Chapter 12: Chapter 12

TWELVE

Alex was standing with his arms crossed over his chest, leaning against the cold metal of his car. He remained quiet as he listened to the story that his best friend was telling him. So much had happened and he only got to find out after the situation had escalated. Patience. Patience was the key to being Isaac’s Beta and best friend and over the years, Alex had learned exactly that.

He was the Beta of Median Noctem Sidus and yet no one had thought of informing him about a rogue problem. He still could not believe it. History had shown that their pack and rogues never got along. Shit always went the other way when a rogue came near the borders. Heck, the Alpha family had lost so much because of rogues.

Now, Alex found it unbelievable that the two people that disliked rogues more than anything had not taken care of a rogue problem despite knowing about it for almost a month. He even wondered if Isaac would have even told him about it, he only found out because he heard a few warriors talking about it. And as the concerned Beta he was, and because he could not trust Isaac and Black on a task together, he decided to question them.

“So the rogues are still in the nearby town?” Alex asked Isaac. He wanted to make sure he had all the details right.

“Yeah,” Isaac replied.

“Why?” Alex asked because he could not fathom a single idea of why Isaac had not yet sorted the problem.

Isaac took in a breath of exasperation. “I told you already, Black has a massive crush on this girl that’s somehow entangled with the main rogue.” He replied. Isaac took a moment to stare back into the house through the huge windows. He could not see anything but he knew that Aleisa was there with Kace.

“What?! You do realise that the safety of the entire pack is at risk as long as those rogues are nearby? It doesn’t matter if Black has a crush or fallen in love, if she isn’t his mate then we should stop wasting time.”

Isaac rolled his eyes. Alex was always the one to want to get the job done as soon as possible. His Beta was efficient at his job because he never liked procrastinating. But right now, Isaac had to convince him to not rush into anything. He still had to prove his hunch.

“You don’t understand man...” Isaac dragged out and ran a hand through his hair.

He had not expected Alex to show up in front of his house so early in the morning. It was cold and standing outside was not pleasing. He had not meant to keep anything from his Beta, it had just slipped his mind and over the last few days he could only think about Black and his “special case”.

“Really? Enlighten me, because all of this just sounds too far-fetched...Black liking a woman, please that'll only happen when he finds his mate.” Alex raised an eyebrow at Isaac, looking unfazed by the information.

Alex had known Black for as long as he had known Isaac—and that was their entire lives. Black was only two years older than him and Isaac but they had all grown together and they promised to always protect the pack ever since the rogue attack when they were kids. Saying that Black liked someone was like saying, Aleisa was on a diet—which could never happen. So when Isaac mentioned it, he thought Isaac was only making an excuse.

“Exactly!” Isaac clapped his hands and smiled widely at Alex as if he was a parent proud of their son.

“What?” Alex asked, confusion was clear on his face but his eyes slowly widened in realisation. The confusion on his face was replaced with “Are you sure”.

Isaac nodded. “I’ve thought about it so many times and it is the only thing that makes sense. Willow is smitten over Black and she doesn’t know the reason and it’s the same for Black.” He explained with hand gestures.

“I read her thoughts—before you scold me, Black is the one who begged me to do that.” Isaac was ready to defend himself in case Alex wanted to scold him. “She likes Black, a little bit too much but I think she’s in some sort of danger with the rogue behind the operations, Louis. I haven’t done anything because of tha—”

“Wait Isaac,” Alex cut in, he was confused once again. “If she is his mate, how come he doesn’t know? Upon their first meeting, that should have been established—to Black, that is.”

“That’s the other thing, she has no scent,” Isaac replied.

“What?”

“It’s like she doesn’t have a scent of her own, she just smells like rogues,” Isaac answered. “I think Black isn’t able to tell that she is his mate because of that. We both know that unlike a werewolf and werewolf mate bond, a werewolf and human bond is weaker and relies mostly on scent while the former can also be discovered by touch and staring into eyes.”

“What if you’re wrong?” Alex asked after a few seconds of contemplating Isaac’s words.

“I doubt that. I’m very certain. Black doesn’t know it but his wolf does,”

“What do you mean he’s wolf does?”

“I said something last night about Willow to provoke him and he lost control of his wolf,” Isaac said a little too proudly.

“Isaac!” Alex released his arms in order to pinch the bridge of his nose in irritation. “You know what Black's wolf is like, it’s the same as yours—reckless. Where is Black?”

Isaac shrugged causing Alex to shake his head in disbelief. “What if he did something stupid, Isaac?”

“He’s a smart man,” Isaac replied. “Now if you don’t mind, I need to have breakfast with my family.” He added and at the same moment, Caleb walked out of the house with his backpack slung over his shoulder and phone in hand.

