Alpha Ryker's POV

After reviewing the agreement one final time, I digitally signed it and notified my secretary via email. Closing my eyes, I leaned back against the leather chair and took a deep, calming breath. It was crazy to think that I actually had a successful company without even a penny from my family.

Roughly four years back which was one year after my brother's passing, my father declared my nephew, Draven Summers, as the single inheritor of old Cromwell's riches. I had been angry. My frustration didn't stem from Draven in particular as I knew there was some tough love back in the States and that he'd been ostracized by his own grandfather. All my anger and frustration were for my father. He'd simply kicked me out just because I wanted to make Alana Luna. He'd gone on and on about how our pack, The Ethereal, had become one of the strongest packs in the world because we, the Alphas, had never rejected our Fated Mate. He'd spoken at length on how our mates were selected by the Moon Goddess with a purpose, despite our lack of knowledge, and we had to have faith in her.

At that time, I'd believed that to be ridiculous. Alana's mate (my brother) died, and according to the sorceress, so had mine. Before Walker's death, I'd spent years searching for my mate everywhere, visiting almost all werewolf packs in the world, and couldn't find her. Thus I couldn't understand why on Earth I couldn't settle with Alana and actually tried to help with each other's sorrow. Perhaps one day we could eventually be happy. She was my best friend since we were in nappies. Alana was the one person with whom I would trust my life with. Yet my father's words had been final and it had been materialized when a letter from his lawyers informing me about this came to me on Monday, a week after his ultimatum.

I had to concede; I hadn't thought I would be where I was today. All my money — the money I'd spent  — had come from my parents. I'd lived very comfortably for almost twenty years of my life. Some portion of my trust funds had been used during college days and also when I'd gone searching for my mate all around the globe. I'd only gone back once because Walker had asked me to, saying that he'd had something very important that he'd wished to tell me. I'd missed him and Alana, so I'd gone back, but then not long after that, he'd died. Brutally so.

That could change a person. It'd changed me. I'd been a hopeless romantic — although I'd never admit it and my past behavior would disprove that. After what had happened to my brother which had required me to step up as the Alpha, I became a pragmatic person. I'd forgotten about all those romantic notions of wanting to find my soulmate. I simply hadn't bothered going through another twenty werewolves packs I hadn't visited. I'd accepted what the sorceress once had told me as a fact and moved on. Alana had always been there for me and she once had been a candidate for Luna — given that she was my brother's mate, I'd given the position to her. Although it wouldn't be official until I marked her and I wouldn't mark her until we were officially married, which was what she had always wanted. The wedding dress, the calligraphy invitation card, and all the bells and whistles.

After we had begun our relationship and my parents made it crystal clear that they were cutting me off except for a bit of money that would always go to the pack, I'd begun cutting off unnecessary expenses and used most of the money for investments including but not limited to cryptocurrencies. I'd gained more than enough to buy a private company and from then on, Dmitry and I had worked hard for the next two years. And now, I could repay back all the initial funds that I'd taken from the pack money with interest.

Opening my eyes, I could only feel grateful for everything that had happened. The experience was priceless. It had taught me not to take everything for granted and for the first time in my life; I had actually worked. I hadn't depended on my parents or their fortune.

Before leaving, I put the files back in the safe, locked it, and headed towards the door. I left my office and locked the door behind me. Only Dmitry and I had the keys to each other's office. As I stared at the staircase, I let out a deep sigh. It had been more than a week. Almost a fortnight of ignoring Xyrra because of that nightmare. Although I was confident that I wouldn't cause her harm, I couldn't help but wonder if the terrible dream was a premonition of what could occur later on. Maybe the Moon Goddess was trying to warn me about something. Whatever it was, I didn't want to take any chances. The only way I could ensure her safety was by keeping my distance. By not being with her, it would be easier to fight the urge to kiss her. Kissing her was bad. It could lead to more and increase the chance that the nightmare might come true.

Yet for the last three days, I'd learned that it was not just the physical chemistry that pulled us to one another like magnets. I missed being with her, talking to her, and watching her smile. Hell, I even missed arguing with her. The last thing we'd argued was about her going to the South alone. She would tell me if she decided to go to the South so I could accompany her. And as much as this was wrong for me to think like this but I wanted her to want to go to the South, which I'd been anticipating for days now. Because at least, then I could spend time with her without feeling guilty that I might be inching to turn that nightmare into reality. At least, I could tell myself that I was only there to protect her. I knew it would be the biggest temptation to be near her, but I'd do my best to avoid any physical touch because all I wanted was to be around her. That was all.

I'd waited and waited and still, she hadn't said anything. With a sigh, I walked up the stairs and made my way to her room. It was nine in the evening, but I knew she would still be up. From what I'd learned, walking up and down the hallway in front of her door, she was a night owl who always slept after midnight.

I rubbed my hands and combed my hair with my fingers, then I patted my shirt and pants. My shirt was a bit disheveled from sitting down for hours in my office. I rushed to my room and switched my shirt. After making sure that I looked decent, I knocked on her door. There was no response, so I knocked again and this time, I called her name. "Xyrra? It's me. Can we talk?"

