Whatever happened, he had to win her. Not for any other reason than the fact he wanted to be with her.

She was his mate.

Being around her, no matter how short the time he’d experienced it, he felt whole. Whenever she left, there was always a part of him missing. The part that only Mabel claimed. He had to make it work for both of them.

Before the transition into wolf, he’d played around. There had been so many women and girls vying for his attention. Even then, he’d been big, muscular, and looked older than his eighteen years. He’d gotten the fun out of the way as he knew the moment he had his first change, he’d be devoted to learning everything he needed to do from his father.

There were only two things in life he’d been certain of: he wanted a mate and he was going to be Alpha.

Right now, he wasn’t sure of anything. If he didn’t secure his mate, how was he ever going to be able to rule the pack? They would all know of his failure to win her.

This wasn’t about his alphaship, though. No, this was just about winning her. To be able to keep her. None of his friends understood that there were days all he wanted to do was hold her. If he could just touch her, that would be enough. At least, that was what he kept on telling himself, but he had a feeling he was so wrong about it all.

He got to his feet and reached out to grip one of the four posters on each corner of the bed, feeling a wave of sickness wash over him. There was no doubt it was the drugs. They were fucking strong.

With a hand against his gut, he stepped out of his bedroom.

There were several doors in front and on either side of him. He’d heard of the island house before but had never been given the pleasure of actually seeing it. Now as he stood, looking all around him, he had to wonder why no one else knew about it.

Sure, it was used for delicate matters like this and dealing with feral wolves, but the sheer grandness wasn’t lost on him. Couples could have their honeymoon here, or just spend a couple of days if not weeks away.

Drawing his focus back to the problem at hand, he made his way past each bedroom, opening the doors to check. None of the rooms were made up, and as he came to the stairwell, one was sending him down, the other going up to another part of the house.

Hunger drew him, but more importantly, his mate did.

He had to know if she was all right.

After taking the steps up, he opened the first door and stopped.

Mabel lay on the bed.

Her cases were in the corner.