Chapter 4

Azrael

“This is the tenth pack we have searched, and we still haven’t found her. If I hadn’t seen her walk out of your room with my own eyes, I would have thought she wasn’t real.” Gabriel, My Beta said as we drove away from the tenth pack that day.

He sat in the driver’s seat, his hands tight on the steering wheel. His voice carried both frustration and guilt.

I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to calm the storm in my head. “Instead of running off to find me, you could have called me. You have a phone or you could have used the mind link. If you had done that, we wouldn’t be wasting time like this.”

Gabriel sighed heavily. “I know, I am sorry. But you can’t blame everything on me. You were the one who ended up in a stranger’s room, drunk out of your mind. You didn’t even see the face of the woman you spent the night with.”

His words made my jaw tighten. He wasn’t wrong, and that annoyed me even more.

“How are we supposed to find her now?” Raven, my elder sister, asked from the back seat. She had been quiet for most of the drive, watching both of us argue. “It should be easier since you marked her.”

I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes for a second. The memory of that night was blurry. I had only taken one glass of champagne. Just one, that was all it took.

After my medical team ran tests on me, they found something disturbing. A strong aphrodisiac drug was slipped into my drink, a large dose enough to kill a normal wolf.

It made my blood boil. Who would dare do that to me? And why? Was it an attack? A trap? Or something else?

The worst part was that I didn’t even remember her face clearly. I remembered her scent, the warmth of her skin, and the way my wolf reacted to her. But her face? It was like a shadow in my memory.

“Should we just return to the pack?” Raven asked gently. “Maybe we are wasting our time. We have checked so many packs already.”

I turned to look at her, frowning. “You think I’m going to give up?” She didn’t answer, but her expression said enough.

“We will check all thirty packs under our rule if we have to. I will not stop until I find her,” I said through clenched teeth. “You both know how long I have been searching for my mate. And you know what will happen if I don’t find her.”

My voice was sharp, filled with anger and fear.

It has been over fifteen years since I became Alpha. Fifteen years of organizing and attending mating ceremonies without finding her. In our bloodline, an Alpha must find his mate before he turns thirty five. If he doesn’t, he must step down and allow another to take his place. It is our tradition. If I don’t find her, I will have to step down.

If I fail, I will lose everything my father and grandfather built. My family’s legacy will end with me.

“Let’s go to Light Moon Pack,” I said firmly, looking at the list of routes Raven had prepared for us. My finger traced the name slowly.

Gabriel groaned loudly from the driver’s seat. “You have to be joking. I can’t stand their Alpha. He’s arrogant and loud.” Before I could respond, Gabriel suddenly slammed on the brakes.

The car jerked forward violently. Raven grabbed the seat in front of her to steady herself.

“What the hell, Gabriel?!” I shouted, my temper already hanging by a thread.

He turned to look at me, his eyes wide. “The girl,” he said quickly. “She was wearing a necklace, I remember now. It had the symbol of Light Moon on it. She was hiding her face with her hair, but I saw the pendant clearly.”

For a moment, the car was silent. “You are just remembering this now?” I exploded. “Now? After we have searched ten packs?”

“I— it just came back to me!” he defended himself.

I ran my hand down my face in frustration. “Why do I have to work with fools?” I snapped.

Raven reached forward and placed her hand gently on my arm. “Azrael, calm down. At least he remembered, that means we finally have a direction.”

I pulled my arm away, still burning with anger,

“This is partly your fault,” I snapped at Raven as soon as the memory returned clearly. “Why would you allow someone else to serve my drinks instead of you? You know that’s the rule.”

Her eyes widened. “Azrael—”

“And why did you give me the key to room 305 instead of 310? That’s the room we agreed on.” My voice grew louder with each word. “Everything about that night was wrong. The man who served my drink disappeared. The room was changed. Don’t you see? This was planned.”

Raven looked shaken. “I didn’t change the room. The receptionist said there was a mix-up. I thought it was a simple mistake.”

“There are no simple mistakes when it comes to me,” I said coldly.

By the time we arrived at the Light Moon Pack, my anger had not cooled.

The moment our convoy drove past the gates, the pack members began whispering. As soon as the car stopped, their Alpha rushed out of the pack house. He looked nervous the second he saw our emblem.

“Alpha King, welcome to Light Moon,” he said quickly, bowing his head. “We weren’t informed of your arrival.”

I stepped out of the car slowly, not bothering to greet him properly. “Take me to your house.”

He immediately stepped aside and led the way without another word.

The moment I entered his living room, I stopped walking. There it was, faint but clear. My mate’s scent, it lingered in the air, soft but unmistakable. My wolf stirred inside me instantly, restless and alert.

Gabriel was right, she was from this pack. I turned to face the Alpha. “I will speak plainly. I am here for my mate. I spent the night with her at the hotel. She disappeared this afternoon. I know she is here. I caught her scent the moment I stepped inside.”

The Alpha’s face went pale. Before he could respond, a woman rushed out from the kitchen. She bowed deeply before me.

“Alpha King,” she said quickly. “That must be my daughter, Aurora. She returned home earlier today…” She hesitated slightly. “She looked marked. Her father was furious, he was going to punish her for spending the night with a stranger and allowing him to mark her.”

My jaw tightened at the word punish. “She is upstairs,” the woman continued. “Please, allow me to bring her.” Without waiting for permission, she hurried upstairs.

My wolf became restless the moment he heard that our mate was upstairs and would be brought down soon. He paced inside me, impatient and alert, as if he had been waiting his whole life for this exact second.

Marcus, the Alpha of Light Moon, cleared his throat nervously. “I am deeply sorry, Alpha King. I didn’t know it was you,” he said with his head lowered.

I gave him a short nod. My focus was no longer on him. Footsteps echoed from the staircase.

Marcus’ Luna came down first, guiding a young woman gently by the arm. She was beautiful. Her shoulders were bare because of the off-shoulder top she wore, and the marks on her neck were clearly visible. Faint bruises scattered across her skin.

But there was no mark, no clear sign of my bite. The excitement inside me faded instantly. My wolf, who had been so restless just seconds ago, went quiet. It was like he was confused or disappointed.

She was about the same height and build as the woman from last night. But something felt off.

Her eyes widened when she saw me. “You arethe man from last night!”

I stood up slowly and walked toward her. When I stopped in front of her, she began trembling. Most people reacted that way around me. Even her parents stayed frozen at the corner of the room.

I studied her closely. “I cannot see my mark on your neck,” I said calmly, though my voice still carried authority. “But I can still catch a faint trace of last night’s scent.”

Her hands immediately flew to her neck. “It healed before morning,” she said quickly. “My mother treated it when I returned home.”

Healed? My brows drew together slightly. A mark does not simply disappear overnight.

The door opened behind me. Gabriel walked in, slightly out of breath. I turned to him without taking my eyes off the girl.

“Is she the woman you saw leaving my room?” I asked.

Gabriel stared at her carefully, studying her face, her build, her posture.

“She looks very similar,” he said slowly. “I didn’t see her face clearly but the height matches. The body shape too.” He hesitated. “But her hair, the girl that night had long wavy black hair.” We all looked at the young woman in front of me.