Chapter Five: Alex

Insomnia has infected me lately, so it’s no surprise that I beat the Alpha to his own office. My eyes wander around the room. The office that was once a lemon tribute is now navy. The tired wooden furniture has been replaced by white modern pieces. My fingers brush over his bookcases, landing on a picture.

The picture brings tears to my eyes. Her face is there, smiling at me, the way she used to. It was taken the night of Paige and Colin’s ceremony. The night I forced her to reject me. I pay little attention to the other three couples in the photo. I just stare at her.

“Nice to see you, Alex.” Colin’s voice startles me, forcing me to pry my eyes from the picture.

“Did you miss me?”

“Duh. I missed our nights together.”

“Really? He’s been back for a few hours and you’re already hitting on him!” Paige smiles at me, giving me a small hug before taking her place on Colin’s lap.

“So, I heard the demo went well,” Colin starts.

“Yeah. Our old packhouse is no longer standing. What are the plans now?”

“We’ll stay here until a bigger house is built in the middle of the territory. We’ll also build a small town there to join the packs physically.”

I nod at him. He gives me a stare. I can tell he knows that I’m absent minded today. Just as I have been every day since she left. Who knew rejecting your mate could have such a lasting effect?

“What do you think would have happened if you hadn’t rejected her?” Paige asks.

Her gaze is soft when she meets mine, but I still feel trapped. I should’ve prepared myself for this conversation. Paige and Colin have been asking me about Amber since she left. They are definitely team Amber, which is really odd.

“I don’t know.”

“That’s a stupid answer,” Colin huffs, disappointment swimming in his eyes.

“But it’s the truth. That’s all I can give you.”

“I think you would be happy. I think you wouldn’t be moping around or screwing strangers,” Paige says.

  “You’re probably right, but there’s not much I can do about it now,” I admit.

This past year has taught me so much. Like how I’m the biggest idiot on this planet. I had my mate. The girl I wanted. The girl I had waited all my life for. Yet, after hearing about her past, all I could see her as was the seductive villain in our story. In my eyes, Amber was evil. She has ruined homes. She has ruined families. I wince at the memories. It didn’t matter how many tears she cried or how many times she apologized. All I could think about was how terrible she was. So I threw myself a pity party for being stuck with a mate like her, and then I gave up on her without much thought. I gave up on the person I should’ve fought for.

“You know, the day she left, you brought up how she ruined my life,” Paige sighs. “I want you to know that in a weird way, Amber helped me. I didn’t see it then because I was so mad at her. I blamed her for a lot of things. For Cory, for my mother liking her better than me, for everything that was wrong with my life. My point is, Amber isn’t the only one here to blame. Those men who were mated but still slept with her deserve the blame, too. She didn’t ruin homes all on her own. Had she not slept with Cory, I would’ve wasted more of my time wishing for him to be my mate. I was obsessed with him, so who knows if finding Colin would’ve changed that had I not seen his true colors? Who knows how things would’ve turned out then?”

Her words fall onto me like bricks. Truth is woven into each word. I was quick to judge, but I was wrong. I know that now, but it’s too late.

I swallow the lump in my throat. “It doesn’t matter now. She’s gone, and she’s not coming back.”

“So, you’ve just given up, then?”

“I don’t have another choice.”

“I think that’s a mistake, Alex. You could chase her, grovel, beg. Whatever you need to do to get out of this depressive funk you’re in,” Colin says.

I shoot him a look. What is his problem? Like I haven’t already thought about going there. But then I remember the tears she cried that night. Those tears were my fault. I chased her away. I have no right to ask her to come back. Doing so would only hurt her. I’m sure she’s happier without me.   

“There’s another matter to be discussed here. She-wolves have been going missing over the last few months, all over the country,” Colin says. “At first, one or two were being taken. Over the last few months, it’s grown to taking six at one time.”

My heart rate spikes. Fear creeps in. Not just for the girls in my pack, but for all packs. This is bad. I look at them both calmly, doing my best to not let my emotions get the better of me.

“Okay, do we have any idea who or what is doing this?”

“Nope,” Colin smacks his lips together, his face is twisted with anger and fear. “Lunar Harvest reported more last week. So far, that’s the last report. We need to train all the she-wolves. Even Omegas. They are taking girls between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five. Every girl who falls into that category gets trained.”

“Why? Forcing them to train won’t go over well,” I ask.

“I know, but I have to. Trained she-wolves will have a greater chance of surviving. I’m meeting with the other Alphas to start an investigation. Peyton will go with me,” Colin says firmly, like he expects me to argue. I want him to trust me, but what good would it do? Even though he knows Paige’s twin would rather stay here with his mate and pup, Colin chose him over me. He doesn’t trust me anymore. Hell, I don’t trust myself anymore.

“Don’t worry, Colin. I’ll start the training tomorrow,” I assure him.  

I leave his office feeling like I have a purpose again. I can help these girls. I can teach them to protect themselves, but I can also hunt down the threat against them. No matter how much Colin might want me to stay out of this fight, I won’t.