“Oh my god, this generation! Back in my day, phones were not allowed anywhere near school, if a teacher found you with a phone, they’d confiscate it.” Isaac said dramatically while staring a hole into his brother.

“Don’t be so dramatic Grandpa, your day was only two years ago.” Caleb rolled his eyes and went over to his car and got in before driving away.

“What an insolent little shit,”

Alex rolled his eyes and got into his car, he slid down the window and called out to Isaac. “I’ll find out why she has no scent and a peaceful way to get the rogues away from the small town.” He said and Isaac nodded, giving him the go-ahead.

......

Black could not relax. No matter how many times he paced the distance of the kitchen and circled the round island, he could not settle his thoughts. He was panicking and the feeling was foreign to him. He rubbed his hands over his Black pants and messed with the shirt he wore.

He had finally regained control in the early hours of the morning after he went for a run. But now his actions when he was not in control were catching up to him. He had thought about what to do but came short of nothing. Uneasiness was slowly eating up at him as the sun continued rising.

Willow was not yet awake, she had passed out last night when they were in the car. It did not help Black that he could remember everything. He had brought Willow to his empty house and tucked her into his boring bed in his plain room.

Black had never thought of decorating his empty house, he saw no reason to do so because he spent most of his days at Nina’s cottage or Isaac’s house. His house was only there because it was more of a formality. Isaac had been insistent on him having his own place in case he met his mate. The house was just as before after construction was finished and the only room that had things was things was his bedroom. Only the closet and bathroom were filled and apart from that, he made sure the refrigerator had a few supplies for when he needed to be alone and decided to spend some time in his house.

Now as he looked at the blank walls and empty rooms that had no furniture, he could not help but compare the house to some creepy scene. He wondered what Willow would think when she looked around. She would definitely think he was weird.

He sighed before taking the tray of food on the countertop into his hands. After torturing himself with many thoughts, he decided that serving her breakfast would be a good way to apologise. Food always seemed to pacify Aleisa. He would explain to Willow that he never meant any harm and that he was sorry. It was the only way to face the problem, fix it and not end up in Willow’s bad books. He definitely did not want her to hate him.

He walked up the stairs and stood in front of the door to his room, giving himself a pep talk. He took in a deep breath and knocked, she was awake. He knew that because he could hear the ruffling from the other side and the erratic beating of her heart.

She’s scared, I don’t want her to be sacred.

Black wanted to sulk over the fact that Willow was scared of him. Despite all the pep talks he gave himself, he could not prepare for what he saw when he opened the door. Willow was in the middle of the bed, the sheets around her as she curled close to the headboard. Fear swam in her brown eyes and the look only intensified when the door opened. Her hands curled around the sheets and Black could see that she was shaking.

He felt awfully guilty for being the cause of her fear. His only option was to scold his wolf but he did not do that because he could already feel his wolf’s guilt as well. He walked deeper into the room and placed the tray of food on the bed. He stared up at Willow and she was still scared but she had a confused look on her face.

“I’m sorry,” Black looked into her eyes. He wanted her to feel safe around him, not the other way. “Please have something to eat.”

Willow looked at the oatmeal on the tray and a cup of juice. She was hungry and she did not want to reject the food but she could not forget what happened last night. Every memory was still fresh in her mind. Black had been so different last night, he was more possessive and assertive. He had beaten poor Levi and carried her into his car like an abductor.

She could not forget that and just eat his food. She did not even have an idea of where she was. Her mind was filled with the worst possibilities.

What if they want to sacrifice me for some ancient werewolf ritual to their God?

It sounded absurd but her entire life had turned absurd. Years before she had thought of werewolves to be absurd fantasy and fiction but she now knew better.

“Where am I?” She found the strength to ask despite her voice sounding raspy.

“My house. Is your throat sore? Have some juice.” Black offered once again.

She shook her head and looked around the room. It was plain and white like no one lived there. It seemed like a place someone to be sacrificed would be kept. Sunlight peeked through the huge glass door that led to what seemed like a balcony.

“Please let me go, I want to go back home.” She begged after a while of scanning the room.

Black did not like the sound of her begging him. “I’m sorry, Willow. Whatever happened last night was a mistake, I lost control of my wolf.” He tried to explain but she still looked as frightened.

“You beat up Levi,” She said and clutched the sheets even tighter when the images of a beaten-up Levi in the middle of a desolate road surfed through her mind.

Black clenched his teeth and took a step closer to the bed. He did not like that she was still worried about another man. The man that had caused her pain. All these feelings were unexplainable but it felt right. It felt right for him to want to hold her and breathe in her scent but no matter how much he searched there was no trace of her scent.

