Chapter 24: Lucas

Chapter 24: Lucas

Aria was gone.

Even after I told her not to go, emphasizing her importance to me and my primal fear of something happening to her, she still took off, venturing out alone to contact the Council of Seven. I should have expected she would take matters into her own hands. She had a knack for it. That was just one of the countless things I adored about her. Too bad this time, it came back around to bite me in the ass.

I stared hollowly at the masses gathered before me, knowing without seeing it that she had left. Her face wasn’t among those in the crowd. She never came back with Esther. My fists clenched so tight that they turned white as I reflected on everything leading up to this moment. The moment I lost Aria so quickly after finally making her mine.

For a long time, I’d kept an eye on Aria. At first, it was only because she was destined to become the Alpha Female of one of my subsidiary packs through her fated bond with Oswald Moore. I kept my distance, watching from afar—but following her progress became a guilty pleasure. She excelled at everything she attempted. Every test, every project, every assessment, every challenge. Her diligence impressed me. I hated to say it, but I was jealous.

I’d never breathed a word of this to anyone. Nobody would have understood. I, Lucas Black, Alpha of the Silent Shadows Pack, CEO of Shadow Manufacturing... jealous of someone. I had everything.

Except a fated mate.

The loss of my fated mate was a tragedy nobody liked to talk about. She was in and out of my life in the blink of an eye, leaving a vacancy in my heart that nothing could fill. I tried to ignore it, but that void turned out to be the exact same shape as my jealousy. Aria would have made the perfect counterpart to me if only she’d been born in my pack.

But it was wrong to pine over what I couldn’t have. Aria was several years younger than me, anyway. I had no business desiring her.

All reason was lost when I saw her for the first time. Our fateful encounter a few months ago ignited the fire in me that craved to burn everything in my path to get to her. She was more beautiful than I ever could have imagined. Her silky copper-coloured hair smelled sweetly of vanilla and cranberry. Her gorgeous, shining green eyes were a hue unlike any I’d ever seen, and when she looked at me, it was like she’d looked right into my soul, read my mind, and knew everything I felt. She held every thought behind those soft little lips of hers. I lost myself counting each adorable freckle on her cheek. She was so small and yet so encompassing; I felt like she knew everything in my heart, those few moments we spoke for the first time.

It was all in my head, but the obsession was real.

It took everything I had not to reach out to Aria, find some excuse to summon her to my office and let slip that I wanted her. I respected Oswald Moore too much to overstep. But I would willingly admit to the dalliances that brought me to the Grey Creek Pack’s territory, those next encounters with Aria. I wanted to laugh when she mistook me for a mere subordinate, but it was easier to interact with her that way. It put us on level ground. She suspected nothing of my wolf’s mischief. It was easy to let instinct and impulse take over in our chase. I returned home that day and fell asleep fantasizing about the sound of her laugh, and her smell on the breeze.

Then watching her fight, seeing her physical prowess in action—I fell in love with her before she even knew who I was.

Maybe it could have been enough, just getting to know her from a distance as a fellow Alpha. Maybe I could have gotten over my little crush. If our relationship was purely business, if she was well and truly devoted to Oswald, if she showed me that she had no interest in me, maybe I could have shifted my focus onto someone else. Instead, I learned everything keeping me from pursuing Aria was a lie.

Oswald didn’t love her. He abused her! And most of the pack was in on it! People I trusted turned their backs on this poor girl and treated her like she was worthless. They outcaste her for reasons I struggled to understand—I couldn’t fathom why Oswald had chosen a stranger over Aria. She was perfect, and yet everyone in that pack was slowly chipping away at her, breaking her down until she was a shell of herself. It agonized me, knowing I had no right to take her out of that pack, especially when Aria herself insisted that was where she belonged with a family that treated her like garbage.

The day Aria turned up near death at my borders, I resolved then and there that I would make her mine. I would claim her as my mate and give her the life she rightfully deserved after dedicating herself to Oswald and the role that defined her entire life and then suffering his betrayal. I even told Esther I would stop at nothing to fulfill my obsession—if it wasn’t fate placing her in my lap after so many years of unrequited desire, I didn’t know what was.

Fate didn’t always have to be some intangible bond, did it? Fate could be circumstance. It could be karma, and it could be everyone else blind to the virtues of a perfect woman. Fate gave me Aria Gunn. And no matter what, I wasn’t going to let her go.

After my pack was accounted for, I cleared my mind and spoke. “It pains me to do this, but our celebrations tonight must end early. Rogues have been detected at our border. They have slain two Crescent Moon shifters. For your protection, I ask that you all stay here tonight in the hall.”

