Chapter 57

"

You should have fucking told me!" I screamed, pounding my fist into Malik's chest. He held my gaze as I yelled at him. I could see the guilt etched on his face as he began to realize what I had already realized. "I trusted you, and you kept everything from me. Look around at the possibility of Nicholas already being—"

"You don't know that. There's no certainty about it and we cannot assume what has happened without having enough information." He stepped back and answered, keeping his voice steady despite my outburst.

We were nestled in an alleyway with no one around us. The smell of trash was far more than enough to hide our scents.

My chest heaved with rage and I looked around, a little startled. The sole thought of losing Nicholas soul breaking and even when I thought about it, I could feel my stomach tightening. After spending more than several weeks away from him, I expected to see him soon, victorious rather than being clueless about where he even was.

"You spoke to him. It was hours ago, Malik." I said, splitting the silence.

"When you loose a mate, your wolf is wrecked, you are wrecked and right now, you aren't. You're letting your thoughts get the best of you," He responded, his eyes fixed on mine. "The alpha isn't dead. It's going to take a lot more wolves to kill a man like him. He may be injured, which is why we need to locate him as quickly as it's possible. Think rationally."

My hands folded across my chest as he dug into the bag to find his phone. The cold crawled over my legs and a shiver ran down my spine. As much as I didn't want to go there, I was already there, thinking about Nicholas.

Malik dialed several numbers on his phone, but they all kept ringing. No one picked up. He tried again and again, for a few good minutes, but there still wasn't a response from anyone.

I walked back and forth swiftly, my heart beat racing with every minute we spent in the alleyway.

When Malik couldn't reach anyone, he sent out the two men that were with us to find someone from among the Silvertails warriors and report back immediately to what was happening.

"Take this," He said, placing a gun in my hand. "It has silver bullets. Use it if you see a wolf not from here."

I nodded and kept the gun on the side.

"I don't want to wait here," I retorted. "It's a waste of time and it's pretty clear that his father won and he has taken over the town. What else information do you even need? Let me go find Nicholas." My words were sharp with anger and frustration.

I didn't even know why I was here, in this alleyway, with Malik.

"There are wolves crawling every inch of this town. You could get killed in a matter of a few seconds."

Of course. I'll get killed.

My jaw clamped shut and I turned, pressing my back against the wall. The street lights flickered outside the alleyway while it became colder and colder. A few snarls made their way to my ears, but we remained near the bin, covering our scents and ourselves until some information reached us.

The gun became cold in my hand and my finger rigid around the metallic trigger. The silver bullets could be useful to take a werewolf down if needed. Glancing at it, I remembered the first time Nicholas forced me to hold a gun at him and then shoot him.

He wanted me to learn, to become strong because he knew I was his mate. He trained me, whether I wanted it or not.

As I pondered these thoughts, my ears picked up on a distance sound, something snapping under weight. My eyes turned to Malik who stood near me and just as he noticed the sound, a silver rod tore through his arm.

My heart leapt into my throat as I watched in horror as he stumbled back, his arm now bleeding profusely. Before I could even scream, another silver rod whizzed through the air and pierced through my chest, only inches away from my throbbing heart.

"Fuck." I groaned and pressed my head against the back wall.

Malik stumbled on the ground, growling in pain as the silver burned him—like it was meant to.

But it didn't burn me.

At all.

My fingers wrapped around the silver rod, trembling as I pulled it out with a grunt. Blood poured from the wound, staining my clothes and dripping onto the ground. My free hand went over my chest, holding the bleeding till the wound healed itself.

Through the haze of confusion and agony, my eyes fell upon the shadow formed on the top of the building, aiming another silver rod at us. I rose my arm, hurling the rod at the shadow with all my strength. It hit him square in the chest, causing him to fall four storey down, over the trash and then on the ground.

I stepped forward, ensuring the attacker was dead before turning to Malik who was in agonizing pain.

Luckily, it wasn't his chest but his arm.

I rushed over to him and grabbed a piece of cloth from the bag before pulling the rod out of his arm and wrapping the cloth around the wound.

"I'll be fine," He stopped me and rose up. "Did the silver not affect you?" He asked as soon as the pain began to fade.

I brushed my fingers over the wound, but it had healed. There was a poodle of blood on my shirt, but I couldn't feel any of the pain that was meant to be there.

"No," I shook my head. "I didn't feel it. Isn't it supposed to burn?"

Turning around, I glanced at the dead man near the trash. The longer the silver stayed in the system, flesh and organs were burned and melted to the point one would die.

Malik stepped forward, his shoulders lining with mine as he stared down at the man. "It's supposed to burn and you're not meant to heal that quickly."

My lips remained parted with surprise. What did this mean? I wasn't sure and neither was he.

"You're hurt. Which means that you cannot help me anymore, which further means that you can let me go alone. Please?" My voice became low and compelling, hoping he'd let me go this time. "I know my way around here and I cannot wait any longer for those two to come back. We're not even sure if they are alive anymore. If someone can attack us here, hidden, surely they can attack them to." I made my case more stronger.

"I cannot risk that, April."

"Why not?" My arms spread in the air out of frustration. "I love Nicholas and the fact that I don't even know where he is, or what has happened to him has pushed me to the edge and waiting any longer is torture for me. Please, let me go find him."

There was nothing but truth in my words.

How could I wait here any longer?

It had been more than an hour since we came here, since we had been in this alleyway, hidden from everyone.

Malik stared at me with a mix of concern and doubt, still unsure. "Can you smell him?"

I shook my head, "I can't, but I have an idea of his scent. I just need to get away from here and I know I can find him. I'll be safe with him, wherever he is."

There was a trail of Nicholas' scent on the clothes that I had gotten at the safe house. When I first shifted, I took in his scent, but it wasn't strong enough for my wolf to store it.

Finally, he let out a deep sigh and nodded. "Fine, but use the community streets and stay hidden," He pulled his phone out and handed it over to me. "Keep this and call anyone on the numbers if you find yourself in any danger. Attack the neck if you want to maul someone. You've a benefit that you cannot get burned or harmed by silver, but it doesn't mean you go in front of every bullet."

"I'm not stupid, Malik." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Use the gun," He loaded the bullets and handed it back to me. "I'll try to leave from here and look for the alpha too. It's best if you don't go near to the house. If his father has taken over the town, the house is where'll be. Stay away from there." He said, a warning in his tone.

"Yes, I will."

Malik leaned down near the body again and pulled off his jacket before handing it over to me. The strong scent of another pack dived straight into my nose.

"Wear it. It will cover up your scent."

I slipped my arms into the jacket and placed the phone inside one of the pockets while still holding the gun in my head. Once ready, I stepped forward to leave the alleyway, but Malik still blocked me.

"What if your brother is out there, looking for you?" He asked and it made me flinch.

"I'll be fine," I repeated. "I'm not scared of him."

"These men, from the other pack, may be stronger than you think. The man who attacked you in the woods that night carried the same scent as these wolves carry. Be careful."

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