“I had to, he’s a jerk and has caused you pain.” He replied before picking up the glass of juice from the tray and handing it to her.

Willow looked at the cup and then at the man at was offering it. She pushed off his hand, and the glass of juice fell to the floor. Black looked at the broken glass and spilt liquid. It would not be a bother to clean, the floor was not carpeted, only cold marble tiles.

Black looked up at Willow, he did not expect that. He had guessed that she would take the food. He breathed in.

“I’m sorry for what happened, I didn’t want to scare you but I lost it when Isaac said that you are Louis’s mate.”

It took a moment for Willow to process Black’s words.

Was he jealous?

She looked up at him with anger in her eyes. “Were you jealous?” She scoffed bitterly. “Why would you be jealous, we barely know each other. Louis on the other hand, I’ve known him for two years.”

Black’s hands clenched, his wolf feeling at bay. Her uttering his name sounded distasteful to him. He did not like it at all and neither did his wolf.

“Don’t say his name.” He warned through clenched teeth.

Willow could see how tense Black had become. His hands and jaw were clenched and his voice had turned deeper than a few seconds ago. It reminded her of how he had acted the previous night.

“Why are you getting angry? You’re the one who hurt Levi last night and kidnapped me. I’m the one supposed to be mad.” She found herself arguing back despite being scared.

Black remained silent for a while, paying more attention to her words. She had said ‘Levi’ twice and not ‘Louis’, which meant he had made a mistake. He beat up the wrong guy but despite that, he felt no remorse because Levi was Louis’s brother and both hurt Willow. The mistake only made him wish to beat Louis even more, if he ever met the guy—which he guessed would happen soon, he would break him limb by limb.

“Levi?... So I didn’t hit Louis.” Black huffed.

“Of course, you didn’t hit Louis, why would Louis be walking with me?! How do you even know about Louis?”

Somehow, Willow found the energy to get off the bed and stand on the other side, opposite Black with the bed in between them. This reassured her somehow, he would not be able to get to her instantly when she decided to run.

“You hurt Levi, god knows if he is okay...” She stated. Worry started eating up her once again. What if Levi was still on the road, bruised and injured?

“He’s a werewolf, he’ll heal.” Black shrugged.

Willow glared at him. She did not appreciate whatever was going on. If the man opposite her had asked nicely to share a meal she would have been overjoyed but she could not let herself. Firstly, he was a werewolf and nothing good ever came out of being in a relationship with a werewolf–she had experience of that. Secondly, Louis would not allow her to be happy, he had a hold on her.

Right now, she was scared and the cause was Black and his weird behaviour. All the times that she had encountered him, he had never done anything to cause harm to her but after last night she was shaking in fright. Even if she liked him more than she cared to admit. Even if she refused to acknowledge the fact that his presence made her feel a whole lot of unexplainable emotions. Even if she thought he was amazingly good-looking and she liked how mysterious he looked. She was still scared.

It was not normal to show up in the middle of the night, beat her friend, carry her to his car and drive her to his home. That behaviour was unacceptable and Willow was not happy. Despite being scared and Black being a werewolf, she still felt safe enough to argue back and tell him how she felt. If it were Louis standing opposite her, he would have already made her pay for her insolence.

“Have the oatmeal, it’s getting cold.” Black repeated.

“I’m not hungry, please take me back home or if not tell me how to leave this place,” Willow replied and looked to the other side with her hands crossed over her chest.

Black huffed and poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue, a sign of annoyance. She only had to have food, it was not like he was keeping her hostage.

“Willow, have the food and then we’ll talk,” Black said, his voice had become stern and authoritative. She felt compelled to follow his command.

Black looked into her eyes one last time before exiting the room. He questioned himself on whether what was happening was right. He knew that what he did last night was wrong. But his real question was his feelings for Willow. Was it right when he had not even met his mate yet? She wasn’t his mate yet he felt every emotion he should feel for only his mate when it came to her. Even his wolf could not stand the thought of her being with someone else or her being hurt.

His hand ran through his hair in frustration. He walked back downstairs, he wished he had atleast bought a couch because he really needed to take a seat on something comfortable. He ended up sitting on one of the stools in the kitchen and rested his head in his hands with his elbows propped on the top of the counter.

Hopefully, she would not try to run away. She was a human and if she was spotted in the pack by someone else, they’d think she is a threat and slit her throat. It was already too much that she smelled like a rogue more than a human.

He waited downstairs, paying attention to her movements thanks to his hearing. She had not yet tried to escape, that was good.