The True Luna's Kiss

Chapter 23

"What do you mean, no trace of her?"" Gabriel snarled at the warriors gathered in front of him. Their heads were bowed in submission and their complexions pallid. No one spoke, no one answered. No one dared to explain how they lost their Alpha's mate. Their future Luna. They knew if they said one wrong thing, their lives would be forfeit.

Gabriel knew he wouldn't get a response, not one he wanted. Even with the Alpha command, the answers would all be the same. Sirona had vanished. Even his best trackers couldn't pick up on her scent. He had lost her.

"I want double patrols and trackers in every group. Any scent or sighting is to be reported to me personally. Understood?"

A chorus of "Yes Alpha" echoed around the room.

Gabriel sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. "Get out of my sight." And the warriors scattered. Gabriel turned, climbing the stairs to his office. Shadow, of course, was being less than helpful.

"If we had marked her, we could mind link her now. Even if you had just inducted her into the pack. You didn't need to touch her to do that, did you? No! But you didn't think about anyone but yourself. Not even me. And now we have lost her, lost our mate. And its ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Gabriel pushed him to the back of his mind, he couldn't deal with his wolf right now. He knew that every word Shadow had said was true and he hated himself for it. He had done this.

Once in his office, he poured himself a large whiskey, sat down heavily at his desk and slumped. Elbows on his desk and head in his hands, Gabriel roared. The windows shook in their panes, the books rattling on their shelves. A silence fell over the pack, they knew their Alpha was unhappy and no-one wanted to make that worse.

Marco slid into the office, Max and Alice behind him. Zoe would be up soon, she was preparing a meal. Marco didn't think Gabriel would eat anything, but Zoe had insisted on making something anyway.

"Gabe." Marco said softly. Gabriel didn't respond, or move. Marco stepped closer, carefully, slowly. "Gabe, we will find her."

Gabriel just took a long drink from his glass, setting it down on the desk with a thunk.

Marco continued, trying to calm the rage he felt from his Alpha. "We have our best trackers and patrols out searching. We will find her, we will bring her home!"

"Home? You think she feels at home here?"

The question came from the other side of the office, near the door. Where Alice stood. Gabriel's head snapped up at the question. His eyes were blazing, but it wasn't Shadow coming through. It was all Gabriel.

Alice didn't falter under his stare. She just continued, despite Max's attempts to stop her. "You have done nothing but ignore her since you met her. Sirona thinks you don't want her. And then she sees you with that... that... w***e! Why are you pushing her away? Why are you hurting her? If you don't want her as your mate, then let her go. Or do you get off on hurting people?"

Gabriel shot up from his seat, the chair flying backwards by the movement. He grabbed the desk in one hand and flipped it to the side, glass, whiskey and paper scattering onto the floor and within a second he was in Alice's face.

"YOU DARE SPEAK TO ME THIS WAY? I AM YOUR ALPHA!"

"THEN ACT LIKE ONE!" Alice hadn't backed down, she squared up to him, matching his anger with her own. Her Alpha blood definitely firing up at this fight. "SHOW SIRONA YOU WANT HER! SHOW HER SHE MATTERS TO YOU!"

Gabriel's demeanour softened, shoulders dropping and face falling into sorrow. "How?" He whispered, barely audible even to Alice.

Alice softened her own stance, and placed a hand on Gabriel's shoulder. She ignored the wince from Max behind her. He knew touching Gabriel when he was angry was not a good move. To his and Marco's surprise, Gabriel just stood there, head bowed. Alice gave his shoulder a light squeeze, which turned into a much harder one. Gabriel's eyes snapped up, staring at her in the eye.

"Go and find her." Alice said, her voice hard. "Don't send someone else, your warriors or you pack. If she is that precious to you, go and find her yourself!"

It was as if a light came on behind Gabriel's eyes. Within a heartbeat he was out the door. Max pulled Alice into his arms, whilst Marco let out a low whistle.

"Wow girl, that was brave!" Marco said, busying himself with tidying Gabriel's office. He knew what would be coming next.

"Brave and hot!" Max growled, his hands wandering all over his mate's body.

"Someone needed to tell him," Alice explained, her eyes not leaving Max's. "And I get the feeling neither of you were about to step up!"

"We have, in the past." Max admitted.

"And we usually get our asses handed to us, when we do!" Marco snorted, picking up the larger pieces of broken glass. He turned to find Max's lips on Alice. "Oh for the love of the Goddess, get out of here you two. Go to your room before you mess up the furniture again."

Max grinned at him, a cheeky boyish grin that told Marco everything he needed to know about what was about to happen next. Marco rolled his eyes and watched as Max threw Alice over her shoulder and sprinted out of the room.

Marco chuckled, picking up the final pieces of paper that were out of place. He took one last look around the office, before closing the door on it. Hearing the giggles from Alice as the Gamma climbed the stairs to his rooms, he rolled his eyes again, and then took off to find Zoe.