Alpha's Moon

Chapter 1

"This is Korovic's doing, isn't it?"

Gabriel Moncrief didn't respond, his sky-blue eyes following Mr Fu and his entourage as they crossed the hotel lobby.
                     
"Gabriel?"
                       
He turned to the man at his side. "Don't think anymore about it. Whoever tried to destroy our relationship with the Fu family, failed."
                       
Theo folded his arms across his chest, one blond eyebrow arched high. "You're telling me you'll let Ivan get away with it?"

"Get away with what?" Gabriel began walking down the wide steps that led onto the glossy marble of The Peninsula Hotel's palatial ground floor. The vaulted ceilings with their ornate cornicing added to the glamour of the Hong Kong hotel that was often referred to as the Grande Dame of the Far East. Gabriel didn't usually like ostentatious establishments, but this hotel managed to do grandeur with class.
                       
Avoiding the lustful gazes of three women at the reception desk, he checked his watch. "We ended up getting the microchips at a better price because of all the trouble. If anything, I should be thanking Ivan."
                       
"So you do believe it was Ivan that did this!" Theo stopped to smirk, his blond curls falling across his forehead. Then he was rushing to keep up with Gabriel's long stride., "Hey, we had to fly all the way to China because of that asshole. You aren't really thinking of doing nothing, are you?"

"Watch how you speak of him, Theo, he is an Alpha."
                       
"I beg your pardon, I mean because of that Alpha asshole," Theo corrected innocently. Then his frown was back in place, "Seriously, if we aren't going to take legal action, we should at least steal something from his beloved art collection."
                       
Gabriel shook his head to ward off a blonde who took a step towards them.

"Although, now that I think about it," Theo considered as they walked around a giant Christmas tree strewn with glittering baubles. "Ivan has terrible taste, so we might accidentally end up doing him a favour by relieving him of something hideous."

Gabriel laughed at his cousin's sardonic tone. To outsiders Theodor Moncrief, Vice President of Lupus Corp, didn't appear to have a serious bone in his body. But Gabriel knew his friend well. For the past few months, Ivan had been causing trouble every chance he got, this incident with the Fu's merely the latest of them. Theo's patience had finally run out, which was understandable. Gabriel might have been angered into taking revenge himself if he didn't have an iron grip on his emotions. But acting on feelings was for the weak.

"There is no evidence to link Ivan or any of his pack members to this incident."

"Alright, so we can't take legal action. But, won't leaving him alone just encourage him..."

"We will let it go." Gabriel cut Theo off. He was no longer speaking as a relative, friend or the CEO of Lupus Corp, he was speaking as the Alpha of the Moncrief Pack and his cousin's demeanour changed instantly. He nodded quickly, saying no more; the Alpha's command was never questioned.

Letting the power of his wolf recede, Gabriel gave his cousin a quick smile. "Don't worry, there are only eight weeks left till the board of directors meeting. Once the election is over, the troubles will cease."

"Excuse me," a tall scantily dressed model and her friend moved into their path. She struck a pose aimed at showing more of her long legs through the high slit in her skirt, then held out a golden square with "Suite" embossed across it. "Did you drop this room key?"

"No." Gabriel moved past the women with no hesitation, then cast a sideways glance at Theo, "Did you message the pilot to tell him we are on the way?"

Theo jaw had gone slack. "You really are something, cousin. I get that women are constantly throwing themselves at you, but those girls looked like Victoria's Secret models! Would it have killed you to speak to them for a few minutes?"