Rejected by one Alpha, Loved by another

Chapter 71 - Capturing Adeline

Jaxons POV

A week has come and gone since Esme's return, and a sense of normalcy had begun to settle over our household. She spent countless hours in the garden with our children, their laughter filling my heart with warmth and chatter between my mom and wife also filling the air. Esme had also expressed an interest in starting a hobby to keep herself occupied, a welcome sign of her recovery the said, and I think she chose to do some arts type of thing so me and Charlie are planning to go out and buy her what ever art supplies she wants and needs. She isn't leaving this house unless she has a full protective system in place whether it be me, Charlie, Finley my dad or hunter. The pack I trust but my wife needs time to trust again and where better to start than in her home?

Beneath the surface of our loving, carefree home, however, a storm was brewing. For the past week, my pack had been relentlessly hunting Adeline Carter, the werewolf who had been terrorising Esme, former pack member to her pack. Our eyes and ears were on every pack member at waterside pack and their movements, yet Dylan, Adeline's supposed mate, remained oblivious to our pursuit.

I couldn't shake the feeling that Dylan was playing us for fools. While I couldn't trust him an inch, I couldn't ignore the possibility that he might be genuinely unaware of Adeline's full actions. It was a risky gamble, but I decided to test his loyalty.

One evening, as Esme was reading to the kids before bed, I rang Dylan's phone to the waterside pack, he didn't sound surprised so if he was he was hiding it well. I knew he would look for her too because he 'Loved' her so he says.

"Dylan," I began, my voice calm but firm, "we have been tracking Adeline's movements for the past week and nothing. Have you found anything?" I said while keeping hunter and Charlie entertained with his stuttering.

A flicker of unease crossed his face. "Nothing Alpha" he said, his voice trembling slightly.

"Don't play games with me, Dylan," I calmly said into the phone. It's more of a test to see how he responds to my questions. Until she is either dead or in our dungeons I don't think I will rest as good.

Dylan's voice lowered as if he's got to try to be in charge or authoritative. 'I don't know what you're talking about,' he said but then added "She's not welcome here. It's been nearly 10 days Alpha, 4 more and she is classed as a rogue to all." He grits out and that's all I need for confirmation as to know he doesn't know her plans or where she could be hiding.

'I'll get you and I will rip you limb from limb Adeline Carter' I thought to myself. Angry and over whelmed With energy to find her I couldn't help but feel the deep connection between me and the packs plans to rip her apart.

" If You're lying," I snapped.

"I'm not lying to you alpha Jaxon. I swear it. I have too much going on at our pack to care for her any longer"

Hunters face went somber as I continued my talk with Langley...once I was finished on the phone he was quick to jump in with his opinions. Normally he isn't one to bother about mishaps in the pack as I deal with it but when it concerns family..."I... I don't know what to say," he stammered. "I don't want to cloud anyone's judgement here but he has been with her for how long now? He rejected Esme but had been with her a while prior to that..." and it's enough to get my clogs ticking.

" thanks... I was already having doubts" I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. " We will find Adeline, and when we do, she will pay for her crimes and if he is involved...then so will he" I said painfully holding blaze back.

"Bro...your eyes..." he said. I went to the mirror and my eyes were red with purple in the middle...it has never happened before. What the fuck?

The next day I made an hours trip to the waterside pack in hopes to spot them both together.

Dylan's eyes met mine, and in that moment, I saw a flicker of fear. He knew I was serious. He knew that if he didn't cooperate, his girlfriend or mates life would be forfeit.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"You will help us find Adeline," I said. "You will tell us everything you know about her whereabouts. And when you last spoke to her"

Dylan hesitated for a long moment before nodding slowly. " fine but then we go back to our treaty and leave each other alone" he more or less asked instead of told which I knew was fine by me. The sooner he and his pack are out of our lives the better.

With Dylan's help, our search intensified. We tracked Adeline's movements across the territory, following her trail with Calliope's help and gathered useful pieces of information from our informants. Days turned in a week but things were starting to look up.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, we cornered Adeline in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of waterside pack lands, She fought back with all her might, but our pack was too strong. We subdued her and brought her back to our territory with the help of Dylan, we placed her in our dungeons with 2 guards down there.

As we interrogated Adeline, Dylan stood by silently, his face a mask of guilt and shame. He had betrayed her yes, but he had also saved our pack from further harm.

In the end, Adeline was found guilty of her crimes and sentenced to death. Dylan was allowed to stay behind with her but even he knew that their bond was forever broken.

And so, the storm that had threatened to tear our pack apart subsided, leaving behind a sense of both victory and loss. Esme had no idea that we had caught her and was going to wonder what we did with her now and for that, I was grateful because then I could explain everything to her and explain that she is in no harms way

Protecting my life and my wife's as well as our childrenlife will always be a priority.