Confrontations

Aidan

My last conversation with Kiarra didn’t sit right with me or anyone else.

I knew I couldn’t storm onto Apex territory and make accusations, so the next best thing was meeting Kiarra at our spot.

I paced and paced.

~“Kitten? I’m here, at the spot.”~

Nothing. So, I tried again.

~“Kiarra, please. This is serious. I need you to meet me.”~

Still, nothing, and it went on that way for hours. The longer I waited, the worse I felt.

I was still having a hard time swallowing the fact that I’d let her go in the first place. I should’ve kept fighting no matter what the consequences were.

~“Kitten, you’re in danger! Fuck! Will you answer me!”~

After this last attempt, I had run out of patience.

~“Jack, I’m going in!”~

~“Alpha! We talked about this!”~

I ignored him. No one was stopping me from seeing her. I needed to know she was all right.

I didn’t want to look suspicious or the guards to know I had been stalking their grounds, so I went the long way.

As I approached the grounds from the front entrance, I noticed a heavy guard presence, and they saw me, too.

Most of them shifted instantly; it was a reflex I knew only too well. But the most senior of them remained in his human form.

“What can I do for you?”

His face was marked with battle scars and a scruffy beard that begged for a shave. He smelt odd, too. It was like the aroma of death was following him around.

“I’m here for my mate! Get her here now!”

He crossed his arms and stood his ground. The posturing wasn’t a surprise; my pack members would’ve done the same thing or worse.

“You got a name, friend?”

I tried to keep my cool because it wouldn’t end well the moment this went violent.

“I’m Gold, but you know that already, don’t you?” I growled; my only urge was to rip his heart out. “I want Kiarra here, and I want her here NOW!” I boomed, unable to hold back.

He took a step toward me, and his comrades began to circle.

“We don’t take orders from clowns,” he sneered, and I nearly lost my shit.

I had very little leverage beyond my short temper and brute strength.

Neither was likely to serve me well in this situation.

“I have no problem with you, any of you. I want to see my mate.”

‘Kiarra is the Alpha’s daughter!” the guard laughed, his long, greasy-looking curls bouncing in good humor, “you think you’re getting anywhere near her? You’re fuckin’ nuts, my friend!”

He laughed again, and some of the guards joined in.

I felt the presence of the ones that had shifted; I knew it was a matter of time before they jumped me.

I was ready. It was in my blood.

Suddenly, another voice bellowed from the security post.

“Alpha Gold! Back down! You are not welcome here!”

My eyes met Alpha James Kendrick, standing with arms crossed and looking amused.

I knew in his mind, he figured it was game over for me and that he’d won. I realized that would be an element that could work in my favor.

“Alpha James!” I yelled at him, “I’m not here to cause trouble with you.”

“It’s a little late, Gold. I said it once, and I won’t repeat it!”

I knew if he’d been alone and wasn’t backed by fifty wolves, I could’ve taken him down in a minute flat.

“James, I’m not going anywhere until I see my mate!” I growled. The blood in my veins was boiling.

“Mate? Ha!” he laughed almost as hard as the guard had, “she’s got no mate, Gold,” he sneered, “Not yet anyway.”

“What the hell does that mean? Who do you think you are, Kendrick?!”

“Me? I’m the Alpha of Apex Pack, and you are some filthy scoundrel who tried to go against the rules and take my daughter from her pack!”

It was a blatant attempt to provoke me.

I wouldn’t give him what he wanted, though, an excuse to kill me on the spot.

“Alpha Gold, you know the rules.”

“Kiarra isn’t a part of this! And this wasn’t the agreement, you lying sack of shit!”

I was frothing at the mouth; I was so incensed.

Kendrick stepped down from his perch and made dramatic strides to where I stood. His pack of puppies followed him, thirsty for my blood or eager to die.

I couldn’t decide which.

“You stalked her! You abandoned her. You put her into Ares's arms!” I screamed.

“We did what we needed to, Aidan,” he replied coolly, “now that we know she’s a proper wolf, no harm is done. She can have her pick of suitable mates!”

“I’m her mate!” I screamed again, knowing my argument had fallen on deaf ears. He didn’t care what I thought, let alone Kiarra.

“Do you need an escort, or are you initiating war, Gold?”

My heart thumped harder and harder.

Like every beat was the sound of war, I couldn’t give in.

I had to back down.

“I’ll see you again, you prick! You can bet your ass on that!” I yelled as I walked away.

I was frustrated, and I felt defeated. Two things that didn’t sit well inside an Alpha.

I needed to do something. I couldn’t just go back home without Kiarra. What if she was being held in that makeshift prison? What if they were busy torturing her love for me right out of her?

I felt sick to my stomach again.

I was halfway to the spot where Kiarra was supposed to meet me, and it occurred to me that she might still pass by.

Maybe by some stroke of insane luck, my mate would find a way to reach me.

The sun had begun to set, and the chill of the night had returned. I shifted into my wolf and stayed that way as I lurked the border.

I knew it wasn’t the right way and that I risked making this situation worse. But, no matter how hard I tried to convince myself, there was no way I was leaving here without her.

Just as I was losing hope and about to give in, there she was.

Her soft, pale skin glowed as she navigated through the trees.

She was alone, for now anyway. That was a good sign, but it meant I had a tiny window to get her attention and get her out of there.

I shifted back to my human form and tried a mind-link.

~“Kitten? Is that you?”~

I watched from the thick shadows of the trees. She seemed to know something or someone was there but didn’t hear me.

Had the bond been broken? What the hell was going on?

I panicked and rushed out of the trees, “Hey!”

“Oh! Shit!” she jumped nearly sky-high, and I regretted the approach.

“Sorry! Kitten, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!”

She looked at me funny.

“Kiarra? What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry,” she said with a beautiful smile, “do I know you?”

I was stunned. I had no way to prepare for something like this.

“Kiarra, you’re joking, right?” I laughed, trying to pretend this wasn’t happening. Maybe she was just being weird.

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’m not sure who you are or how you got here,” she continued, looking around the woods, “but you shouldn’t be here.”

I took a step toward her. I wanted to touch her, to put my arms around her, but something stopped me.

The way she gazed at me, it was like she’d never set eyes on me in her life.

“You seem so familiar to me,” she giggled, running a tender hand across my cheek.

I wanted to scream out that it’s our mate bond, that she belonged to me! But I couldn’t. I knew they’d put a spell on her. Something inside her was different. She wasn’t the Kiarra that I had just spent the morning with.

Suddenly, there was a crash in the woods behind her. My eyes widened, and so did hers.

She didn’t seem to know why exactly, but we couldn’t be caught together.

I fought the urge to kidnap her right there. The emotional roller coaster in my brain was running the show, urging me on.

I took a deep breath, grabbed her tiny hand, and gently pulled her toward me. The crashing of trees was getting louder. The search party would be on top of us any moment now.

I kissed her forehead.

I looked in her eyes one last time.

~“I’ll come back for you.”~