Chapter 49: Unheard Apologies

Wolfgang

Aurora was about to say something to me; she was about to give in and accept my apologies, but instead she suddenly got up and ran out the door.

~“What did you expect, dimwit?”~ Cronnos retorted in my head.

I chose to ignore his bickering. After all, he was right. What had I expected to happen on this trip?

That she’d praise me for helping her find information about her mother and the past, that she’d throw herself into my arms?

I knew I had fucked up big time with Aurora, and it would be a great while before she took me back.

I deserved it after all the shit I had her go through.

Images of what that beast, Klaus, did to her kept me up all night.

How I wished Aurora had never killed him so I could keep him locked up in the dungeons and torture him for raping her. Dying had been an easy way out for that fucker.

I was deep in thought when I felt my phone begin to ring. Remus’ caller ID flashed on the screen.

I thought we’d already talked out all the details of our next stop?

“Yeah,” I answered.

“Alpha, I’m sorry, but you and Lady Aurora have to cut your trip short. We need you back here immediately.” His voice sounded extremely urgent.

“What happened?” I asked, urging him to tell me what was going on.

“Some of our seekers and warriors have been reported missing. I think it might have to do with the disappearances that you spoke about.”

An eerily chill ran down my spine.

“We’ll set off first thing in the morning. Reschedule the train ride from Fairbanks back to White Mountain,” I ordered as I headed out the door in search of Aurora.

“Already did, sir.”

I gave a quick okay and hung up. I marched down the stairs, keening my senses to sniff out where my mate was.

I found her in the garden with an older wolf, chatting merrily. For a moment, I forgot why I was looking for her, when I saw her smiling so sweetly.

She caught sight of me, and her smile immediately faded. The older lady she was talking to noticed the change in her attitude and turned to look at me.

“Oh my. You must be the young alpha from the Blood Moon pack.” She turned to her and whispered to Aurora, not so discreetly, might I say. “He’s very handsome.”

She stood up. “I’ll leave you two, then. It is way past my bedtime. It was a pleasure meeting you, Aurora,” she said.

As she walked past me, she patted my shoulder. “That’s a fine wolf you have there, young one. Take good care of her,” she said before disappearing down the aisle.

She was right. Aurora was indeed unique, and I failed to see it from the start.

Aurora cleared her throat, catching my attention. I turned to look at her and found that she was standing. Her stance was edgy.

“She seemed like a nice lady. I liked her comment about me being handsome,” I said, trying to make light chat. “What were you talking about?” I asked her.

“She knew my mother. She helped Eleanor raise her,” she said. “She told me that my mother and I shared the exact same shift,” she continued, shocking me even more.

This proved even more that she was a royal.

“That’s… That’s incredible!” I truly meant it.

“It is! I need to find out more about these royals. What time are we leaving tomorrow to go to Fairbanks?” she asked.

That made me realize why I’d come looking for her in the first place.

“I was looking for you because of that. I received an urgent call from Remus. Some of our warriors and seekers have been reported missing. I have to go back immediately to the village.”

“Went missing? How’s that possible? Our warriors are the strongest in the continent,” she said.

She was right. We were the strongest pack around, and yet, our kind were going missing.

“Yeah. It’s unnerving, and I need to get back to the village, to track down whoever is kidnapping our pack members,” I said.

“Kidnapping? You mean it’s something that’s been happening for a while?” She asked.

I nodded. “We’ll be leaving first thing in the morning for the train station. We’ll take the first train back to White Mountain. Remus has everything sorted out for—”

She cut me off by putting her hands up.

“Wait. You want us to go back to White Mountain by train, which takes five days, when we have an emergency as big as this one?”

She shook her head. “No way. We’re shifting and running back home. It’ll take less time. We’ll be back in two days!” she said, almost shouting.

“It’s too risky. We don’t know who’s been tracking us down. I can’t put you in danger like that,” I argued back.

“Put me in danger? Oh, please. You want to keep me safe while our people are in danger?” She asked, exasperated.

“The answer is no, Aurora. We’ll take the train back to White Mountain. It’s much safer that way.” I used my alpha tone, but she didn’t flinch.

“Fine. You take the stupid train back to the village. I’ll go in my wolf form.” She walked past me.

“Fucking wimp,” I heard her growl as she headed down the hall to the stairs, leaving me standing there in complete shock.

~“Did she just overpower you and call you a wimp?”~ Cronnos snickered quietly, after being silent all this while.