The Blue Blood Alpha

Chapter 32 - Shift!

Knox shifts back to skin form, his body bruised and battered, large gashes on his side and legs drip blood. Being a blue blood, he will heal fast. Jaxon hands him his clothes and he dresses, and approaches Caden tentatively, making sure to stand out of the wolf's striking distance.

"Shift cousin!" Knox booms. The black wolf snarls in response, he clearly has no intention of returning to skin form.

"What you are doing is weak cousin! Do not allow the loss of your mate to be in vain!"

The black wolf ceases snarling at the mention of his mate. His gold eyes staring warily at Knox, some form of understanding is filtering through.

"I understand the desire to succumb to your beast and remain in the wild. I too, wanted to run away from my pack when my beloved Eloise died. But I swore on the bodies of my dead mate and pup, that I would avenge their deaths. I took a solemn vow to bring down the CBC. Only once the CBC have been defeated can we rest. I need you cousin, I cannot defeat them alone. Shift!"

The massive black wolf lies on his side, head resting on the ground. He is no longer snarling, but he is not shifting either.

"Think of your mate cousin! What would you do for her? She is gone, but you are still here! You must fight for her. Once we destroy the CBC, I will take off into the wild with you if that's what you want, but until that day we have work to do. Shift and fight with me! Fight for your mate!"

Massive body convulsing, as though an internal struggle is taking place, fur begins to recede, bones breaking and realigning. It has been four months since Caden has shifted back to skin form, and it is physically difficult to shift. It doesn't help that he is collared in silver, which has weakened him severely. Slowly the wolf shifts back to man, revealing Caden's human form. Like his wolf, Caden has grown huge and is ripped with muscles. Jaxon and Knox approach carefully, there is no knowing if Caden is still sane or not.

"Alpha are you okay?" asks Jaxon tentatively.

"Get this fucking collar off me!" Caden looks up at Knox "I'm with you cousin, I will do whatever it takes to avenge our mates. Let's go hunt some CBC scum!"

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Reaching for his scotch decanter, Caden pours himself two fingers. He takes a sip as he walks back towards his desk. It has been four weeks since he returned from the wild, and he is exhausted. Jaxon and himself have been working double duty to keep the pack in order, hunt down the CBC, and keep their whiskey production on schedule. They are sorely missing Ava, not having a capable Delta is taking its toll. Luke is a good, hard-working wolf, but he is not Delta material. A Delta needs to be able to command the respect of the warrior wolves, and Luke just doesn't have what it takes to keep them in line. Delta Trials will need to be held soon, to select a new third in command, but Caden just hasn't had the time to implement them.

Glancing at the stack of mail on his desk, which has piled up over the months he went feral, he sighs as he reaches for the top letter. He has been putting off going through his mail, as there has been more important matters to deal with. Most of the letters are invitations from other Alphas to visit their packs, they are courting him, trying to match him up with their daughters. Somehow Caden has become the most eligible bachelor wolf in the country. Everyone wants blue blood genes in their lineage, and believing Caden's mate to be dead, means he is eligible to take a chosen mate. Caden tosses another invitation in the bin, the trash is piling up. A large brown A4 sized envelope catches his attention. He slides the envelope out of the stack, he turns it over and notes the return address as Silver Moon pack. Sniffing the envelope, he can just barely detect Lily's scent. He looks at the stamped date, this letter was sent over four months ago!  Why did he not open this sooner! Tearing open the envelope his heart almost stops at what he sees. He carefully slides out the beautiful watercolour painting from the plastic protective cover. It's a perfect rendition of his black wolf nuzzling Lily's beautiful golden wolf, the memories of their one and only run together come flooding back. That was probably the happiest moment of his life. He turns the picture over, looking for an inscription or note, there is nothing. Looking in the envelope, it is empty, there was only the artwork. He stares at the picture, for what feels like an hour, memorising every brush stroke, picturing Lily painstakingly painting this for him.

Realisation dawns on him that Lily sent this four months ago, and he never responded. Lily is always on his mind, but he is ashamed to realise he hasn't once reached out to her since the rejection. He felt it would be best to cut all ties, so she could move on with her life. His wolf is whimpering in his head, desperate to see that their mate is ok. He had promised Alpha Knox that he would pay a visit to Silver Moon and perform some recognisance work on the CBC spy amongst their midst. They have a strong suspicion that Alpha Roberts is somehow involved with the CBC, but they still had no proof. It was extremely serious if they falsely accuse Alpha Roberts of treason, punishable by death, they needed to have proof first. Maybe it was time to go to Silver Moon and pay the older Alpha a visit, and it wouldn't hurt to check up on Lily at the same time, just to make sure she was in good health. He would not interfere in her life, he just wanted to ensure she was ok. He picks up his phone and dials his Beta.

"Yes Alpha?" Jaxon answers

"Jaxon, I need you to contact Alpha Roberts at Silver Moon, and arrange a visit".

"When would you like to go?"

"Tomorrow!" With that Caden hangs up. Tomorrow he would be seeing Lily again, and he could hardly wait.

Sorry for the delayed update, I started a new job recently, and it has taken up all my time.  @SadiaAhamed5  - thank you for your kind words of support - it gave me the push to get this chapter out.  If you like the story please follow me, vote, and comment - so I know to continue – I really appreciate your support :)