34 - Nightshade
HADEN
I stepped out of the office, feeling the anger release its grasp on me, replaced by pride. She was mine and no one else was going to give her the pleasure that I could. No matter what her past was, it wasn't going to ever compare to her present and her future – I would make sure of that.
The crisp air of the early morning greeted me as I strolled out of the pack house, getting back to the task at hand. Before I heard Zara's little conversation with Natalia, my focus was to get an update on the wolves' training and patrol routines.
As I closed in on the training compound, my arms tucked behind my back and my eyes honing in on the men in battle. The sounds of training bounced against my ears as I stood on the sidelines, Conner leading the charge with focus, the morning sun in the background as he engaged with the wolves.
His expertise in handling the pack's formidable companions was evident, each command met with a synchronized response from the wolves. It was a dance of dominance and submission, a delicate balance that mirrored the intricate dynamics within our pack.
He was my Gamma for a reason.
As the training session reached its conclusion, Conner approached me, the subtle tension of responsibility etched into the lines of his face.
"They're getting there," he initiated, his gaze also looking at the men hard at work.
"Indeed they are," I agreed, "they still have a lot of work to do to go up against the Rogue King's men."
"They'll be ready," he promised.
I nodded. "The patrol runs need to be more consistent as well. I don't want any rogues slipping through the cracks."
"Already done. Oh, don't forget about that Alphas meeting," he added as he glanced at me.
"Yeah, I remember," I answered, "things should be smoother now that we settled the... differences between myself and Bryon."
"We or you?" he pointed out with a smirk.
I deadpanned.
"Point is, there should be no awkwardness for anyone. The recent attacks actually help us understand how powerful the Rogue Kind has gotten."
Amidst our conversation, a subtle shift in the air caught my attention. I turned, sensing the familiar presence of my mate. Zara stood alongside Natalia, their proximity highlighting a newfound closeness that left a trace of concern lingering in the recesses of my mind. I couldn't possibly imagine how close they would have gotten, but I was grateful for it. There was no awkwardness between them and I knew Natalia was making every effort to make things work.
My focus didn't return to Conner until they disappeared from view, and I didn't miss the smirk on his face.
"Don't look at me like that,"
"What ever do you mean, Alpha?" he questioned, his smirk widening. When I rolled my eyes, he chuckled and added, "How are things going between you anyway?"
At that, I frowned and turned my gaze back to the men walking away from the field, training done for the morning.
"She slept with someone," I muttered, "I walked into the kitchen and heard her tell Natalia that before she came here, she slept with someone else."
"So?" Conner asked, making my gaze flash to his.
"What do you mean so?" I growled at him, "She's mine. She should only belong to me."
"Yes, and she does belong to you," he coaxed, sensing my anger, "but at the same time she had a life before she stumbled on this land – on this lifestyle. Haden, the way of rogues – their entire lifestyle – is very different from ours. They value freedom and non-commitment in every sense. It doesn't surprise me that she gave into that freedom when it came to sex."
His logic made sense and their sense of freedom – their need to want nothing to do with order and stability – was on the long list of reasons why I hated their kind.
"Rogues live by a different set of rules," Conner remarked, his gaze steady. "We may not understand them but they exist nonetheless. With Zara's background, I don't think she knew another lifestyle before she was a rogue."
"I don't know, she mentioned that her parents were killed when she was young. She didn't mention anything about being a part of a pack, just that she remembers the face of the man who killed them,"
"See, there you go. So for all you know, she's been a rogue her entire life and this is all new to her. Don't get hung up on the fact that she had a life before she met you. Trust the connection you have with her and go from there. It's stronger than you think."
"You know," I breathed out, "you're a pain in the ass when you're right."
He threw his head back in laughter.
"Just your friendly neighbourhood therapist. I'll send you the bill," he joked, slapping his hand on my shoulder. I opened my mouth to respond but an alert sounded through the mind-link.
Alpha, we have a problem here in the cells, a voice came through.
What sort of problem? I asked, glancing at Conner and nudging him forward. As we quickly walked to the house and made our way to the basement, my eyes scanned the space, noting the empty post where the guards would be and the open doorway leading to the cells.
My brows furrowed in confusion as I stepped through the threshold, meeting the guards who were rushing back out.
"What's going on in here?"
"Apha, we tried to explain to him why we can't let them out but he's insisting," the guard explained.
"What are you talking about? Him who? And can't let out who?" I snapped, but he shrank visibly under my intense gaze.
"Th-The rogues, sir. H-He wants us to let them out. He said the Luna ordered them to be released," he stuttered.
Zara?
Bypassing the guard, I crossed the threshold and turned the corner finally seeing the man behind this all. I should have fucking known.
"Is there a reason you're here? Or do you just want to be behind the bars of these cells that bad?" I growled out.
Luca stared at me expressionless but his stance changed as if prepared for a fight. The two men behind him didn't say anything, they didn't have to. Their glares said enough.
"You're going to release these men and women and you're going to do it now," he simply said, making my wolf stir at the finality in his tone.
"Last time I checked, I was the Alpha of this pack, not you."
Unbothered, he stepped forward and I growled at the challenge, fists clenched and my eyes never leaving his.
"What kind of Alpha puts women in chains? Is that the kind of man my sister is mated to? Maybe I should take her with me," he continued.
