Hunting down witches had never been on Aiden’s agenda. He was a sucker for peace. Besides, his mom was a witch herself, so one could understand his reluctance to go on the mission. Not only did he meet one of the warlocks who were probably involved, but he was the target too. His dad left him in charge of the squad of warriors he sent.
That put a lot of pressure on Aiden even if he would never admit it out loud.
His task wasn’t to capture the witches or anything of the sorts Blake was adamant about that according to his dad but rather to find their base and possibly get them to talk. What unnerved Aiden more was that this hunt was making him part ways with his beloved mate.
But then, he reminded himself that this was for the sake of peace and because they made the first move. It wasn’t his fault if Blake vowed to rain down hell on them as soon as possible.
Aiden had to travel back to Florida. He first went to the place where he had met with the warlock. And then, he went to the cabin in which Karen had been held captive. But to no avail…
As he was reminded of what had transpired, his ire knew skyrocketing highs.
Then, an idea occurred to him. If only he could contact the erasers and manipulate them into giving him the address of the warlock they had sent that day…
It worked out rather well and almost too easily.
He couldn’t help but be wary when he was nearing the address he had been given. The warriors could feel his apprehension, but he didn’t care enough to try to settle his inner beast.
They had devised a plan.
There were six of them in total five warriors and their alpha ultra to be. When nightfall came, they went into action.
One of the warriors kicked the door open. Aiden went in with him and two others, while the remaining two stood outside to make sure nothing and no one was going to interfere with the mission.
They searched the house and were in no time piling up in the basement where they found the culprit.
The partly deranged warlock had a dagger jabbing at a young girl’s neck a she-wolf and no doubt the sister of the one who had been forced to commit treason but not quite drawing blood.
“Let her go,” Aiden hissed.
“So what if I don’t?” He taunted.
“This is a clear violation of The Devil’s Pact rules,” Aiden went on. “Release her at once if you want to be spared.”
He was bluffing for Blake spared no one in such matters he certainly hadn’t spared the vampire prince, his brother… but the warlock didn’t need to know that.
“I could care less about The Devil’s Pact rules,” the warlock spat. “A filthy vampire has no say in what I do.”
Aiden felt victorious already for they were recording everything. The audio clips would later serve as evidence against the witches, against the resistance.
“You clearly have never met him or else you wouldn’t be saying such nonsense,” Aiden shrugged.
“I didn’t but the Carrywell family did. And he fucking led them to their graves,” the warlock spat out as he applied more pressure with the dagger, and a drop of blood oozed out.
The little girl cried out in pain.
Aiden was torn between saving the little girl and getting more information out of the deranged warlock.
“How about we make a deal you and I?” Aiden offered. “We let you go while you free the girl.”
“And what would I get out of this?” He challenged, his eyebrow rising, his chuckle disturbing.
“Her life for yours,” Aiden told him earnestly.
“I don’t believe you. You obviously do not believe in our cause.”
“I am all for peace,” Aiden said matter-of-factly. “But not like this.”
“Then I’m afraid we don’t have a deal,” the warlock spat out before he started chanting something in Latin.
Before he got to finish, Aiden lunged at him and choked him, applying enough pressure on his windpipe to make the man unable to speak.
One of the warriors went to unchain the captive she-wolf and then Aiden dropped the unconscious warlock on the ground.
He had been given strict instructions. He was not supposed to bring the warlock back to the palace. That would only spell more troubles. And thus, despite his reluctance to just let someone else take care of a business that was solely his, he left him there.
“Back to the palace we go,” he announced once that was finished.
It went out smoothly, he thought to himself.
And no sooner had he crossed the threshold of the house, he mentally cursed when he found himself surrounded with wolves.
** ** ** ** **
Aiden had left the palace with but one instruction: be discreet.
Ergo, when he found himself surrounded with five wolves pack wolves and not rogues he was infuriated with himself.
Where did he go wrong?
“I suppose you’re not exactly here for chitchat,” he joked as he looked at them with cold calculating eyes.
He wasn’t quite sure why they had shown up and he was therefore wary of them. Overly cautious? Maybe but that’s just how he was.
One of the wolves growled menacingly at him, and he rolled his eyes at him, earning yet another growl.
“I’m not here to wreck havoc in your territory,” he began in a sincere tone, “besides, I am the next in line to the alpha ultra title. No need to be on the defensive.”
One of them changed into his human form and explained that they smelled foreign scents on their territory, which was the reason why the alpha sent them his warriors to fight off the intruders.
“Send Shane and his dad my kindest regards,” Aiden told the man, almost in a dismissing tone.
“Although your claim might be true, we cannot afford to let you go,” the man said.
Aiden arched an eyebrow at that. “Are you challenging me?”
“So what if I am?” Was the retort he received.
“Know your place!” One of the warriors accompanying Aiden growled.
“We’re going to leave,” Aiden announced, “and you’re going to stop spouting nonsense. I don’t have time to play with you.”
Indeed, he had urgent matters to tend to, and a mate to go back to.
But that statement of his had the knack to infuriate the man and his fellow wolves.
“If it’s a blood bath you want, pup, it’s a damned blood bath you’ll get,” the man growled.
Aiden reasoned that he had been called worse like kiddo by the troublemaker therefore he didn’t mind the name-calling so much… but the challenge that was thrown with it was something else altogether.
He instructed the warriors through mind-link to take care of the frightened little girl.
We cannot possibly allow you to act like a decoy, one of the warriors said via mind-link.
I’m not going into a suicide mission. I feel that beating this sorry excuse of a warrior will do the job, Aiden countered.
Said warrior was changing back into his wolf form. But Aiden was quicker than him. He lunged at him before his change was complete, and held him in a tight hold, restricting his air pipe. The half-man half-wolf struggled in his hold and even slashed his arm but Aiden didn’t let up.
He was only satisfied when the man dropped unconscious by his feet.
The other wolves stood in a little bit of a shock at that, as per his expectations.
Aiden and his team took the chance to flee the scene.
Theoretically, they had done nothing wrong. They had a mission to retrieve the girl and said mission was accomplished successfully. And they also had a goal to be discreet which wasn’t carried out in the same manner sadly enough.