Chapter 25

Song: This is Gospel by Panic! At The Disco

[Chapter 25 - The Mute Alpha]

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I shook my head, rolling my eyes. "Why are you here, and why did you look worried?"

Remembering why he came, he held up a piece of paper in his hand. "Jax is gone." My eyes widened and I scurried over to him, snatching the note out of his hand. My eyes scanned over his nice handwriting.

Autumn, I'm sorry for leaving on such a short notice, but I have some business to take care of in another pack. I don't know when I'll be back, but please stay put in our house and don't open the door for anyone except Theo. And please, promise me you'll listen to everything he tells you. Stay safe.

Love,

Jax

My eyebrows furrowed in concern. "He just got up and left?" I asked out loud, suddenly feeling slightly angry. How could he leave without telling me in person. My fingers gripped the paper tightly, crinkling the edges.

"Hey, I'm just as mad as you," Theo pouted. "Usually he informs me about these things."

I went over to the closet and grabbed some appropriate clothes, a T-shirt and leggings, and changed in the privacy of the bathroom. Theo waited patiently for me on the bed.

"So where did you find that note?" I asked.

"In his office," Theo replied. I immediately made a beeline towards Jax's office. Theo followed close behind me as we entered the office, scanning our surroundings.

"Where do you think he went?" My voice trembled with worry. I hoped he was fine. "Did he leave anything else?"

We spent the next few minutes searching around his desk for any clues, maybe a letter or some papers regarding another pack. Anything business related, but it was to no avail. We found nothing. Groaning in frustration, I fell into the office chair, which twisted slightly under my weight.

"I'm worried," I whispered under my breath, barely audible for Theo to hear, but I knew he did by the sympathetic expression displayed on his face as he squatted in front of me.

"Don't worry, Autumn," he assured me with a soft tone. "We will figure out where he ran off to."

My eyes met his warm gaze and leaned forward into his body. "I know he's fine," I said. "But what if he isn't. What if he's in d-danger...W-What if I don't ever see him a-again..."

Theo tensed for a split second before wrapping his arms tightly around my waist, setting his chin on top of my head. "We will find him. I promise." Despite my doubts, his comforting words made me feel slightly better.

"I think we should check the pack house. Maybe someone knows where he is," I suggested, pulling away from him and standing up. Jax told me he had an office over there, something closer to his members. The pack house was meant for those who couldn't afford their own home or those who did not want to live alone. It also served as a small movie theater, mini arcade, and cafe.

Theo copied my actions and dusted imaginary dust off his hands. He nodded his head in agreement. "We should go check now," he said. "I heard that they're having a little movie night over there. It's possible one of them might know at least something."

It took several minutes to reach the pack house, and when we did, I noticed the large number of people gathering around. Theo and I entered the large, hotel-like house, and passed the people chatting animatedly amongst each other. Tables with different fingers foods scattered around as people filled their plates up with the snacks. People filed into a large theater room where they sometimes played movies that just came into the theaters, or ones that just finished playing in the theaters, but weren't sold digitally yet. At least, that's what Theo told me.

"Luna. Beta," some people greeted us as we walked by them.

"Who are we looking for exactly?" I asked curiously as my eyes wandered around the large room. My eyes immediately zeroed in on the dark-haired man conversing with a familiar girl around his age. I believed her name was Jamie, but I wasn't exactly sure. I was still in the process of learning names and faces, and considering the amount of members in this pack, it was difficult to remember.

"Kian!" I called out, waving my hand at him and rushing over, tugging a protesting Theo with me. Kian turned his head at the sound of my voice and glanced at us, pausing his conversation with the girl.

"What are you doing," Theo hissed at me in frustration as he attempted to pull me in the opposite direction. I ignored his squirming and reached his mate with a large grin on my face, feeling mischievous.

"Hey, Kian," I smiled, giving him a friendly hug. He was too stunned to return the embrace. "Who is this?"

"Jamie," she gushed, sticking her hand out to which I shook. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Luna. You are absolutely beautiful. Alpha definitely got himself quite a catch."

My smile widened. "You are too kind. You are quite stunning, as well," I replied, taking in her curly, raven hair and the same emerald eyes as Kian. "Are you two related?"

"Cousins," she said. "How do you know my cousin, by the way? Have you two met?" Kian opened his mouth to respond to her curiosity, but I cut him off with a grin.

"Oh, I know his mate," I answered, smirking. Jamie's eyes widened in disbelief. Theo pinched the bridge of his nose while Kian rubbed the back of his neck, both of their cheeks dusted with pink.

"Seriously?" she turned and punched a flustered Kian's shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me you found your mate?"

"U-Uh..." he stuttered. "I-It never came up?" Jamie narrowed her eyes at him, knowing he hid something from her.

"Then, my dear cousin, tell me who the 'lucky' girl is." Kian cringed at the word "girl" and Jamie undoubtedly caught the little reaction. She gasped, eyes wide as saucers. Then she glanced over at her Beta, who also had a flaming face, and gasped again, putting the pieces together.

