43. Worried For Aria!That was understandable. In fact, after Jake heard about the professor's death, he was certain they might come across some heavily loaded men and have a combat before they reached back to Texas. Always after such unexpected deaths, more predicaments followed. Bruises on hands and bandages around neck, shoulders and stomach were inevitable.He was ready for it and the fact that Aria was going to be investigated for a murder she was not related with caused his composure more damage. He could easily sunder some esophagus from the stomachs of a few if at all they charged on them.Besides this, he was all over the place because he thought there was some connection of Professor Springham with Derwin Blaze, the dangerous alpha that was preparing for a war with their pack."Dad," Jake broke his father's deep trance with a snap of his fingers. "What could our boring looking professor have to do with Derwin Blaze?
44. Let Me LearnJake did fall asleep during the flight and it was his father that shook him once they landed in Texas. He woke up with a jolt and looked around himself, on autopilot, for threat as if they were attacked in the air on the plane."We have landed, son," Jake looked at his front at his father's wary eyes beaming at him. "Our chauffeur is here to take you home. Get up and get going.""To take me home?" Jake parroted as he rubbed his eyes and yawned. After flexing his shoulders and doing a minute long neck stretching, he got up on his strong legs and gestured to his father to follow him, "Let's go to the crime scene.""What the!" Alpha Killian disappointedly followed him.His eyes were red-rimmed from lack of sleep. There was a touch of wariness in his walk and his strong and broad shoulders were slightly slumped. If being the alpha he was so exhausted, he can only imagine how tired his son would be. All that he wanted at the momen
45. Aria's Involved In The Murder! "Oh hell, yes, I want to know how Aria found the dead body?" Jake looked for his father only to realize that he had gone to the murder spot with his team without him. He gestured to his friends to follow but they suggested waiting there as they didn't want to discuss the case in the scrutiny of the elders. Moreover, they said that there were a couple of things Jake needed to know before he went inside to investigate the case alongside his father and the supreme commander. "You know about the discovery," That was Zack who said in such a low voice that it was only audible to his own ears. "Now coming back to Aria and her location then you will be disappointed to know that she has been detained in the headquarters while Noah was permitted to go back home with his father." A muscle at Jake's jaw quivered. He remained silent and let Zack continue, "From what I have heard of my father's conversation with the chie
46. I Won't Let You Drag Aria Into This"But Aria is not left-handed," Jake stirred the uneasy silence in the room with his high-pitched remark."And what makes you think she can't be involved even if she's left-handed?" Arthur Moore's poker face seemed to be asking for a face-breaking punch when he raised a questionable eyebrow.Jake growled slowly, then turned to his father, "Zavier will never help if you drag his daughter in this murder mystery, dad." The elders other than his father gasped.It was as if they were shocked by the discovery that Jake knew what they meant to do. But it had been a close and narrow discussion that didn't embroil people other than the alpha, the supreme commander and the detective, who must have been the giver of this wonderful idea since there was participation of a girl the same as her age in the murder, his expression said so."Not to mention this will impact Aria's life and make her s
47. The Shocking RevelationJake halted before his friends. His eyes were fiercely dark and face awfully red, causing an apprehensive chill to melt his friends' spine. They looked at each other before turning at Jake as one of them rasped slowly, "What's wrong?"Jake growled. His dark eyes coming up to shoot a scary glare at them all as he said, "That mother fucker commander is manipulating my father to sacrifice Aria's life.""Doesn't your father have his own brains?" Kai shrugged unrepentantly."He's acting like a five year old douchebag who thinks he knows what's right for him." He was breathless with rage.The others blinked in agreement as Jake punched the trunk of a nearby tree, splitting it in two. It plummeted behind him with a booming sound. His friends stepped away as they stared at him in amazement while the guard and some of the cops guarding the school gate rushed inside only to find Jake turning into his werewolf and leaping off of their heads to exit the school premises
