AUTHOR'S POV, Back to present, in Lucas' Nightclub
THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY when Scott left the bar with a random girl he just met. The pack couldn't believe their eyes seeing the Alpha let a different woman cling onto his arm, let alone enjoy that theatric tongueful of kiss. After seeing Scott leave the scene, they all lost their appetite to get wasted or even party like how they are supposed to.
Silence settled over their table. Nobody laughed. Nobody dared to say anything. The girls with Lily lost interests in their silence as they move onto the next VIP lounge oozing with male hormones. The music continued to thunder through the club. Glasses clinked. Strangers still danced beneath the flashing lights. But the table that Scott left felt strangely empty.
"Okay... What the hell was that?", Cory finally muttered.
No one answered. Actually, no one knew the answer. Because everything Scott just did, none of it made sense. "Alright, fill me in.", a bottle of whiskey made its way around the table. Lucas wants all heads in as they figure out what's going on. "We all went home after the forest hunt... and from there, he was a goner. Did he tell anyone whatever?", he asked.
"No.", Allen answered. They all shook their heads side to side. Scott disconnected for days.
"Maybe the Alpha needs a distraction", David refused to drink anymore.
"Distraction?!", Cory added more ice in his already ice-filled glass. "In the middle of searching the Luna? A distraction??", the suggestion earned several skeptical looks. Scott was never the kind of man who chased distractions.
Austin emptied his glass. "Her name still has an effect on him. Definitely it's an act".
"What I saw was not an act. Maybe he finally cracked", David thought. Nobody liked that answer because it sounded possible. The liquor flowed, but everyone stopped drinking. Lucas eventually called it a night, as the pack leave to figure Scott out
Meanwhile
Lily sat in the passenger seat wearing a smile she could barely contain. The leather seat felt softer than anything she'd ever touch. She loved the attention. All the eyes that were pinned on her. The impressed gazes of men. The jealous look of the women when she entered his car. She just had a glimpse of bliss just by standing beside Scott with his arm snaked around her tiny waist. And when he'd kissed her in front of everyone? She'f felt like she was floating.
Scott Devlin.
The Alpha.
The untouchable Alpha.
And tonight, he had chosen her. Scott briefly spoke with the valet service, leaving the engine running. Lily pulled down the mirror and powdered her little nose. Added a little more pink on her lips and practiced a few smiles. She rehearsed a cute giggle, scrunching her nose. Called his name in different tones, then somehow, let out a soft moan as if it was necessary for later. Then, a ringtone interrupted her. Her eyes drifted toward the dashboard. The phone vibrated inside its holder. A name flashed across the screen with a picture of a brunette with dazzling blue eyes.
LUNA.
Her smile faded, recognizing the name. The same name she had seen days ago during her interview with Scott. Back then, she had answered too. The phone continued to ring. Scott was nowhere around so she let her curiosity win. "Hello?", Lily non hesitantly answered the call and could hardly hear anything, just static and cracking noises. She repeatedly said hello until she heard a woman's voice calling Scott's name. Pretending she still couldn't hear anything just like before, she hang up, and quickly returned it on the center console.
A moment later, Scott returned and slid into the driver's seat. The scent of powder reached him, all the same with the she-wolf heat blazing in his car. Then, his eyes landed on the phone. A white powder dusted its screen. He didn't reacted yet, but the atmosphere definitely changed. "Show me the way", he grunted as he step on the gas. The engine growled as he drive. The car shot forward. "Did someone called?", his jaw tightened.
"Yes, some woman. I couldn't hear her though", Lily simply said, forcing a cheerful smile. She looped her arm through his. His manly Alpha scent was already making her feel aroused. "You can take me anywhere you want", she teased.
The streetlights became streaks of gold. The city disappeared behind them. Scott had to open the windows, wanting to breathe some fresh air as he speed up his car along the freeway. Lily kept talking. About herself. About the club. About all the fun they are about to do alone. Yet, Scot had said nothing. His eyes remained fixed on the road.
Miles away from the club, he pulled onto the shoulder of an empty highway. The tires crunched against gravel. The engine idled. Lily blinked. She swallowed excitingly overthinking about public intimacy with Scott. "Here?", she asked, rolling her tongue between her lips.
Scott turned toward her. For the first time all night, there was no charm on his face. Only something cold. "Now get out", Scott gritted his teeth. Lily's face trembled at Scott's terrifying change of phase. She laughed nervously as she remove her hands on him. Earlier, she thought he was flirty and willing to spend the night with her as part of her job. All of a sudden, he turned rough and cold. "You don't get to touch my personal stuff. You do what I ask you to do, and keep your filthy hands to yourself", he said as Lily steps out of the car in the middle of the highway.
THE NEXT DAY
"How could you have lost her?!"
A porcelain shatters on the floor as Sebastian as he threw it across the room. In front of him were men with ties. "How?", he barked, yet no one answered as the freeze on their places. Sebastian sharply laughed a humorless sound. "You found her in the forest. You lost her to the werewolves. You found her in the hospital again", his gaze swept across the defeated faces of his men. "You even escorted her during a patient transfer", one of the men lowered his head as the silence deepened. "And somehow", Sebastian pressed both palms against the conference table. "... somehow she vanished again".
The room felt smaller, that nobody dared move at the furious CEO of the building. Sebastian's jaw tightened at how a woman like Diana, with no pack, no wolf instincts and no resources slips from his grasp so easily. He was already one step ahead from Roman, who never stopped searching for her. His pack were a such a pain, they were always around. Then again, at the end of the day, they all remained at a lost. "Get out of my sight and find her!".
Yesterday had been worse.
Scott walked away with nearly 70% of the company's shares. Years of business planning erased in a single meeting. The move had stunned executives. It had terrified investors. And most unbelievable of all, he had stopped searching and caring for Diana, as though she no longer mattered. He would love to punch him on the face at that time. Sebastian couldn't understand it at all.
Sebastian began to make calls.
One, continue the search for Diana. It was a priority that has to be done. He wanted to protect her. Make her feel that she's not alone. And somehow, in between all of that ask her how to find the Nagual, for he want to personally tear that creature into pieces.
Two, he told the executives to revise the projections tonight. All proposals should be in his table the next day. The reports should be sent to him every hour. And, he demanded for no mistakes.
Three, Sebastian kept the investors calm. He couldn't manage to lose anymore of them.
He tossed his phone on the table. The screen cracked, as he stare at it. When the screen turned black, he saw his own reflection. His hair disheveled. His eyes looking dark circles around his eyes as if they knew no sleep. He looked down on his trembling hands, that he had to close them into a fist thinking it would stop the quavering. Sebastian turned away, all of a sudden, he caught a glimpse of Elder Dolphus standing in the corner of the room. He crashes on his back, widening his eyes, making sure it was not real.
It was still like that all the time.
And everyday that Diana is missing, his ghost is getting more clearer. He wiped the shock out of his face. If Scott won't search for Diana anymore, he had nothing else more to do but take onto more desperate measures. Even if it means stepping down as the president of the company or seeking another unexpected help. Decisively, he crawled back to his phone and searched for a certain contact. He pressed call, and placed the phone in his ear. "Hello, Roman. It's me".