Although she said to run, they had nowhere to go. With a face of pure panic, she pushed Liz further into the kitchen and handed her a knife, ignoring her not understanding looks and quiet remarks “What’s going on, Gabi, tell me what’s going on!”.

“Today at the kindergarten I saw a car from Moretti’s. Maybe it’s a coincidence, maybe not. If anything happens at the door, just save yourself” Gabi hushed her next question and went to get the door. The whole situation could take no more than 30 seconds, but it seemed like eternity.

She tried to tell herself that it could be nothing, but her intuition told her not to have her hopes up.

Inhaling deeply for the last time Gabi tried to smile in a natural way, and she hoped she didn’t look like an animal caught up in lights. With shaking hands, she turned the key and opened the door a little. Seeing people behind them she felt how her heart sank deeper in her chest, making it almost impossible to breath.

“Hi, what can I help you with?” she tried to appear cheerful, but she swore she heard panic in her own voice. The two men she saw while going out of kindergarten stood before her. Although they still had their sunglasses on, she didn’t have any doubt about who they were. They were tanned, tall and muscular, built like most werewolves. One was a little bit higher, with short dark brown hair spiked up and a stubble on his face. The other one had longer blonde hair with a fringe falling in waves on his forehead. They were still wearing the same casual clothes as earlier, and Gabi was now sure they followed her in a safe distance. Sniffing discreetly the air she felt that at least one of them was a Beta. She cursed her lack of precautions.

The blonde man on the other hand deeply inhaled the air, not really caring that she was staring at him closely, and a wide smile spread on his lips.

“Hi” he started cheerfully. “My name is Luca Travettoni. Actually, we had planned on getting you out of your apartment and then tell you everything, but seeing that you already seem to know who we are and what we want, let’s just cut to the chase.” His stance changed subtly from relaxed to more cautious, as if he only waited for her to try and run. Gabi really wished she could do that, but she was too overcome with fear to even lift a finger – she felt like her life was slowly slipping from her grip.

“As I said, my name is Luca. This guy here is Matteo Russo, and as you probably know already from his scent he’s a Beta. And to be precise, he’s Beta of one and only Alpha Dante Moretti of Westwood Pack.” She clenched her fist not turning her gaze away from them even for a second. “Our Alpha sensed you almost three weeks ago and wished for us to bring you back to him.”

“Why?” her voice was quiet, but a protest could be heard in it.

“Please don’t make it harder and don’t play dumb.” Matteo responded. His voice was lower and not so friendly, and Gabi felt shivers on her spine. “We saw your reaction to him on CCTV cameras. You sensed that he is your mate, yet you still chose to run away.”

A screeching sound came out of her mouth that was supposed to be a laugh, but her throat was too tight from her nerves.

“You can’t really blame me for it. I panicked; I don’t know him.”

“Well, you didn’t even try to know him.” Matteo felt anger bubble in him now that he had found the woman he had searched for the last two weeks. In the back of his mind he had to remind himself that if she is Alpha Dante’s mate, she’s also his Luna, and he can’t do anything reckless.

Luca patted his shoulder in a relaxing manner, trying to stop him from making any more commotion. They didn’t want the neighbors to become suspicious.

“It’s okay now, right Beta Matteo? We will fix your mistake and take you right away so that you can get to know him” Luca send her a smile, but she sensed a silent threat in it. She flinched knowing that there was no turning back now. If she doesn’t go in peace, they will take her by force. Gabi felt tears in her eyes, but didn’t let them out. They didn’t seem to be of the merciful kind.

She sighed heavily and closed her eyes for a second, mustering all the courage she had.

“Okay, let me just put on my shoes.”

“Aren’t you going to change?” she looked at Luca with a question in her eyes, not really getting his intentions. He seemed to realize his mistake and a faint blush crept on his cheeks, but Matteo beat him to answer her silent question.

“You just came from work. We suppose you would feel better and more confident meeting your mate not smelling like small children and sweat.” He said in a more polite voice, seeing that she won’t fight them.

