18. The French Issue

Gabriel remained silent in the middle of the jeers and cheers in the conference room. So, this was his plan all along. This was what he was counting on Gabriel's support for.

Marcel wanted to rule all of Europe.

The man had been doing a terrible job with his own country, and now he wanted to spread his incompetence to his neighbors?

Gabriel rubbed his face in frustration. Was this why Marcel had brought Sophie to the conference hall? Did he think he was stronger because of her? He didn't even believe in the bond.

The crowd started to get unruly, with several alphas protesting their opposition loudly to Marcel's proposal.

"You almost brought down your own country with your takeover, and now you want to do the same for the rest of Europe?" one alpha thundered.

People were shouting that it was a coup attempt, calling Marcel delusional and arrogant. Others were agreeing with his proposal, with some saying Marcel shouldn't be the leader. One leader for a unified Europe appealed to them, but they were probably each seeing themselves as the one in charge.

Marcel's gaze wandered lazily around the room, an impudent smile on his lips. Then he gave a loud command for all of them to shut up.

The room went quiet.

Gabriel sat forward in his seat, wondering if Marcel was about to order them to agree with his view. He didn't think there were many alphas here who could fight that kind of command.

"This should go to a vote, like all other proposals presented during the conference. If we are all in agreement, we can then vote for the alpha who should lead Europe," Marcel explained, as if he was the only reasonable person in the room. "If we don't agree, then, like all other proposals, we can return to it at a future conference."

His gracious smile and alpha charm calmed the crowd.

The proposal appeared in the voting system, a small tablet the size of a fist with the proposal's name flashing across the screen, and a Yes or No at the bottom. Gabriel pressed No, and hoped the other First Chairs had the same common sense.

Moments later, the screen behind Marcel flashed with the results. Gabriel sighed in relief. It was a close call, but the No had won.

Marcel appeared disappointed at the result, but thanked everyone for voting and stepped down.

With the last proposal out of the way, the host called the conference to an end.

The crowds left the main hall but didn't disperse, instead lingering in the hallways. Gabriel went to find Henryk, but was stopped by two alphas.

"Gabriel Taveira? You're the Portuguese First Chair, right?" one of them asked in a whisper.

"Yes?" he confirmed with suspicion. Other alphas were giving them side glances, and several groups of them casually got closer, trying to eavesdrop.

"I'm Edward, the English First Chair, and this is Paolo, the Italian First Chair." Both men put out their hands for him to shake. Gabriel hesitated.

Henryk cut in with his usual mischievous grin. "Hey, there, I'm Henryk, his aide." He quickly shook both their hands, giving Gabriel a pat on the back after—their signal that it was safe.

Henryk's cheerful voice surprised the alphas, but they smiled at the young man.

Gabriel shook their hands. "How can I help you gentlemen?"

"We want to talk to you about that last proposal," Edward whispered. "We voted yes, but not for that pompous French alpha."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow at that.

"We have been talking with a few other chairs about a similar proposal, but finding an alpha we all agree on has been the toughest part," Edward continued.

Gabriel wasn't sure where they were going with this. "I can see the benefits it could bring, but something like that should only happen if every country agrees to be part of it. We can't force other countries to obey, and I sure as hell won't support a war."

The other two men grinned at each other.

"That's why we thought that you would be a good fit to lead Europe," Paolo said with glee. "You are the most powerful alpha in Europe, and you could—"

Gabriel's booming laugh interrupted the man and echoed down the hallways, making everyone look at them.

All three men's eyes went wide in confusion.

"Oh wait. You're serious?" Gabriel asked.

"Yes," Edward hissed. "There have been several alphas around Europe discussing having a single leadership, but no alpha has shown to be the right one for the lead."

"And you think I'm the right person for the job?" Gabriel asked, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"Yes. You are the strongest alpha in Europe, you have the trust of many First Chairs, including the American one, and you're the only one who can stand up to that French asshole," Paolo replied.

Gabriel considered the other two alphas. They were dead serious. He glanced at Henryk, who was giving him his usual jovial smile. Could this be because of Alice? If Bruno was here instead of him, he could see that vote going very differently.

But this wasn't the right time or place to discuss these things, and the vote was closed already.

"Gentlemen, I appreciate your trust in me, and maybe we can talk again in the future about this," he said. "But perhaps we can set up a meeting to discuss a better cooperation between our countries instead? It may not be what you had in mind, but it would be a good first step."

Both men agreed, and shook his hand so vigorously that Gabriel felt like he had just closed a deal with two car salesmen.

He and Henryk tried to go to a more secluded space to talk, but they kept being interrupted by alphas who wanted to discuss the vote with him.

The Russian First Chair, a blond woman followed closely by her aides, also approached him to offer her support, and to set up a future meeting for a possible alliance.

Diego, the Spanish First Chair, came up to him with a grin.

"So that was why he wanted you to sit with him, instead of next to me." Diego chuckled. "I always knew the man was a bit… extravagant, but now I see what he really wanted."

"He didn't get what he wanted, and that's what matters," Gabriel replied.

"Yes, well, I just wanted to let you know that if that first vote had been yes, you would have to fight the French alpha for the position."

"You too?" Gabriel looked at his friend, surprised.

