Gabby couldn't believe she was actually sitting in Dominic's lap right now and he was agreeing to be her mate. It was like a dream, but in her dreams, he never wanted her.
She still couldn't believe this was happening, that Dominic wanted to be in a relationship with her. She was waiting for him to suddenly tell her he really didn't want her.
She clung to his bicep, waiting for him to break her, but he just held her close. The purring was calming, and just about lulled her to sleep. Her eyes were a bit swollen from crying, though she knew that wouldn't last long.
Her mind drifted back to the bicep she was gripping. It was nice and hard. She hadn't realized he was in such good shape. She thought about seeing him last night shirtless. He'd looked good.
"Gabby?"
She let loose a soft sigh, wondering if now it would happen. "Yes?"
"Do you want to stay the night?"
That was not the question she'd been expecting. Thoughts of being under him while he mated her entered her mind sending desire through her.
"Not for sex. Just stay here with me. I want to hold you," he murmured.
She breathed a small sigh. She wasn't sure she was ready to have sex with him. She still half expected him to reject her like he did every night in her dreams. But if staying the night in his bed kept the dream at bay, then she'd stay. "Okay."
He suddenly moved and stood, her still in his arms, and she wrapped her legs around him, as he pulled back the blankets. He sat her down on the bed. "I need to change clothes."
"Okay." She watched him grab some clothes and head into the bathroom. She settled back in his bed, breathing in the scent on the two pillows. He slept on the left side. She laid her head down on the right, and turned on her side. She was still unsettled over all of this.
He came out a few moments later and walked over to the bed, then crawled in and flipped out the light. His blue eyes glowed a bit, and she stared at him, intrigued.
He reached out and grabbed her and pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her tightly. She snuggled into him and was surprised when he moved her so that she could bury her face in his neck. She breathed him in deeply and felt herself relax.
He pulled her leg over his, settling her, and his body relaxed as well. "Are you comfortable?"
"Yes," she breathed into his neck. He smelled amazing, so much better when he was this close. She'd never fully caught his scent before yesterday, hadn't been around him since she'd suspected he was hers.
Her's. She scoffed at that. She wasn't sure that Dominic Beckham would ever be hers. And here she was, letting herself get attached to him.
"Gabby," he said softly. "Relax."
She couldn't. "I can't do this. I need to go."
He immediately let go of her, and she slipped out of his bed and his room. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she hurried down the hall and got on the elevator, taking it up to the fourth floor.
She slipped into the apartment and back to her bedroom. She stood there for a moment, staring at her bed. She had to get out of here. Away from him, away from it all.
She grabbed her bag that she'd unpacked a few days ago and packed it back up, then left the apartment. She took the elevator down to the first floor, then headed down to the offices. Dominic's scent invaded her senses, distracting her a bit, but she ignored it and grabbed a set of keys, then headed outside.
***
Caleb lightly kissed Charlotte's cheek, then walked out of the bedroom to go check on Gabby to see if she was coming down to breakfast.
He tried to mind link her, but it was like she wasn't nearby and he frowned. He knocked on her door, then cracked it up. "Gabby?"
When there was no response, he pushed it open and stepped inside. The bed was messy, but the room empty. He walked over to her bathroom, but she wasn't in there either.
"Maybe she's with Dominic," Charlotte suggested from the doorway.
"Maybe," Caleb agreed, but deep down, he felt like something was off.
He followed Charlotte out of their apartment and on to the elevator, taking it down to the first floor. They stepped off, then headed down to the dining hall.
Caleb glanced around inside, looking for his daughter. She was no where to be seen, but then neither was Dominic. He sighed and followed Charlotte over to the line.
What's wrong?
I don't know. He wasn't surprised that she'd picked up on his tension. She was very in tune with him.
He looked up as Dominic walked into the dining hall, his face grim.
Caleb frowned. "I'll be right back."
Charlotte nodded.
He walked over to the other man and stopped in front of him. "Dom."
Dominic looked up at him and deflated a bit. "I'm sorry I upset her."
Caleb frowned. "Did you accept her rejection?"
"No, I told her I wanted to be with her, and asked her to stay the night with me, just to sleep and she seemed fine with that until she suddenly left," Dominic said.
"When was this?" Caleb asked.
"Like ten o'clock last night," Dominic said.
"And where did she go?"
"She left my room," he said.
"Did you go after her?" Caleb asked him.
"No? I'm not good at this stuff, Caleb." Dominic looked deflated.
Caleb sighed in exasperation. He tried mind linking her again, but it was like she wasn't close by. "Did she say where she was going?"
"No." Dominic frowned. "Where is she?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out. She wasn't in her bedroom this morning and I can't mind link her. It's like she left the territory." Worry was starting to set in.
"This is my fault." Dominic turned away from him.
"No Dom, I'm not blaming you. But I'm going to call her." Caleb pulled out his phone and called her. It went straight to voicemail. He turned and headed over to his son.
Daniel looked up from his meal as Caleb sat down across from him. "What's wrong?"
"Gabby left."
"What? Why?" Daniel tried linking her himself. He looked up as Dominic approached the table. "What happened?"
Dominic told him the entire story quickly.
"She didn't take a plane, did she?" Daniel asked.
"At the moment, I have no idea," Caleb said.
Daniel frowned. "Okay, let's figure this out. Go check her room. See if anything is missing. I'm going to check to see if any of the planes are missing, though it looks like everyone who flies is still here. I'm just going to look around. Dominic, go down and check the cameras to see if she drove out of here."
Both men hurried away and Daniel stood as well, frustrated. He walked outside, and immediately stripped off his clothes and shifted, giving Rafe, his wolf control.
Rafe immediately began to sniff over the area, over the porch, picking up Gabby's scent. He followed it to the vehicles and an empty spot. Then he took off at a dead run to the airstrip.
The planes were all there, and no vehicle was parked nearby. She'd left the territory by car.
She took off out of here in a car, Dominic's link came a moment later, confirming Daniel's thoughts.
Some of her clothes are missing, Caleb said.
Track her phone, Daniel said, annoyed. If she wanted to leave for a bit, that was fine, but she at least needed to tell someone where she was going. Those were the rules, pure and simple and yet she had taken off without telling anyone and her phone was off.
He headed back to the pack house, stopping to shift on the porch and dress quickly. He walked inside and took the elevator down into the basement to the security room.
Regal Eclipse territory was very heavily monitored, with sensors and cameras set up all over the territory. They knew if someone or something came on their land.
"Trevor?" Daniel said when he walked inside.
Dominic was standing there staring at the wall of monitors, his shoulders tense.
"She left the territory and headed west. I'm tracking her phone now," Trevor muttered.
Caleb walked inside and stopped.
"Looks like she's in Michigan and still headed west," he said.
Caleb frowned as he stared at the screen Trevor was looking at. "I wonder if she's planning to drive to Alaska."
"Why Alaska?" Dominic asked.
"Wasn't she just there for that mating ceremony?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah she was. And while she was there, the Alpha of that pack, Alpha Axel, asked her to become his chosen," Caleb told them.
"What?" Dominic shouted.
Daniel ran his hand over his face.
Caleb sighed.
"You're his liaison. Call him," Daniel growled.