“And WILL you let me change my clothes?” she said cautiously, and Matteo smiled a little to himself. She wasn’t stupid – she knew who was in charge here.

“Yes. You’ve got 5 minutes. You probably don’t want us to go in, so we will wait here. But don’t try anything suspicious. We know everything about you.” Gabi only nodded her head and closed the door.

After exactly 4 minutes she appeared once more and without another word she closed the door to her flat and let them lead her outside to their car.

Happy that they were almost done with their task, Luca sat on the driver’s seat and Matteo decided to sit in the back along with Gabi. She looked like she was close to passing out. As his adrenaline rush was slowly fading away from his veins and he felt more relaxed, a feeling of guilt hit him. She came with them in peace, but every cell in her body screamed that she didn’t want to be here, and knowing his Alpha he knew nothing good awaited her.

When they moved slowly through the evening traffic, he decided to look more closely at her.

She was pretty small and petite for a werewolf, and they weren’t really sure if she was a one until they got the chance to smell her. Her scent not only told them they were searching for her, but also that her wolf wasn’t really strong either. Matteo suspected she wasn’t even a Delta. She had fair skin and very long, straight hair that were up to her hips. Their color was really hard for him to describe – platinum blonde but with silver strands that seemed to sparkle gently in the setting sun. He couldn’t see her eyes right now, because she hid them in her hair and behind her long lashes, but Matteo already had the time to look at them when they talked with her earlier. She had eyes of intense green color of freshly cut grass. Her behavior also wasn’t really werewolf-like; she was quiet and not aggressive at all. She clearly didn’t want to go with them, as there was a glint of persistence in her eyes, but she did as she was said to, as if she didn’t believe in her strength. Her choice of clothes resonated with her state of mind – she chose a plain tight-fitting black shirt and white high-waist jeans which tightly wrapped up her figure. She ended her look with a delicate necklace with a pendant and simple black heels. She seemed frail, almost like an ethereal creature, too delicate and fearful to live on Earth. Not in any way werewolf-like.

“So, what’s the name of your pack?” Matteo asked, snatching Gabi out of her thoughts. She looked at him for a few seconds, as if wondering what she could tell him.

“My pack was known as the West Coast Pack.”

“Weren’t they the ones destroyed by rouges roughly around twenty years ago?” asked Luca from the front, looking at her with curiosity in the rear mirror. She slowly nodded her head, not looking at any of them.

“To be precise twenty-three years ago.” She whispered after a while, still looking out of the window.

“So, you’re a runner.” Matteo spit out the word like it was some kind of insult. She suddenly shot him a sharp look that took him aback for a second.

“My parents weren’t in the Alpha’s army. They were average pack members. When the order from the Alpha came to run, they did just that. The rest was a matter of surviving.” Her voice was suddenly firm and loud, and even Luca stared at her in awe. In the next second though the fire in her eyes died as if she remembered her situation and she once more looked out of the window.

Maybe there’s something else than meets the eye, thought Matteo to himself and he allowed a small smile to spread on his lips.

The rest of the road was quiet.

She suspected where they were going, so it wasn’t a surprise when the car came to a stop at the entrance to the Moretti Technologies building. She patiently waited for Matteo to step out and open the door for her, but when he offered her his hand to help her get out, she intently ignored it. It was part of her quiet protest.

Gabi thought about two men as her abductors because she wasn’t there by her own will, and so she decided not to show them that she was giving in completely, even if through such small actions.

Matteo only looked at her with irony but she chose to pretend not to see it. In silence they made their way to the entrance and further through the hall to the elevator. On their way they had to stop at the receptionist and ask for a “guest” badge for her, which almost made her go into a fit of laughter. Not only abducted, but also denied the right to feel like abductee.

With an ironic smile she put the badge on the belt of her pants and not said anything more. Matteo and Luca showed the receptionist their own badges, although she couldn’t see what was on them, and soon they were going up in the elevator, still with silence between them.

