Tied with Oath

**\[ALPHA BELLAMY’s Point of View\]**

She was just somewhere in this place.

I knew she did something to hide herself from other werewolves. But our bond was much stronger than a wolf’s nose. I could feel her smell her to where she went. I was even confident that I could easily track her as I went deeper into the forest.

I felt her red scarf in my rough hand. Knowing that Alice was just out there, scared and trembling after hearing that horrible shriek coming from the beast of the forest, made my heart swell. I couldn’t believe this could be a coincidence—waking up when Alice was here, running away from what I did.

There was only me who should blame. If anything happened to Alice, it would be the end of me. Not because I knew Zen would curse me to death. But because I had been lying the whole time, making her believe I never wanted her. I f*cking wanted her for myself! I wanted her lovely eyes, her lips—if only I wasn’t tied to an oath I made with Zen. If only this guilt would not kill me if I ever betrayed him.

I didn’t know what to do anymore. So many things played in my head. Awful things. What if it was too late for me to save her? What if the beast found her first? What if—

No. I shouldn’t let despair drown me. Every second was precious while I sharpened my senses to look for my mate. I didn’t care if there were beasts that were stronger than Alpha werewolves living in this forest. I would tear them apart if they would stop me.

There was an eerie silence in the forest and the rotting smell of something dead was everywhere. As if the place had become a dumpster of corpses and carcasses of creatures that had gone lost in the woods. It was so gagging that I had to use the scarf to get rid of the rancid smell.

My mind turned on full alert when I heard rustling among the bushes and when I turned to look what it was, my vision just spun back to the other side and my neck snapped at the strength of the impact when something hit me on the face. It was powerful enough to almost knock me on my knees.

“What the—”

“So it’s all your fault she’s gone!”

My eyes widened at the familiar voice and I stood as soon as I recognized it was Zen standing behind me with his eyes full of hatred. “Zen!”

He scowled, “What did you do to her, Bellamy? Did you hurt her? Did you hurt Alice!?”

I averted my eyes from him, not sure about what to say. Yes, I did hurt her but I never wanted to tell it it was because of him. It was because Alice wanted me and not him.

That truth would devastate Zenon.

Despite my concern for him, I didn’t fight back to tell him I did it all because I valued our friendship more than anything. But Zenon grabbed me by the neckline of my shirt and pushed me violently against an old tree. “If anything happens to her, I will surely kill you, Bells.”

I made an annoyed noise and ignored the anger in his eyes. I expected another punch in the face but surprisingly, Zenon let go of me and helped me get back to my feet. I looked at him with remorse but he was too angry to acknowledge it.

“Where do you think she went?” Zenon asked, still breathless from how fast he ran from the resort to this part of the woods. He rested his hands on his hips and looked around, hoping he could see any trace of Alice but there was despair in his darkened eyes. “Do you think she went further to the middle of this place?”

“I am not sure.” I managed to get back to composure and straightened my jacket. I sighed and looked at the scarf in my hand. “But she’s been here not too long ago. It is as if something—or maybe someone took her away.”

“Let’s just pray it’s not the monsters that linger here,” he answered in a grave tone. I had never seen Zen looking so worried over someone. But Alice seemed very special to him. And that was what made everything so complicated between the three of us.

“I don’t think she encountered any deadly creatures here. I haven’t smelled blood since I came to check the place. Only dead bodies that supposedly had been disposed of here for a week or a month—”

Zenon grimaced as he grasped his right rib. It was obvious he hadn’t totally recovered yet and fighting would make those newly healed wounds open again.

“I don’t think you should stay here, Zen. You can’t fight in that kind of situation.”

“I can fight,” he grunted as he breathed shallow and fast. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he glared at me. “We have to find Alice, Bells. We have to search this forest separately.

“You know Briar would kill me if something happened to you, Zen.” I tried to convince him that he wasn’t in a condition to face any danger that we might face there. “You know I am more scared of that bastard than any of the monsters hiding in this woods.”

I didn’t know but Zen’s mood suddenly shifted and that somehow gave me some relief. He chuckled, “He already told me he would kill you after I left that resort.”

“D*mn it.” I just blurted but smiled at him. “Maybe I should bring him back to the city and treat him to a barrel of beer.”

“That would suffice him.” he nodded at me.

Seconds of silence and Zenon let out a heavy sigh before he looked at me with a serious look on his face, “You will bring her back, Bellamy. Can you promise me that?”

I wanted to tell him I would bring her back even if he wouldn’t ask but I decided to just keep it to myself. “Yes. I swear I will bring her back.”

Zen nodded. I nodded back and decided to leave when I sensed Briar was on his way to approach his Alpha.