Night Of The Blood Moon 2

A few minutes earlier, a convoy of cars rolled to a stop in front of the manor that served as the Packhouse of the Winter Pack.

“We've arrived, Alpha,” the man who opened the door announced.

He received a hum and stepped aside, but there was still no movement inside. Instead, they felt the alpha's aura suddenly turn heavy, and they all became alert, thinking something was wrong.

“Is there a problem, Alpha?” A brown-haired man quickly came to his side. Tailing behind was a red-haired man, also wearing a grim expression.

“...no,” the man inside the car replied and stepped down. He stared at the manor, his eyes narrowing.

His subordinates exchanged glances, confusion all over their faces.

He started moving, and they followed, but instead of walking into the manor, his steps strayed to the side.

“The door is this way, Alpha,” the red-haired man said. He received a glare but grinned instead.

“You are such a fool sometimes," the brown haired said, shaking his head.

“What? I'm not wrong. He's going the wrong way,” the red-haired defended.

“Go inside, I'll join you later,” the alpha said, his eyes still trained to the distance.

“Okay, but where are you going?” the brown-haired man asked. His eyes looked in the same direction his alpha was staring at, even stretching his neck to see properly, but he couldn't find anything other than snow, trees, and more snow.

“There's something I need to take care of,” his Alpha replied, but everyone just stared at him. He clicked his tongue, his displeasure at having to explain himself evident.

He would have at least tried to explain it to them if he knew what it was he was going to look for, but all he knew was that there was a strange, yet sweet scent in the air and its source was somewhere behind the manor.

“Reid,” he called. “Take everyone inside and make sure Kael doesn't do and say anything stupid,” he said and walked away.

Behind him, Kael, the red-haired, looked wronged, his lips parted to speak, but a hand covered his mouth before he could.

“Don't be an even bigger fool,” Reid, the brown haired man, said. “Let's go. It's not like anything would happen to the alpha.”

“Fine,” Kael relented.

The man walked around the manor to the backyard. The more he walked, the stronger the scent became, and everything started to make sense when his wolf started urging him to move faster, and he did.

His steps moved past the manor and into the woods behind it. The deeper he went into the woods, the more suspicious he became.

Why would anyone be out here in the cold when there was warm manor there and ball going on inside? The thought had him feeling unsettled and he picked up the pace.

Soon, an image came into view, and he paused, taken aback at the sight. She sat there, barefoot, body trembling from the biting cold. Even her breathing was unstable.

She sprung to her feet, sensing him, and he saw the raw fear in her eyes. His fist clenched tightly until his knuckles turned white. The sight of her made something inside of him snap.

The very next minute, he saw her try to run only to fall, and then he saw the chains on her ankles, and he nearly growled, his eyes flickering ember, but he was able to stop himself on time and walked to her side.

Up close, she was even more pitiful.

She was bleeding, and in pain, but she didn't make a single sound.

He stretched his hand to touch her but stopped midway and retracted his hand to his side, clenching and unclenching as if to restrain himself.

His jaw worked as he spoke through gritted teeth, “Why are you chained out in the cold?”

Instead of a reply, or at least raising her head to look at the person asking, she flinched and buried her face more into the snow as if she wasn't cold enough.

His jaws clenched at the sight, but he realized what he needed to do. Something that was hard because it wasn't in him to be patient.

Taking a deep breath, he released it slowly and then sat beside her. His eyes on the snow that's now turned red under her legs.

“You're bleeding,” he said, his eyes still locked on her small frame. “It needs to be treated before it gets worse.”

There was no response. Just silence.

“Can you sit?” He asked, “Please,” he added.

Rhea turned her head slowly, but still not fully. Just enough to peek at the person talking to her.

He smiled, genuinely, happy that she'd look at him even though it was only for a moment. “Can I take a look at your wounds?” he asked.

He could see the hesitation in her eyes but after a while, she sat up and he couldn't believe how relieved he was that she did.

He took a look at her wounds, they weren't healing as much as they should and were still bleeding.

“You need a healer,” he muttered, a furrow settling between his brows.

“Why?” She asked, her voice faint, almost inaudible.

He looked at her, a bit confused but still answered, “Because you need to be tended to. Your injuries aren't healing on their own.”

His eyes moved back down to the chain and he glared at them before taking hold of them ready to break them.

“Why are you being nice to me?” she asked again, this time, adding more to her question.

He paused, lifting his gaze to meet hers. He didn't speak for a while, just staring into her eyes until she looked away.

Just what had she been through that she should ask such a question? He thought. His heart ached for her.

“Is there a reason why I shouldn't be nice to you?”