3. Thirty- seven

~ Harper’s POV ~ 

A smart man learns from his mistakes and considering I have to lead a whole pack of werewolves, I consider a relatively smart person, who learns from his past mistakes. One of those grave mistakes was to underestimate the importance of Aaron in the rogue wolf pack. If the rogues risked their lives to rescue him from the pack jails, then it would be likely that they would do it again. So, I wasn't going to let it happen, even if I had to guard his prison door myself. 

"So, what do you plan to do now?" I looked up from my office desk to look at Ethan. 

"I am going to rest for a while so that my wolf can flush the wolfsbane out of my system," I said and watched him take a seat across the desk. "Then I'm going to shift into my wolf and run where the mate bond leads me." 

"And what about Aaron?" He asked and I stood up from my desk. 

"I'm going to look over his accommodation. Want to come with me?" I asked and Ethan nodded. We had established a strange dynamic between ourselves, but as long as it helped to get Zara back, I didn't care. 

My wolf was trying harder than ever to quickly metabolize the poison. He was growing more antsy as time passed because he just wanted to hold his mate in his arms. Well, at this point seeing her safe was our priority at the moment. 

I walked out of the office and Ethan followed me. "I wanted to thank you, Ethan. You have been a great help even if your goal isn't to help the pack but to find Zara, me and my pack appreciate your help a lot." I remarked, finding it extremely funny that I had been plummeting this guy a day ago. 

"I'm glad my hunch worked out. I didn't expect that shifting in your wolf form and following the pull of the mate bond would work but I'm glad it did." We walked in silence for a few seconds and walked out of the pack house. "You were the only one to look at Zara. Did she look okay?" 

Images of Zara being pulled out from inside the building flashed through my mind. She looked pretty unharmed; I didn't smell any blood or see any bruises on her. And wig the way she was struggling against the hold of that huge rogue was enough to subdue my worries. I knew Zara had as much spirit as a werewolf and she wouldn't go down without a fight. If she was struggling, it meant she was in her right mind. "She will be okay as soon as I bring her back," I added instead, wanting to keep that snippet of her struggle with me.

Ethan nodded and didn't say anything for a while. When he noticed that I wasn't walking in the direction of the pack prison, he stopped. "Where are we going?" 

"We have kept Aaron in the safe house of the pack. That way, he will be surrounded by the pack houses, be deep in the pack which will make it difficult for anyone to penetrate the borders that deep." I pointed in the direction of the safe house and Ethan started to follow me again. The fact that the rogues had infiltrated the pack prison and rescued a prisoner from there was insulting enough. It irked me that the surveillance my pack was providing was lacking. After being appointed alpha, I didn't alter any plans regarding the status and guards of the jail cell. After everything is over, I'll review the plans and make some necessary arrangements to solidify the defenses of the pack. 

We reached the pack safe house and I entered the code which all the pack members were privy to, so that they could use it in the case of emergencies. The vault-like door of the safe house opened with a whoosh and we entered it. 

The safe house was made like a long theater and looked more like a nuclear bunker. Necessary provisions were stacked on one end of the while a lovely sight was visible on the other. 

I and Ethan moved inside the bunker to find Aaron being strapped to a concrete bed, specially designed to hold werewolves. His legs, hands, torso, and head were bound by strong leather straps drenched in wolfsbane and I could see that his struggles had chafed his skin. The more he would struggle against the binds, the more wolfsbane would seep into his system and make his wolf weak. 

The sight pleased me quite a bit. If they had Zara as a hostage, I had Aaron as a hostage. Even though Zara was more important to me than Aaron was important to anyone. 

I got a sickening satisfaction by looking at him like this and I was a little relieved that he was sedated right now. Saves me the trouble of torturing him. 

Roland came up to me and told me about everything that had been done to ensure Aaron's safe stay here. Extra guards were posted at the borders and extra warriors patrolled the boundary of the safe house too. In addition to that, at least ten guards were stationed in the safe house, to watch over Aaron. Maybe this sounded too much but I didn't want to overlook any measure this time. 

