The Alpha's Shatter Zone ✔️

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Lexi had shouted after her, begging through the link to think this through before running off with abandon. Nothing good would be achieved without a firm plan in place. But who cared about plans when Kaiden was out there, injured and maybe dying?

So what if it was a trap? So what if someone was prodding her, luring her in to do something stupid that resulted in war? She'd solve those problems as they came. But right now, she had to find her mate.

One step at a time, one heartbeat at a time. As long as Kaiden's heart was still beating, she'd fight for him. He may have been a raving, arrogant, disrespectful pig, but he was still her mate. And she realised she cared for him much more than she ever admitted before. He was also sweet at times, kind, and seemed to genuinely care for her too. The way his warm brown eyes made her feel when they peered at her relentlessly, was something she could never walk away from. She would never walk away or push away her mate. Her soul mate.

His scent took her up to the north boundary lines, and she stopped to sniff the ground, finding a rock that was stained with his blood--the place the necklace had been left. Pawing the ground in agitation, her wolf turned in circles before finding more spots of blood, a little trail leading over the boundary line. For a few metres of no man's land it continued, over the rocky mountain peak then down the other side.

Pausing at the summit, Chesca watched the rising sun for a moment, catching her breath and taking in her surroundings. She didn't normally come this far from the pack castle, it being a few dozen miles from her castle and so close to the border that everyone knew to stay away from. The Razestone Pack was not one to be trifled with, and Chesca didn't like the view of the brown trees and desolate landscape that stretched out below her. Full of rocks and stubble, not many of the Razestone pack's members lived in the wild, preferring the modern comforts of the city. Stretching her gaze further to the horizon, Chesca could just make out the faint outlines of skyscrapers amidst the smoky haze and rosy glow of the sun. She hated pollution. She hated Razestone, but if that's where Kaiden had been born and raised, if that's where he had been dragged back to, bleeding and injured, then she would get over her personal preferences. As Alpha, she knew what she had to do, what every Alpha would do in her position. Especially for one's mate.

Lifting her head to the bright violet sky, she let out a long howl that scattered a few birds from their nesting places. It encompassed the pain in her soul, the emptiness in her heart, and the quest to find the cause of this grief. It wasn't a numbing grief that made her freeze with indecision and confusion, but an empowering grief that spurred her to vengeful action. To seek justice. To find her mate despite everything about him she hated, because there was much more she loved.

Not really caring for a reply, but hearing a few from her pack behind her anyway, she lowered her nose back to the ground and followed the trail once more, disappearing into the dark and shadowy forest on the territory of Razestone.

After a good part of the day had passed, and the sun was beginning to sink in the western sky, a hazy orange glow overtook the atmosphere. Chesca came upon a clearing between the trees, Kaiden's scent draped all around it. The dirt was scuffed and the leaves brushed in patterns that suggested a fight had taken place. Spots of blood stained the soil, and it wasn't all Kaiden's.

So he hadn't gone down without a fight. Chesca felt a surge of pride for her strong Alpha mate. The feelings did little to catch her off guard.

Stalking to the centre of the clearing, her heart clenched at the sight of a broken arrow, each shaft soaked red. Chesca nudged them with her nose, images flashing across her mind's eye of her mate with an arrow in his skin, perhaps snapping it and pulling it out before the poison on the tip could spread through his veins. But there was no one here now, just an empty clearing haunted with many possibilities of how they had hurt her Kaiden.