"For someone so strong, you can be naive." Diego laughed. "You are already the lead in our little peninsula. I follow your command, after all."

"Diego," Gabriel protested, "we have an alliance. I'm not the lead of anything."

"There you go. Naive." Diego laughed again, more loudly. "I trust you and follow your lead, Gabriel. It's more than an alliance, and both our countries have been the better for it."

"Gabriel!" a voice boomed down the hall.

Marcel rushed in his direction, a smirk on his face. "I must ask you to postpone your return for tomorrow." Marcel turned to Diego. "You too. I must ask you both to stay and join me tonight."

"Join you?" Diego asked politely.

"Yes, I am inviting a few First Chairs for dinner tonight, to discuss the conference. We all seem to be aligned in a few ideas, including your proposal, Gabriel."

"Sounds wonderful. We will be there," Diego replied before Gabriel could say anything.

"Great. My aides will send you the details," Marcel said.

Another alpha interrupted them and asked to speak with Marcel alone, and both men disappeared into the crowd.

"Fuck. I don't want to stay here until tomorrow," Gabriel protested.

"Don't be rash, Gabriel," Diego warned him. "This isn't just a dinner. He wants to see who will support him, or at least, who would support the idea of a single leader."

"But he can't believe that Gabriel would be on his side, can he?" Henryk asked.

"He probably already knows other alphas voted with me in mind, instead of him," Gabriel replied. "You know what they say: keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."

"I'm going to talk with some of the other First Chairs, get a feel of where they lean." Diego left them.

"I'll talk with Matts. He will take care of Alice, don't worry." Henryk told him.

"Of course he will." Gabriel grunted. "Don't think I've forgotten what Matts's goal is."

"I know," Henryk muttered.

That evening, Gabriel and Henryk were surprised to find that the dinner was at a hotel and not a restaurant.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" he asked the driver.

"Oui, monsieur, this is the right address."

Both men left the car and a beta with a smug look guided them inside, into an ornate Grand Hall. There was a single table in the middle of the room, heavy with crystal glasses and fine china. There were already several alphas in the room, chatting happily around Marcel, drinks in their hands. One of the alphas stepped aside for a server to refill their glasses, and Gabriel spotted Sophie under Marcel's arm, wearing a small black dress and a gold-and-sapphire necklace, and looking like she would rather be anywhere else.

He froze. Marcel had brought his omega mate into a den of alphas?

Sophie glanced shyly at the men around her, half hiding herself in Marcel's arms. Her mate, on the other hand, had a brilliant smile on his face, as if all the attention was because of him and not the omega.

What the fuck was the man thinking? Was he dangling Sophie like a reward for their cooperation? Did he think these men would support him solely because he had an omega mate?

"Gabriel! How wonderful of you to join us." Marcel beckoned them closer.

"Good evening, everyone," Gabriel greeted them politely. "Sophie, it's wonderful to see you again."

Sophie smiled at him but didn't reply.

"Doesn't she look beautiful tonight?" Marcel pushed her to arm's length, to show her off. "I had this necklace taken from the Louvre. It was such a waste, just having it sit there, collecting dust. Our mates deserve the best we can give, non?"

The alphas around them agreed, and eyed Sophie greedily while Marcel caressed her skin underneath the necklace.

A few more First Chairs arrived in the meantime, and they made their way to the dinner table. Marcel invited Gabriel to sit to Sophie's right, but when Henryk made to sit on Gabriel's other side, Marcel redirected him to the end of the table with the other aides. An unknown alpha with blond hair sat next to Gabriel instead. He had never seen the man before, but when the man sat down, Gabriel had a sense of déjà vu.

Gabriel's instinct was insisting that this was wrong. Not just the man sitting next to him, but the whole situation.

"You're the Portuguese First Chair, right?" the blond man asked him. "I'm Julian, Monaco's First Chair."

Julian seemed so familiar, but Gabriel still couldn't quite place him.

"Gabriel!" Marcel's voice boomed, drawing the attention of the whole table. "Monaco has been in talks with us about uniting with France into a single country."

Gabriel took advantage of Marcel's distraction to avoid shaking Julian's hand when Julian extended it. Julian must have noticed.

"Interested in joining with France?" Gabriel asked the blond man.

"Yes, we are," he replied politely. "Our small country has been dependent on France's support lately, and we believe that being part of France would be more beneficial to us than staying independent."

"And would that make you Second Chair in France?"

"Perhaps…" the man replied with a small nod.

Was this where Marcel had gotten the idea to unite Europe? From this man?

The man on Julian's other side called his attention, leaving Gabriel free to talk with Sophie.

"Are you all right?" he asked her.

"Yes." She hesitated before speaking again. "You—" She took a deep breath and whispered, "You are not the same with Alice, are you?" She pointed very discreetly to her mate.

Gabriel gave her a reassuring smile. "No, I'm not."

Her shoulders sagged in apparent relief.

"She was very lost for a while," Sophie told him. "We could see it in the chat, you know? I think she had some very dark thoughts."

Gabriel's heart sank, but Sophie continued before he could reply.

"But she is happier now. Something changed. You made her change," she told him with a smile.

"I'm glad you see the difference," he whispered back to her. "But any advice you can give to help her is most welcome." He squeezed her hand.

