out of bed in the middle of the night?" Lexi questions, clearly pissed off, but I'm wondering how much of it is a front to cover for her friend.

"Lex, where is she?" Chris finally spoke for the first time since we all sat down, begging his sister to tell him where Layla'h is.

"She left." is Lexi's only reply as she shrugs her shoulders, looking bored of the conversation already. Yep, I was right. Her anger was a front to cover for her friend.

"I worked that one out already Lex. I need to know where she went." Chris tries again. Clearly not happy with her answer. I can hear the frustration lacing his voice as he gets up and starts to pace.

"Why should I tell you!" Lex shoots back at her brother just as fast. "It's your fault I lost my best friend because you couldn't keep her hands to yourself, even knowing what it would do to her."

"I'm your alpha!" Chris yells at her.

"You're also a dickhead." She spits back.

This isn't getting us anywhere fast. I'm tried from traveling to get here and am sick of dealing with this. Alpha Chris really f****d up on this one.

"Look, we don't have time for this, we need to find her and fast. Who has her number? I'll have my guy track her cellphone. It will be faster than this." I bark out, waving a hand around the room.

Rhys rattles off her number for Dylan to write down before exiting the room. Chris and Lexi are still yelling at each other and it takes Luke dragging Lexi out of the office for them to stop. I watch as Chris finally slumps back into his chair looking defeated.

The silence is tense while we wait. Dylan enters the room 5 minutes later, giving me a single nod to tell me it's done. There's nothing left to do now but wait to hear back from my guy. Turning to Rhys, I say. "My guy is tracking her cell now, we just have to wait. I'm going to bed after I make a couple of calls and get my team on standby. Can you get me her file by morning so I know what I'm dealing with here?" I wait for agreement from him before Dylan and I leave, heading upstairs to the rooms we used last time we stayed.

"What do you think?" I finally asked my Beta as we reached the stairs.

"He should have known better but I get it," he answers with a shrug.

"Not what I was asking dickhead."

"I know, but we both already know we need to find the she-wolf for her own safety. So I didn't think it really needed to be said."

I don't bother responding because he's right. It really was a dumb question to ask. I nod goodnight to my Beta as he holds out the piece of paper with the she-wolf's number on it before he closes the door to his room. Locked in my room, I send a message to the same team who tracked the missing wolf pup to be on standby and ready to leave first thing in the morning. I strip out of my shirt before sitting on the side of the bed to remove my shoes. This has been a long fucken day and I can feel it's only the start of many long days. Rubbing a hand over my face to try and clear the fatigue, I decide to try calling the she-wolf myself. I sit waiting as it rings. It rings for that long I'm sure she's not going to answer and that the call is just going to go to her voice mail.

"Hello?" Comes the sweetest voice I have ever heard from the other end of the line.

"Layla'h" I heard my voice growl out. f**k, I've probably just scared her away now. I didn't mean to growl at her, but her voice does something to me. I can feel it in my chest, like my wolf is trying to push out of me.

"Maybe. Who wants to know?"

"Layla'h. My name's Xavier. I was ringing to make sure you're alright." I tried again, keeping my voice as gentle as possible.

"Alpha Xavier?" she asks, causing a shiver to run down my spine as my name rolls off her tongue.

"Yeah sweetheart. Where are you?"

"Chris called you, didn't he?" she asks instead of answering my question. So far I've gotten nothing out of her.

"He did, but not about you taking off. He called me about something else." I'm not exactly lying. He did call me about something else, that something else just happened to be something else also to do with her.

"If that's true, why are you calling me?"

"Because everyone here is worried about you sweetheart, and I thought I would see if I could help by talking to you."

Her end of the line stays silent but I can just faintly hear her breathing.

"Layla'h, you wanna tell me where you are?"

"No" comes through as a whisper and I think I can hear her sniffling in the background. s**t, she's crying. Her crying is doing something weird to me. I can feel it in my chest, in my wolf. We feel the urge to be with her and make sure she's okay and stop her from crying. Normally I can't stand people crying, it drives me up the wall, but there's something about her. I don't know if it's just from hearing about all the s**t she's already gone through in her life or if it's something else. But the urge to be near her is almost overwhelming.

"Baby girl, don't cry. It's okay, everything is going to be okay. I can come and get you, wherever you are. I can leave right now, you just gotta tell me where you are."

"I'm not going back. I can't" her tears roll through the line louder this time, breaking my heart. I try to listen for anything I can hear in the background to work out where she is but pick up nothing.

"We don't need to come back here, I can take you anywhere you want to go."

Layla'h

"We don't need to come back here, I can take you anywhere you want to go." Xavier tells me.

"You can come home with me if you want, sweetheart."

His offer starts to sound amazing, he sounds so caring and nice. I've never talked to him before. I've always been on my way out of the pack house when he's arriving. But the way he's talking to me and the feeling of complete loneliness I'm feeling at the moment as I sit in the hotel room far from the only home I've even known his offer to come get me is starting to feel like something I want him to do. I go to tell him where I am when my phone pings with a text. Pulling the phone away from my ear, I see it's Lexi.

Lexi: Can't talk. Luke has locked me in our room and is guarding me. Hiding in the bathroom to be able to txt you. They are trying to track your phone to find you. Buy a burner when you can and txt me. Miss you xoxo

They're tracking my phone? Xavier is talking to me right now, is he just trying to keep me on the line so they can find me. Had this whole thing been a set up? I'm so stupid, I was just about to tell him where I was. I can hear Xavier's voice calling my name.

"I got to go." I spit out quickly into the phone before hanging up and switching my phone off. I glance around the room trying to find something to smash it with and realised that they might have already tracked me to the hotel. I have to leave now.

