Chapter 118 Chapter 118

Chapter 118 Chapter 118
Aiden's POV::
I was in my office, sorting through some files that contained information on members of the pack when there was a firm knock on the door.
"Come in," I said and the door came open slowly.
A tall, well built man walked in and shut the door behind him.
"Max. You're late," I pointed out without looking up.
"I'm sorry about that, Alpha Aiden. I had something very important to take care of," He said meekly, betraying his strong and confident appearance.
Hearing that, I stopped what I was doing and lifted my gaze from the desk. "Important, you say? More important than your duties as my beta?"
The look in his eyes made it obvious that he realized his mistake immediately. “No, no............I.....I mean................” he stuttered, unable to say anything coherent.
"I'll allow that slide just this once," I said with an underlying warning.
“Thank you, sir,” he uttered eagerly, already sweating.
"Just refer to me as Aiden, except when you're talking to someone else.”
"Okay, Aiden.... sir," he said, then he shook his head quickly and corrected himself, "Sorry, I meant Aiden.”
The door opened just then and I already knew who it was before my eyes fell on the person. There was only one person who could barge into my office like that without knocking.
Max turned his head to see who entered and he nodded at Leon as he passed by him. Leon barely acknowledged him before coming to stand beside my desk.
Rising from my chair, I said, “Max, here's a list of things I want you to do for me. I expect half of them to be completed before the day's end."
“Okay, Aiden,” he said and stepped forward to receive the single sheet of paper I outstretched at him.
"I rarely have time to be running things from the office here so you're going to be the one mostly doing that,” I explained. “Get familiar with the office and the duties that come with it. And anytime I'm not present in town, you're the one fully in charge. If you've got questions, ask them.”
He stared at the list in his hand, allowing his gaze to linger there, then he looked around the office and nodded his head in approval. “I have no questions. I'll get on this right away.”
"Good," I said and shifted my gaze to Leon who was still standing next to my desk. I noticed that he had an oversized coat draped over him, the fabric hiding his armless side. He had on a glove on his other hand which he tugged at as if it was making him uncomfortable.
He opened his mouth to say something but I shook my head to stop him and nodded towards the door. Max didn't seem to be aware of that interaction, his eyes still glued to the list in his hand.
“I'm stepping out now,” I informed him, clapping him on the shoulder. “I'll be gone for a while. Everything is in your hands now."
I left the office after that with Leon following me closely. Once we were in the hallway, he said, “I told you he was trustworthy. You have nothing to worry about."
I couldn't tell if he was referring to me preventing him from talking in the office, or he only said that to show me that he was right about what he had said earlier. Either way, I ignored his statement and said, "You got something you want to tell me?"
“Not anymore,” he replied. “It was about Max but I don't think it's necessary anymore as you've already done something similar to what I was about to say.”
I raised an eyebrow at him on hearing that, wondering what he was talking about.
"Don't worry about it," he said with a wave of his hand..
I decided not to since I had more pressing issues to worry about. "Walk with me," I said and started walking down the hallway.
"Why do I feel like you're worried about something? What is it?" Leon asked, staring at me out of the corner of his eyes.
"It's the pack," I replied. “I'm so fucking worried about how to protect everyone. I can't shake the feeling that something bad might happen soon and it's very annoying.”
"Something bad like what?"
"I can't say. It's just a feeling that's been bugging me. What do you think is the next best step to take in protecting the pack further?" I asked him.
“Uh, I don't think I should answer that, seeing as I'm no longer your beta. Max should be responsible for that now."
I stopped walking on hearing that and he'd taken a few more steps before he realized that. “What?”
"You can't be serious. I barely trust Max and you want me to take advice from him?” I asked.
"He's your beta. Who else should you take advice from?”
I studied Leon's face carefully but I couldn't find any trace of regret or displeasure as he was talking. He seemed perfectly okay with the whole Max situation. It was either that or he was very good at hiding how he really felt about it.
