CHAPTER TWELVE.

(GABRIEL'S POV)

I stormed into the hospital, my boots pounding against the tiled floors as I made my way toward the emergency ward. Patrick, my beta, had just informed me that the beautiful woman I had rescued was no longer a patient here.

She had been discharged, far too early in my opinion. I wanted her to remain under medical supervision and continue her treatment for a while longer.

"Where is the previous patient on this bed?" I demanded as I approached the nurses, struggling to keep my tone calm and even.

An older nurse with kind eyes turned to face me. "She got discharged three days ago, Your Grace," she explained apologetically.

Three days? Anger flared within me at the thought of her being out there, alone and potentially vulnerable, so soon after her harrowing ordeal.

"Why?" I asked through gritted teeth. "Isn't it too early for her to have been released?"

The nurse offered me a sympathetic look. "She wouldn't agree to stay any longer since she felt strong, and her bandages were off. She deemed it unnecessary to enjoy your hospitality without being able to pay you back."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to rein in my rising frustration. Of course she would feel that way, not knowing that I would have covered any expenses without a second thought.

"And where did she say she was going?" I pressed, needing to know if she had given them any indication of her plans.

The nurse shook her head. "She didn't say, your Grace. She just mentioned she'd go start a new life."

A new life? Out there, alone and with enemies potentially still after her? The thought made my wolf stir restlessly within me.

"Did she inquire how she got here in the first place?" I asked impatiently, wondering if she had any inkling of the role I had played in her rescue.

"Well, that was the first thing she asked," the nurse confirmed. "After I informed her, she said she wished she could thank you in person. But she asked me to extend her deep gratitude to you whenever you came to the hospital again."

Her gratitude did nothing to soothe the fury burning within me. My newfound mate was gone, slipped through my fingers before I had even had a chance to truly meet her, to know her.

"Maybe it wasn't time for you to meet her yet," Draco offered, his voice a low rumble in the back of my mind.

"Oh, shut the fuck up!" I snarled at him in my head, causing me to twist my neck in anger. "Who knows if she'll survive out there in the unknown lands she's venturing into?" I retorted back to him.

Outwardly, I forced a mask of nonchalance over my features, unwilling to betray the depth of my concern – and my growing attachment – to this stranger.

"If she happens to come back to the hospital, call this number," I told the nurse, handing her a discreet work line.

She accepted the slip of paper with a nod. "Of course, Your Grace."

"And by the way, did you get her name?" I asked, realizing I still didn't know what to call this enchanting woman who had so thoroughly captivated me.

"Liora, Your Grace. She said her name was Liora."

Liora. Even her name was lovely, rolling off the tongue with a melodic lilt. "Okay, very well then," I replied, forcing myself to turn and retreat from the hospital before I lost my temper entirely.


Arriving back at my pack I went straight to my office. As much as part of me ached to plaster Liora's name and image across every communication channel, to mobilize all my resources in a desperate search to find her, I knew such actions would be folly.

It would only serve to endanger her further, to potentially expose that she was still alive to the shadowy forces who had already made one grave attempt on her life. Whoever her enemies were, they were powerful and resolute in their determination to see her eliminated.

Upon entering my office, the pleasant aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafted through the air. "Do you need your evening coffee, Alpha?" my assistant inquired solicitously from beside the burbling maker.

I waved her off, the thought of consuming anything turning my stomach into a leaden knot. "No, leave it," I commanded curtly, my tone brooking no argument as I brushed past her into the inner sanctum.

Settling into the plush leather chair behind my desk, I steepled my fingertips and let out a slow, seething exhalation. My wolf, Draco, stirred restlessly within me, affronted by our inability to take more proactive measures to retrieve our mate.


"Let's see when destiny will throw her back into our arms," I sighed out loud that night as I reclined in bed, burning with rage at whoever had put her in harm's way to begin with.

"Whichever dark forces threatened my beloved, forcing her to flee even from us in fear of not trusting anyone, will surely pay dearly to the Lycan King," I vowed, my voice a low, dangerous growl.

Liora's lovely face swam before my mind's eye, her expression one of peace and tranquility as she had slept, unaware of the turmoil she had already unwittingly caused within me.

"Every pain, every emptiness I'll have to endure while waiting to meet her again, will be paid back by her enemies once I learn of their existence," I continued, my wolf's fury echoing through the words.

"Every tear, every thorn that pricks her in the wilderness, every sweat or sleepless night she endures while trying to survive, will be paid back dearly by those who pushed her into these circumstances."

A worried thought crept into my mind then – what if she didn't survive out there, all alone? What if the same forces that had attacked her before found her again when she was without my protection?

I pushed the thought away, unwilling to entertain it. She would survive. I had to have faith that our mate was a fierce one, a true survivor.

"My lioness, Liora," I murmured, repeating her name like a prayer as I finally allowed sleep to claim me, haunted by dreams of shadowy figures and a woman's terrified screams.

Wherever she was, I could only hope she was safe. But I knew at that moment that I wouldn't rest until I found her again and brought her back under my protection where she belonged – by my side for all eternity.