Burned by Rejection (Book 4 of Wolves of Milano )

21.Missing Alpha

Elio runs over to the Alpha’s house and slips inside by the back door. He knows Mrs. Ellena leaves it open all the time. She is always home, she doesn’t bother to lock it. The meetings take place in the formal dining room. He knocks on the door and opens it carefully. He is braced for yelling and ranting because he’s late to a meeting he didn’t know about. It’s always the same with Vito. He expects everyone to know everything without telling them anything.

His big surprise must be evident on his face. He gapes, but closes his mouth fast. Vito is not there. Marra and Ellena are the only two wolves present. He catches his breath and sighs. He’s not late. He can’t believe it: “I thought I’m late. Where is everyone?”

“They will be here shortly.” Ellena answers. “We have a unique situation. Vito is missing. He didn’t come home last night. He doesn’t answer his phone. He didn’t leave a message either.”

“Nobody has seen him since yesterday.” Marra adds. “When did you last talk to him?”

“Yesterday morning. He wasn’t happy with my report.” Elio tells them.

“About Allegra? Is she alright? Does she need anything?” Marra inquires.

“She’s fine. She has the perfect hiding place.” He smiles. “If nobody follows me, they will never find her.”

“Keep it that way.” Marra chuckles. “The other thing we want you to do is: not find Vito. Stall, slack off, delegate this job to the worst, the laziest… You get my point?”

“Yes. Clearly.” He winks.

“And we have to figure out what to do with the new wolves that are supposed to come on Friday.” Ellena says. “We could try to turn them away, because Vito is not here. We can’t do anything about his negotiations in his absence.”

“That might be for the best. It sure solves most of our problems.” Elio nods. The idea is great. He doesn’t have to orchestrate any diversions if the wolves don’t come.

“The other elder council members will be here in about half an hour. Do you have any other ideas we should implement?” Marra asks.

“You want my opinion? Why?”He wonders. What is she playing at?

“Yes. Your father is an Alpha. You come from a good pack. A healthy pack. We need ideas to fix this mess.” Marra nods.

“All right.” Elio nods. “Bring Alessio back. Ask the elders to stop hiding my best enforcers. I know for a fact that a few of them know where their sons are. Make this a partnership. You two have the majority when it comes to voting. The Beta and Luna of the pack. Together you can rule this pack, no matter how many elders oppose your suggestions, you overrule them. Start a program for the kids. They lack some serious education. They don’t learn about being a wolf in school, and they don’t talk about it at home.”

“You are right.” Marra nods. She seems to be thinking about his words. “How do you know about the voting system?”

“The old rule book. I gave the one I found at the enforcer’s house to Allegra. She hopes to find something useful there. I’m sure there is one around here too. Vito probably used it for his crazy schemes.” He answers. He is willing to help Marra, because she will do what’s best for the pack. She is not a selfish wolf. She cares for her family and friends.

“I think we have one. I’ll go look.” Ellena exclaims.

“Good. We have to present a united front to the other elders.” Marra says. “Elio, you call Alessio and get him home. Tell him to come see me here first thing in the morning. It’s about time we started fixing things.”

“Sure. I’ll get a search party together.” He nods at her. “If we don’t find him in the next 48 hours, we have to get the police involved. Just to get everything done legally. We can’t afford a mistake. Your rule can’t begin with the same craziness that his ended with. Be just, be firm, do everything by the rules.”

“Thank you. I will call you. I’m sure I’m going to need you.” Marra inclines her head to him. A bow from the Beta? She must like him a lot.

Elio walks over to the enforcer's house and rings the bell. It’s his way of calling everyone out. He hates to shout and this is the equivalent of a horn signal. It takes about five minutes to have everyone assembled on the stairs. He can see a few heads that don’t live here, but that just saves him time. So the only ones missing are the three that follow Kara around.

“We have a new assignment!” He tells them loudly. “Vito went missing. Nobody has seen him since yesterday. He didn’t come home and his phone is off. We will divide into pairs. Each pair gets a section of town to search. Do it thoroughly. I don’t care how unlikely it is that he should be somewhere, search anyway.”

“What about our other assignments?” Dominic inquires.

“Everything else is on hold. This is our priority.” Elio answers sharply. He will not let them question him. He needs to get everyone out and search. “Pair up and step forward.”

He marks the search area for each pair on his city map. He nailed it to the wall in the hall. Next to the message board. He will use that to note where the searchers are and what has been searched already. He will conduct this like a military operation. He is left behind to run things smoothly and gather all the intel. He will report to Marra and Ellena what they haven’t found.