For a moment, panic crossed her features, and she quickly looked at Marcel, but her mate was deeply immersed in a conversation with the alpha next to him.

She turned back to Gabriel with a mischievous smile. "There is one thing you could do." She leaned in closer to him. "When she is—" She coughed. "When…" She coughed again.

Gabriel looked around the room. He was so focused on Sophie that he hadn't noticed the smoke beginning to surround them.

Voices raised in alarm. Marcel got up and took Sophie into his arms, lifting her from the ground.

The smoke was coming from under the table. Everyone got up and hurried away from it, covering their mouths with their hands and arms. Many got their phones out, including Gabriel, but there was no signal at all. No calls would go through.

Gabriel saw several alphas trying to open the doors, but they were firmly closed. There were no waiters in sight, and if they could hear them, they were ignoring their calls for help. He raced to a window, but there was no way of opening it.

Several men tried to force the doors open but failed. An alpha tried to hit a window with a chair, breaking the chair but leaving the window intact.

"What kind of place have you brought us to, Marcel?" someone yelled.

Marcel's face was pure confusion. Sophie was limp in his arms, barely keeping her eyes open.

"It was Julian. He suggested this place," he snapped, but Julian was nowhere to be found.

The smoke was filling the room to the point where Gabriel couldn't see the table anymore. The sound of coughing increased, and he heard bodies fall. He searched for Henryk in the confusion, finally noticing the young alpha just before he leaned against a wall and slowly slid all the way to the floor. Gabriel ran to him and quickly checked his pulse. He was alive, but nearly unconscious.

Marcel called Gabriel over and gently placed Sophie in his arms.

"Please be careful with her," he pleaded between coughs.

He didn't expect the concern in Marcel's voice. Then the alpha surprised him again by using all his strength and pushing on the emergency exit door until whatever was locking it broke.

When the double doors opened, they were confronted by three figures in black masks and clothes waiting for them, guns raised.

Marcel hesitated when he saw them, but Gabriel immediately backed into the room to shield Sophie from them. Paolo took advantage and threw a chair at the masked trio, taking them by surprise and knocking two to the ground.

Marcel jumped the third, getting shot in the right arm, but bringing them down.

The Belgian First Chair wrestled the gun from one of the fallen and shot all three.

The smoke that filled the room wafted into the corridor. They could hear people yelling in weird robotic voices, and racing footsteps.

"We need to get the fuck out of here," Gabriel demanded.

Marcel scoffed at the blood on his arm. Then he extended both arms and took Sophie from Gabriel.

"Get their guns," Marcel commanded the other alphas.

Gabriel didn't feel his order, but took a gun from one of the masked people, nonetheless.

They raced down the corridor searching for an exit, Marcel calling to Sophie to wake up.

"Mon ange?" He kept talking to her in French and gently shaking her. Sophie's eyes opened a few seconds at a time before she drifted back into unconsciousness over and over.

The emergency exit to the outside was fully blocked and all windows were bolted down. Their attackers had had time to prepare for this.

They turned to the inside of the hotel instead, to find another way out.

Another group of masked people spotted them, raising their guns, but hesitated when they noticed the omega in Marcel's arms.

They ducked into a service corridor and ended up cornered in a laundry room.

Gabriel checked his mobile phone again. Still no signal.

He grunted in frustration. How were they going to get out of this?

They heard hurried steps in the corridor. The Belgian and the Italian First Chairs leaned against the door frame, guns in hand.

A loud, robotic male voice came from the corridor. "We don't want to hurt the omega."

The two alphas with them looked at Gabriel and Marcel in confusion.

"They mean Marcel's mate," Gabriel quickly explained.

Both men glanced at Sophie, who was struggling to wake up.

More robotic voices were arguing in the corridor. The Belgian alpha took a quick peek, then shook his head at Gabriel. They couldn't see them.

"Does she need medical attention?" another robotic voice asked. There was no inflection in the voice, nothing that could betray whatever emotion the man was feeling.

Gabriel looked at Sophie. Marcel was helping her wake up. Other than the drowsiness, she seemed all right.

"She's hurt," Gabriel lied to them. "One of your men shot her."

He could hear scurrying down the corridor, and robotic voices talking to each other again, but he couldn't understand what they were saying.

Over the ruckus of the voices came the sound of calm steps approaching the corridor, as if someone was leisurely strolling. Then a booming robotic laugh echoed from outside.

"My men would never hurt an omega," a stronger robotic male voice said without a hint of emotion. "But nice try. You had them worried for a moment."

"What the fuck do you want?" Gabriel growled at the man.

"We want the omega, Gabriel."

All the men looked at Sophie, who was still only half awake, and for the first time, Gabriel saw fear in Marcel's eyes.

Something wasn't right…

Matts watched as Alice paced up and down the living room with a nervous energy that had come out of nowhere and taken both by surprise.

After another failed call, he looked up from his phone, concerned.

"Calls aren't getting through," he said.

"Mine either." She had her phone in her hand, and continued calling Gabriel.

Their dinner was still on the table, waiting for them with swirls of hot smoke rising from the dishes. A fish stew he had persuaded Alice into helping him make. They had spent a fun evening in the kitchen, closer together than perhaps she had realized. It was the first time he had cooked with someone instead of just for someone, and he'd enjoyed the experience. She knew her way around the kitchen.