As expected it stopped on the last possible floor, and Gabi had the urge to laugh ironically. So cliché it hurt. Even if men who escorted her have seen her expression, they didn’t say anything. Only now she noticed how tense they became, as if they were ready to be attacked at any moment. She gulped and looked at her shoes.

I should have worn some flats in case of running… she thought gloomily.

As they exited the elevator, they walked into a spacious hallway paved with white marble on the floors and black marble on the walls.

“Classy…” was the only thing she could muster, but everyone ignored her. With a quick pace they made their way to the right side of the hallway. At the end there were huge mahogany door and Gabi couldn’t shake off the impression that Alpha Dante had too big of an ego. Although as soon as they reached the door, her mind became once more completely blank from stress.

Beside the entrance to what she assumed was Moretti’s office, stood another werewolf wearing a suit. He probably was guarding so that no one could enter unauthorized. Upon seeing Matteo and Luca his cloudy face brightened and he seemed almost relieved.

“Beta Matteo, Luca, I’m glad you’re finally here.” He bowed his head to them and Gabi sniffed the air. The guy was a Delta. You could think there would be better security for such a VIP, but on the other hand, it seemed that the VIP itself was here the biggest danger.

“How’s Alpha doing?” asked Matteo when they stopped beside the bodyguard. He winced and hushed his voice even more.

“Bad. I think if you didn’t return today, he would kill somebody in his craze.” Gabi’s heart almost stopped at those words. What kind of monster was her mate? Would she even be alive at the end of the day?

Matteo didn’t say anything and tried not to look at Gabriella. Instead he looked at Luca.

“I’ll go in now and announce her. Keep an eye on her so she won’t run away.”

She wanted to roll her eyes at that. Where he thought she could hide in this ginormous building full of hostile werewolves?

Matteo took a deep breath and knocked on the door. After a few seconds a low growl could be heard and she felt her body trembling. The man quickly stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

Gabi was left with Luca and an unnamed man looking at each other awkwardly.

“Soo… what is your boss like?” she asked shyly in a quiet voice and the Delta werewolf looked at her with shock in his eyes.

“He’s very strict and has anger management issues, but he’s a really great leader” answered Luca quickly, almost too quickly for her liking. She frowned and opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment the door once more opened and distressed Matteo poked his head out, urging for them to come closer.

“Luca, for now you stay here. Gabriella, come with me.” He used her name for the first time and at that point she knew that if something goes wrong, he would be the one the Alpha would blame.

What a monster, she thought once more to herself.

Seeing her slacking behind, Luca pushed her as to quicken her and she send him a hateful glare for the first time. He only shrugged at that, as he was trying to say to her “It’s too late to get angry now”.

Gabi felt numb when she entered the office after Matteo, almost deaf from blood rushing wildly through her veins. Although the room was surrounded from both sides with big windows taking all the space between floor and the ceiling, letting in warm leftovers of afternoon sunshine, the atmosphere was cold and unwelcoming. She felt goosebumps rising on her exposed arms and she trembled uncontrollably.

As the building alone, the office was also enormous finished mainly in white marble on the floors and black or mahogany furniture, making it gloomy despite all of the windows. On the center of the room stood big mahogany desk with stack of papers sprawled on its surface. The chair behind it was empty at the moment. Further away, at the end of the office she could see three big bookcases going up to the ceiling, filled to the brim with books. Her bookworm nature woke up at that in her and suddenly she felt the urge to immerse herself in reading each one of them.

Her heart picked up its rate when she saw that Matteo directed her in the same direction she was just looking. At that moment she was also struck with a strong scent of musk, cologne and spruce and her eyes closed a little from intense feeling. Her wolf suddenly woke up and started screeching, barking and yipping in longing to her mate, and she had to clench her teeth as to not moan in unison with her, as the scent was just too overwhelming for her.

When they got closer, she saw a set of two large black leather sofas and two smaller armchairs right beside the library part of the office.