48. Please Come To Save Me"Granddaughter to Derwin Blaze?" Jake parroted slowly, his eyes bulging out in stupor.He didn't have the energy to look up at Noah as he stressed himself on thinking about Derwin Blaze and his relation with Aria. This sounded too terrifying to be true. If she was the granddaughter to the Alpha that was currently the biggest threat and enemy of the pack, there were two hundred percent chances that Aria could be involved.Yet, a part of him shoved his insides, waking him up from the shock. This could be a scheme to prevent him from going inside. Brent was supporting the alpha and the supreme commander. So it was feasible that Noah was with them too. Jake drew his brows together and glared at Noah mercilessly. The cunt was crossing the limits of being annoying and provocative at the same time. "I am ashamed to think of you as my future beta. You are gross, Noah Rhodes." Jake bit out. His features screamed of his reluctance. Noah controlled his own rage and a
49. Don't say a word Aria. Aria shrunk in the chair. It was not very big to hold the whole of her, still she picked her legs up and curled her hands around the knees. Now she was suddenly cold. Her blood was rushing furiously like an overflowing river after a cloudburst. She was going through emotion-burst instead.Her heartbeats drummed in her ears. Her fingertips seemed to have frosted up. Panic settled in her stomach in sharp points of jagged glass. It wasn't fair ! It wasn't fair, damn it. She was detained for a murder she didn't know about taking place in the classroom. Not that she had any connection with the professor who died.The muscles in her face tightened as she heard the noise on the other side of the door. Something was happening out there. Maybe the family members of the dead professor were here to deal with her their way! Maybe it was a furious, ill-tempered officer who had the wish of solving the case within hours of discovery that there had been a murder.Aria knew
50. Aria's not a mortal omega!!!! Aria frowned. Long gone were the tears from her eyes. Her viridescent gaze was set ablaze with conviction. "I am sure you are misunderstanding him, sir. My fath—" "COME ON, ARIA WRIGHT, " Aria jumped in her chair at the outburst of his heavy voice as he slapped his hands on the table. "Stop defending your father as we have evidence against him.""M-my father.... N-no... H-he is n-not," She hyperventilated as tears returned to her eyes again. She forgot he was here to investigate her. She forgot she was taken as a prime suspect. Investigators often used this trick of blaming the loved ones of the suspects to get them speaking the truth. How could she fall in his trap and speak? She regretted opening her mouth. But then... Her father was being dragged into this. He was a Cold-hearted father, yes. He didn't like her, yes. Even though she had no hand in the demise of her mother but he accused her of it, yes. He could be anything and everything but not
123Jake's POV The last time I felt humiliated in my life was when— I clearly remember that day like it happened yesterday— I was an eight year old child and in a summer camp. My father had accompanied me as it was a condition of the camp to have at least one parent coming with their child.Mom was usually committed to pre-scheduled parties with other Lunas and was too stubborn to cancel them for a camp which she stated would be too boring for her. But I wanted to go as all my friends were going. That's when dad canceled some of his meetings, which as an alpha he shouldn't have, and came with me.The part where I felt utterly humiliated was when I was reciting the poem I've written for my father. It was a task given to all the children. We were asked to write either an essay or a poem for our parents. I wanted to outshine other kids and show that I was a future alpha, and hence, I chose to write a rhyming poem while everyone else stuck with writing an essay.And as I was extremely eag
122. "My father only loves his reputation and power. Don't worry about him. He would hardly feel bad if I left." I remarked with no expression. "But he's your father. How could you—" "You can't convince me to stay, Harry. I've made up my mind. I'm going to take them down, no matter what it costs." "Uncle Zavier will not appreciate this. I don't think he would like it if he knows you're joining the war he himself is staying away from." Harry shook his head clearly indicating that he wasn't going to take me along. It made my anger worse. I seethed and grabbed the front of his shirt. "I'm not a child anymore. I'm a warrior and this is my fight. Don't try to take that away from me, Harry. If dad wants to stay away then it is his choice. I can't leave my family to thrive alone when I know I have the ability to and I can help them win."Harry remained firm on his words but the need to get away from this pack and its people made me try harder to convince him. "You don't know what it's
