Chapter 4
1360 Words
Four weeks later.
“Did you find her?”
Aiden's voice thundered through the room.
Vince, his Beta and cousin, stood several feet away, biting his tongue as he swallowed his frustration.
He was the only werewolf in the entire pack Aiden could actually tolerate.
The only person he couldn't see himself killing.
For now.
Vince sighed inwardly.
This was the twenty-ninth time he'd had to tell the Alpha the same thing.
They had failed.
Again.
And every time, Aiden seemed angrier than before.
“We didn't find her, Alpha.”
Aiden's jaw tightened.
“We received information that someone matching her description had been taken to the hospital, but it was a false alarm. We searched the entire place.”
“Shut up!”
Vince flinched.
Aiden's fist slammed against the table.
“You are useless. All of you in this pack are useless fools!”
His chest rose and fell heavily.
“She is just a girl. A tiny little girl.”
Yet somehow, that tiny girl had escaped him.
Alive.
He needed to find her.
The girl who had insulted him.
The girl who had disobeyed him.
The girl who had somehow managed to escape an Alpha's grasp with her life intact.
He needed to punish her.
Otherwise, the rage burning inside him would never settle.
How had she done it?
Yes, her mother had helped her.
But how had Diana managed to distract him so completely that he'd lowered his guard?
No one had ever done that before.
Not once.
For the first time in his life, Aiden had felt defeated.
And somehow, the person who had defeated him had become the very person haunting him.
Perhaps it was her eyes.
Those cursed eyes.
They followed him into his dreams.
He saw them whenever he closed his own.
Blue.
Furious.
Terrified.
Defiant.
He had tried to erase them from his mind.
It hadn't worked.
If anything, the more he tried to forget them, the more he wanted to see them again.
Maybe it was curiosity.
Perhaps it was anger.
Or maybe...
Desire.
Aiden's jaw clenched at the thought.
“Alpha?”
He looked at Vince.
“Speak.”
Vince hesitated.
“She might not have made it out of the woods that night.”
Aiden's eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“I said she might not have survived. I'm only thinking out loud, Alpha.”
Vince raised his hands defensively when Aiden gave him a murderous stare.
“The woods aren't safe. You know how many rogues have been wandering outside our territory lately. And the other packs—”
Aiden's expression darkened.
“You think someone might have hurt her?”
The words came through clenched teeth.
He could already imagine finding whoever had dared touch her.
He would rip them apart.
Slowly.
Painfully.
Because whether Diana liked it or not, she was his.
His supposed wife.
His mate.
His Luna.
No one else had the right to touch what belonged to him.
Vince swallowed.
“The Hunter's mo—”
Aiden raised a hand.
Vince immediately stopped talking.
“I don't want to hear it.”
His eyes burned.
“But if what you've said is true, I'll skin those dogs alive." He bit his inner cheek to control the rage brewing in his chest. "If that rogue Jackson has her, I will make an example out of him and anyone who dared lay a finger on her.”
He meant it.
Vince knew he did.
Jackson was the Alpha of the Hunter Moon Pack and Aiden's half-brother, born from an affair his mother had before Aiden's father discovered the truth. Even the thought of his bastard brother was enough to make Aiden's blood boil.
Vince sighed, looking like he had other things to say.
“What is it?” Aiden asked.
“Nothing.”
Aiden's eyes narrowed.
“Vince.”
“It's really nothing, Alpha.”
“You really want to lie to me?”
Aiden bared his teeth.
“No, Alpha.”
Vince sighed.
“I just thought it wasn't important. Or maybe it wouldn't work.”
Aiden raised a brow.
“Then tell me.”
Vince hesitated before finally speaking.
“Her mother.”
Aiden's expression changed immediately.
“We can use her.”
One sour glare from Aiden made Vince raise his hands defensively.
“She's still in the dungeon, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then we don't need to kill her yet.”
Aiden's arms folded across his chest.
“She attacked me.”
“And she's awaiting execution. I know.”
Vince paused.
“But what if she knows where Diana went?”
Aiden's eyes sharpened.
“Go on.”
“We set a date for her execution. Then we announce that she will be forgiven if Diana returns before the execution.”
Vince's lips curved slightly, seeing that Aiden was actually listening to him.
“We distribute the announcement everywhere. Every pack. Every human settlement nearby. Everyone hears it.”
Aiden remained silent.
“If Diana is alive and hears that her mother is about to die, she'll come back.”
“And if she doesn't?”
Vince shrugged.
“Then either something really happened to her... or she's just an ungrateful bitch.”
Aiden stared at him.
Vince immediately cleared his throat.
“Respectfully.”
For several seconds, Aiden said nothing.
His arms remained folded across his chest as his eyes wandered toward a strange piece of abstract art hanging on the living room wall.
The idea made sense.
Too much sense.
Why hadn't he thought of it?
“Make the announcement.”
A proud smile spread across Vince's face.
“Don't look so smug.”
The smile disappeared slightly.
“s**t can still happen.”
“Of course, Alpha.”
Vince turned to leave.
“Vince.”
He stopped.
Aiden's voice had lost all amusement.
“I want you to find her.”
Vince slowly turned around.
“If you don't, I'll get another Beta.”
His heart sank.
“I'm giving you fourteen days.”
Vince swallowed.
“Fourteen?”
“Or, dear cousin...”
Aiden smiled.
“It will be your head on a pike.”
Vince's secret smile vanished.
First came the grimace.
Then fear.
Then a little annoyance.
He wasn't sure whether he was more annoyed at Aiden...
Or Diana.
Probably both.
“Yes, Alpha.”
He left the house, silently grumbling under his breath.
His cousin was insane.
And Diana was apparently even crazier for challenging him.
As soon as Vince left Aiden's house, he headed straight for the Silver Moon Pack's media house.
When he told the manager that he had urgent information to broadcast to the entire pack, the studio was immediately cleared for him.
Vince sat behind the microphone.
He put on the headphones.
Took a deep breath.
And began.
“Our Alpha has declared the death of Sarah Mendez, mother of Diana Mendez, for attacking our Alpha and assisting an enemy in escaping.”
Vince paused.
He already hated this.
“Our Alpha's supposed Luna and... well... enemy.”
He grimaced.
“Definitely complicated.”
He continued.
“However, our merciful Alpha has decided to reconsider this judgment.”
Vince almost rolled his eyes at the word merciful.
“Sarah Mendez will be forgiven if his dearest Luna returns to the Silver Moon Pack before her execution.”
He leaned back in his chair.
Then forced himself to continue.
“If you're listening to this, Luna, your mate wants to see you so badly that he is willing to forgive your mother just to see your pretty face one more time.”
The words sounded bizarre coming out of his mouth.
He hated every second of it.
But he continued.
“Come home, Diana, and everything will be fine.”
Vince stared at the microphone.
Silence filled the studio.
Then he muttered under his breath.
“Actually...”
He took off his headphones.
“What I mean is—”
His eyes drifted toward the glass window separating him from the empty control room.
“Stay wherever you are if you want to live.”
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