Page 46 of The Alpha's Heir

Kill it with Love

*** Alejandro ***

All hell breaks loose. Alpha Aiden hits the deck, unconscious, Salma has a gun in her hand and is shouting about her friend being imprisoned, and poor Eva is locked away in a cell. However, the more I take in the scene in front of me, the more I realise that something is amiss.

Eva is hysterical, she shouts to Aiden and rants at Sal for hurting him even as my wife continues to shout. “Get the wire cutters, Ale. They fucking locked her in. She is in a cage. Eva, why the fuck have they caged you?”

“SALMA! STOP! STOP RIGHT NOW. He didn’t imprison me, I imprisoned myself. Ale, stop her, I’m dangerous. I could hurt you; I could hurt everyone.”

We both stop as Eva’s words leave Salma visibly and verbally stumped. Eva has never hurt a fly in her life. “How are you dangerous, Eva? Are you sick? Where’s Summer?”

Aiden groans on the floor as he rouses.

“For fuck's sake, Sal, they’re our friends! Try asking first before knocking him out.” I help Aiden up off the floor, relieved that he isn’t cut, and the bump that looked like a mini mountain is already starting to recede.

“As I was saying, we have so much to tell you both, and I don’t know where to start, so I think I will let my girl tell you while I recover from getting my head pounded.” He throws a look at Salma, resentful, and yet a bit wary too. He’s a clever man, Alpha Aiden, and he is right to be wary. I would be too. Salma is overprotective of her best friend and right now she is livid at her current circumstances.

Eva fusses over Aiden, checking his temple and his eyes through her bars. I know from watching them interact with one another that this isn’t a case of Aiden holding Eva against her will.

So why is his mate and Luna locked in a cell?

A very comfortable cell, I must admit, but a cell all the same.

“I think you owe him an apology, Sal,” I tell my wife, who hisses me back into submission.

“No, she doesn’t. It’s okay. I’ll give you that one, Sal, but only because I know you did it in outrage for Eva. I know you would do anything you felt necessary to look out for her and I’m actually happy she has a friend who would fight for her. We might need that in the future. Eva, please tell them what has been going on.”

Eva explains everything to us. I am perplexed and lost at some points, especially when she starts to explain about Mages and Dire Wolves, the danger they pose and how she feels safer in the cell. Then came the tale of the Werewolf Council placing her under house arrest and, finally, how we can help reverse the manifestation of her wolf.

“Eva, just give me the list of everyone who has caused you harm, pain and upset and we’ll go kill them now.” My Sal is still feeling murderous and in her heightened state of vigilance, she is missing the subtleties. This isn’t about eradicating people, this is about Eva facing her demons and putting them to rest.

“Chula, I think what Eva is telling us is that she has to tell people that they hurt her and why, so she can move on from it. She doesn’t want them all dead, not yet.” Eva gives me a small smile of thanks. “Just tell us if there is anything we can do, and we will help.”

“So, you said this was a mix of business and pleasure. What’s been happening in your life?” Aiden is back to the point and it’s a relief to have his diplomacy.

“We need some information. Do you know a werewolf from the Moon Stone pack who goes by the initials J.R.?”

It is our turn to share, and this time I let Sal do the explaining. By the end of it, Eva and Aiden are as shocked as we were when she shared their tale.

“So, your father’s mistress is in a relationship with a werewolf from the Moon Stone and you think he helped her to poison him? I mean we don’t keep a full register of other packs, just the higher ranks. I don’t recall a J.R. in them. Do you have anything else to go on?”

Sal hesitates but I don’t know why until she explains it. “Ricky, my little brother, has met him and can identify him but he’s only seven years old and I would rather he didn’t have to. I want to protect him; he’s been through enough. I don’t want that information to leave this dungeon.”

“No, we won’t involve children,” Eva assures her. “I will speak to my father; he will come and visit me if I ask him to. I won’t say the reason behind me asking but I’m sure he can give me his pack register or something. Besides, he’ll have to come soon and bring my mother so I can confront her.”

Eva doesn’t look happy at the prospect, and I can’t say I blame her. She has a huge task ahead of her. What I don’t understand is why the Werewolf Council has allowed her to stay in the pack and why she has a time frame for reversing her manifestations. It seems Sal has the same queries when she asks Eva why they didn’t take her away and why she has six months to heal her wolf.

“Oh, yeah, that’s our other news. I didn’t want to say anything so early on, because we’ve only just found out. Aiden and I are having a baby.” Happiness swirls with a sinking feeling right in the pit of my stomach. I feel Sal tense, only for a second, but I know from this tiny action that she is thrown by the news.

“Congratulations!” we both shout to them because we are genuinely happy for them and their happiness. However, another couple around us expecting just highlights that we aren’t and the disappointment at being the only ones who aren’t leaves me feeling sad. Sal and Eva hug and I shake Aiden’s hand again.

He whispers to me when the girls are talking. “How long have you two been trying? I heard the change in both your heart rates.” I explain to him it hasn’t been that long, less than three months. “It’ll be the stress stopping it. As soon as Sal can stop worrying about what happened to her father, it will happen.”

I find comfort in Aiden’s words, especially since he isn’t bragging about getting the job done faster than me, or about being more of a man. Maybe if we can get Dominga and find this werewolf, both Sal and I could finally relax and enjoy being newly married and us getting pregnant will just happen.

When Sal comes back to me, I pull her close to me, not caring that we have an audience. They understand how it feels to be completely in love with an amazing person too. “Ale!” she whispers to me, but I kiss her quickly to silence her.

“Once this is all over, I want us to go on our honeymoon, Chula. Where would you like to go?”

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