Aiden Freeman

Chapter fourteen

"Hey! How are you guys doing?" She asked as soon as she answered her phone.

"Well, we survived the night." I answered sarcastically.

"I'm glad. So, at what hotel are you guys staying?" She asked.

"We stayed at my house." I replied.

"Why?" She asked rather harshly.

I was slightly taken back by her attitude. "Well, Rachel stayed with mom in the hospital and-"

"Wait, in the hospital?! What happened?" She interrupted me.

"Oh, right. We didn't tell you, didn't we?"

"You guys were in a hurry to get out of here. I didn't know why."

"That's why. Mom.. mom has a tumor. Rachel called Iris and after the test we left directly to the hospital." I explained.

"Oh man. I'm really sorry to hear that. Is she okay or?..." She left the sentence hang, probably not to say anything she might think is rude.

"Thankfully, Rachel took her to the hospital just in time. She's slowly getting better know." I told her.

She sighed in relief. "I'm glad. Listen. About the test, Rudolph says sorry for not telling you, and that the wolf sent to attack you is now better. Though he doesn't like that you didn't try to kill him." She told me.

"Look, I already said why. I didn't want to kill someone in front of a little girl." I said, angry that the subject was brought up.

"You weren't gonna kill him anyways. Rudolph hid very well in the woods, and you were too concentrated in "saving" Elizabeth to notice him." She said and then sighed. "He wasn't going to let you kill him, but I understand what you mean."

"At least you do. Why does he hate rogues so much anyways?" I asked her. Curious for the answer.

"The reason he hates them so much is linked to me losing my parents." She answered.

"Oh."

"Yeah. He just, didn't want me to suffer, I guess." Autumn told me. "So, you guys are leaving soon?"

"Yeah. We're gonna buy them online and then leave. Probably tomorrow or the day after tomorrow." I answered.

"Alright. Hey, I should tell you to do whatever you can in Ceiba Negra and come back asap. Rudolph already has backup, Below Creek pack. They're good fighters and good trackers." She told me and then sighed. "This is going to be a big war, Aiden. A big wolf war."

There was a moment of silence between us. These nine seconds felt sad more than awkward. What Autumn had just said, it made me realize that many people would die. Many families wouldn't have a father, and from what I've heard, mates don't do well when one of them dies. And I wouldn't blame them. I can't imagine a second without Iris, it would only bring me endless suffering.

"I have to go Aiden. Harry is calling me." She told me.

"Okay."

"Bye." She said.

"Take care." I responded and then hanged the call.

-

The flight we bought was for three days from today and we decided to relax during those days. Rachel came home early in the afternoon to look for something mom wanted and even took a selfie with me and Iris to show it to mom. We went with her to the hospital and then came back, and so there we were. Iris and I were just about to sleep.

Then I sniffed a scent I didn't want to smell. Rogues.

"You look distant. What's wrong?" Iris asked me.

"Rogues." I answered emotionlessly.

"Are they near?"

I sniffed once more and to my surprise, they were near. The scent got stronger and stronger by the second.

"Iris get your stuff. We're going to leave." I told her while grabbing some of my essential stuff to put it in a backpack.

She didn't respond but did as told. Then she ran to the bathroom.

"Don't worry about things like shampoo and soap. We'll buy that in Puerto Rico. Right now we gotta run." I told her and she ran back from the bathroom rolling her eyes as I said it.

I sniffed again and the rogues were getting closer and closer. There were more than ten at the least.

I signaled Iris to move quicker because I had already finished and I was waiting for her. She had a bigger backpack than I did and had more stuff. When she finished she nodded at me and we started running down the stairs. Then she gasped and ran back upstairs.

"What happened?" I asked her worriedly.

"My purse!" She yelled while running.

I waited for her to come back down. At least she was quick enough and then we were back to running.

She started opening the door while I took a last strong sniff.

"Shit." I said.

"What?" She asked and when she opened the door she got her answer.

I grabbed her waist with my left arm and motioned her behind me to protect her.

The rogues were in the front yard.