“Alright then,” I said and resumed walking. We got to the end of the hallway and exited the building, stepping into the courtyard. The sun was still rising, bathing everywhere in its illuminating glow.
"How about Daisy? Have you seen any trace of her?" I asked as we both watched the sun.
"Not at all," Leon replied, shaking his head slowly. "I think she should be dead by now."
I could feel my wolf's agitation inside me on hearing Leon's response and I know what that meant but I decided to give him another chance. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," was his response as he turned to look at me. "I would have informed you immediately if I'd come across her anywhere."
He sounded so sincere that I would have believed him if not for my wolf jumping around and the tingling of my
senses.
“Okay then," I said and patted him on the shoulder.
A few minutes later, his phone rang and he excused himself. After he was gone, I headed to my room and made a call. Less than twenty minutes after that, there was a knock on my room door and, at my request, the door swung open and Cassidy walked in.
She was dressed in an extremely short gown with a low cut neck that was exposing her thighs and so much cleavage that I was sure her breasts would spill over if she bent forward. Excitement was evident on her face and she approached the bed eagerly.
"Are you sure you want me alone or would you like me to call Neena or anything else?" She asked in her melodic voice, licking her lips slowly.
"That's not why I called you here," I replied bluntly and a confused look appeared on her face. "I want you to help me do something very important and it requires that you be very discreet about it.”
Still not understanding what was going on, she looked at me with curiosity. "I'm listening.”
"It's Leon. I asked him a question and he lied about it. I want you to use whatever means you can to get close to him and get the truth out of him. Remember, be discreet. Can you do that for me?"
"Yes, sure," she answered, obviously disappointed that she wasn't going to be getting in my bed.
“Get the desired result and I'll reward you handsomely," I promised her and her lips curved into a smile.
As she sauntered out of the room, her hips swaying rhythmically, I could tell that she was doing it on purpose and I couldn't help but imagine if it was Daisy. The longer she was gone, the more it felt like I had lost her forever and that all my efforts were futile.
Suddenly, the image of Leon being pummeled by Keiran at the bar came to mind. Could it be that Kieran was the one that saved Daisy from Leon and was that why Kieran attacked him again at the bar?
Although the idea seemed like a stretch, I couldn't rule out the possibility of that being the exact way everything had happened. That Leon! Just how foolish did he think I was?
“Alpha?” Someone said and I looked up to see that Cassidy was still in the room. Expectations swam in her eyes and I knew what she wanted.
"Come back later. I need to take care of something now,” I said.
A disappointed look took over her expression and she nodded without saying anything before she took her leave. As soon as she was gone, I got dressed, grabbed my key and exited my room. As I made my way out, I hoped for Leon's sake that I didn't see him before I got to my car. How dare he lie to me to my face? Outside, I got into my car and drove away from the house, making my way to California. I arrived there a few hours later, fueled by my anger at Leon and my determination to find Daisy. If she was with Kieran's brother, then she was probably in danger. I couldn't even begin to imagine the things that might have been done to her. All because of me. As I was driving down the busy road, I noticed something that looked like a poster on a tree up ahead and I rolled the car to a stop in front of the tree. Then I climbed out of the car, observed my surroundings for a few moments, then walked towards the tree. Before I even got to it, I could already see that the poster had Daisy's face on it. And, written in bold, red letters beneath the picture, was the word "WANTED”. Without a second thought, I reached forward and ripped the poster from the tree. A thought occurred to me as I stared at the poster again and I walked around the area the tree was planted, checking for any poster similar to it on any other tree and lamppost. Getting nothing, I returned to my car with the poster in my hand and I continued staring at it, wondering what Daisy had gotten herself into. All because I hadn't been able to find her.
It was time to change that. Since I couldn't trust anyone to look for her effectively, I was going to take the task up myself and find her. Daisy's return is long due and it was time to bring her home.