But now neither of them could eat. Something had happened, but Alice didn't know how to explain what she was feeling. She told Matts it reminded her of the last morning Bruno went to work.

"That morning, I suddenly woke up from a violent nightmare, and just started crying without knowing why," she had told him when they'd talked about Bruno.

Now, the similarity between the situations made him think for a moment that Gabriel had already won without knowing—that he and Alice already had a bond. But Alice assured Matts that this time was different. Her heart was racing, but she didn't have the same deep despair she had felt before. The powers at work always wondered if omegas also made a bond with their close friends and family, a lighter version of the link they had with their mates. This might be the answer.

"Henryk is with him. He should be all right," Matts told her gently. "I'll send someone to check on them."

"That's very kind of you."

He watched as Alice went into the bathroom, seeming as if she was trying to hold back tears. As soon as she closed the door, he called another of his men and ordered a yellow alert. Two of his men were to go to the hotel and check up on Henryk and Gabriel. If anything had happened, help would deploy immediately. Last time he had checked with Henryk, they were in the hotel's hall, having dinner. The situation was tense, but not dangerous. However, each failed call was piling on Matts's suspicion. It was not normal for Henryk to be out of reach.

A soft chime on the security tablet changed his mood from suspicion to high alert. He picked up the tablet from its stand on the living-room console and checked the live feed. There were cameras all around the house and ground, a perfect network against intruders, without any blind spots.

The chime had been caused by a temporary loss of power. A failure of the network? He had backup power from a battery and solar panels so the system wouldn't go down, and the lights were still on. But this was too many things at the same time to be a coincidence. He tapped the alert button on the tablet, which should connect immediately with Alice's security team and with the local police, but an error message popped up. No connection.

Shit. This should be impossible.

Just as Alice emerged from the bathroom, a soft alarm chimed throughout the house.

The perimeter had been breached.

She looked around, puzzled, but before she could say anything, Matts grabbed her arm and pulled her into his bedroom, closing and locking the door behind them.

Fuck.If he had trusted her instincts sooner, he could have help here already. Now they were cornered in the safe room.

"What is going on?" she gasped.

"Come here, Alice." With his instincts screaming at him to protect her, he pulled her to a corner of the room next to a dresser and made her lean against the wall, one hand on her shoulder pushing her toward the cold cement. He placed himself between her and the window, as he looked outside. No one in sight. The bastards knew what they were doing.

"Matts!" she demanded.

"Someone has broken the perimeter," he told her simply and gently squeezed her shoulder. No point in scaring her.

Checking the tablet, he switched between the several video feeds of the house's exterior. On one of the feeds, from the back of the house, two masked figures were approaching carefully. They were fully dressed in black and the masks didn't allow for any part of their faces to show, not even their eyes. Matts's heartbeat increased when he saw their guns. Could these bastards hurt Alice?

He let go of her shoulder to pick up his phone, and cursed.

"Do you have a signal?" he asked her.

Alice checked her own phone. She shook her head.

Movement outside made Matts's stress spike. Through the window, he saw one of the trespassers approach their side of the house. He pressed a button on the wall and a thick metal shade descended, covering the whole window, leaving no space for someone to look in.

Checking the tablet again, he saw three other intruders appear on the feed from the other side of the house. One of them carried what looked like a small laptop.

"Does your alarm connect with my security team?" she asked him.

"Yes, but the intruders were prepared and stopped that from happening before I could trigger it." He sighed. "I didn't expect them to cut the mobile signal too."

She made a worried sound, and Matts gave her a kind smile.

"Don't worry, darling. They can try all they want, but they can't get in here."

The safe room was an impenetrable steel-and-cement enclosure, with air filtration and power to last for days. There was no way for anyone to get in here, short of bombing their way in. Matts and Alice were completely safe while inside.

But then, why did he feel so nervous?

He met Alice's dark and expectant eyes. She looked so scared. He brushed her hair away from her face hurriedly and stroked her cheek before focusing back on the tablet. He heard her taking a deep breath, maybe trying to steady herself.

"Hold this, please," he said, pushing the tablet into Alice's hands.

He yanked the blanket from the bed and picked up two pillows. Then he laid the blanket on the floor next to her, and put both pillows there.

"Sit here, sweetheart," he commanded unintentionally. It was pointless of him to command an omega, but she followed his request, nonetheless. This past week, he had come to understand how omegas felt the people around them, and he was sure she could feel his every emotion right now. He tried to control his stress as much as he could, steadying himself while remaining alert. Then he took a gun from his nightstand drawer and loaded it.

Double-checking the window and the door, he was satisfied that they were secure. Then he sat next to Alice, taking the tablet from her hands and drawing her to his side. He instinctively gave her a casual, reassuring kiss on the top of her head. His own stress lowered with the gesture.

He kept one arm wrapped around her shoulders while they both watched the tablet. The intruders walked around the house, doing a tactical sweep that implied some military training. The one with the small laptop set it down on the ground and started typing. He made gestures to the others, and one of them took something from their pocket that looked like a flashlight, but when he turned it on, there was no stream of light. Instead, it emitted a thin, bluish laser stream.

