Chapter 025

“Thank you, Marcus.” She laughed again and tapped his arm thrice. “I must say, I wasn't sure you were going to make it.”

His green eyes roamed her body shamelessly. “For you, Diane, how could I not? You're a very good friend.”

A few meters away, Julian wanted to vomit. But he forced himself to stay put and survey the perimeter for more threats apart from Diane and the infamous Marcus Henderson. He'd been very close to dethroning that king a couple of times in his covert operations but failed each time. Hearing that fool flirt with Diane like they were horny teenagers caused invisible leeches to feast on his intestines.

Roman hadn't responded to his calls that morning, neither had he texted. And when Julian had decided to visit his home, he'd found it empty.

The thought of Roman going to the prison to see Audrey had floated in, but he'd pushed it out almost immediately. Even if he'd done that, he couldn't, or, shouldn't have waited till the following morning. That would be a reckless move.

So he stood and waited, taking notes of the people he had to tell Jacob to assign watchful soldiers to.

Speaking of which, where was Jacob too?

He sighed. Hopefully, the guy hadn't been so caught up in Audrey's issue that he'd decided to be absent for the Alpha's wedding. He'd seen the way he looked at that girl - he didn't want her as just a friend. He wanted more.

But Audrey was the Alpha's mate.

“Infuriating complications,” he groaned out loud and rubbed his temple before discovering that his glass was empty. As he walked back to the food table to get more, he noticed Marcus and Diane leaving the party, Marcus’ hand only slightly touching his companion's ass.

They were so going to fuck.

Julian wrinkled his nose at that and focused on getting his punch, only to pause when he heard some guards discussing not too far away from him.

“The wedding will still hold, don't worry. Whatever it is, the Alpha will show up. He's a loyal man.”

“Loyal?” one scoffed. “I heard that he was talking to that prison girl throughout last night,” one said. “Even slept there.”

“Are you sure? I saw him walking around by eleven p.m. last night. When would he have had the time to visit and talk to her?”

“The girl is terribly weak now anyway. Mel told me that when she went to give her food, it looked like her body fat was shrinking. Someone like that cannot handle a conversation.”

“True, but maybe he does not need her to be wide awake for him to speak with her. He could be talking to her while she sleeps.”

The others laughed. “Who do you think the Alpha is, Grey? Some love-sick idiot? He's literally marrying the brat of the she-devil.”

Julian smiled at that description, then frowned when he recalled all they'd said. He might have been mistaken when he thought that Roman wouldn't visit and stay at the prison.

Guess he really was that reckless.

He emptied his glass of punch again and set it on the table, before setting off to find the priest in charge.

“Hey, uh,” he stared at the man, not knowing if there was some official greeting he was to do.

“Yes, young man?”

In spite of his hurry, Julian was briefly taken aback. He was definitely not a young man. “Uh…well, I wanted to ask if there's something you could do to stall the wedding.”

A surprised look crossed the priest's face. “Stall the wedding? Whyever would you want to do that?”

Julian was about to answer truthfully when he noticed the curious expressions on the faces of the people around them. “The Alpha has a wardrobe malfunction is all. I have to go help him, so I wanted to know if you could help me.”

Understanding shone in the other man's eyes. “Oh, dear Luna. Well, of course. There shouldn't be an issue. By all means, please go and help him.”

Feeling just a bit of gratitude, Julian nodded and sped off, barely stopping himself in time to not crash into Tanya who was bedecked in beautiful jewels and an even more beautiful gown.

She had tear stains running down her face, however, and when she sighted Julian, she held his shirt tight. “Where's Roman, Julian? I heard he hasn't arrived yet. Where is he?!”

Resisting the urge to yank her hands off him, he calmed himself. “I'm going to get him. He had a wardrobe malfunction.”

“R-Really?” She released him, blinking through her tears. “But I heard-”

He couldn’t wait. “I'll be back soon, don’t you worry.”

But as soon as he'd succeeded in fleeing from Tanya, he came in contact with her mother.

“Where is that boy?” she demanded, her lipstick askew and her dress somewhat rumpled.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Julian's lips twitched when he thought of Diane Hill hooking up with someone at her daughter's wedding. The story would be the headline of the town's gossip for weeks.

“Are you listening to me?!”

He blinked. “Right. Well, I'm going to get him. There was a wardrobe malfunction-”

“Wardrobe malfunction my foot.” Diane's eyes were blazing. “He's not at home. I checked. So where the hell is he?”

“I-”

“You know what? I'm coming with you.” She pulled out her keys. “Get in the car.”

Julian felt insulted. “I will not be doing that.”

But Diane was having none of it. She dragged Julian to the door of her car, opened it, pushed him in, and got into the passenger's seat before tossing the keys to him.

“Drive. And if you want what's best for the pack, I advise you lead me to exactly where he is.”

Her tone of her voice told Julian it wasn't a harmless threat.

♠︎♠︎♠︎♠︎

Roman POV:

Audrey's heart stopped beating at one point in the night.

I'd immediately done all the first aid treatments I could, from mouth to mouth resuscitation to whatever sort of thing I could perform that could help. I’d been so deeply engrossed in it that I hadn't realized how much time had gone, and it was only after the guard on duty convinced me to get the pack doctor that I found out it'd been over three hours since I'd been there.

Five hours later, I was still cradling her body to mine, scared to let her go.