Selling Myself To The Alpha
Chapter 149

Adele POV

"Adele, sit and calm down," Luther says empathetically as I pace up and down in my office. "You're going to pace a moat into the carpet."

"It's been hours," I push my fingers through my hair and sit next to him. "Why haven't they called yet?"

"They're probably still busy with whatever they're doing,"

Luther gently rubs my back. "We would've heard if something happened to them."

"Not necessarily," I grunt and look at him. "They're outside of their borders, they can't mind-link for help. What if something happened to them? What if they're hurt and need our help or ..." "Enough, Adele," Luther says sternly and pulls me against his chest. "You're going to drive yourself insane. Liana wouldn't do something stupid while she's pregnant.

Whatever they're doing isn't that dangerous."

"You better be right," I sigh and nestle closer to him.

There is a knock on the door, and I jump up to open it. I know it is not Liana, she would not knock but I am still hoping. She is my best friend, and I cannot stand the thought of losing her.

"My apologies for disturbing you," Neal smiles when I open the door and my heart drops in disappointment. At least he is smiling so he is not here with unwelcome news. "There's a pack member who wants to see you."

"Show them in," I sigh and leave the door open as I walk to my desk. It is possibly something stupid and a frivolous problem, but I can do with a distraction right about now.

Wannabe is my first thought when the young woman enters my office, but I keep a stoic face. Her hair is dyed pitch-black, but her light brown roots are already showing.

She might look mean and tough, but her eyes tell a different story. She is insecure and scared.

"Thank you for seeing me, Alpha," her voice hoarse, but not in a sexy way. More like a person who smokes way too much.

"Please sit," I motion towards a chair.

"Thank you," she sits down. "I'm Hilda."

"How may I help?" I wreck my brain to place her name. It feels familiar but I cannot place my finger on it.

"I... uhm, this is a little awkward," she chuckles uncomfortably, "I think my boyfriend's missing."

"Missing?" I raise my eyebrows and sit upright. I prepared myself for a minor dispute like trouble with the neighbours, not a missing person.

"Yes," she nods. "He left for the city and should've been back hours ago. I called him, but his phone went to voicemail. I'm worried and don't know who else to turn to."

"Why do you think he's missing?" I frown. Is she paranoid or something? Why would she immediately jump to the conclusion that he is missing after a mere couple of hours?

There are like a million valid reasons why he is not picking up his phone or not home yet. Flat tire and phone on silent are the two that jump to mind. "He could simply be late or made an extra stop."

"Davy's never late," she says hastily, and my fingers dig into my chair's armrests when I hear the name and the pieces fall into place. This is Hilda Liana spoke with over the phone. The Hilda who is helping The Enforcers. "And when he is, he always calls. Always. This is completely out of character for him. Maybe missing is the wrong word.

Maybe in trouble is a better choice. Like an accident or something."

"Does his car have a tracker?" I ask. "Insurance companies insist on tracking devices lately."

"No," she lowers her gaze. "He... it broke. There's no tracker.

"Okay," I feel relieved, but I do not know why. I have no idea what Liana is doing - or did - but I figure it is a good thing Davy's car cannot be tracked. "Tell me where he went to, and I'll send somebody to trace his tracks." "Thank you," she smiles gratefully. "I appreciate it. I know he's not my mate, but we're a couple and..."

"You don't need to explain," I cut her off and handed her a pen and paper. I am really not interested. "He's a pack member and my responsibility. Just write down all his information and I'll take it from there." Axel POV

"What's wrong?" I ask concerned when I replace Liana crying at the dinner table.

"Are you okay?" I sit next to her and rub her back.

"Pork chops," she looks at me with tear-filled eyes. "I was in the kitchen and smelled our dinner being prepared and then I got nauseous. Pork chops, Axel, were having pork chops.

Do you think it's karma slapping me for feeding Davy to the pigs?"

"Love, no," I say relieved that there is not anything seriously wrong with her.

"What about bacon?" she sobs. "I love bacon, I don't want to cut it out. What if ..."

"Liana, it's just hormones, it'll pass," I comfort her. "It's not karma nor is it permanent. It will be the same with the mushrooms and cabbage."

Her cell phone starts ringing and with a sniff, she takes it out and looks at the screen.

"It's Adele" she hands it to me. "You take it, please. I can't right now."

"Hello," I answer the call. "Is everything okay?"

"You tell me," she replies and tells me about Hilda. "So, am I sending a search party or not?"

"Send one," I look at Liana. "They won't replace anything."

"Okay," she sighs. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"How about you invite us for dinner?" I smile at Liana. "And feed us chicken or fish."

"Done," Adele laughs and ends the call.

"Hilda is looking for Davy," I hand Liana her phone.

"We'll have to move fast" Liana wipes her tears and stands up. "They won't replace him but it will only be a matter of time until The Enforcers start getting restless. We should get Philip before then."

"Visiting Philip will set off alarms," I reply. "We can't stand one another. And he's an alpha. Catching him alone and feeding him to the pigs isn't going to be that easy."

"You're right," Liana says softly as she stares at the floor for a while.

"How do we get to him?" She mumbles as she starts pacing and I know she is not aware of my presence at the moment.

Amused, and watch her. I know her mind is working overtime and I am eager to hear what she is coming up with. Personally, I will just declare war against Philip's pack and get it over with. But that means innocent people laying down their lives and Liana will not stand for it. "Okay," Liana clamps her hands together and looks at me."

We can't go to him, so he must come to us. And all the two of you have in common, is business. Inviting him over to talk business, isn't going to work. He'll come with lawyers and his Beta. We'll have to draw him in with a crowd. Do you have any new devices or software? A new mouse or virus program?"

"Nothing worth a launch," I understand in which direction she is going. "But we can push up our rebranding. I told Philip about that the night of Adele's inauguration."

"No," Liana exclaims and looks at me with bright sparkling eyes. "You shouldn't rebrand. You should liquidate."

"What?" I gape at her. "We can't liquidate a lucrative business. That's not how it works."

"With voluntary liquidation, you can," she smiles brightly as she takes a seat next to me. "You said it yourself;

Moonstone is facing bankruptcy if you don't get new contracts. Don't get new contracts. Not in Moonstone's name, anyway. Liquidise Moonstone and start a new company with the current, and new, clients. Not only will you be rebranding, but you'll also be rid of Philip's claim. The new company has no business in honouring his and Jack's agreement."

"Wife, you're brilliant," I cup her face and kiss her excitedly. " And business is supposed to be my thing."

"It still is," she smiles at me. "What I know, I learned from you and your father. I might understand what I said but I have no idea how to do it."

"Come on," I stand up and take her hand. "Dinner is waiting at Moonstone, and we have a lot to discuss and plan."

"And we don't have much time," she rolls her eyes. "Once The Enforcers learn about Davy's disappearance, they'll get restless."

"I'll advise Adele to execute a thorough search for him," I say as we walk to the car. "As long as The Enforcers are under the impression that she's actively looking for him, they won't suspect that we know. People disappear all the time." "Clear Moon should join in the search," Liana says as she gets into the car. "You know, to show them our support."

"Goddess, you're devious," I quickly kiss her. "And I love it."