"Shit," Matts cursed. He knew what that was, and they shouldn't have access to it.

The person pointed the laser around the house, sweeping it along all corners and junctions, and when it hit one of the cameras, it blacked out.

Alice gasped and slipped out of his embrace.

"It's all right, darling," Matts reassured her, pulling her under his arm again, "They can blind us, but they can't get in."

"What if they have a bomb or something?" she asked while she watched the intruder take out two more cameras.

Matts put the tablet in his lap, and used his free hand to turn her head toward him.

"That would risk hurting you, or worse," he told her while he stroked her cheek. "They wouldn't be that stupid."

He could feel her heart racing through her skin, and she was flushed. She narrowed her eyes at him, as if she could sense something.

"What aren't you telling me?" she asked.

He raised his eyebrows and chuckled, fighting an unexpected wave of desire for her. Alice kept surprising him with her insight, and every time she challenged him, it made him want her more.

"There are only six of them," he confessed. "Not nearly enough for an attack on this house."

"So they expected this to be easier?" she asked doubtfully.

"On the contrary, sweetheart. They came extremely well prepared, cutting our communications and leaving us blind," he replied. "I think they don't expect to succeed in taking you at all."

"But then why all this?"

"To stop me from reaching out to Gabriel and Henryk," he explained. "If I was alone, I could try to evade them, to reach somewhere where I could contact my team. But not with you here." As he talked, he became more and more sure this was their plan. To wall him off from contact with his team and stop any coordination efforts he would make to rescue the other two alphas.

"You can escape?" She sat up straight, angry. "If you can help Gabriel, then go. I can stay here. I'll be all right on my own."

"No!" he almost shouted, letting his anger escape his control. He took her back into his arms and used her to calm himself down. "I'm not leaving you alone. No matter how much I want to help Gabriel, my priority is keeping you safe."

"But Gabriel and Henryk could be in trouble," she insisted.

"I won't leave you, so don't ask me to, Alice."

He didn't need to be an omega to feel her fury. She fumed silently, trapped under his arms. But he would not risk leaving her alone. The intruders had not come expecting to succeed in taking her, but that didn't mean they wouldn't try every possible avenue to get to her if they could.

He focused on soothing her, and on building up his walls to shield her from his emotions. Henryk and Gabriel might be in serious trouble right now. But even if the worst thing happened and either of them died, his purpose was to protect the omega. To protect Alice.

And that's what he would do, even if it cost him his protégé, a friend, and her eternal hatred.

Cornered in the laundry room, they had reached a standstill. The masked figures had tried to approach them, but that gave the alphas an opportunity to shoot one of them down. After that, minutes ticked by, during which neither side took the initiative.

Paolo, the Italian First Chair, called Gabriel's attention with a whisper.

"Gabriel, over there." He pointed with his chin to the other side of the corridor, where some laundry carts stood in front of a metal shelf.

Gabriel scrutinized the other side of the corridor carefully until he spotted what Paolo had seen. There! Behind the shelf there was an elevator button. But how the fuck could they reach it without getting shot?

"What is happening?" Sophie's delicate voice floated to them.

"Can you walk, mon ange?" Marcel asked her as he helped her stand up.

"I think so." She took a hesitant step, swooned for a moment, but managed to stay up.

Steps and robotic voices increased. Gabriel readied his gun, Marcel hid Sophie behind himself, and the two other alphas kneeled by the doorway, ready for an attack.

The sound of metal rolling on the stone floor echoed through the corridor—getting closer. Gabriel hardly had time to react before two cylindrical canisters landed at their end of the corridor, and the same smoke from the dining hall came out.

Time was of the essence. They had to get that elevator open before they succumbed to the gas.

Gabriel and Paolo raced to the other side of the corridor, Paolo kicking one of the canisters back down the corridor on the way. They pushed the laundry carts into the corridor too, and Gabriel yanked the metal shelf away from the wall. There was a service elevator there, disguised into the wall. He pushed the call button, and the door immediately slid open.

"Marcel!" Gabriel called, holding the door.

Marcel jumped into the elevator with Sophie in his arms. Gabriel and Paolo followed them in. They heard a thump, and Gabriel saw the arm of the Belgian First Chair on the floor where he'd fallen, his gun lost in the smoke.

"Close the damn door, Gabriel!" Marcel demanded.

Gabriel chose the highest floor available, pressing the number on the panel repeatedly. No time to worry about the other alpha. Their priority was getting Sophie to safety.

"Where are we going?" Paolo asked.

"Top floor. If we can get to the roof, we may get some signal there." Gabriel explained.

The hotel had ten floors. It should take them little time to reach the top one. Speeding past the first five floors, the elevator slowed down and came to a full stop between the eighth and the ninth floor.

"What the fuck?" Gabriel pressed the button for the tenth floor repeatedly. Instead of obeying, the elevator started a slow descent back down.

"Fuck! Gabriel, do something," Marcel demanded.

Gabriel pressed on every button on the panel, lighting it up like a Christmas tree, but the elevator continued its descent, accelerating. He punched the panel, making it bend inwards and power out, but the plunge didn't stop.

They passed their original floor, and continued down to the parking-lot level.

When they reached the lowest subterranean level, the doors opened with a quaint ding.

