The Duty of an Alpha (Book 2)

Maps

Chapter 14

Roman POV*

I put all thoughts of the kiss out of my mind, and jumped on my motorcycle and tore out of the small parking lot heading towards my pack.

Or I tried to put thoughts of kissing Arden out of my mind.

My pack was just attacked, and I had lost one pack member for sure, yet my mind kept drifting back to the feeling of having Arden in my arms.

The mate bond is nearly impossible to avoid, and even though we had been doing a good job of ignoring it, I broke. Spending the entire afternoon with her across the table from me proved to be too much for my self-control.

When I saw her walking out of the diner, I leaned up against her car and was just going to say good-bye. But when she got closer, my eyes drifted over her, taking in her beauty, and when I noticed that she was also checking me out, I couldn’t resist pulling her to me.

I never thought I could love the feeling of another body pressed against mine after I lost Alice. Even so, having Arden in my arms and her lips against mine was better than anything I could have ever imagined. I wouldn’t want to disrespect the memory of my dead mate, but deep inside, I knew that being with Arden was even stronger than being with Alice.

Even just holding on to her so we could catch our breath was intoxicating. I was almost certain she was going to kiss me again when Sita called and interrupted. If the call would’ve been about anything else, I would have cussed her for her bad timing, but it was important so I couldn’t be mad at her.

Instead, I was furious about the attack. I was speeding down the back roads on the way to Silver Creek, and my thoughts kept flashing between anger over the rogues who had attacked two of my pack members, and desire for my mate who I didn’t even check if she was following me.

Please stop denying her. Jaxon pled in the back of my mind when my thoughts had gone back to the kiss. We need her to feel whole, and you know it!

Now is not the time to be thinking of that. I growled at him, even though deep down I knew it was true as well. Our pack was just attacked again, and at least one person is dead. Instead of being there to take care of them, I was flirting with my mate. I already told you, the pack comes before my happiness, and Arden feels the same.

Before your happiness? Jaxon growled loudly at me. What about mine? What about Fae’s? You two made the decision as if it doesn’t affect us too! Just because your dumb human senses make you want to put others first, doesn’t mean that Fae and I feel the same!

Watch who you’re calling dumb!

You know what I mean! Jaxon huffed in frustration. You’re my other half, and I love you. But you are being really stupid by avoiding our mate. We are stronger with her, and she will be stronger with us! Just because we claim each other doesn’t mean that either of you will be turning your backs on your packs. There has to be a solution!

Right now isn’t the time. We need to focus on the rogues before things get out of hand and more people get hurt. After that is taken care of, we can revisit this topic. I shut him out before he could respond and instead focused on the road in front of me.

He wasn’t wrong. I knew I would be stronger with Arden by my side, just like she would be a stronger Alpha with me by hers. Ever since she cried on my shoulder, I had been looking for a way to be with her without either of us losing our packs. I hadn’t let Jaxon know any of that though and had shut him out of my thoughts during those times. I knew that if he could tell I was looking for a solution, he would become unbearable in his need for us to be with our mate.

I crossed through the Silver Creek border and sent a quick mind link to the patrol that Arden would probably be shortly behind. I drove straight to the pack house without slowing down. Sita was waiting outside, and she didn’t look too happy. As soon as I dismounted my bike, the 5-foot Indian woman was moving quickly towards me, updating me on everything that I had missed.

“Thad and the others returned.” Her low voice called out as she met me by my bike. “He couldn’t find any trace of the rogues, almost like they disappeared a few miles outside of the border. We made sure to not let anyone else in the area of the attack in case you would want to look at it yourself.”

“Good.” I said shortly while we both walked to my office located in the pack house. “What about the casualties?”

“Both were younger members.” Sita sighed at the thought. “We had started putting them on the daytime patrols so they would get the experience without having too much risk of danger. We never expected to be attacked in the middle of the day. Jake was 16 and he was dead before we could get there. His family has been notified and are grieving at their home. He didn’t have a mate yet. Lars is 17. He’s in pretty serious condition, and Nela can’t be sure if he is going to pull through. He doesn’t have any family or a mate. Lars just aged out of the Orphanage last year.” Sita’s eyes were downcast as she spoke, feeling the pain of losing pack members that were so close in age to her. “Hopefully he pulls through. He was one of the most promising of the younger warriors.”

We reached my office and both sat down at the desk, feeling the weight of what had happened all too strongly.

“Arden might be joining us soon. I’m not sure if her pack was attacked as well, I left too quickly, but if they are safe, she is going to join me in searching the area of attack.” Sita perked up at my words, and I knew she was getting ready to say something that would annoy me.  

“Oooooh. Arden’s coming!” Sita teased, wiggling her thick eyebrows at me. “How is your dear mate doing?”

“Sita…” I grumbled at her. “you’re showing your age.”

“Just because you forget that I’m only 18 doesn’t mean that I can’t act my age sometimes! And honestly, this feels like the perfect time.” She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “Someone needs to remind you that Arden is perfect for you, even if you want to ignore it.”

“I’m not ignoring it!” I growled at her and had to take a deep breath to calm myself down before continuing. It seemed like the day for everyone to be needling me about Arden and our mate bond. “There are more important things going on than my love life, in case you forgot in such a short amount of time.” I gave her a pointed look, and she at least had the sense to look sheepish at the statement. “Arden and I will figure out what is between us eventually, but for now, making sure no one else dies is more important!”

“Yes, Alpha.” Sita answered, showing respect of my title. Usually, she only said Alpha to me as a tease, but this was different, and I appreciated that she was taking me seriously at the moment.

Sita pointed out where the attack took place on my map of Silver Creek, and we fell into a comfortable silence while I looked over the surrounding areas to see if there were any clues to where they may have come from, or disappeared to afterwards.

I received a mind link from patrol that Arden was on her way, and not even 2 minutes late, she was knocking on the door. Apparently, she drove just as fast as I did to get here.

“My pack is safe, and Ashton knows to keep an eye out for anything that seems off.” Arden said as she walked into my office. Sita jumped up and gave her a big hug, but didn’t interrupt for more than that. “Has your pack found out anything more?”

“Nothing.” I said grumpily, still looking at the map. “Thad said the trail went cold after a few miles, and I’ve been looking to see if there is any where they could have disappeared to, but I’m coming up empty.”

Arden joined me at my side and looked at the map. I had to force myself to pay attention to the map in front of me instead of the sparks that threatened my skin from her being so close.

“This is where the attack took place?” She asked, and I nodded then showed her where the trail went cold. “There’s only the river after that, right?”

“Yeah, but the scents ended before then.” Sita chimed in and moved over to reiterate where it ended. “That is a couple miles away from the river.”

“Hmm.” Arden hummed, making me look over to her. I could practically see the wheels turning in her head, reminding once again how good of a leader and strategist she is. “Do you have another map that shows the other side of the river?”

I nodded at her and quickly pulled out the map that she was asking for. I watched her face as she spread the map out across the desk. A moment later, she let out a small gasp and looked in my direction.

“Did you realize this?” Arden asked and pointed at a spot on the other side of the river.