The crowd erupted in worried murmurs, instantly dashing my pack’s good spirits. I crackled with anger that the rogues took this night from us.

There was no time to waste, so once the news was shared, I collected my strongest soldiers and ran out to the field. I found her scent within seconds, so magnetized to it by our growing bond, and followed it in the direction of the borders. As I feared, she was heading toward Hale Stone.

“You three, you’re coming with me,” I commanded, mobilizing my packmates to go after Aria. “You four, flank to the east. You three, to the west. If there’s any chance those Rogues are still in the area, I want them stopped before they can even set sight on Aria. Move out.”

The instant our paws hit the ground, I bellowed a long, powerful call for Aria, pleading for her to turn around and come back. I needed her back. And I knew she could hear me. My voice was the strongest of all the wolf shifters in Alsa Stone. I knew she could feel my desperation because, in turn, I felt her stubborn determination. Yet from far ahead, where her trail pointed, there was only silence.

Instead, to the west, a racket of barks and howls caught my attention. I veered toward the sound, only to recognize the autumnal colours of Dax Knight, the Pack Hunter of the Moonstone Pack, panting and fatigued in his wolf form. “Dax!” I shouted. “What’s wrong?”

“Alpha Black. I’m sorry to interrupt your Perseids Celebration tonight, but I need to speak with you. It’s urgent.”

“It’ll have to be quick. Our celebration ended early due to the threat of Rogues.”

His eyebrows rose. “They’re here too?”

“Possibly.” A growl brewed in my chest. “What do you mean, too?”

Dax stepped closer, looking fretfully over his shoulder as if fearing he’d been followed. “The Moonstone Pack has been chasing off Rogues from our borders all day. They’ve been attacking us ruthlessly, just like you and Aria experienced. Not only that, but on the neutral zone between the Grey Creek Pack and us, we’ve found evidence of the Moonstones mingling with the Rogues. Expanding their border in our direction.”

That caught me off guard. There was no good reason for Oswald to be fraternizing with Rogues nor to be expanding his territory without my permission. Considering his pack didn’t participate in the strategy meeting, I was in the dark about their perspective on it. I knew they’d been attacked, but why the sudden change of heart now...?

“Where’s Aria?” Dax interjected, looking concerned. “I heard she left the Grey Creek Pack to join the Silent Shadows. Her trail cuts right through here, but it leads toward Hale Stone.”

My heart sank. Even if I’d been hoping Dax saw Aria on his way in, this alone proved she’d evaded him too. “She went to speak with the Council of Seven. We have reason to believe the Crescent Moon Pack is under attack by the Rogues. I told her not to go alone, but...”

“But that girl tends to take matters into her own hands,” said Dax. “I’m not surprised. If she thinks there’s something, anything she can do to help, nothing will change her mind.”

Dax’s understanding nursed my frustration. Being Aria’s cousin, he had far more experience with the young Gunn, but we both saw the same qualities in her. Confidence. Altruism. Unwavering courage. She had the heart of an Alpha Female. I just prayed it didn’t get her killed.

“We have to find her before it’s too late,” I said firmly, stepping back in the direction of her scent trail.

Dax hurried after me. “I want to help,” he said. “But there’s something else you should know.”

I tipped an ear back to listen, my pace otherwise uninterrupted.

Dax caught up and walked beside me, lowering his voice so my packmates couldn’t overhear. “Ever since Aria left the Grey Creek Pack, Alpha Moore has been acting... questionable.”

“He’s been acting questionably since he rejected Aria. What’s different now?”

“Well, then, I suppose his behavior has only gotten worse. He’s become wild-eyed and aggressive. His temper turns on a dime. My Alpha and I met with him earlier today on business regarding their territory expansion, and all he talked about was Aria. He’s obsessed with getting her back. Killing her. Lucas, I think she might be in very real danger from him.”

The subject of Oswald left a sour taste in my mouth. He was proving more and more to be unfit for the role of Alpha. It wasn’t always like this; up until a few months ago, Oswald had been a steadfast, reliable leader. Ever since Mara Torres entered the picture, his rationality and level head were gone in place of senseless insanity. He was becoming more unpredictable by the day. I shuddered to think of how far his insanity would take him, but I had a creeping feeling I already knew.

Which meant Aria was in even more severe danger than I thought. She might be able to outrun Rogues, but if Oswald had his entire pack behind him? Aria’s fate would be decided, and Oswald would ensure her fate wouldn’t be with me.

I had to save her.