Dozens of masked figures were already waiting for them, strategically waiting behind the cover of cars, guns pointing at the elevator door. Only the lights in front of the elevator were lit, giving their enemies the cover of darkness.

Gabriel flattened himself against the metal wall and kept pushing the broken panel in a frenzy. Marcel pushed Sophie behind himself, squishing her against the wall, and Paolo was half hidden behind Gabriel, or at least as hidden as an alpha could be. The truth was that they had no cover, and they knew it.

A robotic voice came from behind one of the cars. "Your futile attempt to escape is over. Surrender your weapons."

"So you can take my omega? I think not," Marcel yelled back at the voice.

"Give them one warning shot," the robotic voice said dispassionately.

Gabriel hardly had time to think about the danger they were putting Sophie in, when one shot whistled past him and hit Paolo in the shoulder.

"Are you insane? You'll hurt Sophie!" Marcel bellowed at them.

Paolo slid to the floor, and Gabriel carefully followed him down, trying to assess the damage. He grimaced when he noticed a line of blood trailing down the elevator wall. Paolo's breathing was ragged, and he winced in pain when Gabriel took his hand and pressed it to the wound.

"Keep pressure on it," he commanded the alpha. Paolo obeyed.

A smaller sound of complaint came from the other side of the elevator. Was Sophie feeling the alpha's pain?

"Omega?" the robotic voice called. "Come out from the elevator to us. You have my word you will not be harmed."

Marcel pushed Sophie further against the wall. "The fuck she will," he yelled back. Then he said something to Sophie in French that made her squirm behind him.

"Omega," the robotic voice called again. "Sophie, don't move."

Gabriel saw a red dot appear on Marcel's chest, followed by several others. Marcel's surprise as he looked at Gabriel told him there were several dots on him as well.

"We can kill all of you without hurting the omega," the dispassionate voice called out. "Throw down your weapons and come out with your hands up."

At their refusal, another shot rang out and hit Marcel in the shoulder. He screamed, and Sophie screamed with him.

If they kept this up, Sophie might get seriously hurt. Gabriel's own protective instincts churned him in two different directions. Fight to protect, or give up to avoid harm? There was no right choice in this.

Marcel held his shoulder and shook in pain, and Sophie was sobbing behind him. How much pain omegas got from the people around them, Gabriel didn't know—he had never thought to ask Alice before.

"All right," Gabriel relented. "We're going to slide the weapons to you."

"Gabriel!" Marcel whispered, his face contorted in anger and pain. "Don't you fucking dare give up."

"What choice do we have? They are going to hurt Sophie if we keep this up," Gabriel hissed back.

"I would rather see her dead than in their hands," Marcel barked at him. Sophie whimpered behind him. Gabriel felt like punching the man. That was not something someone sane would say about their mate.

Gabriel slowly put his gun on the floor, then kicked it over to the armed assailants. He took Paolo's gun and did the same.

"Good," the robotic voice called. "Now, come out of the elevator, arms in the air."

Gabriel exited first with slow methodical steps, arms raised and visible.

"The next shot will be through your head, French alpha," the voice warned.

Taking slow steps, Marcel came out of the elevator, one hand raised higher than the other, wincing in pain.

"Sophie?" the voice called. Gabriel couldn't see what she was doing. "Come to me."

"Non, Sophie, you stay in there." Marcel said it as an alpha command. Didn't the idiot know it wouldn't work on her?

"Sophie," the voice called again in a robotic approximation of kindness, "we can make sure you will be safe. You will never see your mate again." Was he trying to sound reassuring?

"We can make you disappear," the voice continued. "You will be safe with us."

Gabriel couldn't say if the person was being honest or not, but he was sure Sophie would know. He heard her take a tentative step out of the elevator, and as soon as she cleared the door, it closed behind her.

A man stepped out of the dark shadows and into the light. Judging by his size and the way he moved, this was surely an alpha. He extended a hand to her. At the same time, another man emerged from the shadows, and this one was massive. The man was a tower, even compared to Gabriel, and had muscles over muscles rippling under his black sweatshirt.

"Don't be afraid," the leader told Sophie, and nodded at the towering alpha. "He's here to protect you."

The silence around them was palpable. Marcel was sweating, and his face was twisted in a scowl as he watched Sophie step between them and reach for the alpha's hand.

"Mon ange…" Marcel called quietly. "I will find you. No matter where they hide you, I will get you back."

Sophie's shoulders hunched, and she hesitated. The alpha turned to Marcel for a second before focusing back on her. He didn't grab her hand. He just waited patiently for her to come to him.

"Can you keep that promise?" she asked quietly.

"Of course, mon ange," Marcel told her. "I will not rest until I have you back."

Sophie ignored him and looked straight ahead. "Can you keep that promise?" she asked again, this time a little louder.

She wasn't asking Marcel, Gabriel realized.

"Yes, we can keep that promise," the man told her. "He will never find you."

She yanked the heavy necklace from her neck and tossed it on the floor at Marcel's feet. Taking the unknown alpha's hand, she stepped into the shadows to join their enemies. The taller alpha picked her up like she was a child, and carried her behind the lines of cars.

"Sophie? Non, Sophie!" Marcel called.

