Six months later, London

"Come have a drink with us!" A longhaired brunette batted her eyelashes and pointed at the crowded bar behind her.

Gabriel brushed her hand off his arm and kept walking. He didn't have the patience to let the clingy girl down nicely. He had run out of patience weeks ago.

Beside him, Theo ran a hand through his curls, returning the smile of a particularly leggy blond, "This place is pretty fun, shall we have a drink Alpha?"

"Are you tired of living, pup?" Gabriel narrowed his eyes.

"I'm definitely tired of living like this!" Theo grumbled, before holding up his hands in a gesture of peace. "Sorry, I was just joking. But you've really got to lighten up! You haven't stopped scowling since our visit to the Korovic pack last week."

Gabriel knew his cousin was right. He knew his staff walked around on eggshells incase they angered him, his pack members went quiet in his presence, even his parents had stopped asking him questions. He had been acting like a madman since Alex left.

Where the hell was she?

The morning after the incident in the woods, Gabriel was called away to weigh in on the punishments of the Korovic siblings. By the time he returned to the suite two hours later, she was gone. At first, Gabriel thought Alex just needed some space, that too much had happened over a short time and that she needed to regroup. But a few days after her disappearance Marianne paid him a visit and confessed that she had convinced Alex that they were having a baby and that they were getting married. It was then that he knew, Alex wasn't coming back.

He turned Boston upside down, looking for her. He flew to Hong Kong to see if she had returned to her old restaurant, but it was all a waste of time. Gabriel grew suspicious that the Korovic pack might have lured her away, but they too were not keeping her hidden. Despite being able to feel her in his mind, he couldn't push past the barrier she had erected between them.

Her brother was his last hope.

"Just find Blake, will you?" He growled, coming eye to eye with yet another beckoning woman. The lust in her eyes did nothing but anger him. He wasn't interested in any woman other than his mate.

"Found him," his cousin pointed down the stairs the six private tables that surrounded the large dance floor. James Blake was sitting in one of them with three others who Gabriel recognised as famous British businessmen.

"Let's go."

Theo kept one step behind him as they walked to James' table. Two club guards stepped in their way, then quickly backed off when they saw the look in Gabriel's eyes. It was obvious, even to them, that he was not a man they could afford to mess with.

"Blake," Gabriel said. James looked up from his conversation, his brows rising in surprise.

"Oh, it's Mr Moncrief!" The balding man beside James got to his feet and extended his hand. "It's a pleasure."

Gabriel ignored the extended hand, his eyes still on James who had yet to speak a word.

Theo stepped in, shaking the man's hand in his place, "You're the President of Zeylon Tech Europe, Mr Phillip Reynolds correct?"

"Ah, yes. I didn't see you there, oh, wait aren't you Mr Theodore Moncrief?"

Theo moved further into the VIP area and began charming the businessmen as was his way. Gabriel paid them no mind as he continued to wait for James Blake to speak. He could have reached out for his thoughts, but he did not want to cross that line, not with his future brother-in-law.

Taking another sip of what smelled like rare Scottish whisky, James put down his glass and stood up slowly. "You look like hell, Moncrief."

Gabriel could feel the barely suppressed anger in the man's gaze and felt an overwhelming sense of relief. If he was angry, then he had to know something. "I feel like hell," he admitted.

"That's good," James nodded in approval.

"Good?" A wry smile curled Gabriel's lips.

"Yes. Since you've made yourself miserable, half my job is done."

Gabriel didn't have to wonder what the man meant as in the next moment, James Blake swung a fist at his face. He could have dodged it, but Gabriel stood still, letting the man do his worst. He deserved the hits for failing to protect his mate, for failing to make her feel secure...for letting her get hurt.

"Why aren't you fighting back?" James asked, shaking his fist.

Wiping at the blood at the corner of his mouth, Gabriel straightened his shoulders. "I'm letting you vent your anger before you tell me where she is."

James's eyes widened with surprise, then he sat back down and reached for a fresh glass. Beside them, Theo assured the others that everything was alright as Gabriel took a seat and accepted a glass of whisky.

"I love her." Gabriel stated the truth in as simple a way as he could think of, then downed the drink in one gulp. It burned its way down his throat, before he looked at James, "I won't stop looking for her. I won't live without her."

James narrowed his eyes, then poured him another glass. "She didn't tell me anything, but she was hurt. I won't allow anyone to hurt her."

Gabriel sighed, then polished off his second drink. His face was starting to hurt, not that he could feel it properly. He had become desensitised to everything since Alex walked out on him. "She left me because of a misunderstanding. A plot devised by vicious women." He looked at James, willing him to see his sincerity. "You can relate, can't you?"

James swore under his breath, then downed his own drink and sighed. "I'll give you one day to fix it. Twenty-four hours, Moncrief. After that, if Alexandra doesn't want to see you, I'll help her disappear again and this time you will not be able to find her."

If Gabriel wanted, he could have plucked her location out of James Blake's mind, but Alex would be upset if her brother was hurt. He, like James, didn't want her to see her hurt ever again. "One day it is."

James nodded, then took out his phone and began typing. "I've had my lawyers work out a way Alex can reclaim her identity. When you guys make up, tell her it's time for her to be a Blake again."

Gabriel looked down at the address that appeared on his phone screen, then stood up. "I'm afraid I won't be able to help you with that, since I'll be busy convincing her to become a Moncrief."

James Blake laughed for the first time that evening, "Get her to forgive you first, then we'll talk."