Chapter 23: Ada's Mate

Ada

“I think one of you should shift and carry me on your back,” I grunt as I stop at a tree to take the weight off my ankle.

“I’ll carry you home,” Willow stands closer. “It’s been an hour already and nothing has happened.”

“Yeah,” Violet sighs. “But the walk did me good.”

“Not us,” Willow gives her an irritated look. “You’ve been whining about Eric the entire time. My ears are hurting.”

“You just don’t understand because you haven’t found your mate,” Violet snaps.

“And after listening to you, I’m happy about it,” Willow smirks. “He sounds like a wuss. You’re planning and scheming so that the two of you can be together while he clings to his stupid ego and pride.”

I shake my head and stop listening. By now I know they can continue like this for hours. And still, they are best friends. I prepare myself for the pain as I steady my cane to start walking again and that’s when I hear it.

“Hush,” I whisper urgently and instantly they quiet down.

“Over there,” I point into the darkness. “I heard something.”

None of us moves a muscle as we peek our eyes and ears. A soft growl followed by a pair of gleaming eyes emerges from the shadows.

“Where there’s one, there will be more,” Violet whispers.

“Come out and talk to us,” I shout at the eyes. “We won’t hurt you.”

There is a snickering in the darkness before more eyes appear.

“I count seven,” Willow says softly.

“There’s going to be more,” I whisper. “Tell Zoe it’s time for the backup. But they must stay out of sight and wait for my signal.”

“We’re unarmed and outnumbered,” I shout again. “So, before you attack us, will one of you step forward and talk to us?”

“Pretty pleeeeease,” Violet adds and I cannot help but smile at her silliness.

Finally, a big, grey wolf walks to us and I hold my breath as he approaches. We are in serious trouble if all the rogues are this size. He is nearly the size of an alpha. I do not move as he slowly walks closer until he is right in front of me. He bares his teeth and saliva is dripping, but he does not attack.

My heart is beating insanely fast and I try to steady my breathing as the beast sniffs me. I am not going to lie, I am scared shitl*ss right now. He can kill me in less than a second and not even Superman will be in time to save me.

The wolf stands back and shifts. My eyes widen when I look at the naked man in front of me. He must be a rogue prince or something because holy hell, he is hot. His hair is black and curly. His brown eyes are filled with anger.

“Are you Ada?” His voice is dark and ominous. “The alpha’s daughter?”

“That depends on who’s asking,” I fold my arms protectively across my chest. “You cannot serve me with papers if I don’t confirm my name.”

“Do I look like a server?” The man growls.

“I don’t like singing telegrams either,” I shrug.

“Shut up,” he barks and grabs me by the throat.

My fingernails dig into his skin as I fight for air when he lifts me off the ground.

“Let go!” Willow shouts and jumps forward.

“Move an inch and I’ll snap her neck,” the man warns Willow before he looks at me. “Not so smart now, are you?”

“Can’t … breath,” I mouth the words and suddenly he lets go and I drop to the ground. Instantly, Willow and Violet are by my side and helping me up.

“Why are you attacking our pack?” I cough as I look at the man.

“Why did you kill my wife and child?” He glares at me.

“We didn’t,” I struggle to say the words. My throat is killing me. “We …

“I saw you,” he cuts me off and I look at him frowning. “I saw you running away after you lit up the shed.”

“Are you sniffing glue regularly?” I ask with a hoarse voice. “I wasn’t even close to the shed when the fire started.”

“Are you calling me a liar?” He shouts and reaches for me, but Willow quickly shifts and puts herself between me and the man.

“Cute,” he chuckles at Willow and gets ready to shift.

“Wait!” I shout and he stops. “She’s only protecting me and not attacking you.”

“It doesn’t matter,” he shrugs. “We’re going to kill you anyway. I only want to torture you. I want you to feel the pain we’ve endured.”

“Look … uhm, what’s your name?” I ask.

“Tommy,” he replies.

“Really?” I look him up and down. “You don’t look like a Tommy. More like Thomas or Tom or …”

“For f*ck’s sake, will you please shut up!” He yells. “Fine, my name is Gregory.”