I scrambled out of bed, quickly dressing back in the clothes I had just taken off before grabbing the few things I brought in from my car and head out the door. I stop off in the lobby at the front desk to hand back my room key and check out, telling the lady that I had just got a call from a family member with a family emergency and had to leave now. In the parking lot, I slide my phone behind my back wheel before getting in the car. I reserve making sure to run over my phone in the process and head back to the main road, hoping I have enough of a head start that I can be far from here before they get here.

I drive, deciding not to stop at another hotel. Instead I get closer and closer to college, driving through the city limits just as the sun starts to rise. I drive down the main road until I found a hotel. I need sleep badly as I'm now barely functioning. I pull into the valet parking in front of the hotel and climb out hoping they have a room.

Luck must be on my side because the lady at the front desk informs me they have one left, so I check in for 3 days hoping it will be enough time for me to find somewhere else to live. I make it to my room and flop on the bed face first, not even bothering to remove my clothes. I'm asleep before my head hits the pillows.

I slowly drift into consciousness, my eyes blinking open to nothing but darkness. It takes a couple of minutes and a few blinks before it clicks in my brain that I must have slept all day. Rolling onto my back, I stare up at the ceiling. Stretching out the muscles in my body. All the driving yesterday and last night, sitting in my car for so many hours hasn't been good for my body. I'm going to have to go for a run to work out all the cringes. Without looking, my hand pats around the side table looking for my phone so I can text Lexi and let her know I'm alright. I finally sit up when I don't find it. Turning the light on so I can see. I looked around, not finding it anywhere and that's when I remembered I didn't have a phone any more. I had to get rid of it so the pack couldn't track me.

Shit! I need to get a phone. I can see Lexi freaking out that she hasn't heard from me all day. If she freaks out too much she will cave and tell them where I am and I can't have that. I'm not going back and I'm definitely not talking to Chris. I need to move on. I need to heal and find my own place in the world. No more relying on others. My parents are dead. I don't have any other family. It's just me and it's probably well overdue for me to stand on my own. I don't need Chris. I don't. This has become my mantra in the last 24 hours. Everytime I start to think about him, I repeat it, over and over again. Maybe the more I say it, the more my heart will believe it.

Deciding I need to move on and start doing all the things I need to. I climb out of bed and head towards the bathroom to shower. Finally dressed, grabbing my handbag and room key, I leave my room. Stopping at the front desk, I asked the lady working behind it where I could find a*****e that sells cell phones that was still open. She pulls out a small map of the area and gives me directions while drawing on the paper before waving me goodbye with a smile.

It takes me 30 minutes to walk to the store following the lady's directions and map. I might have taken a wrong turn or two, but nobody will know, so I don't care. The store guy helps me to choose a new phone. It's flasher than the last one I had and I'm not 100% sold that I need a phone that flash but the guy reckons it will last me the next couple of years, so I agree. He set me up with a new sim card and helps me set up my new account and showed me how to work the phone. It's an hour later by the time I've finished and walking out of the store texting Lexi as I go.

Layla'h: It's me. I'm okay. Miss you too xoxo

Seconds after hitting send on the text, my phone begins to ring in my hand. I answered without looking, knowing it would be Lexi.

"OH MY GODDESS! I was starting to worry. Where have you been?" came screeching down the line. Sighing because I knew she would be worried, I stay silent waiting, knowing she hasn't finished yet. "Everybody is freaking out. Alpha Xavier and his Beta Dylan are here too. They've started looking for you as well. Chris is a mess." and I still wait. "My goddess. You had me so worried when I didn't hear from you last night. Where have you been all day? Did you get my message last night? What did you do with your phone? Everybody has been trying to ring you all day." When I heard her finally release a breath, I finally answer her questions as I start my walk back to the hotel.

"Thank you for your warning last night. I got your message. I quickly packed up and left. I ran my phone over in the parking lot as I left the last hotel. I drove all night before finding a new hotel, then slept all day. I've only just managed to get a new phone."

"Good. Good. They've been questioning me all day. I'm still holding out. I haven't told any of them anything. Not even Luke, and he tried all night." She lets me know in a lower voice than her opening comments.

"Thank you Lexi. I don't know what I would do without you."

"Where are you now? Did you make it or have you stopped somewhere else?"

"I made it here. Drove all night. After your message, I didn't want to risk them catching up. Have they left after me yet?" I asked, needing to know if and when I could expect someone to show up here.

"That's good, you can start getting everything else in place now that you're there. Nobody has left yet. Chris, Luke and Rhys can't go anywhere because we still have guests. I haven't seen Alpha Xavier since lunch, so I don't know where he is."

"He called me last night." I whispered out when I heard Alpha Xavier's name. Remembering how his voice sounded through the phone, now I almost told him where I was so he could come get me. The slight pull I felt in my chest while he was softly talking to me.

"Who? What are you talking about Layla'h?"

"Alpha Xavier. He called me last night."

"Did you talk to him? It was his idea to track your phone." Lexi shoots down the phone, her voice rising a few octaves again.

"I did. I didn't know who it was. He was trying to get me to tell him where I was when I got your text."

"Goddess Layla'h. What a d**k! He's on the phone trying to trick you into telling him, when he's already trying to track you!" her voice just got louder and louder as she went. It sent a little ping to my heart, how angry she is on my behalf. Her anger driving me on and letting me know I can keep going. That is right up until I hear Lukes' voice in the background.

"Lex, who are you talking to?" he asks her. "Nobody important. Did you want something or have you come to finally let me out of this room?" Lexi's reply came down the phone. There's a beat of silence. I wait holding my breath. "You know I can tell you're lying. Lexi is that Layla'h? are you talking to her and you didn't bother to come get any of us!" the growl Luke lets out when it clicks in his head what Lexi is doing.