Chapter 133: Is That You, Hayden?

••• Charlotte's POV •••

Sent!

The notification of a message being successfully sent flashed across my phone screen.

I had sent the dinner invitation to Hayden and was now feeling nervous as I waited for his reply.

I was so nervous that I began fidgeting in my seat. This was a foreign feeling for me. I had never felt nervous after asking someone out to dinner. Not that I had much experience in asking someone out.

I met Hayden while I was holidaying right after my eighteenth birthday, right after my first shift. He then took me to the Red Claw Pack to be his mate, and later on be his Luna.

After that, I wasn't looking for a mate anymore, but I met Theo.

So I actually didn't have any experience in asking someone out.

The only he-wolves I had ever asked out for meals who were not my family members were Leo and Nate.

Since I'd known them for a long time, it was natural for me not to feel nervous when I asked them out.

Why was I feeling so nervous now anyway?

This wasn't the first time I'd have dinner with him. We had even had sex so many times after the aphrodisiac incident.

So why?

Was it because I was about to confess my feelings to him and tell him that I was willing to get back together with him? Shouldn't he be the one who feels nervous instead of me?

As I was thinking of all that, the ping that I had been waiting for sounded from my phone.

I snatched the phone from the desk and nearly dropped it due to my fingers shaking from my nervousness.

I tapped the phone screen to read the message.

[Lottie, I would love to see you, but I have to apologize for not being able to make it. Something happened in my pack and I have to deal with it. Let's meet another time, okay?]

I felt disappointed when I read his message but I was also worried about him and his pack.

[Alright, Hayden. Please be more careful and take care of yourself and the pack members.]

I went back to my desk and began reading the documents for the day again.

After a while, Leo came into the study.

"Lottie..." he called my name with a serious tone, making me stop in my task to look at him.

"What's wrong, Leo?" I asked with my brows knitted together.

"The Red Claw Pack had been attacked," he informed.

"Attacked?" Was that what happened in the pack when Hayden said something had happened?

"Who attacked them? Was it a Royal sneak attack? Or the Hell Walker Pack?" I wondered. It couldn't be a direct attack. The Red Claw Pack was strong enough to ward off any enemies before they could cross over the pack's borders.

"I'm not sure…" He frowned. He knew it was more serious than rogues' attacks if the royals or the mafia pack was the one who attacked the Red Claw Pack.

"We haven't gotten that information yet," he added.

"Hmm…" I thought about it for a while before telling him, "Please help keep a close eye on things there, Leo."

He agreed to my request before leaving my study to do his job.

Even though I didn't like the Red Claw Pack and its members, it wouldn't be good if the pack suffered heavy casualties, or worse, was annihilated.

The Red Claw Pack was important to Hayden…

That was his home, and he had been helping in making the pack grow stronger even before he became its Alpha.

I picked up my phone, wanting to contact him again, but decided against it. I was afraid he was too busy dealing with the attack and didn't want to disturb him. I didn't want him not to be able to concentrate when dealing with such a huge issue because of my message or phone call.

I sighed and leaned back against my chair. Should I help him and the Red Claw Pack?

I could ask my warriors to help him, but…

Would he want me to help?

Would sending my warriors be of any help?

What if he had his own plans and by sending my warriors, it could actually ruin his plans?

Suddenly I heard my phone pinged. I checked it to see a message from an anonymous number.

I frowned as I opened the message to read it.

[Lottie, it's me, Hayden. I have to use a hidden number so as to prevent my phone from being tapped. The Alpha King might be coming after me. I have a request to ask from you, Lottie. Please come to the pier tonight. I have a black van hidden there and I'll be waiting for you in the van. I need your input on what to do next and we can discuss it when we meet later on tonight. Please don't disclose this information or your whereabouts to anyone as I don't want to alert the enemies. See you tonight, Lottie.]

My frown deepened as I read his message. I felt like there was something wrong with the message…

But what if it really was from Hayden?

I was worried about him, so I decided to go to the pier that night.

It was pitch black on the pier, with hardly any light shining around it - no streetlights or anything else.

I found a black van with its tail lights on but hesitated before stepping nearer to it.

There was a man wearing a hoodie standing next to the van.

Looking at his shadowy figure, his height, and figure seemed to match Hayden's…

"Is that you, Hayden?" I asked hesitantly.

Suddenly I caught the scent of pine mixed with musk before I felt a tingling pain on the side of my neck.

I turned around to see a stranger with an empty syringe in his hand. He had injected a tube of liquid into my neck!

I tried to run away, but my body felt weak and I fell to the ground, feeling paralyzed without being able to even lift a finger or even felt any parts of my body.

I heard the stranger's voice saying to his subordinate, "Take her away."

Someone picked my paralyzed body in their arms and I was thrown into the back of the van before everything became blurry and I passed out.

***

My eyelids fluttered open and I felt the soft bed behind me. I looked around to see that I was in some sort of a grand palatial bedroom with soft gray walls.

What happened…

Where was I…

My eyes went wide and I panicked instantly when I remembered what had happened. I tried to get up from the bed only to find out that I couldn't move - my hands and feet were tied to the pillars on each corner of the bed!

I forced myself to calm down and tried to assess the situation. Who would kidnap me? And why did they kidnap me using Hayden's name? Was their target me or Hayden?

The door was suddenly swung open, and a man as handsome as Hayden and Theo walked in.

If Hayden was arrogantly handsome and Theo was elegantly handsome, then this man was something else.

He looked huge - nearly as tall as Theo and as muscular as Hayden. His hair was long and messy, curling around his nape. There was a scar cutting across his left eyebrow. His eyes were sharp and of beautiful green color, reminding me of a beautiful grass meadow.

Perfect sharp nose and jawlines…

He was wearing a white shirt unbuttoned down to half his chest, showing his collarbones and giving me a peek at his muscular pecks.

He looked messy, with his unkempt long hair and the way his shirt had too many buttons opened, but the overall effect strangely made him look dangerously sexy.

But what caught me off balance the most was his scent.

Surprisingly, I could actually smell the scent of pine mixed with musk and felt a familiarity with him.

My body started to tingle, my heart started to beat fast and a fuzzy voice popped into my head.

This man…

"Mate!" I blurted out uncontrollably, the word came out of my mouth before I could even think about it.

This man was my third-chance mate!