Page 95 of Freeing My Alpha

Noah allows the board to voice their fears, but they trail off when he shakes his head. “I have reason to believe Hart is stalking our future Luna too. If he has any intention of hurting Aliya, I need to know.”

My stomach gurgles even louder this time, but it's not funny to me. Noah drapes his hand on the back of my neck.

Fuck, I'm sorry, that came out completely insensitive. Are you feeling okay with this conversation, sweet Omega?

When he strokes my mark with his calming, protective scent, I do everything in my power not to sigh in bliss. Yes, I’m okay. As long as I’m with you.

Noah takes a deep, soothing breath at my words, and my heart aches with love for him. This is stressful as hell, but being together makes anything manageable. This last month has proven that.

“I believe you, Alpha.” Yasmine steps in with the mediation she does best, her clear, elegant voice sending a burst of Noah’s relief through our bond. “And I also know the Elders have a point. We don’t want any reason for mutiny on our hands. Do you have solid proof he’s stalking her? For the official side of things?”

Noah shifts on his feet, dropping his head. “I haven't seen what he's doing outside of when I've seen him challenge me. So nothing I can prove is separate from dominance challenges towards me just yet.” His expression hardens, his scowl burning a hole into the floor. “I just don’t like that he was trying to stop me from meeting my mate at first. And the way he looks at her feels off, I—”

“You sound like a loving Alpha, protecting his mate. Which is wonderful to see, truly,” Elder Beta Terrence chuckles. “But you need more proof than that.”

Yasmine crosses her arms. “I agree with our Alpha, though; Mason is super suspicious. Especially with his unwillingness to show his human face.”

Elder Terrence nods. “Yes, that is odd. Surely someone here must've seen his human form in the past?”

Elder Frank grumbles. “His adult human form, you mean. Most of us saw his kid form.”

The room steeps in silence. Noah tenses, and Yasmine steals a glance at him. They must be referring to when Alpha Ritchie banished Mason’s dad, Jack Hart, from Greenfield.

But Dave raises his hand in the corner. “I’ve seen Mason Hart’s adult form. But I don't have a picture of him, or anything. Like most wolves, he doesn't have any social media I can find, either.”

“So there's nothing that stood out about his human form? Nothing either identifying or that he might find embarrassing about his appearance?” Elder Terrence asks.

Dave shrugs. “He's just another white, blonde dude, a bit bigger than me but no tattoos or scars I can remember, or anything.”

“Then why would he hide it?” Elder Aaron frowns.

Yasmine releases one hand from her tightly crossed arms to rub her temple. “When I got there last night, he was refusing specifically to show Noah his human face. And being pretty offensive about it.”

Elder Aaron hums. “That's extremely strange, and annoying, sure, but being a nuisance isn't enough to be put on surveillance.”

Rainn chimes in with a protective hand gripping her brother’s arm. “But he's clearly hiding something, Elder! Don't you think that's suspicious?”

“I agree, the refusal to shift is the most suspicious out of everything here. We could use that as a reason, Alpha... If you have any idea of what he's hiding.”

We all turn to Noah, hoping he has something.

Noah’s eyes flicker between every one of us, his brows knitted and chest puffed. But he sighs, dropping my gaze to scrub his forehead.

“I don't know. I've been trying to think of one of the hundreds of unsolved crimes it could be. But also where I'd recognize him, on the spot—since why else would he hide his face from me? I just can't think of anything. If this was the case of an unsolved offense already on my mind, I would've sniffed him out immediately.”

Elder Frank scowls. “Then, what? You're truly doing this for no reason? Going on a feeling?”

“Are we going to ignore the elephant in the room?” Lilian mutters in the corner.

Noah erupts with defensive, panicked emotions, sending icy anxiety through my veins. I grip my chair, struggling to grasp what Lilian could be talking about.

“He’s not Jack,” Noah snaps.

No one speaks. Hell, no one moves.

“And I can’t arrest Mason for being related to him,” Noah growls.

My heart ticks into my throat, tempted to cower from Noah. I’ve never seen my mate like this.

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