“Comb the forest and look at the old prison. The house was damaged in the fire, but the underground part is intact.” He orders the last three that stayed when he sent everyone out. He sighs and marks the time when he last heard from Vito. He told Marra to do everything by the rules, so he must be diligent as well. He misses Allegra. He would much rather spend this day snuggled up to her. Just to hold her, nothing else. But he can only dream about that. He is knee deep in this mess and he promised Marra he would help her.

He glances at his watch. Four in the afternoon and all he has to show for is half of the city searched and nothing found. The result is great for Marra. He is just tired of sitting around colouring the map. He decides to call Alessio. His friend must be excited to be coming back home. 

“Hey stranger.” Elio greets him. “Where are you?”

“Driving back home. We’ll be at Grazia’s house in an hour. All I want is to get settled in and enjoy our peace.” Alessio answers.

“Good. Allegra will be happy to see you. Don’t keep her waiting too long. She needs you.” He tells him. “And you have to go see Marra in the morning.”

“You sound tired. What’s up?” Alesio asks.

“I’m coordinating the search for Vito. On one hand, we have to find him, on the other, Marra doesn’t want him to be found. Nobody wants that.” Elio answers. “We have to be face to face for the other problem. Now is not a good time.”

“We can talk tomorrow.” Alessio chuckles. “Whatever it is, we’ll solve it.”

His friend’s confidence is astonishing. Alessio has no idea what mess his sister created and he just offered his help. He will have to go about this carefully. He would hate to pick between a great friend or his own mate. He wants them both. But the situation is such that he might lose them both. If he can’t convince Allegra to accept him, all will be lost. He calls her just to hear her voice. He misses her that much.

“Is something wrong?” Allegra asks him. Not a greeting he would like, but he can’t change her overnight.

“Depends on how you look at it.” He chuckles. “I’m stuck in the house. Your Uncle makes a mess of things even when he is not here. He went missing. We can’t find him. I’m coordinating the search.”

“Oh my God!” She exclaims. “That’s great. Are we free of him?”

“We might be. Who knows what we find, if we find him at all.” He answers. “The other news I have for you will make you happy. Alessio and Grazia are back.”

“Do you think I can go over there? Won’t I intrude?” She wonders. He can hear the reluctance in her voice. She is lonely, but she doesn’t want to disturb them.

“Go over there. I’m sure they missed you too.” He tells her. She needs a push. She needs her brother even more. She’s been all alone the past few days. It’s not good for her wolf. It’s not good for her mental health. Elio can only do so much when she doesn’t let him.

‘She did open up a little. She wants you there.’ His wolf says.

‘I fear what she might do now that Vito is out of the picture.’ Elio sighs. He knows that she thinks that he needs to be set free, but she doesn’t understand what she’s doing. She doesn’t have all the facts. He hopes she will tell Alessio and he educates her in mate bonds. 

‘Why didn’t you say something? Keeping it from Alessio is not the way to go.’ The wolf inquires.

‘I know. I think it’s not something you tell your friend over the phone. One more day won’t make a change.’ Elio shakes his head. He wishes to go over to her tonight. If only to sleep in the guest room and listen to her breathe. She would have been close to him that way.

He gathers up the reports and sends a text to Marra. They have found nothing at all. Not a trace of Vito anywhere. His usual bar and favourite bakery were a bust. Nobody had seen him in days. He never showed up for work at the volunteer fire station. He didn’t call in sick. It’s like he just vanished from the Earth. Should he call Marco? He doesn’t have the guy’s number, but Vittorio does, so he calls him.

“Hey. Do you think Morrana might have had something to do with your father’s disappearance? It’s like he vanished from the Earth.” Elio asks.

“No. She can’t interfere.” Vittorio scoffs. “I’m sure he didn’t go up against any of the gods.”

“Devana is in town. What do you know about her?” Elio inquires. He saw the redhead goddess with Kara and Mattias. He has no idea why she’s here, but she has a special relationship with Mattias. That is a mystery for later.

“The goddess of the hunt? Nah… Vito wouldn’t go near her. One false look and you end up a wolf rug on her floor.” Vittorio laughs. 

“She doesn’t look intimidating. Not like Veles does.” Elio says. Devana looks like a caring mother figure to him.

“Never underestimate the gods. Even the sweet and innocent looking Vesna can kill you without blinking. That is if you get past her mate. Ty is deadly on a good day. You don’t want to piss him off. Ever.” Vittorio warns him.

“What is Ty?” Elio asks. Maybe knowing that would be a good thing. Just to avoid the guy. He’s never met him in person, but hearing people talk about the secretive guy makes him wonder.

“Not my secret to tell. I signed a NDA. The guy values his privacy. If he lets you into his close circle, you will know.” Vittorio answers. “I can tell you he’s royalty. That castle comes with a title.”

“All right. I won’t ask again.” Elio chuckles. “I’ll let you know how the search goes.”