"Sophie," Gabriel called too. "You don't need to go with them. I can help you." The promise sounded empty even to his own ears.

"I'm sorry, Gabriel." Sophie's words disappeared into the darkness along with her.

The alpha in front of them looked between his two captives. He raised his left hand and pointed to Marcel. Several shots sounded and Marcel fell to the ground, lifeless.

Then all weapons turned to Gabriel.

"Wait," the alpha commanded, holding up his left hand.

All weapons stayed trained on Gabriel, but none fired.

"I need him alive. At least, for now," the alpha continued.

He approached Gabriel, who still had his hands up, and punched him in the stomach with such ferocity that he hit the elevator's metal door behind him, and fell to the ground.

With a painful grunt, Gabriel sat up from the floor.

"This was for getting ahead of me on the list," the man explained.

A kick landed square on Gabriel's jaw, sending blood splattering onto the floor.

"That was for almost letting Alice fall off that roof."

Gabriel tried his best to sit back up again, but this time it was harder. His vision swam for a few seconds.

Another kick hit him in the stomach, tripling the pain he was already feeling.

He swallowed a scream, not wanting to give the other alpha the satisfaction of hearing his suffering.

"And this one is for ruining my spy…" the man added. "I could go on all night, but unfortunately we don't have enough time."

The man relaxed and put his hands in his pockets, in a stance that gave Gabriel a sense of déjà vu.

"I knew you were familiar," Gabriel said. "Was stalking one omega not enough? You had to go for this one too?"

"We will free all the omegas, not just this one," The man replied in his cold, robotic voice.

"Planning on making yourself a little harem?" Gabriel scoffed.

A strange electronic coughing emerged from the alpha's mask. It took a few seconds for Gabriel to realize he was laughing.

"Sophie is not for me," the alpha volunteered. "I have other plans for her. Alice will join us next."

"Not in your dreams. Why are you so fucking fixated on Alice?" Gabriel demanded.

"Fixated? I could ask the same of you. I could ask the same of her so-called protector," the man mused. "Why are alphas fixated on omegas at all? It's our new nature. We can't help it, can we?"

He was now looming over Gabriel, and a sense of foreboding came over him. Was he going to erase his mind?

The alpha gripped him by the hair and tugged, forcing Gabriel to look up at him. Gabriel grabbed his arms, but a shot rang out and hit him in the shoulder.

"Careful," the man demanded, looking at the others. "We can't afford to kill him yet. We don't want Alice to fall into the bookkeeper's hands, do we?"

The alpha's masked face came closer to Gabriel's.

"Why Alice? I knew her long before you did, long before she was even an omega," the alpha sneered. "Neither of you really knows her. Neither of you deserves her."

"We know what you are," Gabriel growled at him, furious. "We will find you sooner or later."

"I very much doubt that." And with that, the alpha let go of Gabriel's hair.

"I would love to take a look into that head of yours, but I'm sorry to say we don't have time for that today, thanks to your little tour of the hotel," the man said casually, as if Gabriel had invited him to stay for tea. "I will leave you with one goodbye gift, however."

Before Gabriel had time to react, a boot came down on his head, and he blacked out.

Her bed hadn't felt so comfortable in a long time. The last time she felt this relaxed, she was in Gabriel's bed with his arms wrapped around her. Not that she would ever admit that—at least, not to other people. She could hardly admit it to herself.

A hand was wrapped around her waist, caressing the curve back and forth over the fabric of her cardigan. Was she dreaming? She wasn't sure if she was asleep or awake.

A crashing noise woke her. Popping her eyes open, Alice noted they were still in Matts's safe room, hidden in a corner next to a dresser. It was Matts's arm she felt around her, and it was his hand caressing her side. A blush heated on her cheeks. This was far more intimate than she liked.

Without moving her head, she looked up at Matts. His attention was fully on the door, his gun ready in his right hand, his left hand following the curve of her side, up and down, in a rhythmic motion that sent sparks up her skin. He was both filled with nervous tension and the need to soothe her. He hadn't noticed she was awake.

Another crashing noise came from beyond the door, and she shook at the jump scare.

Matts immediately turned his attention to her and made a shushing sound.

"It's all right," he whispered. "They are ransacking the house. Not sure what they expect to find, though."

"Do you have any computers out there?" she asked, also keeping her voice low.

"No, nothing. There is nothing useful for them out there. Well, maybe our dinner."

Muffled robotic voices were right next to the door, and a loud bang shook the wall.

"What was that?" she asked, sitting up straighter.

Matts pulled her closer to him by the waist, and leaned forward to hide her from the door's line of sight.

"They are testing the door," he replied, not bothering to whisper anymore. No one could hear them through the noise they were making outside the door.

He sat up straighter, and pointed the gun at the door. Was it really impossible for them to break in? Matts's stress levels rose, and her own heart raced.

She jumped with every hit on the door, and they kept hitting it over and over, like a church bell on a holy day. All this time, she'd thought Gabriel was overreacting. That Bruno was overreacting. She thought it was some stupid alpha instinct driving them to be so overprotective and smother her in layers of restrictions to soothe their own possessive feelings. Even with Matts's honesty, she hadn't fully believed that something like this could happen.

She owed them an apology.

