Brian’s POV
The familiar scent of the woods filled my senses as I crossed the border back into the pack’s territory. It had been a long week, longer than I had anticipated, and I was eager to return. The tensions between the rogue packs and the local righteous packs had escalated, forcing me to handle delicate negotiations in the East. Also, there was a message that there had been a call of peace by all the packs of Ellorin, in which I was invited. hadn’t been easy, but it had to be done.
I smiled, seeing the message, and I had thrown it to the deepest part of my trash. Who care about their trash meeting and peace talks when they can’t even be at peace in their own individual packs.
My trip has been nothing like a honeymoon trip. It was filled with facing dangers and fishing our criminals. Still, the entire time I was away, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Cara, that’s her name, I had overheard it from her and debbys’ discussion that night my wolf forced his way out and marked her.
It frustrates me that I can’t take a single sleep without thinking about the unholy image of her that fateful night. The long lashes, and her erect nipple trying to break out of her dress, her innocence with those pouted lips fit to be used properly, was something that struck a chord in me, of all my scent around her made me want to bend her down take her there and there.
Marking her was a mistake i hadn’t planned on, but the moment I scented her, everything in me shifted. She was mine, and yet I had abandoned her. I gave orders to make her life a living hell. Maybe she will know that she is just a weak wolf who isn’t worth anything.
As I made my way into the main clearing, the Beta, Garreth, was already waiting for me with the other pack soldiers, lining up in waiting for their king. His figure stood tall, but there was a stiffness in his posture I easily noticed, usually when he wanted me not to know of something. His eyes briefly flickered with something, guilt, maybe, before he offered me a small nod in salute.
“Welcome back, Alpha,” he greeted, his tone measured.
I returned the nod, but my focus was elsewhere. “How’s the pack?”
“All is in order,” Gareth replied quickly, almost too quickly, his gaze shifting away for the briefest moment.
I gritted my teeth, trying to shake off the intrusive thoughts. She was nothing more than a weak, insignificant Omega. She didn’t matter. And yet… I needed to see her to prove to myself that I still held control over her and over myself.
“And Cara?” I asked, my voice low. The question had been burning in me since the moment I crossed the border. “Did she cause any trouble?, not stepping an inch out of the cottage?”
Garreth’s jaw tensed, and he hesitated, the silence stretching between us like a taut string. His hesitation did not go unnoticed. My eyes narrowed, and I took a step closer, demanding his answer without words.
Finally, Garreth spoke, his voice a little too steady. “No, Alpha. Everything’s been… fine. Cara has stayed in the cottage, as instructed. She has not caused any trouble .” He avoided my gaze, and I could see the effort it took for him to keep his face impassive.
“and my instructions, where they followed…” I glared at him.
He nooded ” yes Alpha”. I didn’t believe him. Not for a second. But Garreth was loyal, and I trusted him, and if something had happened, surely he would tell me. Wouldn’t he?
When I wanted to inquire more, a piercing pain came from my side. I clenched my fists, fighting the urge to groan,
“Alpha , are you okay?” Garreth immediately came to my side, but I shunned his hands off me. The wound I received from an ambush was refusing to heal. The bullet was laced with wolfbane. It will take a few more days to go away. Though the bastards responsible were already headless, rolling in their Graves.
“It’s okay , tell me more about what happened when I was away” I inquired from him.
“Nothing much happened in the pack Alpha”, everything was under control before I was night.
Before I could question Garreth more, the distant sound of a bell pierced through the air, sharp and insistent. It was the emergency bell, the one that signaled an immediate threat or danger to the pack.
My head snapped toward the direction of the sound, and my heart raced with instinctive urgency. Something was wrong.
“What’s going on?” I barked, already moving toward the sound.
Garreth’s face paled slightly, and for the first time since I had returned, I saw genuine concern in his eyes. “I don’t know, Alpha, but we need to check it out. Now.”
The bell rang again, louder this time, and the atmosphere of the pack shifted, tension seeping into the air as warriors scrambled into position.
Without another word, Garreth and I sprinted toward the main square where the bell was mounted. My mind raced with possibilities. Had my enemy packs launched an attack? Were there intruders? Or was this something else entirely?
But one thought burned brighter than all the others as my feet pounded the ground.
Where was Cara?
The thought nagged at me, louder than the bell ringing in the distance. I should have checked on her first. I should have made sure she was still locked away in the cottage.
I changed direction without a word, ignoring Garreth’s puzzled look as I headed toward the far end of the pack grounds where the cottage stood. My chest tightened with an uneasy feeling I couldn’t shake.
When I reached the cottage, I stopped outside the door, my hand hovering over the handle. I could hear nothing from inside. The silence only heightened the knot of anxiety twisting in my gut.
I pushed the door open.
Empty.