Chapter 5

Jace's POV

"What is it? Talk to me, please," I pleaded with my wolf while trying so hard to breathe.

Hours had gone by, and he couldn't stop howling in pain. I, too, was in pain physically; I felt like my heart was being slightly squeezed, and my body was trembling.

Whiskey mixed with a dose of wolfsbane couldn't work, no matter how I overdosed, because I threw up instantly before I could even swallow the content. My eyes were hurting from the tears that were running down, and my head was aching.

I could hear the sound of birds chirping and a few voices outside. It was already morning, and in just a few hours, my Beta was going to come here to check up on me.

I needed to force myself on my feet because I never wanted to show anyone my weak side.

I groaned in pain as I got to my feet from the ground and moved to the bathroom naked, stumbling a bit. I approached the shower and quickly turned it on. As water began pouring on me, I moved my hand to my aching head.

"Ridge, please talk to me," I whispered to my wolf, whose whimpers had now died down, then fell to my knees to throw up.

Never in my life had I ever gone through so much pain and discomfort, not even when my parents had died.

I stood up with a bitter taste in my mouth and got out of the running shower, walking to the sink where I wasted no time in cleaning my teeth.

I moved back to the bedroom and grabbed some clothes. Although I was feeling a little better, I was still in pain.

I walked out of my room after dressing up and went downstairs into the dining room expecting to find everything set.

When I noticed that the table wasn't set, I looked at the few she-wolves who looked annoyed and were going back and forth.

"Why isn't the table set?" I asked an elderly omega who was quietly observing them.

She gave a low bow and then glanced at another she-wolf who stood a bit further away from her.

"Forgive us, Alpha. Today was Lillian's duty to serve you, but since the party yesterday, no one has seen her," the she-wolf answered as I felt my headache increase.

I was pissed off at her response, more to learn that my so-called mate had chosen not to do her pack's duty.

Was she sick again?

Not only was she weak, she was fragile as a human being. Despite never meeting her wolf, I could sense that she had one. Sadly, it too was weak. Through her aura and pheromones, I could tell.

"How annoying, is Lillian sick again?" I asked, then frowned when all the she-wolves in the room looked at me surprised.

My words came off as me being concerned about her, and I hated it.

It was surprising to them, but I knew her name perfectly well. I mean, why wouldn't I when my wolf was so hung up on forcing me to call her by name, when I had never used it openly before.

"No, Alpha, she wasn't even in her room when I checked," she answered.

I rubbed my forehead to ease my pain, then cleared my throat. I felt like my knees would give up any minute, so I needed to get the hell out of the dining hall.

"Make it quick, I don't give a fuck whose duty it is or was," I ordered, then slowly walked out of the room and went outside the pack house where Harvey's voice was coming from.

I felt powerless just thinking of her spending a night with another male.

"No, it can't be, I'm just overthinking," I said silently to myself as I moved closer.

"Harvey," I called loudly, immediately getting his attention.

He turned and faced me, together with Paul, then they gave a low bow to show their respect.

"Alpha, I'm glad to see you. Yesterday you were..."

"Have you seen the pack's runt?" I asked seriously.

"Who?" Paul asked.

"That dumb, fat omega," I answered.

"You mean the one we usually pick on?" he asked as I clenched my hands into fists.

I usually pretended not to see, despite feeling angry whenever they picked on her. In my mind, I had slaughtered my Beta, Gamma, warriors, and other she-wolves countless times because of how they were treating Lillian.

I hated them deep down to my core yet tried so hard to bury those negative emotions.

"Yes, her," I answered, then faked a smile.

"No, Alpha," Paul answered.

"I was thinking, perhaps she has finally found a fool to entertain her body," I muttered, then chuckled when I noticed how my Beta was looking at me in astonishment.

"Alpha, we did not see her today. The last time we saw her was at the party," Harvey answered.

I didn't want to ask them the question that was going through my mind, but I had to; I just couldn't stop myself.

"She wouldn't have run away, right?" I asked.

"No, Alpha, if she did, we would have known by now, mostly you," he answered seriously.

He was right about that. There was no way I couldn't have felt it if someone had crossed my pack's border. That thought alone made me feel a little bit at ease.

But then, if she wasn't sick or with another male, then where would she be? Was she alone, crying because of how I treated Leah in front of her? Perhaps she was hiding herself because she was in heat?

No, most she-wolves went into heat on the night of the full moon, but she was different. Never had there been a day when I had seen or heard from anyone that she had experienced her first heat. Something about her was quite different and mysterious.

I refused to pay attention to her because she was weak. But every time I tried, I found myself being drawn to her. Her chubby body was adorable and looked very comfortable to touch.

Her hair was a unique white, which I had never seen before in my life, and her beautiful brown eyes reminded me of a princess I had read about in my books when I was young.

I hated to admit it, but her very being was my type. I liked everything about her and I wanted her to change nothing about herself, not even her soft, meek voice.

"You are right, I guess I'll go to my office and look at the files," I said, then took a few steps forward when he called me.

"What?" I asked once I had stopped walking.

"Are you okay? You look a little pale," he asked.

"I am more than fine," I lied, then walked away.