A louder bang and a frustrated noise came from outside the door. They were giving up on breaking into the room. After a few minutes, there was new noise. It sounded like they were trashing the bathroom and testing the wall between them.

Matts sprang away from the floor and pulled Alice up by the arms, pushing her toward the opposite wall. He was trying to keep an eye on everything at the same time: the door, the window, and the wall.

The noise calmed down in the bathroom and started again a little further away, in Alice's bedroom.

"What do you have in your bag?" Matts asked. "Anything they can use to track you?"

"No, nothing. I only brought basic stuff."

"Good." He turned his back on her, using his body to shield her while keeping watch. He was so close to her that she could feel the heat from his back.

After what sounded like an angry storm raging through the house, the noise eventually died down. For a moment, the quiet gave the illusion the intruders had left, but the sound of soft steps gave away that they were still in the house.

"What are they up to now?" Alice whispered.

"I don't know," Matts whispered back. "Probably up to no good."

Matts checked the time and looked over his shoulder at her, concerned. "It's late. Why don't you lie down on my bed and try to sleep? I'll wake you if anything suspicious happens."

"You want me to sleep, with everything that's going on?" she asked him, dumbfounded.

"Yes. They are not getting in here, so there's no point in staying up all night while we wait for help," he said, and then he gave her a sly grin. "Besides, you spent a night in Gabriel's bed. I see no problem in you spending a night in my bed as well."

"Actually, it was four nights," Alice replied without thinking.

Matts turned to her in that weird full-body turn he did. "Four nights?" he asked, a curious expression on his face.

Alice could feel both frustration and satisfaction coming from him, but she couldn't understand why. Well, frustration was obvious; he clearly still had romantic intentions toward her. But she didn't understand the satisfaction.

"Why are you happy about that?" she asked, not worried about possibly embarrassing him.

He grinned, as if he was happy at being discovered. He placed a hand on her cheek and stroked her face with his thumb. The intimacy of the gesture made heat rise from her stomach to her face.

A few heartbeats passed, each of them captured by the other's presence. She could feel his emotions shifting and twirling, like a stormy sea battering the walls of his self-control. Then something gave in, and the wall cracked.

"You really are extraordinary," he muttered. Adrenaline made passion win over his self-control, and he slowly leaned into her capturing her in his embrace, eyes fixed on her lips.

Alice felt like a deer caught in the headlights, unable to move, mesmerized by the powerful want that came from Matts. He captured her lips with his, leaning his body into hers like he wanted to melt onto her skin. It overwhelmed her so much that she couldn't fight back. All she could feel was his passion, his desire for her. And it showed in his kiss.

Overwhelmed, she let out an anxious whine, and he hesitated.

Pulling back, she could feel Matts's frustration doubling over, and his attempts to get a grip on his own lust.

How she hated this. How she hated the effect she had on alphas. She had thought that maybe, just maybe, she and Matts could become friends. But the cold reality of her nature came crashing down on them. He could not stop wanting her any more than she could change what she was.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled.

Alice slipped out of his embrace and sat at the top of the bed. She kept her eyes down and took her cell phone from her pocket to have something to fidget with. She was frustrated and embarrassed.

Matts took the phone from her, placing it on the bed, and touched her chin to encourage her to tilt her head up and meet his gaze. The move reminded her of Gabriel.

"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, or to kiss you without your consent. I'm sorry," he apologized.

Alice felt herself blushing even more.

"It's okay. I understand." She took a deep breath. "I know that alphas can't help it."

"No," he said. "We can't control what we feel, but we definitely control how we react to it. Don't let any man ever tell you that he can't stop himself from doing something. If he says that, he's not a real alpha."

"I know—" Alice started to reply, but she was interrupted by noises near the door again.

Matts went to the door, gun in hand, while Alice crouched near the bed.

There were no new attempts to open the door or knock it down, but there were robotic voices arguing about something on the other side.

Suddenly Alice's and Matts's phones sparked to life, both pinging with the sound of hundreds of messages and missed calls. She picked up her phone from the bed and saw her screen lit with an array of images and videos, flashing so fast from one to another that they blurred into a digital mess. She tried to turn off the phone, but it wouldn't accept any input from her. Then she tried to remove the battery, but the phone had been sealed shut to prevent any attempts at messing with the hardware.

"Fuck." She grunted at the screen.

Matts ripped the phone from her hands and threw it at the wall with a violence that made it shatter into a million pieces.

He took out his own phone, cursed, and made a call to someone. "Shut it down!" he yelled at someone who'd hardly had the time to greet him. "Shut the omega network down!"

Outside the door, they heard frustrated grunts and footsteps hurrying away from them.

"What's happening?" Alice asked.

Matts's focus was on his phone call.

"What did they get, Georgie? Did they get their locations?" an anxious voice ranted from the other side of the call.

"Erase everything. Every chat, every info, every photo. Burn it all!"

His anger and rage filled the room, drowning Alice.

Tears ran down her face as she understood what had happened. The intruders had accessed the network Matts had set up for the omegas. They had broken into their privacy, and Matts had to shut it all down.

She covered her face with her arms, trying to block out the violence coming from Matts, and she cried.

She cried over the intrusion, cried over the violence, and cried because she was sure she would never talk with her omega friends again.