"I'm sure she is fine." Theo cast a sideways glance his way as they crawled through the dark streets surrounding the hotel.

Gabriel didn't bother to reply and continued to take deep breaths through his open window while his eyes scanned the alleyways. It had almost been an hour since Alex went missing and he was starting to feel desperate.

"When people get emotional, they often look for a place to hide away. Maybe..."

"Alex isn't the type to hide." Gabriel frowned at his phone; still no message. Ivan, Mitya and his girlfriend were in car behind theirs helping the search along with four other vehicles driven by Lupus guards. "And if she really wanted to get away, she would have gone back to the hotel to pack her things, not wondered around in that skimpy outfit." 

His phone buzzed, raising his hopes, before he saw his sister's name written on the screen.

"Where the hell are you?" Angela hissed. Gabriel could hear the sound of the continuing party in the background. He had not had time to explain things to his family; had actually been hoping they would have found Alex by now and explanations would not have been necessary.

"Alex went missing. I'm out with Theo and a few guards, looking for her."

"She what!?" Angela's voice rose, then there was a shuffling that sounded like she was moving hurriedly through a crowd. When the background noise grew dim, she spoke again: "Tell me what I can do."

No badgering for explanations, no accusations or hysterics, Angela was only asking how she could help. As expected of his reliable sister.

"Keep everyone calm and the party going. Make my excuses if I take much longer."

"Got it," Angela agreed. "Don't worry about things here and call when you can."

He hung up, then saw that he had a missed call from Ivan as well as a message: .

"Damn it."

"What is it?" Theo asked.

"Peter Korovic is also missing. Ivan thinks this is a good thing, but I'm not so - " The sudden piercing pain in his head had him doubling over in the front seat. "Ahh!"

"Gabriel!" Theo called out, but his voice came to him from far away.

Pain. There was so much pain, but it wasn't his. It wasn't. Someone from his pack was in pain, but why did he feel it so intensely and how, when he had his block up? With sudden clarity, he knew the answer. "Alex!" Her name came out as a gasp as another wave of agony pulsed through his body stealing his breath. . He heard her scream in his mind, but he couldn't think. He couldn't think past the burning in his veins and the piercing ache in his bones. Creating a barrier in his mind, he straightened in his seat and sucked in several long breaths.

"What happened?" Theo looked worried. The car had stopped at the side of the road. Gabriel's head was spinning and he felt like vomiting. He opened the door and stepped out into the cold, pushing down the echoes of pain as he tried to make sense of what was happening. Alex was connecting with him, that was only possible if...

"She's Turning!"

"What?" Having followed him out, Theo stepped in front of him. "What do you mean?"

"I felt her pain! She's in so much pain and she's afraid." Gabriel brought his fisted hands to his forehead, the feeling of helplessness threatening to overwhelm him. "She's fucking Turning Theo, at this very moment! What do I do!?"

Theo grabbed him by the shoulders and gave him a quick shake. "If you can feel her pain then you can also feel what's going on around her! Concentrate Gabriel, find out where she is!"

His cousin was right, he couldn't panic. Closing his eyes, he took down his barrier and his head was immediately filled with Alex's moans of pain. A lump formed in his throat, but he pushed his emotions aside and kept her pain at bay while trying to feel where she was. Cold. It was freezing cold. The sound of water rippling against wood. The scent of moss, red oak, maple, hemlocks...she was in a forest, a very familiar forest.

Gabriel opened his eyes to find Ivan Korovic standing beside Theo, watching him. The search party cars had all pulled over at their sudden move and the Alpha had come over to see what was happening.

"She's in Allendale Woods."