The Wanted Alpha

Chapter 14 - Caught

April

The room was a wonderful mix of luxury and rustic, in shades of pale grey and greens. Subtle and tasteful holiday decorations adorned the mantle and door frames, giving a homey and warm feeling to the place. The doorway opened up into an intimate sitting room with a large open fireplace, already set and awaiting to be lit. The floor to ceiling panoramic windows gave an uninterrupted view of the landscape that would slowly turn whiter as the snow fell and settled in the coming weeks. The small dining table, set just away from the seating area, enjoyed the same views of the outside. 

\"Here, the bathroom\'s this way\" Ethan tugged my hand, pulling me towards a pair of double doors.

It led into what I can only assume was the master bedroom, it\'s decor mirrored the rest of the suite. The bed looked huge and so invitingly soft, my mate\'s scent was faint in here but enough to fill my lungs and bring a sense of calmness. He let my hand go to retrieve a small, brown leather holdall bag and motioned me over to the frosted glass door leading to a bathroom.

\"There should be everything you need in this. I want you to take as much time as you want, even if it\'s a couple of hours\" he smiled.

I nodded, taking the bag from him, our fingers lingering in contact on the handles. 

He cleared his throat as though breaking himself from some spell \"there\'s a huge tub if you want a soak. I have a few messages to answer, so don\'t rush yourself. I\'ll order us some dinner if you\'d like? What sort of food do you eat?\"

I nodded enthusiastically \"I\'m really not fussy, I\'ll eat most things.\"

While I may not have tried many cuisines, I never snubbed my nose at any food. I couldn\'t afford the luxury to be \'picky\' living in the wilds, it was either eat or starve. He turned, seeming to be rather reluctant to leave me and I felt a similar want to keep him close. But I wasn\'t ready to be around him naked just yet. I hadn\'t grown up like most pack do, shifting in front of their pack mates constantly and shedding that initial trepidation of nudity around others. 

I moved to the beautiful counter that looked as though it was made from a slice of a tree and polished to perfection with a pristine white porcelain sink embedded in it. I opened the bag to look at what Ethan had given me and was surprised to see I recognised most of the items. The same hairbrush and products that I had used in his pack were all here...he really was prepared in the hopes of finding me. I looked up to the mirror and was slightly horrified at my state. I had a few dried leaves still stuck in my ponytail, mud down my jacket, face and neck, I was surprised I was even allowed in the building. But then again the humans here obviously knew we were wolves, so they probably thought we\'d been out to shift and run. I stripped out of my clothes and took my hair out, brushing it through. I glanced over my form, I had become quite skinny this past month, my ribs were starting to show, my breasts and hips were almost nonexistent. Prior to becoming a rogue, I had no experience in training and had barely ever shifted. My survival skills had been incredibly poor and it was a miracle I was even alive. I noticed I had a heavy bruise running on my left flank, it must have been where I fell and hit the rock before plummeting. Nothing felt broken so it\'d be fine in a few days.

I looked at the tub, I couldn\'t remember the last time I had taken a bath, an actual sit down bath. It must have been when I was still a child at home with my parents.

I eagerly turned the taps on to fill it, pouring a little bubble bath in too. I quickly stepped into the shower to wash the dirt off of me, not wanting to soak in my own mud. I put my hair up in a bun, leaving the conditioner in to soak. I sighed as I settled into the hot water, loving that there was ample space for my tall frame.

\'This is much better than frozen over waterways\' August sighed along with me.

\'Glad to have you back\' I snickered to her \'tired of his wolf already?\'

\'Of course not! I simply don\'t have anyone else to gush to...April they really want us, no ulterior motive, just us.\'

I knew she was right, I could feel it too. But I still felt as though I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I wondered why he had acted as he had when we first met, why he had never come to me in the four days I had been there, was it because of his first mate? If I did go back with him, to his pack...what sort of danger would I place his home in? Peace always seemed to come with a price in my life. It either seemed to cost me my freedom or the life of others. If I told him everything, would he still want me?

Ethan

I finally had her name, April.

I felt that she had opened up to me more than she had with anyone else, her name, her pack. Goddess I really had been such an idiot to not go to her sooner when she had been so close. But, I promised myself I would be better for her and that started with forgetting the past. I couldn\'t change what had happened or what I had done, but I would be damned if I let it affect anymore of my future...our future. I wanted to earn her forgiveness, I didn\'t want to ask for it. I didn\'t want her to feel as though I was using the bond against her, manipulating her into staying with me.

Turning around and leaving was the hardest thing now that I had her here. She would only be a few feet away but having been separated for two months, the bond was pushing for me to keep her within arms reach. But she needed some privacy while she freshened up and I needed to get her some dinner as well. I could feel my wolf wanting to go back to her too, wanting to keep her in sight.

