"Congratulations again, Alpha. Even after all of my brothers...interventions, you still won with a landslide."

Gabriel nodded absently at Peter Korovic who had cornered him the moment he entered the room. Gabriel was aware of his attempts to undermine Ivan, but wasn't in the mood to waste time with their internal battle. His mind was on Alex.

I love you. He had said the words without thinking, but they were true.

Perhaps it was because Gabriel was Alpha born, but he had always been led by a drive to protect. Protecting his family, his pack and his kind; it was the reason why he spent his youth developing his powers, excelling at his studies and working endlessly towards his goal of becoming the head of Lupus Corp. True, he had taken a fair number of lovers over the years, but his choice in fiancee had also been governed by the same set of gaols. To him, choosing his Luna had been about finding a werewolf that would help him consolidate power and move his pack to a brighter future.

Until Alex appeared.

Not only was being with Alex a completely irrational choice, when Gabriel was near her, he became irrational. She was hard headed, obstinate and created more complications than benefits...and yet she was the best thing that ever happened to him.

Loving Alex had opened his mind to a different reason for living. He no longer only wanted to get stronger, he wanted to experience life...with her. Things that had never appealed to him were suddenly attractive. He found himself savouring food, when he used to consider sitting down to a meal a waste of time. He found himself stopping to watch her smile, when he was used to rushing from meeting to meeting from morning till night. He found himself wondering how it would be to live in a home rather than a hotel, a place decorated with things that she picked, that they would fill with their memories. He found himself wondering what their children would look like...

And yet, when Alex heard his confession, her eyes had filled with uncertainty. It was obvious that she didn't realise what she meant to him and that was his mistake. Gabriel had assumed his feelings would show, after all he had never spent so much time with a woman, never given so much of his focus to anyone, but perhaps to Alex it just looked like he was having fun.

He would have to make her understand...

"As I was saying," Peter cleared his throat, pulling him out of his thoughts. "It truly was a deserved win."

Gabriel suppressed a sigh, "What do you want, Peter?"

The man slipped his hand out of the pocket of his Burgundy suit trousers, looked around then leaned forward. "I want to be of service."

"Of service?" Gabriel's tone was light. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Theo and sent him a thought: . Theo nodded, then extracted himself from a conversation with two Beta's from neighbouring packs before making his way out of the room.

"As you know, my brother has a different ideology to yours." Peter gave him a woeful look, unaware of Gabriel's wandering attention. "He thinks you're trying to tame us with all your restrictions. He is just not a proponent of the civilised, like we are, so I doubt that he will give up trying to topple the status quo just because the elections are over."

Gabriel raised his brows, his attention now on Peter. "You do realise the seriousness of the accusation you are making?" It was one thing for Ivan to attack him to win an election, another thing completely for him to try to take Lupus Corp down. If proven guilty, the punishment from The Committee could range from banishment to execution.

"I'm not making an accusation," Peter held up his palms in innocence. Then he nodded towards the other side of the room where Ivan was busy talking with several western pack Alpha's. "I'm just saying that I could help prevent a headache."

Gabriel considered the werewolf in front of him. On the outside, Peter's suggestion was sound. He was an Alpha-born who seemed to have a similar outlook's to his own. It was also no secret that Ivan was a pain in the ass. But somehow Gabriel was not convinced. Something was just not right with this second Korovic brother. Perhaps it was the simple fact that he was trying to sell out his kin for power, or maybe it was that he was doing it in an underhanded way rather that straight to Ivan's face... whatever the reason Gabriel didn't like it.

"Peter, I understand what you are saying, but -"

"Apologies for the interruption," Theo appeared at his side, brows drawn in a frown. Immediately alert, Gabriel turned to his cousin.

"You didn't see her?"

"No. The guards at the door haven't either, but there was a security shift change five minutes ago, so I've asked them to recall the previous guard." Theo's lips pressed together in a tight line, then held his palm open, "I found these on the floor in front of the bathroom. You're wearing a different pair tonight, but these are yours, aren't they?"

Gabriel recognised his cufflinks instantly. He was certain he had left them in his suite, what the hell were they doing here? The off feeling inside him suddenly grew to full blown worry.

"You look busy, Alpha. I will not disturb you further," Peter said behind them, before moving away.

Gabriel did a quick scan of the room to confirm that the other two Korovic brothers were still within eye-sight, then he turned back to Theo. "Bring the guards to the security room, I want to see the footage for the last twenty minutes."

Checking the room one last time for a sign of Alex, Gabriel came eye to eye with Ivan who gave him a slow nod.