ANDREW POV

My stomach has been in a perpetual state of angst since Damon was found the morning after his ball, especially after his parent’s reaction, which was basically nonexistent. They didn’t act as I expected them or like parents would in a situation like that. Hell, it was like they weren’t even shocked. They didn’t care, only nodding their heads in response before ensconcing themselves away in the office, only coming out in the late hours of the night. I thought they would have had men searching every nook and cranny they could but rather locking themselves away for days on end with my parents.

Flashback*

The morning after the ball

The dawn creeps through the curtain of my bedroom window as my Alexa starts playing my morning wake-up mix, but I don’t need it. I have been up the whole night, tossing and turning as one face keeps coming to mind; Theo.

I don’t know what it is about him, but I want to be close to him. I can’t concentrate whenever he isn’t around, I try, but like a human appendix, it’s f*g useless. If I am not with Theo, I am talking to him, but that’s been increasingly more difficult now that he isn’t part of the pack. Being the son of a council member, he was never really a true member, performing their own ceremony to bring them into the pack.

It’s not like I want to have sx with him or anything. I just feel more at ease when he is in the same room. Well…I don’t want to have sx with him…do I? I have never been attracted to males before…Shit… What if we’re…mates? No. No. No. It’s not possible. I am not gay. I’m not gay. I’m not gay. Not there is nothing wrong with being gay; I’m just not. It’s simple.

‘It is what it is,’ Demetri murmurs through a yawn as he stirs from the corner of my mind, unbothered by the conversation.

‘So. you’re fine with having a male for a mate?’ I question, even though I already know the answer because it’s been the same for weeks.

‘If that is the Goddess’ wish,’ Demetri replies, but his words give away nothing else. Damn, the wolf is the king of calm, and it’s unnerving. I don’t think I have ever seen him unsettled in my entire life, not even when Damon is on the verge of killing Matt. Complete calm.

‘It means what it means,’ Is Demetri’s only response to my endless nagging. Well, what the f**k does that even mean? Is he sexually attracted to Theo or not?! Ugh. This would all be so much easier if he just told me what he is thinking. If I have learned anything from watching Damon and Elle these last few months, our wolves are just riddle-talking appendixes.

A subtle push on my mind lets me know someone is trying to mindlink me, opening it to whoever is on the other end, with Trent’s completely panicked voice coming through. “Beta, Alpha Damon is down at the greenhouse. The Luna is gone.” Before he even finishes his sentence, my feet are on the floor, not bothering with clothes or shoes, as I run through the silent house, shifting into Demetri.

‘Have the Alpha and Luna been informed?’ I ask as Demetri takes control, running in the opposite direction of where Damon is. I already know where he is taking me.

‘They are unreachable,’ he replies, ‘guards have been informed so that they can look for the Luna, but Beta, there isn’t a single trace of her here. It’s like aliens abducted her. No other scent is detected in the field either.’

‘How the f**k is that possible?’ I growl, turning onto Theo’s street, ignoring the random concerned looks I am getting from the pack members as I push myself harder, letting my legs stretch as far as they can with each stride.

‘I don’t know, Beta,’ Trent responds, ‘the Gamma and paramedics just arrived. I need to talk to them.’

‘Of course,’ I respond, as I shift to my human form, bounding up the steps in leaps, bare a*s out for the who pack to see as my fists berate the front door, “Theo!” I yell, not caring which of the neighbors hears. “Theo!” The longer I stand outside looking like a maniac, the more I feel like I am being eaten inside out.

Demetri pacing in my head, the usually calm wolf matching my frantic energy for the first time since he emerged. “f**k! THEO!!!” I swear the door is about to splinter from the force I am using trying to get the door out of the way. Opening the mindlink, I reach out to Matt, ‘Have you seen Charity?’ I demand in a rush.

‘No,’ he says slowly, ‘where are you? I thought you’d be here by now.’

‘If Elle is missing, Theo needed to know,’ I reply quickly, not wanting to waste a second more than necessary. ‘I am at his house now, but I am not getting anything in response.’

‘f**k,’ Matt growls, ‘get here now. I need to find Charity. If both Theo and Elle are missing, she probably is too.’ Jumping into the air, Demetri’s black paws landed on the dirt before running toward the field where Damon was found.

A few minutes later, I am breaking through the treeline to find myself running in the opposite direction as he shifts to Zeke’s large wolf, and I already know where he is headed. I went straight to Charity’s house with the same desperation and angst still coursing through my veins.

Trent comes up with a bag of clothes in his hands, setting it in front of me; not caring about humility, I shift, letting my bones reshape into their human form before throwing on the shorts to examine the scene. The medics are already loading Damon into the ambulance and speeding their way out of the field, hoping their future Alpha doesn’t die on their hands.

“What do you got for me, Trent?” I question, turning my attention away from the receding medic at the romantic little scene Damon had set up for the two of them.

“Not much,” he says, with an exasperated sigh, “we heard him screaming on the way back from our patrol. When we approached, we found him collapsing and Luna Elle missing. No other scents could be found in the field except for the Alpha.”

“Anything else?” I ask, looking around the scene in exasperation, “have you gotten in contact with the Alpha and Luna yet?”

“They’re still unreachable,” he shakes his head, scratching his neck nervously before another warrior runs over like he has something important to share.

“Sorry to interrupt, Beta,” Adam exhales, “we found these in the grass.” He holds out his hand, dropping two tranquilizer darts into my palm.

Well, I know how the kidnappers got the drop on two Alpha wolves, but who did it, and where did they shoot from? As I am about to ask them more, Alpha Charles’s large wolf springs from the tree line with a thunderous growl as he pushes down the walls of our mind links with a command.

‘Everyone go home. NOW!” his words harsh against my mind as his command settles over my body, “Tell no one.” Without stopping, Alpha Charles follows after the ambulance while the warriors slowly disperse, unable to do anything but follow the orders given by their Alpha.

Present Day**

Walking up the steps into the warrior barracks, I figure the best place to start is the warriors, not the elite warriors. It’d be impossible to break these men or women as their first, and only loyalty is to the ruling Alpha. No, the only people willing to talk to me are the members considered Damon’s top warriors. Those who will help him lead the pack in the future.

Passing through the threshold, I find Trent and a few others goofing around in their bunks. Seeing me approach, they stand at attention, their eyes staring straight ahead, giving me the respect I deserve when in this space.

“At ease,” I say, letting them relax as they disband, sitting back down on their beds. Their curiosity is easily seen in their eyes. “I need to know what you know about the Alpha’s actions to find Luna Elle.”

“I am sorry, Beta,” Trent says; as the highest ranking warrior among them, he speaks for the group, “we aren’t privy to that information. We have strict orders not to interfere.”

“f**k,” I mutter under my breath. I was afraid Alpha Charles would pull something like this. I shouldn’t be surprised, though. Every Alpha knows that his warriors will be more loyal to the one he grew and served with, not the predecessor or successor. “Is there anything you can tell me about that night?” I wonder aloud but not hoping for much of a response.

“Yes,” Trent answers, a grim look on his face, ” I didn’t think much about it on the day, but since they haven’t been seen since…It’s just a little too convenient for it to be a coincidence, that’s all.”

“What is?” I ask, growing impatient with his lack inability to spit it out.

“The Southerland twins, they asked my patrol partner and me to switch with them. That was originally our post,” Trent replies, meeting my eyes, an unspoken understanding passing between us.

“And now they’re gone?” I ask, to which I am only met with awkward silence as the other warriors glance between themselves.

Why do I feel like this assignment will lead me to more questions than answers for Damon?

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