Not My Alpha

Chapter 24 ‘Too Late’

Keira’s POV

Over the next few days I try to busy myself with work. I’m staying later almost everyday and when I’m not working I mostly keep to myself in my apartment. I know Talia has noticed, but it’s not like I can talk to her. I haven’t heard from Shepard or Theo, not that I’m really expecting to. I feel like I’m in a fog.

Saturday arrives, and I’m still lost on what I should be doing. I’m cleaning a table at the cafe when someone walks in, it’s Whitney. She comes in laughing with a few others. I walk back behind the counter.

“Welcome, what can I get for you?”

“For starters you can get out of our pack.” One of the girls tease, they all laugh. Wow, super clever, you’re so smart. I put on a fake smile.

“And your order?” I ask.

“Three vanilla lattes.” Whitney says. I smile and start to work on their order.

“So what are you and Shepard doing tomorrow?” One girl asks Whitney.

“Oh he’s taking me out of town so we’ll be gone all day.” She says. So he’s made other plans then. I guess he believes what Whitney said about me. I guess he’s known her longer, that makes sense. I finish their drinks and hand them off. None of them say thank you and they all give me a dirty look. I watch them leave, and I just feel drained. A little while later a man walks in wearing a hoodie pulled up over his head.

“Welcome, what can I get you?” I greet him. He pulls his hood down and it’s Theo.

“Oh Alpha Theo. What are you doing here?” I ask.

“I came for coffee, and to check to see how you’re doing.” This is his first time he’s come into the shop.

“I’m doing alright. What can I get for you?” I ask.

“A flat white please. And I thought we already figured out you’re not a great liar.” I turn my back to him as I make his drink.

“True, but it’s nothing too important. I’m just a bit tired. But I have the day off tomorrow so I’ll have plenty of time to rest up.” I finish his drink and hand it over to him.

“No plans then?” He asks.

“Not anymore.” I give him my best smile, but I know he can see through it.

MEANWHILE AT ELK FORREST PACK

Mason’s POV

It’s been about two month since we’ve heard anything from Keira or her pack. My father and Beta Harth visited her pack and she seemed alright, but then the whole pack went silent a little over a month ago. This concerns me and her father. They aren’t returning calls or corresponding with us in any way. I got in trouble the last time I tried to interfere, but the pit in my stomach grows with each passing day. I can’t just sit by and do nothing anymore. I need to find out what is going on, and I know Lily will help me. I run into her after training.

“Lily!” I shout after her.

“Hey Mason what’s up?” I lean in.

“I’m going back to Pale Moon Pack. Something is definitely wrong, and I can’t just sit by and do nothing.”

“But we got in trouble the last time, you really want to go through that again?”

“You don’t have to come, but I’m going.” I tell her. She looks thoughtful.

“Fine, I’m coming. When are you leaving?” she asks.

“We’ll leave before sundown.”

That afternoon before the sun sets I meet Lily at the edge of the woods.

“Ready to go?” I ask her.

“Yeah, I told my parents I’m staying over Hannah’s tonight. She’s covering for me.” Lily says.

“Good, I told my parents I’m staying at Z’s. So we’re good there too. We can’t get caught this time, so we’ll have to ditch the car before we e get to the pack lands.”

We start the long drive out to Pale Moon Pack. When we’re a few miles away I pull the car over and we leave it behind. Lily has a great sense of smell and can practically find anyone in a five mile radius. We scout out the guards and enter their lands from the southwest. We sneak into their pack lands and head for the field where their pack house is.

“So what is the plan?” Lily asks as we sneak closer.

“We need to find Keira. I won’t leave until I see her with my own eyes.”

“What if we find her and she’s fine? What if she’s just moved on from us? What if she’s not in any danger?”

“Then I want to hear that from her.”

“Fine then.”

We get to a clearing.

“I’m guessing that big one is the pack house.” I say.

“There don’t seem to be a lot of people out. We could sneak to the back of the building over there and look through the window.” Lily says.

“Come on, keep low.” We run straight for the building, keeping our bodies low to the ground. We reach the back and I peek in through the window. It looks like the dinning hall, and it looks empty.

“It’s the dinning hall.”

“Should we go in? Do you see a place we can take cover?” She asks. I look around and see the kitchen lights are off.

“The kitchen lights are off, so it looks clear.”

“Okay.” We open the back door and walk inside. There are people passing by the dinning hall, but no one is coming in. My heart is pounding in my chest as we make our way closer to the entrance. We tuck ourselves by the wall of the door listening for some information. A few men pass by talking.

“The Alpha’s been in a bad mood for awhile now.” One of them says.

“Yeah, ever since he was attacked.” The Alpha was attacked?

“Yeah, and no one has seen the Luna since then.”

“Don’t let him hear you talk about that or he’ll lose it.” They walk out the pack house door. How long ago was he attacked? Who attacked him?

“Should we go deeper in?” Lily whispers.

“We don’t have much of a choice.” I peek around the corner, and I looks like it’s clear. Now where to go? I see a hallway.

“Come on.” We walk over to the hallway, there are several doors. Lily is right behind me. Then suddenly one of the door handles move. I look for the nearest door and shove Lily and myself in, closing the door behind us. I hear someone walk past the door. I let out a breath. I take a look at the room we’re in, it’s a pretty big closet space.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY HAVENT FOUND HER YET?” We hear yelling.

“Where is that coming from?” Lily whispers.

“Up there.” I point to a vent on the side of the wall.

“Sir, they are still looking for her. But they’ve had to comb through every pack.” We hear a voice through the vent.

“Help me.” Lily whispers. She’s stacking boxes to get closer to the vent. I help and we listen in.

“It’s been a month. How can it be so hard to find one female. She was wounded and still managed to escape. What good is having a mate if she just runs off?” I know that voice, its Dawson.

“Shadow Pack better find her before she gets back to her pack. Who knows what they’d do if they find out.”

“But your father-“ Dawson lets out a loud roar, startling Lily.

“I’ve had just about enough from him. He better back off before I can’t hold back any more.” Dawson sounds unhinged. Suddenly The box Lily is standing on shifts and sends Lily to the ground with a crash.

“What was that?” I hear voices and footsteps.

“Lily we need to get out of here.” I help Lily up and we head for the door, but when I open it..

it’s already too late.