Chapter 84: Chapter Eighty-Four - Chase

Willow packed a small bag for us in case things were drawn out at the courts. She kept to herself while packing but I felt her unease.

The meeting had gone better than I hoped.

Willow’s ability to read Mrs. Young’s mind sealed the deal. However, we still had to incriminate Patch with little to no evidence.

“I think we should keep the guard detail tripled while we’re away,” she said. “I have a bad feeling Patch will send someone down here to hurt my siblings if he knows we’re not here. He’ll assume we’re weak without our alpha.”

I sat on the edge of the bed and nodded. “I agree with that. We can’t underestimate him at all. We did before and look what that got us.”

She looked over her shoulder with a smile. “Chased by a beast?”

“Chased by a beast.”

Willow shoved the last of our clothes into the small duffle and turned to me. “When are we leaving?”

I checked my text from Mrs. Young again. “In thirty minutes. Most of the regions that Patch called have already made it over to him. We’re waiting on one more and they’ll be here any minute. We’ll leave after they arrive.”

Willow walked over and I slid my palms up the back of her thighs. “We need to make a plan, Chase.”

She ran her palms up and down my deltoids.

“A plan for what, Bunny?”

Her blue eyes lifted to mine. “A plan in case we can’t prove what he did to me. His first order will be to punish me for the original crime and running from him. I can’t be left there no matter what. And if we do escape that punishment, he’ll come for my bloodline. Probably me because of his pride. How are we going to stop him from that?”

I tugged her onto my lap and she straddled my hips. “Willow, what kind of a plan are we talking about? I don’t like the tone of your voice.”

She closed her eyes. “I may have to hide or run because the other option is to kill Patch. And if he looks innocent and we kill him, the crime is punishable by death. You don’t kill an Alpha King.”

I knew that. But I wanted to believe that this wouldn’t happen to us. “We have to be positive—“

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “We have to have a plan B.”

The desperate look in her eyes told me she was afraid this wouldn’t go the way we wanted. I didn’t blame her, Patch was manipulative but I was certain that we could catch him in some sort of a lie. Find something he left behind.

“What are you thinking?” I asked.

“I think we need to make a plan to keep my siblings safe. Put them with a family here in our pack. Someone who can watch them in case we need to go into hiding. Or if we need to disappear for a while.”

“Bunny, we can’t leave the pack to Keith. Not if the Alpha King is after us.”

She looked away. “He’s not after you, he’s after me.”

I thought about what she was saying and shook my head. “You’re saying you may need to leave?”

She didn’t answer.

I chuckled humorlessly under my breath. “You’re not leaving me, Willow. If you go, I go. We’re going to fight for our pack, for your safety, and I’ll kill all of the Alpha Kings if I need to.”

She closed her eyes and a tear escaped down her cheek. “I can’t let you do any of those things.”

I stood up with her on my waist and sat her on the floor. “I don’t want to hear about this anymore. We’re leaving soon, let’s go downstairs and get ready to leave.”

Willow grabbed the strap of the duffle but I stopped her. “Don’t you dare run from me, Bunny. You know I’ll find you.”

A soft smile splayed on her mouth. “I would bank on it.”

We walked toward the lobby and out into the courtyard. Alpha Gerald was with Mrs. Young near the back of her town car. I sensed a connection between the two of them but I didn’t want to pry. It wasn’t the time to ask him about his feelings toward her.

Mrs. Young glanced over at Willow a few times, as I tossed our duffle into the back of Alpha Gerald's vehicle since we'd left my Jeep at the courts. She’d been surprised by Willow’s abilities.

She almost looked a bit afraid.

“We are sending several of our guards into the woods to search for remains of the beast,” she called over to us. “While we’re inside one of our stealth agents will look for anything out of place.”

“Got it.”

A black Hummer rolled down the driveway, and Mrs. Young clapped her hands. “The other region is here. Let’s make sure we have everyone. You should invite Rex since he was at the scene as well,” she said.

“He’s coming,” I shouted, attempting to mind-link him and hurry him along.

He raced toward the vehicle several seconds later with a small bag from the warrior's cabin and jumped into the back.

The Hummer parked, and a giant man got out of the driver’s seat. He looked ex-military for sure with dark buzzed hair as he scanned the courtyard swiftly. “Mrs. Young, Alpha Gerald,” he said.

I held my finger up to Willow and walked over to greet him. “I’m Alpha Chase,” I said, offering him a handshake.

He took it. “I’m Pain Prince. I’m the Alpha King of the southeast region. Are we ready to go?”

“We are,” Alpha Gerald said. “Thank you for coming.”

He shifted and folded his giant arms over his chest. “Where is she?”

I lifted a brow. “My Luna?”

He nodded.

I pointed toward Willow who was speaking to Rex in Alpha Gerald's truck. “That’s her.”

The corner of his mouth pulled into a smile. “She killed Ian, and ran from the beast?”

“She did.” I shifted, not liking his admiration for my mate. “She’s tough.”

“Looks like it. Perhaps we could handle the ruling of no female warriors while we’re here. We allow them in our region and we’ve turned up some amazing warriors because of it.”

“Don’t tell Willow that,” I mumbled. “She’ll be running to your region before night falls.”

He chuckled. “I have room for another wolf, just saying.”

I pushed my wolf down as he growled in irritation at this man. “I think we’ll be fine here. Aren’t we leaving?” I asked.

He sensed my irritation and took a step back. “Sorry, I’m bad at boundaries. I won’t mention it to her.”

“Good,” I mumbled.

Alpha Gerald cleared his throat. “Okay then, we’re ready to go.”

I nodded politely and walked back to the truck. I climbed inside and started the engine.

“Who is that?” Willow asked.

“The Alpha King of the southeast region,” I mumbled.

She gave me a look. “Why are you so tense right now? What happened?”

“Nothing,” I said, backing out.

Rex leaned forward between us. “Yeah, something happened. What is it?”

I ground my teeth. “Drop it.”

Rex put his palms up in surrender and sat back. “Dude, chill out.”

Willow glanced over at me with a curious look but didn’t pry. I was already on edge, I didn’t want to talk about the fact that he admired Willow.

“Is he on our side?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said, pulling onto the driveway with the cars falling in line behind us. “At least, we’re not going in alone.”

Willow reached over and intertwined her fingers with mine. I tightened my fingers around hers as we pulled down the road. I pushed for a mind-link with Keith and told him to keep all the guards on their toes.

Just because we were going to the courts didn't mean Patch wouldn't send men out here for the children in the bloodline.

A nervous shiver raced down my spine. This was it. Our chance to take Patch down for attempting to kill my mate, and drug her. My fingers tightened over the steering wheel.

It was now or never.