Chapter 36 36
Aurélie POV
“Perfect. Now that’s sorted, I need to catch up with Dominique. Are you okay to keep an eye on Delphine? She’s with Miss Lambert,” I asked Fabrice as we walked back toward the Alpha house. I needed the keys to one of the warrior SUVs, so I was heading straight for Théo.
“I never need an excuse to spend time with Delphine, Aurélie…” Fabrice chuckled as we reached the steps.
“Ah Théo,” he called out as the young warrior approached. “Can you drive the Alpha to the cinema to meet Dominique? Two of our warriors are already there, so once you drop her off, you can return immediately.”
“Yes, Beta!” Théo nodded crisply before pivoting and jogging off to get a vehicle.
“How are Émilie and Roland?” I asked once we were on the road, leaving the pack grounds behind.
“They’re well, Alpha… actually, it’s not public yet, but Émilie is pregnant.” He cast me a quick smile before checking the road ahead.
“That’s wonderful news. Truly. Congratulations. How is she feeling?”
“She’s struggled more this time lots of sickness.”
“You should have told me, Théo. I would have reduced your night shifts. I could’ve made her something to ease the nausea and fatigue.” I had pushed my warriors hard in recent weeks, all of us straining to keep our borders safe.
“I’m happy to do it, Alpha. Glad to serve.”
“I know you are, Théo.”
We drove in comfortable silence for a moment before slowing behind a stretch of cars.
“You may be a few minutes late, Alpha,” Théo said, already dialing one of his warriors. “It’s unusual to see a jam like this on a weekday.”
I leaned back, watching the driver ahead of us step out of his car and peer forward. A prickle slid down my spine.
“What’s going on?”
“No idea. Maybe a lorry stuck across the road. Let me check.” Théo slipped out of the SUV, shutting the door behind him.
I watched him speak to the man ahead, who pointed into the distance. Théo’s posture shifted, tension rippling through him before he moved out of sight.
Unease twisted in my stomach.
I stepped out of the SUV, climbing onto the door frame to gain height. Just enough to see over the car roofs.
And then I saw it.
An overturned vehicle.
My chest tightened.
“Alpha!” Théo’s voice thundered through the mind-link, so loud it made me flinch.
“Quick it’s our car!”
“What?” The word tore from me as I jumped down, sprinting toward him.
Please, goddess. No.
It was our black SUV the one Dominique had left in.
“Dominique?” The scream ripped from my soul as I ran toward the wreckage.
Two of my warriors lay half out of the overturned vehicle lifeless, their heads marred by bullet wounds.
“No no, no Dominique?” I dropped to my knees, yanking open the back door, searching the seats, the floor, anywhere. Empty.
“He’s not here! Where is he?” I scrambled around the crushed metal, scanning the roadside, searching the ditch, desperate for a sign he had crawled out, that he was hurt but alive, somewhere.
“Alpha… Alpha,” Théo tried to get my attention, but panic drowned his voice. My heartbeat roared in my ears.
“Alpha”
“What?” I choked, half-screamed every part of me a mother frantic for her child, trembling, spiraling.
“There’s a note.” He pulled a folded paper from the pocket of one of the fallen warriors.
“Hey don’t touch that. The police forensics” an oblivious human bystander started to warn, but my glare cut him silent. My aura simmered beneath my skin.
“‘Shut down the alliance or the boy dies,’” Théo read through the mind-link.
“What?” I snatched the paper, my eyes scanning the hateful words. My breath stuttered.
Théo was already calling Fabrice. My thoughts blurred into raw terror.
Why would anyone take him? My sweet boy. My baby. What threat could a four-year-old possibly pose to anyone?
“Alpha, our men are on the way… but so are the police,” Théo said as he ended the call. “You need to leave”
“No! I’m not going anywhere!” My aura slammed into him before I could stop it. Humans nearby stumbled back, instinctively recoiling though they had no idea why.
He wouldn’t…
He wouldn’t stoop this low.
He wouldn’t take a child.
He wouldn’t be so cruel.
So monstrous.
…would he?