Chapter 77: Chapter 77

--------------------------------------

Would you leave me

If I tell you the truth?

Would you love me

Even after seeing my demons?

Would you stay

If I become vulnerable?

--------------------------------------

Azraiel was aware of the eyes on them. He knew they’d be here.

The creatures with red eyes.

It’s like they can’t keep away from Charlotte. He doubted it when these creatures suddenly showed up as soon as Charlotte entered the woods. And then at the same time when Charlotte showed the different beings inside her today. It’s like they can sense her or smell her, just like wolves. The way Katya described the interaction between Charlotte and those creatures, it’s evident that there is an emotional connection.

Today, when he asked Charlotte if she wants to meet his wolf, he had planned to do it in their backyard, where it would be safe as well as private. But, then Katya woke up and told her everything.

Azraiel didn’t want to put his mate in danger, but he trusted his wolf and his pack to keep her safe. His wolf obviously opposed his plan but he too agreed it was a good plan. So, instead of doing as he had originally thought, he brought Charlotte here.

To the lake.

Where those red creatures were last seen!

The lake was the closest to the cottage and his house, this border being just behind their house. Those creatures could have chosen any border if they wanted to invade the pack, hell, if they really wanted to cause harm, they would come through the western border since it has the most basic protection of magic and warriors and nothing like the obstacles placed in all the other borders. The northern border of his pack is surrounded by deadly and poisonous trees that are magical, the southern border is concealed with magic to appear as a dead-end in the forest and the eastern border is lined by the huge lake that is enchanted. Only the western border doesn’t have an extra layer of protection and yet they chose to enter from the eastern border. Even now, he could see two creatures staring at them from across the lake. Of course, to a naked eye they won’t be visible but being a Trueblood werewolf has its perks.

Yes, he knows anything could have gone wrong but desperate times call for desperate measures. He didn’t want to bring Charlotte here, away from his pack and near danger…

But he had no choice left.

Those creatures with the red eyes were an integral part of the mystery surrounding her and he wanted to lure them in.

The guilt of using his mate as bait was gnawing at him but he pushed it away at that moment.

Without looking at those creatures even once, he shifted back to his human form and quickly put his clothes on.

“Is your wolf happy?” He asked Charlotte.

“Yeah…she is very happy!” Charlotte replied while laughing and hugged him.

Azraiel clutched her to him tightly, his gut telling him that this is the moment.

Matt! Kira! Now! He mindlinked his Beta and the head warrior.

He didn’t turn his head towards the sound even though he clearly heard it. He never once glanced in the direction of those creatures but he knew very well what was happening there.

He had set a trap and one of those red creatures has fallen in it!

He broke the hug and leaned back. “Let’s head back.” He said to Charlotte and took her hand.

Both of them took their sweet time walking through the woods. Charlotte was really happy since her wolf was happy. All the way, she kept on describing what her wolf was feeling and the guilt made its way back to his heart.

You should just tell her that you used her as bait. His wolf snapped and Azraiel almost flinched at the tone.

She’d think you don’t care for her, that you don’t love her enough to put her in danger. His wolf was ranting now. Well, he had every right to be angry but this was the only way to lure those creatures in without going out of the pack borders. If he wants to save his mate, he’ll have to take actions that he might not like.

Anything could have happened. They could have come in a group and harmed our mate. You really are an ass Azraiel. His wolf just wouldn’t stop.

If I believed even for a second that they’d harm her, I’d have never taken her there. They had every chance to harm her when they first met her, if they didn’t harm her then, they wouldn’t hurt her now. Azraiel replied calmly. He knew his wolf was right but he had learned to trust his intuition over time and his intuition was telling him that those red-eyed wolves would never hurt Charlotte.

When they reached his house, he placed a soft kiss on her lips, lord knows it was to make himself feel better and then he asked her to go inside and not wait for him at the dinner.

Azraiel didn’t leave until he saw the lights of his room turned on and the shadow of his mate appearing near the window.