\'You can still link her wolf from here you know, Ezra.\'

\'I know, but I want to keep looking at her…what if someone comes and it\'s because she\'s not in sight. Our mates have been living in fear for so long\' he whimpered.

\'They\'re not getting her this time. I don\'t know who\'s after her, but it ends with us\' I would end anyone who so much as looked at her with any ill intent and my wolf growled in agreement.

I looked over the menu of the day\'s options and settled on some baked camembert to share and start with, beef wellington with all the trimmings and a small selection of desserts. April needed some rich, hearty foods, her build was far too thin to be healthy. After placing our order and assuring the desk clerk that there was no hurry as my mate was still relaxing I looked over the messages I had received while I was out, I hadn\'t taken my cell with me as I wanted to be distraction free while I searched for my mate. One was from Jude to say the last of the new security measures were in place and that as soon as I was back I would need to scan my biometrics into the system so that I could actually access my own facilities. The other was a little more serious, from Carrick. I took my cell out immediately to phone his home.

\"Hey, take it you got my message\" my Gamma didn\'t waste time beating around the bush and got straight to business.

\"Yeah, what the hell happened?\"

\"Julia suspects some samples have been stolen with the wolfsbane serum. The files luckily are backed up and what appears to have gone missing is just the initial work, the more developed research is stored separately and more secure. Look, it could be they\'ve just been misplaced, but with the couple of leaks we\'ve had now in the last 6 months…\" he sighed, trailing off leaving the rest unsaid but very much spoken.

We\'ve had information leaked before, but this was the first time something was actually stolen. The serum was a medicine we were developing to combat the effects of wolfsbane, both as a treatment and, hopefully, to be taken as a prophylaxis to prevent its effects in the first place.

\"Ok, I want a list of every job role that could have had access to the area, even if they were just passing by. Because it\'s in the labs we should have a pretty accurate record this time. I also want to start looking at some of our problem pack members and their families, anyone with a grudge to bear. We\'ll be home soon, probably tomorrow.\"

\"We?...So you actually found her?\" I could hear the hopeful glint in his voice \"I didn\'t want to ask in case something had gone wrong.\"

\"She came back to the Inn with me. Her name\'s April, but I haven\'t asked her to come back home with me yet. We haven\'t really talked, about anything, so we\'ll see what she thinks when she knows about my past. But I\'m willing to get on my knees and beg if need be.\"

\"Be honest, even if it\'s difficult and she may not like what you gotta say. If she\'s already opening up to you it means she trusts you to some degree\" why was Jude on the line? \"and if all else fails, remember, you\'re a good looking guy, just flash some muscle. She\'ll be putty in your hands. Works for me when I\'m trying to nail a guy.\" 

\"Jude! Get the hell off my phone line!\" I heard Carrick shout away from the receiver why Jude was even in his house.

\"Ok, I gotta go. The fucking moocher came round to steal my baking. I hope you bring our Luna back though\" before he hung up I heard him shout out something about \'not eating all the pumpkin ones\'.

Those two could really argue like an old mated couple sometimes. Jude had a massive sweet tooth, so whenever Carrick baked he would regularly raid his kitchen for it, invited or not. I laughed a little to myself, putting my phone down. I decided that since the fireplace was ready and set to be lit, it\'d be nice to have a good fire going while we ate and talked. Once it was roaring well, I helped myself to some bourbon from the cabinet for some Dutch courage. A knock sounded at the door, it was room service. It was wheeled in and set up on the table on food warmers to keep it hot while my mate was still relaxing. It smelt incredible and I gave the waiter a generous tip for setting up.

A few minutes later my mate appeared, looking more delicious than the food in a pair of brown knitted leggings and my dark red sweater that looked oversized on her. But what hit me most was her scent...I could smell it! She smelt of a meadow, the floral scent whirling around her, filling the whole room with its sweetness. Before I could stop myself I was crossing the room and holding her in my arms, burying my nose into her neck where her marking spot lay and the scent was strongest. She didn\'t push me away and returned my tight embrace, offering more of her neck up to me, making me growl in appreciation.

I pressed my forehead to hers, whispering through our mind-link \'you smell fucking amazing.\'

\'I love your scent too\' she surprised me by linking back, making my smile deepen.

Not only could I smell her scent, I could feel her aura...she was an Alpha?

\"I didn\'t think there was a point in hiding any of myself around you anymore…you need to know what you\'re getting involved in with me...and why I can\'t go back with you.\"

Chapter 15 - The Wanted Alpha