Still no response. "I'm coming in, okay?" I turned the handle and pushed the door open. She wasn't in there. I looked for her in the bathroom and dressing room but she wasn't there either so I closed the door and tried mind linking him but he seemed to be shutting everyone off — including me and I didn't want to abuse my power by exerting my Alpha Aura or forcing my way into his mind. I respected people's privacy, so I picked up my phone and called him instead.

He answered almost immediately. "Vashkov."

"Dmitry, do you know where Xyrra is? I can't find her in her room and I was from downstairs. I don't think she's in the kitchen, but I'm on my way there."

"I do not know. You have instructed me not to follow her again."

I walked down two flights of stairs and rushed to the kitchen. "Yep. She's not here either."

"Perhaps she goes out. It is the weekend," said Dmitry. His tone was flat and showed no emotions I had gotten used to it. The guy was once a pack warrior. He had been forced to deal with violence at the very young age of eight. He'd been built and trained as a soldier. Nothing could scare or startle him. "The higher chance that she is going out to a party or maybe to a friend's house, statistically speaking."

"It's possible." It still didn't help anything with this unsettling feeling in the pit of my s stomach. "But can you drop by Alana's house and see if her brother Miles is there? He often comes home on weekend, right?"

"Sure."

I made my way to the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea. While waiting for tea, I tried to contact Miles, but it went straight to voicemail, so I sent a text to Xyrra. While I was pouring tea from the teapot into a cup, Dmitry linked his mind to mine.

'He is not there.'

'Any idea where he might be?'

'Jack said that Miles often goes to college parties when he does not come home.'

'Okay. Thanks.'

'Anytime.'

Then the link was cut off, and I was on my own.

My gut feeling told me that Xy was with Miles. Miles' parents couldn't possibly tell me where Miles was partying, and demanding answers from them would be pointless when they knew nothing. No kids would inform their parents where they would be partying — at least not at the exact location. However, there was one person who could. Someone who was currently locked in the dungeon downstairs.

***

The very second she saw me walking in, she stood up and walked towards the bars. "Ryker, I have been your best friend before we decided to become something more. Are you really going to punish me forever just because I slapped your mate?"

"She is not just my mate, Alana." My jaw tightened and I could feel Khrysaor was eager to take over. Nevertheless, I was aware that if I let that happen, Alana might not make it out of the dungeon alive. "She is your future Luna."

Alana shook her head. "Please don't fool yourself, Pitt. She is not even a wolf. Do you think everyone in the pack would take her as their Luna, or even respect her?"

"I told you not to call me that ever again," I warned her.

'You should consider cutting her tongue before she sputters another nonsense. Or better yet, kill her,' said Khrysaor with a growl.

'No, she is a member of this pack. We may punish her, but we do not kill our own people,' I replied to Khrysaor.

'I can do it for you. You can count on me to make her suffer in every way possible.'

I disregarded Khrysaor and directed my attention towards Alana. "They will give her the respect she deserves and they will accept her as their Luna."

"Of course, I should've known that you'd be exerting your Alpha Aura and forcing people to follow your way. You did that to me at the wedding and again the other day when you ordered me to come here and torture myself with wolfsbane," she scoffed. "How long do you think it will take before something bad happens to her?" She lifted one brow and gave me a pointed look. "Accidents happen. People die. She's just a human. She would easily die and when that happens, it would be too late for you to protect her."

"Is that a threat I hear? I intend to release you at the end of this week, but perhaps I should keep you here longer." I leaned forward and spat those words at her. Her body shook slightly, and I almost regretted it. Despite everything that had happened, I was at fault. I was the one who left her at the altar after agreeing to marry her. I had seen her being treated differently by the rest of our pack members and even the council was being harsh on her at the last pack meeting, demanding that she would be replaced by Xyrra now that Xy was here and I had canceled my marriage to Alana. What she'd just said held true. She had been my best friend, and I had broken her heart.

And right now, I was torturing her. Not just mentally by bringing Xyrra here, but physically too. Taking a deep breath, I reached for the small panel on the wall and keyed in a set of numbers. A few seconds later, the metal door was unlocked, and I swung it open. "You may go." I took a step back and let her walk past.

She briefly stopped in front of me. There was a sliver of hope on her face and I was responsible for that, too. No matter what I did, it seemed that it would only complicate matters. I followed her as we walked up the stairs and all the way to the living room. Alana sat on a one-seater sofa and leaned back. "Now what?" she asked, looking up to meet my eyes.

As I stared into her eyes, those blue eyes that I had once thought I would look at for the rest of my life, I realized that although what she had said about the disrespect from pack members might not be true, she was right about one thing. One day, something bad would happen to Xyrra and it would be too late to protect her. Until now, I still wasn't sure what that nightmare was about, but I knew that it was a warning. Perhaps the Moon Goddess was trying to warn me about something. She'd done this a week before the disastrous wedding by giving me an image of Xyrra in a dream.

Sighing, I took a seat across from Alana, not quite sure what I was supposed to do but knowing fully well that I needed information from her. "Now you to tell me where Miles is or I will drag you back to the dungeon downstairs."

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A/N: dear readers, can you guess what happens next? ;)) two lost souls reunited, chapter forty one they shall meet!