“Ayleen! Don’t leave the house at any cost tonight. Charlotte is in my room. Eat dinner with her and keep an eye open for danger. If you feel anything is amiss, tell me immediately!” Azraiel mindlinked his sister and started walking towards the packhouse.

Azraiel walked through the hallways greeting everyone he saw with a smile on his face, completely aware that his people had no idea about what just happened.

He entered his room knowing that there was already someone in there. Without looking at him, he opened the door and closed it behind him. As soon as he turned, a hard fist collided with his cheek, making him lose his balance and sway to the side.

“What the fuck, Theo?” He spat out the blood coming from the corner of his mouth. Damn it! He knows how to land a good punch.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” Theo raged, his eyes red with anger and breathing hard.

He came forward and held Azraiel by his collar and pushed him to the wall. “Just. What. The. Fuck. Were. You. Thinking?” Theo gritted his teeth and Azraiel could hear the fucking sound of his teeth grinding together in his ears. Yeah, he was that close to him.

Azraiel immediately knew what he was talking about and he knew Theo had every right to be upset, but his concern for Charlotte and behavior towards his Alpha just made him angry. His wolf too felt disrespected.

Azraiel masked his anger behind a poker face and in an extremely low and calm voice said, “You have five seconds to take your hands off me before I detach them from your body.” His voice didn’t reveal anger but his eyes did. They were gleaming yellow, showing that his wolf was near the brink of shifting and Azraiel was the only one preventing him from doing so.

Theo didn’t take off his hands for the first four seconds.

Azraiel fixed his shirt as soon as Theo left his space. He watched as Theo paced in his office, breathing hard.

“Sit. Down.” The speed at which Theo obliged indicated that he was aware of the anger simmering behind his calm composure.

“You shouldn’t have done that, Azraiel. It’s good that nothing happened but you had no right to put her in danger.” Theo blurted out as soon as they were seated. He looked angry, stressed and lord knows what. His hair was unkempt and he was drenched in sweat, indicating that he was running hard to reach here as soon as he got news of this event.

“Are you trying to say that you know better than me in the matters concerning my mate? Do you really think I’d take her to the lake if I knew she could be harmed?” Azraiel said while gritting his teeth. His Gamma is testing his patience now and if he keeps doing this then some harm would surely be done.

Theo didn’t reply but turned his head with a loud sigh.

No one said anything for a few seconds.

“I…I am not saying that I know better than you Azraiel. But, I have told you before that for some fucked up reason, my wolf identifies her as my Alpha and the thought that you’d put her in danger just didn’t settle right with me!” Azraiel could see that Theo was trying to explain but it was just making him irritated.

“I think it’d be best if we talk about this later.” Azraiel wanted him to stop talking about Charlotte or else he wasn’t sure what he’d do. He for a fact knows that his jealousy has no boundaries. Even if Theo himself has no idea what he was feeling, Azraiel knew what it was.

Theo felt protective of Charlotte and Azraiel appreciated it since he was his Gamma but the way he reacted to everything related to Charlotte was making him feel that he would be protective of her irrespective of the fact that she is his Luna or not, and that…

Made Azraiel angry. Very angry.

“Alpha! We have the recording!” Matt mindlinked him.

“Bring it to my office.”

“Matt is bringing the recording.” He told Theo.

Before taking Charlotte to the lake, Azraiel had placed cameras all over the eastern border, on both sides of the lake. He somehow guessed that those red eyes wolves would come and wanted to see how they behaved, how they disappeared, how many are they , if they have a leader or not, and everything he could use to discern their identity. He could have captured one of them but then he would have to bring them into dungeons and though he was sure they wouldn’t harm Charlotte, they could very well harm others in his pack. Azraiel didn’t want to encounter them without knowing what he was fighting against. Most importantly, if those creatures don’t want to cause harm then they very well might know who wants to.

When Matt and Kira entered his office a few minutes later, he took one look at their faces and immediately knew…

It wasn’t good news!