"I thought you were a womanizer."

"I am."

"Then why is your mate the Beta? A dude." she laughed.

"I don't fucking know!" he cried, throwing his hands up.

"This all makes sense now!" she exclaimed. "That's the reason why you acted so weird the night of Luna Autumn's ceremony. And that's why you bombarded me with so many questions about Beta Theo a couple days ago."

"He did?" Theo finally spoke up, eyes widened in shock as his brown eyes stared directly into Kian's. "Why?"

Kian shook his head in denial. "N-No! Of course not! My cousin is just delusional," he protested, staring down at his feet, hands shoved in his pockets. I couldn't help but notice the corner of Theo's mouth twitch up slightly as he tried smothering the smile attempting to make an appearance.

"Have you guys seen Jax anywhere?" Theo blurted out, effectively changing the subject.

"No, I haven't," Jamie said as she snatched a mini corn dog from one of the tables. "Why?"

"We can't find him. He left a note saying he had to go somewhere for business, but he didn't say where. I'm really worried," I answered with a frown, growing even more worried just thinking about it.

Both of them scrunched their eyebrows up in confusion. "Gone?" Jamie said out loud, deep in thought. "Do you have an idea of where he might've gone. Did he mention any packs recently?" I shook my head.

"I think I'll go check with Ryan," Theo said. "Do you know if he's here?"

"I saw him in the kitchen," Jamie answered. "Let's go check." She grabbed Theo's arm and dragged him in the direction of the dining hall and the kitchen, probably to hound Theo with gay questions. Poor guy.

Kian awkwardly bit his bottom lip as he looked everywhere but me. He no longer had his hands in the pockets of his joggers, but instead had them stuffed in the pouch of his red hoodie. I stared at him for a long moment, studying his appearance and the way he nervously fidgeted.

"Come with me," I motioned him to follow. "I want to show you something." He seemed hesitant at first, but reluctantly followed me, not wanting to decline a request made by his Luna.

"Why?" he asked. "Where are we going?"

We walked down the path by the beach leading up to Jax's house. The breeze gently grazed against the skin of my face and moved through my curled hair. The sound of the waves crashing against the shore echoed through the freshly salted air, creating a peaceful noise. Our feet crunched against the gavel and a silence remained between us, until I spoke up.

"The other day, I snooped through Jax's belongings in his office, and I came across some of his more personal items. You wanted to learn more about Theo, is that correct?" I asked,

Kian didn't respond at first, probably debating whether or not to say the truth. I stopped in my tracks to stare up at the guy. He was pretty tall compared to me, but a little shorter than Theo. I could detect the conflict in his eyes, well the little bit I could see due to the moonlight.

"You want to try and make it work," I spoke out loud. "I can see it in your eyes. You're curious."

Kian blinked and tilted his head up, running a hand over his face. I knew he wanted to try and hide that fact from me. The mate bond was inevitable. Both of them would eventually succumb to it, because the bond was something so powerful and extremely difficult to resist.

"You also feel the bond."

His jaw clenched as he sucked in a sharp breath before slowly exhaling. "Let's keep walking," he whispered, his voice shaking slightly. He slowly continued walking, leaving me to catch up to him.

"Is there anything you would like to know?" I asked him. "I know quite a bit about Theo considering he's my mate's best friend slash brother."

Kian thought for a second before saying, "What's his type?" I raised my eyebrows in surprise at his question, but then laughed because I should have expected it. I remembered Theo mentioning his type, and my eyes widened and another giggle escaped my throat when I realized what he told me.

"Tall, green-eyed noirettes," I winked at him with a smirk. He seemed to catch on to what I hinted at, because the corner of his mouth quirked up slightly. "What about you?"

"Brunettes," he replied. Of course, so the Moon Goddess wasn't completely a bitch. She just got her genders confused.

"What's his favorite color?" he shot another question my way.

"Green." He told me this the other day when he helped me bake cupcakes. I asked him which colored wrappers I should use and he immediately went for the green ones, admitting it was his favorite color. I guess that was why he was a sucker for emerald eyes.

The rest of the way, I gave Kian little details and quirks about Theo, ones that were so random, yet just as significant as any other fact about him. Not only that, but I might have slipped a few details related to what he liked in bed, just in case. It made me happy knowing how curious Kian really was about his mate, despite his gender. I also texted Theo saying that we headed towards the house to check a few things. Of course I didn't want to tell him the real reason. He definitely would not be thrilled about it.

Finally we reached the driveway of the house. Kian suddenly stopped in his tracks. I paused and turned around to see what was wrong. He bent down and snatched something off the ground beneath his foot. It appeared to be a piece of paper. When he stood back up, he squinted to try and scrutinize it.

"I think you might want to take a look at this," he said, handing it to me. I stared down at the dirty piece of crinkled paper in my hand. Goosebumps crawled up my arms as the breeze suddenly felt like ice against my skin. My eyes drank in every single word written out, even though the tire markings, dirt, and lack of light made it a little hard.

It was a note for Jax.

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