An hour had passed since Alpha Kent Altera had followed her up to the third floor and begun swearing. That had only lasted a moment though, and then he'd swiftly shifted modes, giving orders to the bodyguard that had accompanied them, before pulling out his cellphone and quickly making a call.

"Rio already call you?" Alpha Altera sounded furious and Alice tried to disappear into the seat that he'd told her to sit in a few minutes earlier.

"It's been confirmed. I could scent that it's her blood in the office, and she's gone. There isn't that much blood, but there absolutely are signs of a struggle. You should come." There was a long pause and Alice leaned forward, putting her head in her hands. "Of course. I'll start organizing a larger search at once. Rio has already gotten started with that. He was going to start gathering up the warriors and scouts and whatever leadership from this pack he could find to get going on searching for her."

"I believe our Alpha is the one who took her. You need to be careful of trusting him." Alice was on her feet in a moment, but the second that the words left her mouth and Alpha Kent turned his dark eyes in her direction, she wished that she hadn't said them.

"I'll see you when you get here. Yes. I'll call the moment we know anything. Goodbye." He slipped his phone into his pocket, his eyes not leaving her face, and Alice fought down the wave of panic that threatened to overwhelm her. Closing her eyes for a brief moment she took a slow, deep breath, and tried to think of Luna Emery, as she had been the office earlier, when they had had that conversation. She needed to tell Alpha Altera what she knew to help Emery.

"That is a serious accusation. And to make it against your own Alpha? Did you see him?" his voice trailed off as he really looked at the small trembling female in front of him for the first time. "What did you say your name was again?" It only then registered in his mind that she had said that this was her office and that she had been meeting with Luna Emery.

"Alice. My name is Alice."

"You're the one that we were called here to meet about?" His stare was intense and Alice could feel his authority in every word, but she didn't look away this time.

"Yes, Alpha Altera. You are here because of me. But all I want to do right now is help Luna Emery. She was kind to me when we spoke a few minutes ago. And I am seriously frightened of Alpha Cadman. I will tell you what I told her."

"To answer your first question, I didn't see him. But last night when he was trying to rile up the crowd to kill the delegation from Obsidian Moon I'm certain he was half shifted the entire time. Anyone could see it. And yes, I am selfishly terrified for myself, of what happens to me if I stay, and I don't want to lose my mate and my chance at happiness, but I'm also afraid for this pack, and now for Luna Emery. She met with Alpha Cadman this morning and I believe she could see through the cracks in the madness that are beginning to show in his demeanor and that's why she asked me to meet up here. I also think that might be why he took her."

Alpha Altera's jaw clenched for a moment but he didn't speak. Finally he nodded and gestured for her to stand up.

"I'll need you to come with me. Don't say anything about what you've told me to anyone else unless I ask you to." Alice felt the command in his words settle around her, and then fall away, like any other Alpha command would, but of course, she didn't tell him that. He did not need to know that his commands were useless on her, especially not in this moment.

As she followed him back down the stairs he began to speak. "Where is your mate right now?"

Alice shook her head. "I'm not sure. He sat with me and Kate, that's Alpha Cadman's daughter, at breakfast, and then Luna Emery and I went up to speak in my office."

"How long had you and Alpha Cadman been paired off?" Alice frowned at the question as they reached the ground floor, and she followed him down a hallway that would lead them out of the Packhouse.

"A year before I caught him fucking a new pack member on his desk and then later that day I found my mate. Perfect timing I guess." She caught the way the Alpha's lips curved up at the edge's at the sassiness in her reply, even though his eyes were still focused on the path ahead of them.

"But you're pregnant, he says?"

"I'm absolutely not pregnant. He hasn't touched me in a month. He was trying to force me to allow him to mark me." He cast a sharp glance in her direction.

"Most She-Wolves in any pack would give just about anything to be in that position, to become Luna of the pack. Quite a few would even reject their mate after they found him. You're telling me you said no to him? You really want me to believe that? I've been an Alpha for quite a while now and I still have women trying to come between me and my mate. It's nearly unbelievable."

They were outside now and Alice saw one of the two hulking brutes that had been assigned to guard Emery up ahead.

"I guess I can't make you believe anything. But it's the truth. Him marking me felt wrong. So I kept putting it off. And then all of this happened. But because of that it had been over a month since he'd touched me and I'm on the pill. I know I'm not pregnant. If I was it would be more likely to be his Beta's or Third's then his and even then it would be too soon to tell."

Alpha Altera nodded, as if to himself, as they came to a stop in front of the guard. A moment later a large tawny brown wolf came tearing towards them, skidding to a stop near Alice, his paws covered in blood. Immediately Alpha Altera tensed, but Alice put out her hand as she fell to her knees, concern etched in every feature of her body.

"It's our Beta. Cole." Alice managed to say the words as he shifted, although the transformation seemed more difficult than it should have been.

He fell forward, on his knees in the dirt, his blonde hair disheveled, his body streaked with blood.

"Do you know where she is?" Alpha Altera practically roared the words, but Cole only looked confused.

"She? No, no this wasn't a she. Luna," he turned towards Alice with tears in his eyes, "he killed Kade. Last night he said we needed to be punished." He gestured briefly to his own blackened eye and the bruises on his torso. "He gave Kade a similar beating. He indicated it might not be over. There might be more. Kade and I were supposed to train after breakfast today. When he didn't show up I went looking for him. He wasn't home. But he can't be alive, Alice. Not with that much blood. And it was his. I could smell him."

"I shifted when I got through the door and every surface was covered in blood. It wasn't that old. I tried to track the scent because there was a trail out the back door, but I lost it after a few yards. Like he never even was there. Fuck."

Cole drove his fist into the ground, likely breaking bones by the sound of it, and Alice winced.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about," Alice was on her feet in a moment, walking towards Alpha Altera. "He's murdered his Third in Command now. It's more proof that he's lost control."

"Not necessarily. After what happened yesterday, from what I've been told as background to the case, execution could have been a punishment he selected for either of them. Hell, before he found out about your mate, he could have executed you too, Alice. Once it turned out your mate was another Alpha that threw a wrench in things for him, but before that he could have killed all three of you for what you did and no one here could have stopped him for it. It's his pack."

"No one does that. Not for something like unmated adultery. Cheating? Not anymore." Alice shook her head, tears in her eyes as the realization of Kade's death hit her.

"No one does, no. But that doesn't mean he can't. He would have been well within his rights and no one would have been able to stop or reprimand him for it. Now, I am sorry for the loss of your friend. It isn't what I would have done, especially for a woman who wasn't my mate. In fact I think the last time I was in a situation like that I had more in common with the two of you and I ended up knocked out on a runway, but at least the guy didn't kill me over it."

"But right now I need to find out where my best friend's Luna is. And if it turns out that that bastard did take her or worse, that he hurt her, then he better pray that he can run faster than either Vos or I can. Because if we find him he's going to wish that he had never been born." 

A/N- I hope you are enjoying this story! If you are I'd love it if you'd comment and click that little star button to vote for it.

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