Alpha Dante Moretti was seated on one of the sofas with his legs crossed and his arms sprawled on the back of the sofa. For a simple human being he could seem relaxed – but to sensitive eyes of werewolves he looked utterly pissed. His athletic muscles were tensed under tight black shirt he was wearing, one of his foot was swinging in the air in an irregular manner, and his hand was tapping restlessly on the back of the couch. His eyes were turned to the window, but as soon as he felt the presence of his Beta and Gabriella, he turned his fiery gaze to them making the woman to take a step away in fear.

He growled at her behavior and without another word rose to his feet, ignoring his Beta who now stepped aside and looked at Gabriella with something similar to compassion in his eyes.

She couldn’t find her courage to look him in the eyes, and so she waited looking at her feet with her heart trying to escape her ribcage. His footsteps became closer and soon stopped. His scent became so intense her head became dizzy and subconsciously she wanted to just nuzzle her nose in his chest and stay that way for eternity.

“Look at me woman.” he growled lowly with hoarse voice and she trembled at how it touched her inner core, making her hot even if she didn’t want that.

Gabi hesitantly rose her head up and slowly linked her green orbs with his dark brown ones. For a moment she was taken aback by their depth and color, but when a glint of red came through them, she felt a shiver down her spine. This man may be her mate, but he was also the devil himself.

Although she wanted to turn her eyes away, he firmly gripped her chin and wouldn’t let her eyes wander. She winced in pain as his hold was strong and harsh, as if he never knew any good things in his life.

He didn’t seem to mind her discomfort and he leaned forward until his nose was almost touching her collarbone. His hot breath set her body on fire and a whimper almost escaped her mouth. Dante seemed to take in her scent as his eyes closed for a moment, and when he opened them once more the color of his irises turned to crimson red. This time a whimper escaped her lips as she was now frightened of him even more.

A loud growl escaped his mouth when he stated coldly “Mine.”

Just like that in the next second, he let her go and once more sat on the sofa, not paying any more attention to her. Gabi stared at him in shock. She expected various things, but none of them was being ignored. A part of her was glad that he gave up on her, but the other one, joined by her wolf was just outraged and hurt. She was his mate; she was supposed to be the love of his life and lifelong partner. She heard from her parents about joining of mates – they were always moments full of joy and love, filled with hugs, kisses and looks full of pride and contentment. While Dante sat there indifferent, like he just didn’t order his Beta to search for her for the last three weeks. He only sniffed her and stated the obvious thing for him. She was his. A trophy he managed to get.

She felt anger even more than hurt take over her body. What did she do to fate that it was so cruel to her?

“Matteo, take her to my apartments.” Was the only thing he said before he turned his attention to the papers on the coffee table, she just noticed was there all the time beside the sofa.

When without another word Matteo took her by the arm, she couldn’t anymore stand the humiliation she felt.

“Excuse me?!” she exclaimed, not even looking at Matteo’s fearful expression telling her to shut up “I have my own life, so I will return, but to MY own apartments” she fumed, and only after she had seen his eyes, she understood her mistake. In a second he was before her growling lowly with fury in his eyes.

Dante once more grabbed her chin, but this time his grip was so tight she cried out in pain, but he didn’t budge.

“Listen here my lady” he snorted like it was an insult. “I’m the Alpha here and I give all the orders. You’re mine now, and I will decide what to do with you. And now you will go where I want you to be.” He didn’t shout, but she felt like the last words imprinted themselves on her very core. She knew what that meant – he used on her his Alpha voice, and she didn’t have a choice. With one last tear of resistance she bowed her head when he loosened his grip and turned on her heels to get away from his as fast as possible.

“Matteo” this time Dante turned to his Beta “Take all electronic devices from her. She won’t need them anymore.” she clenched her fists until blood appeared on her nails, but nonetheless she didn’t say anything.

She almost ran from the office, feeling how her broken heart tried to burst open and her wolf howled in pain.