Chapter Fourteen

Regan’s POV

Luke had been right about two things.

The first being that telling Nana the truth was the best way to win her over, and that gifts would make my apology more appealing.

However, he had been wrong about Lena.

She had not been impressed about me trying to win her forgiveness by getting her dresses and pearls.

Perhaps Luke didn’t know his cousin as well as he thought. Or perhaps I had hurt her more than we had both thought.

Unlike Nana who had wrapped me in a hug after I had made my apology, promised not to do it again and presented my gifts, Lena had simply shot me a glare cold enough to turn me to ice before walking away from me.

I had promptly gone back to my advisor to report about my half-successful plan.

After expressing his exaggerated surprise at being wrong, he had simply sprawled on the bed in his room -where I had come to seek him- and said.

“Simply do exactly what you did to Nana”, he said. “They are disturbingly similar, after all”, he had advised and dismissed me by shutting his eyes and leaning back.

Glad that Rage was in a good mood and had not felt the need to rip off any part of my Beta’s limbs, I simply swallowed my irritation before leaving his room to follow his advice once again.

He had been right.

After the initial cold glares and silent treatment, her brown eyes had returned back to their usual warmth when I had given her a briefer version of what I had told Nana.

I had told her that Rage had been acting strange and had been fighting for control and that I had been scared to hurt her, so I had thought it best to simply avoid them.

She was more understanding than Nana who had asked too many questions and wanted to know every little detail.

After my explanation, I had apologized before once again presenting the dresses and pearls as gifts.

This time, she accepted them.

And as she pulled me into a warm hug, I had to agree with Luke that she and her grandmother were disturbingly similar.

After I had gotten those apologies out of the way, I was suddenly emotionally drained.

A part of me, probably Rage, reminded me that I still had one more person I owed an apology. But for the life of me, I could not summon the strength to make one more apology to another female for the day.

So instead, I made my way back to my study to handle pack matters.

I hadn’t been working for long before the door to my study was pushed open and Luke made his was inside with about three werewolves following behind him.

“You would want to hear this, trust me”, he said on seeing my frown.

I looked to the three scouts who stood before me as Luke pulled a chair to sit.

Their heads were bowed in submission.

“I hear you have some news for me”, I said to them, keeping my voice low enough to cause them to shiver in fear.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Luke roll his eyes at my antics and I smirked inwardly.

In my head, Rage threw me a bored glance before turning away.

He had been calm of late, and I was grateful for it. It meant no one would be hurt if they didn’t deserve it.

One of the scouts, a brown haired werewolf named Ted stepped forward.

“We have news from Blackmoon pack, Alpha”, he said and at my nod to continue, went on. “It seems the Alpha of Blackmoon pack has found out that we are the ones who abducted his mate”.

I gave a nod.

I had already considered the possibility that he would find out.

I knew he could not go to the council since his entire pack was shunned. They would not help him in any way, so I had been waiting for him to make his next move.

“We were informed that he plans to hold a ceremony to destroy the bond with his mate before we can do so”, he reported.

I didn’t need to ask who had told him.

I had a spy planted in Blackmoon pack to inform me of any sudden moves they were making.

Unfortunately, I could not get a spy into his inner circles so I just relied on the one planted in his pack.

He must have figured out that we were behind the disappearance of his mate and must have thought we would do something drastic like kill her in order to weaken his wolf. That was why he needed to break the bond between them, so that anything we did to her would not affect him.

This meant we had to move smart and fast.

“It could be a trap”, Luke suddenly said from where he was seated. “She has been with us for weeks and apart from the incident with her arm that I am sure he did not feel, since they are clearly not mated, he has not felt the need to break the bond”, he said.

“Maybe he did not know until recently that we were behind the abduction”, Ted said.

“Tell me, Tedril”, Luke said, leaning lazily on his chair and looking bored at the conversation. “If your mate was mysteriously abducted, who would you suspect did it?” He asked then shot Ted a look. “Your worst and greatest enemy or your friend?” He asked with a sarcastic smile.

Ted hung his head in shame.

“My enemy”, he said.

“Oh, I am sure”, Luke said sarcastically.

“Give the pup a break”, I mind linked him, somehow feeling sorry for Ted.

