Heartless Angels

Chapter 23 – Levi

Chapter 23 – Levi

Gus? What’s going on? Has he located her yet? Where are you guys?” My beta, Gus, is checking in with me every two hours since he started out this morning. I just don’t trust any of Oakley’s family to get back to me and tell me what’s really going -on. So, I have my beta out there tailing Jack and my gam ma is tailing James and their father, who seem to be hanging out

together.

“They haven’t found anything yet, Levi. And, honestly, I don’t think they’re gonna. They’ve got the local cops searching for the truck that Jack thinks she took. They’re trying to find where she might have stayed, but there’s nothing. I mean, honestly? I don’t think that you’re ever going to find her. If you can’t feel her, then…” he takes a deep breath. “I think you should reject her

and move on.”

I feel my anger rise and my wolf comes with it. “I will NEVER give up on her! Oakley is my MATE and you WILL find her and

BRING HER BACK TO ME! DO YOU UNDERSTAND, BETA?”

“Yes, Alpha,” Gus replies immediately, his tone changed to one of deference and subservience. The tone that most have when they speak to me, even those I consider close friends, because of their fear of me. The fear that Oakley had when she first met me. The fear that caused her to run from me, to try and hide, and not let me know that she is my mate.

Why did I treat her the way that I did? Why did I beat her and f uck around on her? I can’t believe I caused her all that pain.

And it’s this behavior that caused it.

“Listen, Gus – “I begin, but he’s already hung up on the call. I guess I can’t blame him. I’m the ruthless alpha. The one that all of them fear. The one that strings rogues up by their ankles with a nick in their carotid artery and lets them bleed out and then fester in the heat and the cold as a warning. The one that tore out another alpha’s heart for disrespecting my father. The one who hunted down a group of warriors that turned on their alpha and killed his entire family over an entire mountain range in the middle of winter for a week, without stopping or shifting back from his wolf form only to tear them apart by himself,

Yeah, he was the one that everyone feared. The one that his mate feared.

And he gave her every reason to do so.

F UCK!

Maybe her dad and James will know something. Maybe Jack said something to them that Gus hadn’t been able to figure

I’ll have to go and find out.

I make my way out of my office, trying hard to keep my composure. The looks on the faces of all the wolves around me tells me how much of a monster I’ve been since Oakley left. They cower, going through doors or down halls that I’m almost certain they weren’t planning on going through before.

I don’t care. I’ll make it right after I have Oakley back. Everything will be ok once I have Oakley back. The pack will love me because they’ll have a luna, a worthy amazing, smart, beautiful luna. And I’ll become a better alpha. A better wolf. A better

male. All for her.

I just need her back.

I’m almost to the front door of the packhouse when I hear my mother calling my name.

“Levi? Levi, where are you going? You need to stay here. You need to be the alpha you were born and trained to be. Your packed you and the rest of your team back here,” my mother calls.

ackney you

Chapter 23 Levi

“That is what I’m doing. Mother. I’m looking for our pack’s luna. I don’t know what is more important for an alpha to do!” I’m trying to keep my temper and my wolf down, but having my mother second guess what it is I should be doing is the hardest thing that I’ve ever had to do. All because she’s keeping me away from Oakley. I can’t look at her, I can’t face anyone, so I keep staring

at the door as I answer her.

“You need to let that girl go!” my mother thunders from behind me. “You’ve done enough to her.”

My shoulders slump. That one hit home. She’s right. I have done enough to Oakley. I lean against the door frame, letting it hold me up as I try to get my emotions in check. Even as tears flow down my cheeks, I struggle to keep my emotions contained.

“I owe it to her to at least set her free to her face,” I whisper.

“That’s the least that you owe her. I’ve never heard such vehemence, such disgust, such anger in my mother’s voice as I do right then.

I nod and walk out the door.

Alpha? A mindlink breaks into my thoughts. It’s David, one of the warriors that I had go check on James and Bradley every couple of days. I wasn’t keeping tabs on them so much, since they were good and followed the rules, unlike Jake. They’d stayed put like I’d asked them to, so I didn’t feel the need to keep 24 hour tabs on them. However, I hadn’t seen them in a few days and I wanted to make sure that they were ok. That they kept their strength up for Oakley’s return. Because everything is about

making Oakley feel better about everything that happened.

What is it? I respond

They’re gone. Its the only response that he gives.

What do you mean they’re gone? I ask, surprised and pi sed immediately.

I mean, they’re gone. Based on their scent, they’ve been a

gone two days. David says, wariness creeping into his voice.

And none of the border patrol thought it would be a good idea to tell me about that?! I scream through the link.

I don’t know, sir. Would you like for me – But I interrupt him.

I’ll take care of it myself. I shut down the mindlink and am in the process of taking off my clothes to shift, when my phone

rings.

I look at my screen and see that it’s Gus. It’s only been about 20 minutes since he called. He must have found something!

I quickly answer. “What did you find?”

“I found the hotel that she was staying at. She was here two days. The manager says that she was chummy with another

she wolf. Mostly stayed in her room, but did come down to us the computer once. He’s got a timestamped log of what was looked up that he’s getting access to right now. It’s an old system, so it may take a little while. But he says that the day after she looked the stuff up, she and the she wolf left and they haven’t come back.”

“Who is this other she-wolf?” I demand.

“She registered under ‘Cas sandra Sky from the Cold Mountain Pack. She stayed one more night than Oakley did,” Gus responds, sounding as if he’s reading off of a paper.

“The Cold Mountain Pack? That’s on the other side of the continent. How the hell does Oakley know someone from that

pack?” I ask.

“I don’t know, Alpha. Your guess is as good as mine,” he responds with a cl*pped tone, just this side of being disrespectful.

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Chapter 23 Levi

“Send me the address. I’m heading there now. Follow up on any lead that you get from this guy I say, the tone of his voice and the way that he says my title instead of my name bothers me. He’s my best friend.

“Yes, Alpha,” Gus responds, his tone still chilly.

“And Gus?” I take a deep breath, getting ready to do something that I’ve never done before. “I’m sorry. For the way that I talked to you before. You were just trying to help and I should have talked to you a lot better than I did.”

There is stunned silence on the other end of the phone, but he eventually whispers, “I accept your apology. I’m sorry that I suggested that you let Oakley go.”

I shake my head, even though he can’t see it. There’s nothing to apologize for. I probably will be letting her go. But I need to find her first. I need to talk to her and apologize to her. She deserves a mate that’s much better than I am. I just hope she can find it.”

I’ve been on the road for about two hours when I get another phone call from Gus. “Anything new?” I demand. I’m having a lot of trouble just sitting here in the car and having nothing in my face that has to be completed or discussed, or modified for our pack. It’s liberating, but also a bit scary. I don’t know what to think about or feel or do, other than to drive.

So, of course, all of my thoughts go to Oakley and how bad I’ve messed things up.

I’m extremely thankful that my thoughts are interrupted by Gus’s phone call.

“We found her truck, Gus says, triumphantly.

“Where?!” I demand.

Gus’s voice sounds less confident when he answers this question. Almost confused. “In the parking lot of the castle, where they are currently completing Elite 10 training”

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