Chapter 43: Chapter 43

/Aiden’s POV/

I was annoyed at the abrupt call from Liam, which drove me out of the mall, leaving Rose with Ria. The beta would not have called me if not for the emergency. With that thought in mind, I slid on the green icon, striding out of the mall and towards the parking. It's almost impossible to get a signal inside, and with all the noises, simply not worth answering inside.

“Hello?”

“Alpha Aiden, I apologise for disturbing you, but it’s urgent.”

See? I knew it! Leaning against the hood of my car, I cleared my throat. “Alright. What is it?”

“Pack Alpha Derek called.” Liam breathed loudly. “It’s bad news. They are losing against the BrightMoon Pack.”

My shoulders sagged at the information, head cast down towards my shoes. I had an inkling about something like this happening sooner than later. Not that Derek Cassano was a weak Alpha by any means. My friend knew how to handle fights, but this was a war against his pack. His army was small, and BrightMoon took advantage of the fact, tying with as many packs as possible to use their army. Initially, when it started, I offered my help to my friend, but he was overconfident about winning on his own.

Palming my temples, I tightened the grip on my phone. “Did he ask for our help?”

“He sent his two guards along with a contract. You need to look over as we are needed in two days.”

“Did you read the contract?”

Liam hummed. “It’s legit. He’s offering us thirty percent of annual revenue along with extra money beforehand as a surety. I would say we should take it, use that to finish the last floor of the packhouse.”

A laugh slipped out of my throat, thinking back to the packhouse. My ancestors built it with great effort, and each generation only made it luxurious except for my father, who was willing to keep it the same. I demanded to have another floor plan, but it was not approved due to budget issues.

“I’ll be there soon. We will go over the contract together.”

“Okay, Alpha.”

The line went dead. As soon as the call ended, I immediately texted Ria to wind up their shopping. Instead of going in, I stayed in the car, falling face-first on the steering wheel as I waited for them.

My stomach twisted at the thought of leaving the pack in two days. Usually, these kinds of wars lasted for a while until one of them gives up or ends up dead. There’s no in-between, and knowing the new Alpha of BrightMoon pack, he’s not the one to easily give up.

The knock on the window startled me. Raising my head, I blinked at Ria, brows furrowed together when I didn’t find Rose with her. I swiftly clicked the button to roll down the window.

“Where is Rose?”

“Huh? She’s not back?”

Panic gripped my chest suddenly, and I got out of my car, towering over my friend. “Why would she come back alone? You were supposed to be with her!” My voice echoed around, raising several eyes, but no one bothered to intervene.

Ria squirmed, nervously licking her lips. “I wanted us to leave together, but…she was still shopping.”

“Fuck!” I kicked at the tyres, not caring about the sudden jolt of pain coursing through me. Ria let out a whine next to me, taken back.

Anger welled in my gut as I imagined the omega wandering around the mall. Why would she take such a stupid risk? I tugged on the locks of my hair, eyes roaming around the parking lot.

“Stay here while I go find her.”

Ria dumbly nodded her head while I rushed inside the mall, pushing through the crowd.

***

Minutes later, and I still hadn’t managed to locate her anywhere inside. No one had seen the omega I was describing, which left me confused. Rose had to be in some store, according to what Ria said earlier. Why could I not find her then?

Her scent was also not traceable, with so many of them present in the mall, contaminating her pure rosy smell.

My heart began thumping in my chest at a variable rate, legs not coordinating with the rest of my body. After a while, I decided to take the door that led to alleys.

The lights were dim, and it smelled strange, stale and muggy as I walked through. Looking around, I noticed that the walls were covered in all kinds of graffiti, one narrow road leading to many paths. Walking for what felt like another few minutes, but it might be less, it might be more, I managed to get a faint whiff of her scent. My Alpha was elated.

Following the scent, I managed to find Rose, surrounded by the rogues as they tried to drag her away. They were three of them. She resorted to screaming in their faces, beating on the rogue's chest with her freed hand, struggling to getaway.

My blood boiled at sight, a loud growl escaping me that echoed around. They stilled in spot, the grip on her wrist loosening.

“We found her first pal! Get lost!”

Rose widened her eyes upon seeing me, her mouth parting. “Alpha! Please help me!”

The one who held her bared his canines, eyes narrowing while jostling her around. Pushing his face closer to her, the rogue snarled. “You had a problem calling me Alpha, baby girl earlier what changed?”

I bared my canines, raising my claw at him, watching him still. “That’s because I am her Alpha! Now get the fuck away from my mate.”

The rogue stood up to focus on me while leaving Rose to scramble away to the best of her ability, running to my side. In matter of minutes, I gave into my Alpha, bones cracking under the pressure as I stood on my paws. My long, bushy tail stuck straight out behind me, my coat of fur was bristled and raised offensively.

The rogue began to shift into his wolf, but he was expectedly slow by comparison, and I used that opportunity to the lung for him. My teeth crushed into his head, penetrating his skull. Then, with a few violent shakes, I managed to tear the crown from his shoulders with a sickening, squelching sound. Blood splattered on my face, eyes still burning with intensity.

A strange sound slipped out from Rose as she stayed rooted on the spot.

My howl over the fallen victim rang around, scaring the rest of them and promoting them to run away.

***

I carried Rose to the car, careful of the trauma she had been through minutes ago, not sure if they’d hurt her anywhere. Only the pack doctor could tell. She had no visible marks, only redness around her slender wrist.

Initially, she flinched before her head came up to look at me properly. It seemed to take her a moment before her arm reached forward silently. I advanced again, and her other arm came up and around my body, grabbing a fist full of his fur before she hesitantly perched on me.

Ria's mouth dropped open when she saw us approaching her but didn’t say anything. My friend must have sensed the shift in our moods, tension radiating off

Rose as the omega folded her mouth. She started to interrogate Rose about her whereabouts, but no response from the omegas side shut her up real quick.

Once inside the car, I shifted and put on my spare clothes, watching as Rose sat silently in the back, her head facing the window. Her face was blank, eyes cold and empty as she refused to say a word.

A heavy sigh slipped my mouth, looking away from the sight, chest tightening. What had I done to her?

***