“And to think they believe that I am the kinder of us both”, he mind linked back. “He is a bit daft but a good scout nonetheless”, he conceded, taking his eyes off Ted.

“Luke is right”, I said. “It smells like a trap”.

“If my opinion counts, I would say he wants us to get rid of Blackmoon girl”, Luke said with a shrug as he leaned back again.

Rage let out a growl suddenly.

“Stop calling her that”, I mind linked him.

He shot me a confused look. “Rage does not seem to like it for some reason”, I said and his eyebrows lifted in surprise.

“Oh”, he simply mind linked back, a thoughtful expression crossing his face before he blinked it away and turned back to face the scouts.

“Like I was saying”, he continued. “It seems he wants us to kill her”, he said. “If I recall correctly, he also wanted to execute her. So do we really want to believe that he has not already broken the bond once he had found out she was missing?” He asked.

“If I may?” Another one of the scouts spoke up.

At my nod to continue, he went on.

“If he has already broken the bond, would we not have known by the signs from her? He asked.

“He has a point”, Luke mind linked me. “She must have felt it if he had broken the bond between them”, he said.

“No”, I told him. “She would not have known”, I said and continued at his questioning look, reminding him. “You forget that she has no wolf”.

“Ahhhh”, he said, nodding as he realized what I meant. “That means it is indeed a trap then”, he said.

“The question is…” I said to all of them. “How do we make him fall into his own trap?”

Everyone was silent in thought before Luke broke it.

“I may have an idea”, he said. “But we would have to involve Blackmoon g…” he stopped on remembering my earlier warning. “I mean, Jasmine”, he corrected.

Rage perked up at the sound of her name.

“Would this idea of yours involve her being put in danger?” I asked, already knew Rage would be against it.

Luke shook his head.

“Certainly not”, he said. “Nana and Lena would devour me alive if I brought her anywhere near harm’s way”, he said before mind linking me. “Not to mention a certain killer wolf who would probably rip me apart”, he teased.

“Not probably”, I mind linked back. “Certainly”, I corrected. “I do not understand this new found desire of his to defend the girl”, I complained.

“Perhaps he has finally found his ideal playmate”, Luke said with a smirk.

“What sort of playmate?” I asked. “He is not some pup”.

“True, but he has never had one”, he reasoned. “I doubt that you are any sort of fun company whatsoever. The poor beast must be dying of boredom having only you as company”, he said.

It made me pause to think.

It was the first time that Rage had ever shown any sort of interest in anyone.

Was he truly bored by himself?

It was true that I was the only company he had. Even I could admit that everyone needed someone.

I had Luke.

And Nana, and Lena.

But Rage didn’t really have anyone.

If what Luke said was true, and Rage had finally found someone he was interested in enough to want as a playmate, the least I could do was make sure he had one.

Taking a mental note to remember to think on that later, I brought my attention back to the werewolves with me.

“You are all dismissed”, I said to the three scouts. “I will send for you if I have need for you”, I told them.

“Yes, Alpha”, they responded with bowed heads before taking their leave.

I turned to Luke who had remained where he was seated.

“Do you not have things to do?” I asked. “Or have I been too lenient with you?

“Lenient?” He asked, shooting me a glare. “You have everyone in the pack report everything to me first, then have me report only the important things to you”, he complained. “Do you know how many disputes I have to resolve in a day? I never have time for myself”.

I smiled at that, knowing it was all true.

“You know I cannot trust such important duties to anyone else”, I said trying to win him over.

He rolled his eyes at me.

“I pray you would”, he said. “It is exhausting”, he said to me then lazily stood up and made his way towards the door. “I would not want my Alpha to think he has been too lenient with me”, he shot back with a smirk causing my lips to curve into an amused smile before leaving the study.

I knew I was sometimes hard on him but there was no one I trusted more than Luke.

He had always had my back, even when we were just pups.

There had never been a question on who would become my Beta. Everyone had known it was going to be Luke.

It had to be Luke.

Thinking back to what he had said earlier, I remembered that Rage had only started acting out after she had come to my pack.

I also recalled that he had started to behave after our encounter with her in the woods.

Maybe allowing him to spend time with her would help to improve his mood and make him easier to deal with.

There was only one thing left to do.

One thing that would not be easy in the least.

And that was to convince the she-wolf in question.

Jasmine.