Chapter Eight - Aeron

“Not a chance.” I growl.

Cain growls back slamming his first onto the desk.

“She’s been with him for years. With their Pack.” I state like we haven’t been through this a dozen times already.

“She’s clearly not racing to get back to him though, is she?” Cain replies. “Aren’t you even curious to know why?”

I shake my head. Though deep down it’s a lie. Of course I want to know. I want to know everything about her, but those thoughts, those needs won’t help us right now. We are at war. We’ve already lost more Wolves this year than the last two combined. I don’t have time to be selfish, I don’t have time to indulge my own desires. I need to act like an Alpha. We both need to.

“We could at least give her a decent room and not a cell.” Cain says and I feel a pang of guilt. To know she’s down there, in the dark, that we’re the ones treating her like that.

I clench my fists to suppress the wave of anger that rushes through me.

“We have no choice, Cain.” I state. “If we treat her any differently, we’ll show our hand. We have to treat her like she’s the enemy because that’s what she is. She was with the Crimson Shadow Pack for long enough.”

Cain scowls. “She’s our mate.” He says stating the word out loud and we both gulp.

Our mate. Our fucking mate.

Of all the tricks the Moon Goddess has played this has got to be the most ironic. That after years of waiting, searching, longing, finally we find her - only to realise we can’t keep her, that we have to hand her back. We have to give her to that filthy fucking Mutt and act like she’s nothing.

“It is what it is.” I say getting up. I can’t because just looking at my brother right now feels like a betrayal. We’re turning our back on the one person we should be protecting. But we’re Alphas. We don’t have any choice. We have to put our Pack first. We have to put their needs above ours. And if handing this girl over means we’re no longer at war then that’s what we have to do. Because I’ll be damned if I spend another minute consoling one of my Pack while their loved one lies dead before us.

I walk out of the office, heading right and up the stairs when in reality all I want to do is storm down them, smashing open that god damn cell and scoop her up. Scoop my mate up and then clean all that dirt off her, soothe her, tell her she’s safe now and treat her the way she deserves to be treated.

Only, I can’t do that.

I know I can’t.