“Yeah,” I nod. “That suits you better. Anyway, Greg, as …”

“Gregory,” he cuts me off.

“Sorry, Gregory,” I roll my eyes at him. “I swear on my mother’s grave it wasn’t me you saw that night. I keep a journal and I will give it to you and you can see for yourself I wasn’t there.”

“Yeah, right,” he snorts. “You’ll just add an entry before you hand it over.”

“Well, come inside with me,” I shrug nonchalantly. “You can escort me the entire time.”

“I’m rogue, not stupid,” he huffs. “Once I’m inside, your people will overpower and capture me.”

“Then what the hell do you want me to do?” I yell as I throw my hands up in the air. “How can I prove my innocence?”

“Honestly, I don’t care about that,” he smirks. “We’re going to kill you anyway. One of your pack killed our women and children and you must pay.”

“Bullsh*t,” I take a challenging step forward. “If you didn’t care for the truth, you wouldn’t have bothered talking to me. You would’ve killed us the same way you did the others.”

“Fine,” he shrugs. “Maybe I want the responsible party to suffer, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re going to kill you.”

“How about we make a deal?” I smile. “You give me time to find the responsible person and then you kill them.”

“No,” he replies in a monotone. “We already know it’s you. You’re only trying to save yourself.”

“I thought you said you’re not stupid,” I pout as I tilt my head sideways. “Because only an idi*t would believe that I’m responsible. Why would I help stock up a shed for you just to burn it down?”

“I saw you with my own eyes,” he bellows.

“You saw someone,” I shout back. “You didn’t see me.”

For a moment Gregory and I only stare at each other before he gives a quick whistle. A wolf appears from behind him with something in his mouth. Gregory takes it and holds it out to me.

“You dropped this,” he smiles victoriously as I take it from him with trembling fingers. “It has your scent.”

I do not say anything as I look at the black hoody with the golden symbol on the chest and my name embroidered on the back. It is one of my warrior hoodies. We all have one with our names on it.

“This doesn’t mean a thing,” I hand it back to him. “I own at least five of those. All warriors do – we wear it during training. There are a hundred ways to take one of mine without me noticing. I don’t do my own laundry.”

“Nice try,” he smirks.

“I’m serious, Gregory,” my voice is steady despite the turmoil in my head. “Somebody is framing me and they’re succeeding.”

“Not my problem,” he grabs my arm and jerks me against his chest.

Violet shifts and takes a stand next to Willow.

“Don’t,” I order them before I look at Gregory. “If you kill me now, the real killer will go free. Will you be satisfied to spend the rest of your life with a maybe?”

He does not answer and I take his silence as confirmation that it will not be enough for him.

“Give me time to get to the truth,” I say softly. “As much as you want to know who killed your family, I want to know who is framing me and why. You can kill me afterwards and spend your days in peace knowing you revenged your family.”

“Fine,” he shoves me and I fall to the ground. “I give you until the next full moon. If you’re not here at midnight, I will wipe out your family.”

“Deal,” I stand up. “And you’re not allowed to attack Moon Shadow until then either.”

“And no more attempts from you to capture us. Also, food parcels every night for forty people,” he holds out his hand to me.

“Okay,” I take his hand. His grip is firm before he lets go of my hand.

Gregory howls once before he turns around, shifts and disappears into the darkness.

“This is so not the plan we discussed,” Violet grunts as she and Willow come to stand next to me. “We were supposed to capture one.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I sigh as I take off my kimono. “We got plenty of information.”

“Disturbing information,” Violet snorts.

“And an ultimatum,” Willow growls.

“I know,” I sigh and hold out my kimono. “Who wants this?”

“Thanks,” Willow quickly takes it.

“Hey,” Violet protests.

“No need to fight,” Zoe steps out of the darkness towards us and holds out a shirt. “Thanks for keeping the mind link open.”

“I hope you haven’t told my dad?” I look at her.

“Relax,” she smiles. “I ordered the warriors home, and they know better than to say anything. But you're going to wear a scarf to conceal Gregory's fingerprints.”

“Thanks,” I smile. “Let’s go home.”