Chapter 6

Crux's Pov

The meeting was a blur. I could barely understand anything that was being said. My mind was having its own fucking party as I tapped my hand on the table to the rhythm of my heart.

I checked my watch and apparently, the time wasn't moving any faster. Heat rose over my body...

"Get a grip on yourself, Crux!" Aethros warned, as if he had not been pacing earlier.

"I am losing my shit," I muttered.

The faint sound of the elevator caught my ears.

"Alpha--," Reyes called through the mind-link.

Without hesitation, I banged my hand on the table, attracting the attention of the workers.

"Meeting's over," I commanded as I stood up to leave.

I had barely gotten into my office when Reyes dropped a file on my desk. He pressed his palm against his forehead, fingers digging into his hair, eyes narrowing as his jaw tightened.

I knew that look all too well. "Hit me with whatever it is, Reyes."

"Alpha--" he swallowed hard.

"Just say it," I stated, slumping into my chair as I braced myself for what was to come.

"We couldn't find her," he announced.

My stomach twisted as I froze mid-slump, my hand gripping the edge of the desk until my knuckles went white.

Reyes exhaled slowly. "She’s a Luna, Alpha," he said, voice low and strained. "Smaller pack, under your oversight."

I lifted my head, my eyes narrowing. "If she is under me then how is she hard to find?" I boomed from my seat as Aethros pressed against my chest.

The one thing that kept me from suffering the same fate as the other Alphas was nowhere to be found.

"We could have done this ourselves," Aethros urged. "Leaving this in the hands of your beta when it should be treated with urgency is laughable, Crux," He added.

"I entrusted you to find her, Reyes," I growled, standing up. "I gave you just one task---"

"Alpha, she---" he took a step back, his shoulders falling. "She doesn't want to be found."

I walked in slowly but in short strides toward him as he matched my pace. "How hard is it to find a pregnant luna?"

I stopped a few feet from him, letting the tension stretch between us. My jaw ached from clenching it, my hands twitching at my sides. My wolf pressed against my chest, restless and angry.

"I have something else," Reyes said finally. I gave him a quick nod, and he shrugged his shoulders, letting out a sigh. "She is forty-seven years old---"

"Forty-seven?" I blinked, my hands instinctively ran through my hair in disbelief as I let out a heavy laugh and Reyes soon joined in but his came out in broken gasps. "How the fuck does a forty-seven-year-old woman end up with my pup?"

"The doctor---,"

"I fucking know what the doctor said," I let out a heavy sigh. "I'll give you another week to find her, Reyes. Otherwise, it would be your head hanging from the gate."

I saw Reyes arrange his tie as if it were out of place. He swallowed hard. "I won't fail you, Alpha," he assured, his voice was firm though his hands betrayed him with a slight tremor.

My thoughts overlapped one another as the door barged open.

"What?" I questioned without turning my head to look at the person.

"Sorry sir," Leila apologised. "You have a visitor."

I ran a hand through my hair, jaw tight. "Cancel," I muttered.

I didn't hear the door close, I turned and saw Leila still standing as her hand gripped the door handle.

"Leila--"

"She... She insisted." Leila coughed. "She said she has to see you."

"Tell her I am not seeing anyone," I said through gritted teeth.

I heard a gasp escape from her as she flew her hands to her mouth. "Your eyes are glowing, Alpha," she stated.

"What?" My breath caught. "Aethros, control yourself," I cautioned.

"I am not doing anything," he replied.

"You can't see her like this," Leila spat out. "Not with your eyes like that"

"I am not seeing anybody!" I growled turning to Leila who still stood in the doorway. "Cancel everything---"

I had barely finished when I heard a loud bang behind Leila. I felt Aethros's claw on my chest as I turned to look... It was a woman, standing behind, and her aura was intoxicating. She was glowing.

"If you are done trying to avoid me then you better think twice," the voice rang out.

I still couldn't see what she looked like as Leila's tall frame covered her but the way she spoke, it sent shivers down my spine. I had never felt like this in a long time.

I scoffed, running my hand through my hair. "How dare you---"

"I won't take much of your time," she said as she slowly came out from behind Leila. "I just need you to sign a document for me, Mr Crux," she smiled.

My heart fluttered a bit. Not because I felt strange but it was from the fact that she was daring and no one had ever been that to my face since I became Alpha.

"I have no idea who you are, Lady," I stated.

She walked up to me as her smell slowly hit me hard, so that I could barely hold my knees from buckling under the intense pressure.

"Your eyes... they are glowing," she pointed out.

I quickly turned away. "Aethros, what the fuck is going on?" I muttered.

"I am as confused as you are, Crux. I cannot make sense of whatever is happening," Aethros growled.

Reyes quickly stood between the woman and me. "He is not feeling well and you need to come back another time."

The woman chuckled as I heard the paper in her hand rustling. "I am not going anywhere till he gets this paper signed." She barked. "I don't give a fuck about what is wrong with him. He just needs to sign the damn papers."

I took a deep sniff but her scent hit me harder than before--- this wasn't just a normal wolf smell. I turned, facing her as I moved closer to her. That was when I felt Aethros growl loudly, his claws pressed heavily on my chest like he was trying to burst out.

For the first time in a long time, I felt Aethros let out a deep sigh of relief.