The Wolf's Bride

Chapter 12

Alekin

She touched him, and he hasn't had a night of sleep since.

The clock on the wall ticked endlessly, much to my utter annoyance. It took all but two minutes since I got back for my second to enter my office.

"Good to see you back in one piece, Alpha." he saluted, a bob of his head as he walked in.

Two weeks out of my territory wasted for nothing.

"Indeed." I huffed, putting an ankle over my knee as I crossed my arms. "How is the situation on the border?"

The male's tentative smile perished and he glanced down in the reports he was holding even though I could tell he wasn't reading any of it. His tired eyes just glided over the papers, over the words I had no doubt he had already memorized.

"It's not looking bright." He simplh said, taking another breath before continuing. "We have twenty fallen men. Two fallen males. They are playing with fire."

I nodded even though I knew for myself what the situation at the border looked like, having witnessed it first hand on more than one occasion. "Do we know what they want?" He shook his head, not because he had an answer, but because I had it already and wasn't too fond of it.

The clock seemed to be ticking louder by the minute. "Did she leave the house while I was gone?"

Caelus licked his lips nervously, his eyes drifting again over the pages so that he wouldn't have to look at me. "No." He finally answered. "As per your request the food supplies were shipped at night and no one made contact with her. She no longer locks the door, but she doesn't come out either."

That woman... I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying my best to keep my composure.

"Anything else?"

My second shifted from one leg to another. "About the girl or the border situation?" He looked up from the reports to see my arched brows, he cleared his throat. "The hostages they've taken have... returned. Mark is in the infirmary right now. It's not looking good for him. Lucius is dead. They had Mark bring his right hand in a box. The message is clear enough."

"A hand for a hand." I mused, closing my eyes to take a deep breath before I shredded my own desk. "How close have they dared to enter in our territory?"

Caelus swallowed, his throat bobbing once. "The sentinels haven't allowed them past the border, but by my calculations... it won't be long until they could ambush us."

I leaned my head on the back of my chair, the exhaustion in my body rendering me useless. I had to rest as soon as possible, or I risked making mistakes, another thing I wasn't fond of.

"Make sure to keep an eye on her house from now on."

Taking the dismissal, Caelus left with one last nod of his head. Alone again, I was, staring at my new desk, noticing the slight cuts in the wood, where I'd scratched it, without realizing, from anger or just grief. I wasn't sure.

Lucius was dead. Another one of my seconds, dead. The Darklings were trying their hand with me, with my pack, and for the love of fuck, I didn't know how much of their shit I could take.

It was already late, twelve, maybe even one in the morning. I looked over the reports again, hating every second of it.

The clothes on my body felt too tight, too restricting, my skin too. Like snakes tightening their hold on my throat.

The Darklings, a pack chokefull of rogues and bastards wanted one thing from my pack. When Rey was Alpha, he got rid of that thing, sent it far away and out of reach. Eighteen years the Darklings left us alone, until they found where the thing they wanted was kept. Had I acted any later, Alyssa and her entire family would've been dead. Not that I cared for that particularly. But her supposed father had personally asked me to take her back, saying he'd give me soldiers and resources as long as I kept the whole arrangement quiet.