Aaron wasn't given any food or water to drink till now. He had, however, had a pretty good taste of the warrior's torture techniques. I was itching to give Aaron a very good taste of my torture techniques, something he wouldn't forget soon. 

I spotted Ethan from the corner of my eye, hunched over Aaron's unconscious body, looking like he wanted to kill the rogue. I could relate to that; my patience was hanging by a very tiny thread. 

After making sure everything was alright, I asked Ethan to accompany me and we walked out of the safe house. "I plan to go to the hospital to meet Aiden. What do you plan to do?" 

"I'm too anxious to sit still right now. So, I'm going to go for a run." Ethan remarked while I walked towards my car. 

"Ethan, my wolf is going to heal very soon. I can practically feel the wolfsbane being flushed out of my system. As soon as that happens, I'm shifting into my wolf and going to search for Zara. I want you to come with me. So, I want you to run in your human form and keep your phone with you." I suggested to him and watched as he agreed to do so without any reluctance. 

I got into my car and drove towards the hospital, eager to talk to Aiden. He has been my confidante for years and the itch to bounce off ideas and thoughts was something I wanted to do right now. When I reached Aiden's room, I went inside without knocking and found it empty. I was informed by the nurse's station that Aiden had been taken by Samantha to meet with my father. Great, now I could talk to two people and get some sane advice. 

I took the elevator and reached the floor where Dad was assigned a room. I entered the door to find Mom, my baby sister, Sam, Aiden and Dad having a discussion. They all stopped talking when they noticed I was standing at the doorway. 

"Oh, Harper! Come in. We have a lot to talk about. I want to know how your search for Zara went."  Mom patted the empty chair next to her and I went ahead and sat beside her. 

I told all of them about how I had given in to my Wolf's impulses toward the mate bond to find Zara, as suggested by Harper. They all listened attentively and added appropriate comments in between. Being werewolves, they knew how hard it was for a werewolf to know that your mate was in the clutches of your enemies. I was grateful that they didn't comment on that because I was impatiently waiting for my wolf to heal and I could feel that I would be able to search for Zara in two or three hours. 

The door opened and Roland walked in. She first bowed to my father and then to me. "Alpha, this package arrived for you at the pack borders." I noticed then that he was carrying a small package in his hands. I nodded at him to come forward and hand me the package, which looked more like a letter of some sort. 

I opened the letter and a piece of folded paper fell out of it. I unfolded the letter and noticed that a photo was attached to the letter. I flipped the photo and my eyes widened at the image. 

Zara was bound to a chair and was blindfolded. She looked to be in a small and cramped room, devoid of anything else. She didn't look hurt but the image of her bound and helpless still sparked a mad rage within me and I wanted to destroy every wolf who had laid a hand on her. 

My wolf, not caring that he was still recuperating, fought with me for control. All he wanted to do right now was sink his jaws into the rogues and end this stupid battle once and for all. 

I took a deep breath. The rogues had attacked this picture to get my attention and to let me know who had sent this message. I calmly pushed the picture of Zara towards my father, not trusting myself to look at it again, at least without going on a wild, murderous rampage. 

I didn't note my father's reaction but I did note that he had shown the photo to Mom and gave it to Aiden to peruse. I focused my gaze on the written letters but my vision kept going blurry because of my rage and the power struggle going on between me and my wolf. 

I took several deep breaths and tried to calm myself down. This wasn't the time to lose self-control and soon I was able to read the message intended for me. 

You have someone I want and I have someone you want. I propose a truce meeting at the south border at 6 p.m. today. I'm coming with ten warriors. I suggest you do the same. 

The message infuriated me to no end. He hadn't asked for a truce meeting. He had demanded one. He had ordered one and he expected me to do his bidding. It was meant to be insulting because he knew that the someone, I wanted from him was more important than anything else, which led me to believe that the tall guy who I had seen manhandling Zara knew that she was my mate and he was going to take every advantage of the knowledge. 

"What does it say?" Dad asked after several minutes. 

I looked up at him, to see everyone was waiting for my response. "The rogues want a truce meeting."