Page 11 of Alpha Scorned

“Go to Canada. His Beta has requested help to find him, which in itself is worrying. They can’t track him down. Lionel will go with you as extra muscle. Zander, too. As a dark fae and demon hybrid, he may scent something that shifters can’t.”

I swallowed hard. “Did Selina ask for me to go?” I hated that I needed to know.

Connor sighed and scratched his eyebrow. “No, she didn’t. She also isn’t the Beta any longer. Someone named Robin is.”

There were so many questions I wanted to ask, but I also knew there was no point. Connor wouldn’t have answers, and if he did, he didn’t want to tell me, or he already would have. I’d have to wait until I got there. My mind reeled trying to figure out the reasons behind Selina giving up her post, or had this Robin guy challenged her, had he killed her or hurt her? My heart rate kicked up. “Is she dead? Is that why she’s not Beta anymore?” The wave of agony from my wolf as I voiced my fears was hard to contain, but I squashed it. If this Robin guy had hurt Selina, I’d turn rogue in a second to end him.

“As far as I know Selina is fine. No one’s mentioned her, and I didn’t ask. Their pack politics are their own, but as their King, when they ask for help, I answer. Now go. The plane is fueled and ready. The others are waiting for you. Rawson has started a file with the information we were given. Find out what’s going on over there. For now, until Shane is found, you are their Alpha. I’ve let Robin know. If you need any more help or resources, you call me.”

I nodded and turned to the door, suddenly anxious to get out of there and on the plane. I had something to prove, a situation to resolve, and I wouldn’t fail.

“Owen?”

I looked back over my shoulder.

Connor’s bright blue eyes were stained with black, his voice deep. He straightened his spine but I didn’t miss the way his fingers gripped the edge of his thick desk. “Don’t fuck this up. And I don’t just mean your orders. Don’t go rogue, no matter what happens with Selina. You have a family here too, man, one that loves you no matter what you’ve done, and we don't want to lose you.”

I swallowed the sudden ache in my throat and closed the door behind me.

Packing a bag took me only a few minutes. Zander, Lionel, Rawson and Stone waited at the bottom of the staircase near the elaborate front door. Just as I reached the bottom step, Ember stepped into my path. Her beautiful face was stern, her eyes worried.

“Owen?”

“Yeah?” I glanced at my queen, my mouth suddenly dry. I didn’t want to look at her, both out of shame for my behaviour in her home and near her children, but also because I knew what she was going to say, and I couldn’t deal with it at that moment. The possibility of seeing Selina and how it would affect my wolf and me scared the shit out of me.

Ember laid her hand gently on my arm, her green eyes intense. “I know she said she didn’t want you, but please, try and remember what she went through in that prison. There’s a reason she’s pushed you away, and it isn’t because she doesn’t want you.”

“I do remember what happened.” I took a deep breath to steady my desire to snap out a retort. “I remember everything weallwent through.”

Her fingers tightened on my forearm, her head cocking to one side. “Maybe, those of us in the prison, but none of us really knows what happened toher,to the women the demons took. I was never brave enough to ask. Were you?”

I swallowed hard, my silence answer enough. Truth be told, I’d not wanted to know the details because the thought ofanyonehurting her made my blood boil and my vision go red. I didn’t know how to live with my failure to protect her. Gods, I was a coward. How could I hope to understand the trauma Selina suffered, the memories she lived with, if I wasn’t even able to put aside my own issues enough to ask her about it?

“Just—give her another chance. Please.”

I inhaled and exhaled, blinking slowly. “There’s nothing to say she wants one, Em, and I’m not sure I can. If she rejects me again, it will end me.”

Ember leaned up and kissed my cheek. “Yes, you can. She deserves one, and so do you.”

I wasn’t sure she was right, so I said nothing as I walked away. I flung my kit bag over my shoulder and strode past my brothers, ignoring their stoic faces. “Let’s go.” They might not trust me anymore, but that just makes us even, cause I sure as fuck didn’t trust them, especially when they had permission to stick a knife in my back.

Lionel and Zander hefted up a storage chest containing our weapons, and we headed out to the small airport that housed our private jet. Yeah, Walker had funds and equipment, but so did we. Connor, along with his half-sister, had inherited his father’s fortune. Connor had then used his portion of that dirty money to fund our operations.

Once on the plane and in the air, Rawson passed me a file. “Here, that’s all the information we’ve got. And just so you know, I will follow your orders out there, but the moment it looks like you’re losing your shit or putting anyone else at risk with that chip you’re carrying on your shoulder, I will put you down. We clear?”

I met his gaze and a challenge passed between us, my wolf snarling to get at him.

“I get it. You want my position. But look at it this way, Rawson, who says I will let you or Stone put me down? The only one we know for sure who’s strong enough to beat me is Connor, and he isn’t here. So you keep your shit locked down, too. Once this is done, and Shane is back where he needs to be, you’ll get your chance to kill me. Or I'll kill you. Once I would have cared about what you thought, but now? When you learn those you should be able to trust now have permission to kill you, and they’re as eager as you seem to be? Well, it changes your outlook on life.” I leaned forward slightly, feeding all my anger into my eyes and letting my wolf show through. “You’d better hope I don’t go rogue and kill you in your sleep before you can do the same to me.”

Rawson cocked his head, holding my gaze. “It won’t work, you know.”

I remained silent wondering what he was talking about.

“All this pain you’re chasing, driving your family and friends away. It won’t work to smother the agony of being without your mate. I know because I tried it. Do yourself a favour while we’re in Selina’s pack. Either sever the bond with her from your side and reject her too, or grow some balls and fight for what you want. There are very few chances at happiness in this life, brother, and you gave up on yours far too easily.”

I grunted and looked down at the file, pretending to study the information. Rawson’s words had struck a nerve. Had I given up too easily? That thought didn’t sit well. No, I hadn’t, had I? It was her. Selina had never even given us, given me, a chance. She’d decided I wasn’t good enough and opened her legs for another male. Hadn’t she? My head spun and my throat tightened to the point I could barely breathe. Distracting myself with a fight wasn’t possible on a plane, so instead, I picked up the file and buried myself in the information about the Canadian pack and its missing Alpha.

Chapter 5

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