Chapter Two

Gabriel

I was sitting in my office, lost in thought, staring out the window.

The next person who dared to tell me that everything happens for a reason, or asked when I planned to move back into the house I had built, was in for a rude awakening.

The thought of moving back into that house was unbearable. It wasn’t just my house, it was ours—mine and Ellie’s.

The hardest part was, I had a pretty good idea where she was, and who had taken her, but I was powerless to do anything about it. Not without igniting a pack war.

I blamed myself, naturally, but I also blamed my father. It was his idea to involve Zagan to handle Samuel. But how was I supposed to know that he would come back for Ellie?

Of course, I couldn’t prove anything. But all signs pointed in that direction.

Emma lost Ellie’s scent just outside our territory. It just vanished. Whoever had taken her must have put her in a car. Emma had picked up a faint scent.

But it wasn’t enough to identify who it was or where they came from. It was only there for a brief moment. She thought it was the driver of the car, not the person who had taken Ellie.

They had concealed their scent too well.

I immediately reached out to all the Alphas, asking for permission to search their territories. They were all very cooperative, even offering their own trackers to help with the search. All of them, except one.

Alpha Zagan.

So, we appealed to the council of elders, asking for access to Zagan’s territory. Around the same time, Zagan’s father decided to claim his seat on the council.

Most of the other packs were scared of Zagan and his father. His pack was the most powerful on the werewolf side of the border. His warriors were merciless.

It didn’t take much for Zagan’s father to convince the rest of the council to deny our request. His father even told the council that a hybrid couldn’t be trusted.

She’d run away from her human family, so why wouldn’t she run away from me?

I appealed the decision, but it was denied. I tried calling Zagan, but he wouldn’t take my calls.

That son of a bitch had my little pup, and there was nothing I could do about it.

My wolf was itching to storm his territory. He felt a strong bond with Ellie. We both did, but I had to be careful. While our pack was larger, his warriors were stronger.

If we invaded his territory and lost, he would likely wipe out our entire pack. He’d done it before, or at least his father had. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree in that case.

My wolf was devastated. I say was because six months ago we found our mate.

I’d almost given up hope, but while we were searching for Ellie, I made sure to visit the other packs, meeting with the other Alphas.

During one of those visits, we met with the Beta of the lakeside pack. His daughter, who had just come of age, was my mate.

As upset as my wolf was, finding his mate, wanting to mark her and mate her, was all he could think about. She was very young, I had to hold my wolf back. We would wait to mark her and mate her.

My wolf kept nagging me. Finally, I told him we wouldn’t mate until I found Ellie. After that, he was pushing me to attack Zagan.

I knew it had nothing to do with finding Ellie, but not finding her was standing in the way of him marking his mate.

If I were honest, even having her close by didn’t distract me from Ellie. Or the pain that her loss had caused the rest of the pack.

I was now trying to convince the lakeside pack and their allies to join forces with me.

With enough of us, we could invade Zagan’s territory and get Ellie back. Not just Ellie. Handing Samuel over to him had also been a mistake. I would get my nephew back too.

I looked up from my desk when I heard a knock at the door.

“Come in,” I grumbled, my body tensing up.

When the door opened, my father walked in.

He looked older than he had two years ago. I wasn’t the only one who blamed him for our current situation. I knew he blamed himself too.

He sat down in the chair across from my desk.

“Your mother wanted to know if you would like to come over for dinner,” he paused, “with Aria...”

I closed my eyes and sighed.

“You can’t put your whole life on hold. It’s been two years,” he sighed.

I opened my eyes and glared at him.

“I’ll never stop looking, I don’t care how long it takes,” I growled.

He slid a manila folder across the desk. I hadn’t even noticed he was holding it.

I opened it and started to read.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I shouted, “this is practically admitting he has her!”

My father sighed.

“I know, and if the paternity test proves he is her father, you won’t have a leg to stand on.

“The council have agreed, as long as the test is carried out by one of the packs that has no ties with either ours or Zagan’s.”

I nodded.

“Go back to the council, father. I’ll agree to this on one condition.”

My father frowned.

“Which is?”

“If this test shows he’s not the father, then the council must approve my petition to search his territory, including his pack house and adjoining buildings.”

My father nodded.

“I’ll get on it right away.”

He stood up and left my office. I ran my fingers through my hair.

All I could do now was pray to the moon-goddess that Zagan wasn’t her father. If he was, I was basically handing her over to the devil himself.