Alpha's Blind Luna



I took a deep breath. This was far worse than what I thought. Pipsqueak had traced Vale's BMW close enough to show that it was only a few hours from the pack house. It hadn't moved for a week. Pipsqueak couldn't pinpoint the exact location unless Auri went out with the phone. To be able to triangulate the signal. Something was blocking the signal from coming through. I paced the tiny fucking room.

She had hung up when Simon showed up. They were going out to see if they could track down what the hell was going on. I asked her if I should talk to Vale and she said it would be up to me. Of course, Auri immediately disconnected and I didn't get a word in edgewise. I fucking hated when she did this to me. Leaving these huge decisions to me. Now, I had paced myself into a hole for the past fifteen minutes.

'Just go in and tell him. At least you two can worry together.' Rydere chimed in.

Ezekiel was part of the family. I liked the kid. He was a good Alpha, a good mate, if not a little immature and childish. He was smart and driven and I enjoyed our sparing sessions. Having to live together also helped to learn more about him and I did come to respect him as an Alpha, after all he had done for his pack. At first, after the initial impression, I didn't think much of him. But now, he was part of the family. Part of Auri's kids.

'Part of our kids.' Rydere added and I smiled.

'Fuck. You're right.'

I opened up the door and looked down the hall. It had to be about two in the morning now. No one was in the hall and I stuck next door, closing Vale's door behind me. He was curled up like a child on the bed and it my heart hurt. Sometimes, I saw him as the little kid who looked at me with tears in his eyes when I threatened to tell his mom he had ice cream without Auri's permission. Or the day he had to ask me about the changes in his body. Puberty hit him around the time that the Alpha King power manifested and it was hard watching both Týr and Logan turn away from him.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I placed my hand on his shoulder and shook him a little. He peeled his eyes open and looked at me. Scooting up in bed, he rubbed his eyes.

"Hector...what time is it...?"

"About 2 a.m."

He squinted his eyes shut. "What..."

"Pipsqueak tracked down your car."

Suddenly, Vale was awake. His body went rigid. "And? Is it at the border?"

I closed my eyes and shook my head. "It's still in Italy. It's a few hours north of the pack house."

"I...what? What does that mean?" His voice was small and it broke my heart.

"We don't know yet, Vale. Auri and Simon are driving north right now. They left about twenty minutes ago. Pipsqueak can't get an exact location because something is interfering with the locator. She can triangulate it better through Auri's phone. So they have gone out to search for it."novelbin

His breath was coming out ragged and Vale buried his head in his hands. "What do you mean my car? Not Zeke? They aren't looking for Zeke?"

"Right now, it's showing the car hasn't moved since the day he left. We don't know if we will find him at the car, Vale. Right now, I'm just waiting for your mom to call me back with news."

Vale nodded but didn't reply. He didn't even lift his head. I squeezed his shoulder.

"Do you want me to stay?"

He nodded again and I got off the bed. I sat down with my back against the door, allowing my legs to actually stretch out in the space of the room. Leaning my head back, I closed my eyes.

"I would feel it, right?"

I sighed. "You probably wouldn't feel any of his pain if he had any. We are a little far for that if he is still in Italy. But..." My eyes opened slowly and I looked at Vale who was now staring me down. "...no distance will stop the feeling of your mate dying."

He nodded and buried his head back into his arms. His breath evened out after a while and I wondered if he was talking with Naresh. My head leaned back and I closed my eyes. We definitely didn't need this right now. Vale didn't need this now. It felt a little too much like history repeating itself. Losing Auri had been the absolutely worst part of my life. I had thought multiple times that I didn't want to continue on this life without her.

Now, Ezekiel was missing. I couldn't even image what Auri was feeling right now. Watching the color drain from her face was almost enough for me to want to go back home. Vale needed me more. Auri had Simon and she had Bryan. Though I did notice she made a conscious decision not to wake up Bryan for this, which I thought was a little odd. Usually, she would have grabbed him almost immediately.

'I think our love might be concerned for Bryan's health lately.' Rydere commented.

My brow furrowed. 'She sure as hell doesn't seem concerned about us.'

Rydere let out a low chuckle. 'Because we have her. She has us. While we lost our fated mate, we both know who our mate really is. But Bryan lost his, felt the death of his. He was holding on for Lucy but now? I think as much as he seems okay, Auri is more in-tune with things than we are.'

He had a point but it made me worry for him now as well. Bryan was my best friend since childhood. We rarely fought and I think it was only a handful of times we ever disagreed. It was both of us who decided to follow Auri on this crazy fucking ride for the Alpha King. It was Bryan who was the first to jump on and he basically held out his hand, asking me if I was coming too. Of course I was, Auri was always my Alpha, but it was always Bryan taking that step when we needed to get shit done.

