I tilted my head to look at Alpha Aeon and found him looking at Alexa, whose head was leaning against the window and already fast asleep.
There was something going on between them, but I had no idea what it was. But then again, it was hard to read the Alpha’s emotions.
We drove in silence until wewere almost at the packhouse and I spoke. “Alpha Aeon?”
“Yes, Luna Nadia?”
“How was your visit with Katarina? When I last saw her, she informed me that you had a scheduled meeting with her.
“It went well.” His voice was cold, but it was too low, as if he didn’t want to answer my question.
“Is she your fated mate?” I asked.
“No. She’s not.” He answered in a cold tone. And I couldn’t decipher whether he was relieved or disappointed.
I felt an ache cross my heart. I already expected this, since Katarina didn’t call me back after the said visit. But a part of me hoped that my best friend would end up being claimed by her fated mate. But all hope was gone.
Chapter 80
RILEY.
My Beta and Iwere threading the forest road on our way back to the territory after being out on a business trip for most of the day. I knew Nadia and Jenny went to the neutral city, and I was expecting them to be home by now.
Just as we were fifteen minutes away from the territory, Nadia’s emotions came surging. She was terrified and confused at the same time.
“Drive faster,” I ordered my Beta as I squinted my eyes, trying to scan the area further and around us. I could feel her. It meant she was just nearby.
And my intuition was right. We hadn’t driven too far when I caught sight of two cars that belonged to our territory—Jenny and Tristan’s cars.
My heart was pounding loudly when I finally saw Nadia in the middle of the warriors who were assigned to guard her, and before them was Aeon.
What the fuck is happening?
I jumped out of my seat even before my Beta could stop the car, and the moment my feet touched the ground, I caught a whiff of the faint smell of a rogue. It wasn’t disgusting like usual, but you could differentiate it from a pack scent or a lone wolf scent. This kind of scent usually belongs to a rogue child.
My eyes found Nadia and the female who was trying to touch her.This is not a fucking child!
And before I could stop myself, I was already growling and rushing toward my mate. I was almost on the verge of snapping the female’s neck if Aeon didn’t speak up.
Although I wasn’t comfortable having a rogue in my car or my territory, I trusted Aeon. I could see there was something more to this female. And if he thought she could provide him with the information heneeded, who was I to stop him?
Aeon’s mother, Alpha Argon’s Luna, was beheaded by a self-proclaimed Rogue Alpha of the South. And ever since the day she died, Argon hasn’t stopped looking for him. He wanted his head and he made sure Aeon had the same goal.
And although Aeon was acting a bit strange, I couldn’t totally read him. That was the fucking annoying thing about Alphas, you can’t easily read their emotions. What they show might be different from what they think and feel.
I chuckled internally at my thoughts. I almost forget I was an Alpha as well. And we mastered these emotions at a young age. We were not allowed to lay everything out in the open. Because if you show them you’re weak, you’ll be the next target.
As soon as we arrived at the packhouse, I offered Aeon to stay for dinner. I told him he could leave the female in the cell at the other building while we ate, much to Nadia’s dismay, but it was Aeon’s answer that surprised me.
He wanted to take the female to eat with us, with the promise that she would behave. And the way the rogue was glaring at him, I didn’t think she would behave. Until it was my Luna who invited her for dinner.
I still didn’t trust the rogue. She could be a spy, like Alpha Argon kept saying to Aeon, and taking her inside my packhouse was a big risk. But there was something in the way that Aeon stood his ground to take the female with him or they would have to leave without dinner, that made me bend and allow her entrance to my home.
Apparently, Aeon didn’t trust anybody in my pack when it came to “his” rogue. He wanted to make sure no one would touch or hurt her. I couldn’t blame him. A rogue is a rogue. And it would always be a sore topic in every pack, especially here in the South, where Achilles, the Rogue Alpha, was known for terrorizing weak packs by stealing or killing their she-wolves. So Aeon had a valid reason to fear that someone from my pack would snap and kill Alexa on the spot.
After dinner, I walked them out of the packhouse and I handed him the key to one of my cars. Jenny had provided clothes for the rogue, but I had no idea where she took the clothes for her because Nadia and she were taller compared to Alexa. But it was none of my business. I just wanted her out of my territory right away.
Which was the exact oppositeof my Luna. Nadia seemed at ease with Alexa. And so was Jenny. They didn’t discuss anything personal or any details with her except how they liked each other’s hair and clothes, to which Alexa replied with a meek smile and a blush. She didn’t talk at all, maybe because Aeon was watching her the whole time as well.
