Page 26 of Alpha's Unclaimed Mate

But it’s not nothing. It’s everything.

“I, Seren Smith, reject you, Theron Blackwood, as my fated mate.”

The memory of those poisonous words hits me hard. She could’ve screamed at me. Cursed me out. Why did she say something so vicious?

Frustration burns in my chest, and I slam the receiver back on the desk phone. The sound echoes in the silence.

“Nothing happened to her,” I whisper, trying to convince myself.

With a surge of anger, I rip the wire from its socket and throw the phone across the room. The crash of plastic hitting the wall echoes in the silent office.

Where is she?

I storm out of the office, my pulse pounding in my ears. Spotting an employee near reception, I bark, “Send Luke to me, now!”

My trusted friend walks in a few minutes later, his injured arm in a sling.

He stops short, taking in the overturned furniture and scattered files. “Whoa! What the…” Something crunches under his foot.

I rake a hand through my hair, trying to stay calm. “Luke, listen. I need you to drop everything and find Seren. She’s angry with me, and I don’t know where she’s gone. She…”

Luke’s eyes narrow slightly, concern etched on his face. “Calm down, Theron. Tell me what happened first. And where’s your cellphone? I tried calling you, but it was off. Your mind-link is walled off, too. Everyone is?—”

“Fuck everyone else!” I snap. I can’t waste time. “Just find Seren. Check the surveillance footage, flights, trains, cabs, buses—everything. She…” I look around for the clock, and find it cracked on the floor. “What’s the time right now?”

“Almost four.”

She left at noon.

A cold dread coils in my stomach, tightening with each second. Why didn’t she go straight home? What has she been doing for four hours?

My wolf roars in my head. For the first time in my life, his anger is directed at me. And it’s intense.

“Theron?” Luke snaps his fingers in front of my face, pulling me back. I feel a sting behind my eyes, a burn I haven’t felt since I was thirteen.Damn it!

“She rejected me.” I somehow manage to whisper those words as guilt floods my insides.

It’s all my fault.

Luke studies me for a moment, his expression softening. Ibrace myself for a speech, the “I told you so” that’s bound to come.

Instead, he nods, a firm resolve in his eyes. “Don’t worry, we’ll find her. I’ll get on it right away.” He squeezes my shoulder, a reassuring gesture, before heading toward the door. “And Theron? Go home. Your wolf needs rest, and so do you.”

“No. I’m coming with you to the packhouse. But Luke…”

“I know. I’ll be discreet.”

Within the next few minutes, a search party is set up and sent to scour the entire pack territory. Seren’s steps are traced from when she walked out of the headquarters until she got into a cab outside one of the parks. That footage is blurry and there isn’t any sign of her after that. She never went home.

I spend the evening locked inside the room with the team checking different locations. Ten screens glow with surveillance footage, every phone notification makes me jump, and people murmur as they exchange notes.

Every single sound grates on my nerves, but I can’t leave. I want to be the first to know when they find her.

It’s almost eleven at night when I find my breathing getting shallower. It gets so claustrophobic I step outside.

The cold wind rushing over the balcony makes me shiver, but my head feels lighter. The sky is dark, with only the thinnest crescent moon visible.

I’m still hopeful as I wait for news on Seren.

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