We lapsed into silence. The waiting was the most painful part of all of this. I urged Simon to drive faster. For them to find out that Ezekiel had been stranded at a motel without a phone and his car broke down. Something stupid that later on we could laugh about that this was just us overreacting. Vale didn't move. He had turned into a statue and didn't move a muscle. Every so often I had to shift, some of my bones crackling.

'You are getting old.' Rydere pointed out and I shook my head.

'Shut up. We can kick anyone's ass but Auri and Morgan's.'

Rydere nodded but paced slowly before settling down. 'I'm just saying. Retiring might not be such a bad idea. Let the young pups take over. You, our love, and Bryan should be retired already.'

I shrugged. 'It doesn't matter. We will continue as long as we need to, Rydere. Even if it means sounding like bubble wrap every time we get up after sitting for a long period of time.'

He laughed and shook his head. I was cut off by my phone ringing. Vale sat up and I fumbled with my phone before answering the video call. The wind was whipping around Auri's face and in her hair. Her face was pale, a cigarette placed between her lips. I swallowed and took a deep breath. "Ezekiel?"

She shook her head. Auri looked away, her mind was far and not in a good way.

"Did you find Vale's car?"

Auri's head fell before she turned around the camera and faced the sea. The waves crashed against the rocks but it was still dark outside. I heard Simon in the background.

"Pipsqueak says the car is a couple miles in that direction."

I cursed. Vale jumped off the bed and slide down next to me. He saw the view of the sea and I watched any color that he did have, disappear. His whole body was shaking.

"Mom....Mom, where is Zeke?"

The phone turned back around and I saw Auri's face. For the first time in a long time, I saw tears down her face. I couldn't remember the last time I saw her cry. Simon came into view. He wiped the tears from her cheek and I heard Rydere growl for a moment but I shook my head. Now was not the time.

"Ezekiel's phone is showing a different location. We have Pipsqueak working on that. She also is pulling all the security cameras where she can. Seeing if we can get a whole picture. We will find him, Vale. We won't stop looking."

A choked sob came out of Vale and I put my arm around him, pulling him against me. "They will track him down. Maybe something happened and he walked back to the nearest city. It could be something stupid like that."

"I need to go. I can't just sit here. I can't be here. How can I be here? He is mine, my mate. How can..."

Simon looked over the phone and nodded. "Auri says that you can't. You have to trust us, Vale. We will find him. There is nothing right now you could do here that we can't do. When I say we won't rest, we won't. I promise. He is our family too. She said specifically that Ezekiel is her son. Right now, though, those pups need your help. That pack needs your help. If you don't take care of them, they will die." He looked over the phone again and sighed. "Hopefully, we will have him safe at home by the time you and Hector are back."

Vale was still shaking but he nodded, agreeing. They were right. Right now, we had to trust them. I trust Auri whole heartedly but I worried for her as well. This would be hitting a little too close to home for her. I hoped she would be able to not let this get too deep for her.

"Call us as soon as you have something."

Simon nodded. “We will. It might not be till the afternoon tomorrow, just as a heads up. But if it's sooner, we will call."

"Thanks, Danger."

A sideways smirk fell on his lips but he gave me a single nod. He understood what I meant. He wasn't Simon, the winery owner right now. Right now, he was Danger, a member of The Huntresses group and they were on a mission. A mission to find a missing Alpha and one that happened to be the mate of the Alpha King.

"Auri?" I called to her and the phone moved, showing her now stoic face. There were still the tear streaks but the sadness was replaced with anger. "Be safe. The white rabbit isn't worth it, dear. It never is."

For a moment, her eyes narrowed but she gave a nod. Her hand came up, signing one handed.

'I love you both. We will call soon.' The line disconnected and I set the phone down.

Vale was leaning against my shoulder as I hand my hand around him. His shaking got worse and his hands came up, sobbing into his hands. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I pulled against his shoulder and his head fell into my lap. I had a flash of the first few times Vale cried in my lap like this when Týr first started to ignore him. Placing a hand on his head and one on his shoulder, I let him sob. There was nothing else I could offer him.

His mate was missing. For a week. Anything could have happened to him. I couldn't offer him empty promises that Ezekiel would be alright. For now, I just let him cry. He needed to get it out. Tomorrow, we would need to focus on the task at hand. Dealing with this little battle and stupid fucking pack. It was stupid but lives depended on us. No matter how badly we both wanted to leave. Both go to the ones we loved.