The Mates of Monsters
Chapter 77

She makes a surprised face. "Can I have your name?"

"Luna Amin. It's an urgent matter."

"Yes, well, the Alpha is quite busy at the moment. I can send him a notice of your request, and I am sure he will speak with you as soon as possible."

I run my tongue over my teeth and rest my elbows on the countertop. "I know I may not look it, but I am very distressed. My advisor is missing, is nowhere to be seen, has vanished from his room, and I have to speak at twelve-fifteen. Your Alpha knows my advisor very well. Now I need to speak with him immediately." "Of course, Luna. I will try to call him."

"Thank you," I say and step back. Bonny insists we sit down to collect ourselves and think things over, so we take a breather in the large leather armchairs situated as a waiting area. I glance back to the desk, unable to relax, and I see the woman on the phone. "Brigette!"

Luna Lovegood scuttles into the lobby from the elevators, her mate left behind as she waves and hurries over. Her bright face dims when she surveys the poor mood of both me and my party. She stops before me and asks, "Is everything alright?"

"My advisor is missing," I tell her, still looking to the woman behind the counter.

"Missing? What on earth do you mean?"

"He's just gone. He didn't say he was going somewhere or doing something--he's just gone. So I'm waiting for Alpha Dreier."

Mary leans a tad closer when she asks, "You don't think something bad happened, do you?"

"None of us know what to think."

"Oh, goodness. You'll be giving your speech, won't you? Perhaps all of this will work itself out beforehand. I don't want your message going unheard."

I look to Bonny. "If worst comes to worst, Luna Godoy will read the speech."

Bonny shakes her head and says, "No, Brigette. There won't be a need for that."

"I just--I have a bad feeling about this. Something isn't right. Jeremy has been acting weird ever since we got here, and now he's disappeared? Something happened, and I don't trust Alpha Dreier."

"Darling," Mary nods ahead of us, "there he is."

Alpha Dreier's eyes lock on me like some graceful predator, entering the lobby from a restricted area. He jerks his arms to straighten his sleeves as he walks, so I rise from the leather chair and meet him halfway, not wanting the others to be frightened by whatever horrific details that may slip past his smirk. My mouth downturns and my hands fist at my sides.

"Luna Amin," he greets, wholly unbothered. "I received--"

"Don't. Don't try to talk around me," I say. "I'm sure you know exactly why you're here. Tell me where Jeremy is or whatever it is you did with him. I don't care what happened a year ago, but I am not someone you want to piss off."

His shoulders drop slightly as he exhales, but his face remains still. "Surely not. I wouldn't want Alpha Amin sicked on me next."

The taste in my mouth sours. "Where is he?"

"I did nothing to your advisor, Luna, and neither did my people. You would find it wise to aim your accusations at another."

"I don't believe you."

The Alpha inches an irked grin. "I do not care what you do and do not believe. I have priorities to attend to. As you know, meetings and speeches are commencing soon. If you chose to keep your slot, you will compose yourself." When Alpha Dreier attempts to move, I step in his way. He glances to the side and swallows hard. "What are you planning?" I question.

My provoking causes him to step closer. "I do not have to plan or do anything, Luna. Frankly, I find it quite discrediting that you would believe Jeremy is loyal to you in the first place. He is loyal to no one but himself. He was neither mine nor yours." "You're saying he left on his own? I-Is that what he did to you?"

Dreier looks at me, silent. My face twitches with curiosity as he appears to endure an entirely separate battle within himself, one that I have seen before. David looked the same way that night that feels like a lifetime ago. I'll never forget his words and how gutted they sounded: Get back inside.

"Is Jeremy your mate?"

The question eludes me without thought. Alpha Dreier draws straight, wipes his emotions clean, then strides past me. My eyes trail him, bewildered.

I return to my friends and tell them that Alpha Dreier had nothing to do with it, that Jeremy must have left us by his own free will because I believe what I saw on the Alpha's face. I believe his pain.

The situation is not as complicated

as it feels. If Jeremy has left, then he

has every right to do so. There is nothing I can do to force his return, and it is not up to me to hunt him down and make him face his fears. As Alpha Dreier said, he does not belong to me. Our time as leader and advisor was nearing its end, but I Will always regret never having closure. Jeremy may feel that he has to run, but I will do whatever I can to assure him that he never needs to run from me. He's my friend, forever and no matter what.

Lyde, Bonny, and Mary stay with me as we wait for my time slot to come around. Truthfully, I am in no mood

to deliver a speech. My mind is drowning in what-ifs. What if I got away that night? What if I never gave David a chance? These alternate realities petrify me, and I rest my hand on my Maybe Baby as it is my only piece of him while so far away.

Lyde brings me food, fetches me water, and sits close. I eat to settle her nerves. I'm sure the last thing she wants to deal with is my breakdown. She must think Jeremy and I were spiritually related to permit such a numbing reaction--he's only left; it's not like he's dead.

When it is time, the lot of them sit encouragingly in the front row, even Luna Leloup.am introduced by a member of Alpha Dreier's pack, and when I walk onto the platform, I spot the man himself standing in the back of the room. My hands grip the painted wood of the podium scan the crowd, have a breath, and beckon my inner Luna to surface. So a smile pulls on my lips, and my eyes shimmer with the hope and determination of youth.

"Hello, good afternoon, I'm Luna Amin of the Amin Pack in North America, but please, call me Brigette."