"You'll want to be very careful, rogue," I sneered at him, feeling the fire erupt within me. He dared to threaten me? The only reason he and his men were still breathing was because of Zara. He had caused enough trouble and the last thing I was going to do was take orders from the likes of him.
"Oh yeah? Or what?" he kept pushing. "Look around you. You have these helpless men and women held captive when they've done nothing wrong. You should be ashamed of yourself."
Sounds of agreement came from the rogues that surrounded us but with one furious growl, silence found its way back in.
"You should be six feet under but I guess we'll just have to both live with our fates," I spat out.
"You couldn't even on your best day," he snapped, "now release them and release them now."
Who the fuck did he think he was? I was the Alpha here, not him. My blood boiled, anger pulsing through my veins. I sprung forward, grabbing him by the neck and pinning him to the wall as we both glared at each other. He didn't stay pinned for long, using the wall to push me off him and connecting a fist with my jaw.
Fuck he could punch.
The silence in the room was deafening and everything slowed down as if waiting for my response. Good, they should be terrified because whatever happened next was on him.
My ferocious growl bounced off the walls like a sounding board and I shot my fist out, then gave him one hell of an uppercut, smirking at the groan that escaped him. He grabbed his jaw, but I didn't give him any moment to recover. I punched him again and again, another in his face then his stomach.
He fell to his knees, grabbing his stomach while I hovered over him, my gaze slowly travelling from him to the men who stood behind him. They were smart enough not to move forward, but not smart enough to wipe the glares off their faces. They needed to learn their place and they need to learn it now.
As I stepped forward, a voice sounded from behind me.
"What the hell is going on?"
My fists were still clenched as I spun around, facing Zara who had her hands on her hips and a shocked expression on her face. Her eyes went down to her brother behind me and pushed past me to go to his aid. I felt her worry seep through the mate bond.
"Haden!" she screamed, her eyes flashing back to mine.
"Oh no, don't look at me like that. He's the one who started all this," I immediately protested.
"Yeah because you're holding all these people hostage!" Luca had the nerve to say. I growled and stepped forward, already tired of him, but Zara stepped in between us and pressed her hand against my chest.
"Hey, hey cut it out," she said to me, but my eyes were narrowed at the man behind her. "Haden, stop it." This time, she pulled my head down to look at her. We shared an unspoken language, something I couldn't explain, and I felt the anger begin to fade away.
When she was satisfied, she turned to look at her brother.
"And you," she pointed at him, "quit riling him up!"
"You're siding with him?!" Luca argued. "Look at all these people Zara! They don't deserve to be in here and you know it. They are innocent men and women who simply trespassed into his lands. That was their crime."
"I am not siding with him, all I'm saying is to stop pushing his buttons. He's bad enough as it is," Zara said.
"He's standing right here," I narrowed my eyes at her, leaning on one of the columns and folding my arms.
"What are you even doing in here?" she asked Luca.
At that, his brows furrowed. "I... I don't know. It's like my wolf was being pulled here. To a scent. I don't know whose it was but then when I got down here, I saw all these innocent people who your boyfriend is holding captive," he added, pointedly looking at me.
"Scent?" Zara asked in confusion and I pushed myself off the wall already knowing where this was going. I could tell Zara was my mate the instant my eyes connected with hers, but her scent was what pulled me in every single time.
"Yeah, I can't explain it, but it kept pulling me down here," Luca continued.
"Well I can," I chimed in with my arms folded across my chest, "one of these rogues is your mate. A rogue for a rogue, how... befitting."
"Haden!" Zara scolded and I simply shrugged.
"And you've had my mate in a cell?" Luca asked, his tone taking a dangerous dip. With a brow raised, I didn't waste my breath on a response. "Answer me!" he exclaimed, his eyes flashing gold, the sign of his wolf at the surface. Without thinking, I pulled Zara behind me and snarled at him.
"You better calm the fuck down," I growled at him.
"Oh, I heard he killed her a few days ago. Must've known the truth all along," one of the rogues chimed in from behind his cell, pleased to have added fire to the flame. This is why I didn't like rogues, I thought as I glared at him, all they did was lie and start chaos.
It worked though.
Luca's growl shook the room and his eyes transitioned to fully gold.
"Zara get out of here," I threw over my shoulder as I prepared myself to shift.
"No!" she shouted back.
My head snapped to look at her and glared. "Now isn't the time to –"
Bones cracking replaced the sound of his growl and I cursed silently, pulling Zara's forearm and running upstairs to stand in front of the pack house, Zara tucked safety behind me.
"Haden, don't –"
"Zara, what do you expect me to do?" I exasperatedly asked her.
In seconds, a light brown wolf emerged from the basement with a deadly snarl and his eyes trained on me.
"And I suppose you don't want me to kill him?" I simply asked, eyes focused on the wolf before me.
"That would be ideal, yes! What kind of question is that? Look, why don't you let me talk to him? It's what that man said that set him on edge," Zara said from behind me. I was already shaking my head and ready to shift, my main goal to protect her at all cost, but then I saw Luca's gaze shift from us to the left. His wolf stared at the two women in the distance, walking and laughing between themselves.
"Is that... is that Maya and Rebecca?"
Silently hoping this wasn't what I thought it was, I stared at Luca's wolf as I said, "Yes, yes it is."
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We're back!
Thank you all so much for your patience :) it means so much, and I can definitely say I missed these two
Conner's always right, isn't he? Haha
And it looks like Luca is about to find his mate - who do you think it'll be?
Maya or Rebecca?