121The addition she made regarding Jake made my eyes burn. I felt my limbs quivering. That all-encompassing feeling of pain washed over me again and I found myself staring at Harry, who was watching me have a battle with my wolf. "It's okay if you don't believe me, Aria. But maybe this will help you know I am not making up stories." He said as he passed his phone to me. I took it with shaking hands and played the video that was on pause. A corrosive pain shot up my spine and burst forth in my entire body. My knees gave way, and I fell on the floor. My agonized sobs bounced off the walls as I cried my heart out. I desperately wished it wasn’t true, but like every other cruel reality I’ve faced, the video was undeniably real.Jake was talking about me in the video with Kai and Neil. They were teasing him by taking my name and he rolled his eyes. They asked if it was genuine this time but Jake laughed out loud and said he wouldn't be tolerating me if I wasn't my father's daughter.I
120"Let me start from the start, Aria. That way you'll get a better idea of what I'm trying to tell you... Actually, our grandfather used to be one of the greatest and strongest Alphas of his time. He had a huge flourishing pack named Berrywood Pack. All of us were happy in our lives, and then, one day your father came to visit our pack to help us.""Rogues have always been a problem, Aria. They were a little more daring in the past than they are now. In the past, they would just pick up any she-wolf or girl child they liked and had their way with them. Or worse, pick an entire pack and threaten them to send a woman on a daily basis to them. And if their conditions weren't agreed with, they would declare war. That's why your father was invited by our grandfather to kill these rampant rogues and finish their terror forever."Harry's eyes gleamed as he went on, "None of us knew that your father would find his mate in our pack, and that it would be none other than the Alpha's Daughter,
119Aria's POVMy fingers twitched and my forearms numbed from the onset of overwhelming emotions that surged through my body. My face was tingling and my jaw had become stiff. I couldn't move my jaw, much less part it and breathe.I was desperately struggling to regain control but I felt as though I was pushed, head deep, in freezing water. And no matter how much I struggled to come back on the surface, it was futile.A point came when I fell on my side and ended up curling myself into a ball. I covered my head with my hands, my entire body buzzing with a tingling sensation.Was this death? Is this how it felt when your soul left your body?I won't know whether or not it was death because the moment I willingly closed my eyes to accept the end of my life— which I thought it was— I sensed warm arms lifting me up.My body teetered as someone held me close to a warm chest and began to walk. The foul smell of garbage began to drift away, indicating that I was being carried away to a bette
118Aria's POVAfter leaving my house and Kai and Daisy in it, I rushed into a dark alley to cry my heart out. I was in pain I couldn't narrate. My heart was hurting from Jake's ignorance while my body vibrated from the after-effects of my mate's force used on me. My life went from bright to dark overnight. I was made to pay for a mistake I didn't even commit. My wolf was howling for respite. We both needed some rest. All these hours we tolerated since the morning has taken a toll on her. However, we refused to relax. Not now. Not when our eyes were blazing with the fire of revenge. Melody and I have vowed to not sit quiet until we settled scores with Noah Rhodes. That bastard caught us off guard. He attacked me when I was not prepared. But now my veins were fueled with aggression, my limbs aching to fight back. My mind was compelling me to use all the tricks I have learned from my father through intense training. I moved in the darkness as I made my way to Noah's house in search o
117"How dare you play such a trick on me?" Noah's voice bounced off the walls. He picked up Aria from over the broken bed and clutched her hair tightly, making her wail. He pulled them in a merciless joke as his canines surfaced. His muscles convulsed in fury as he brought his face closer to Aria, "It was Jake's idea, wasn't it? He asked you to do this to trouble me.""Aah!" Aria's body was a huge ball of pain. She tapped on his wrist so he would let go. Alas, enraged like an uncontrollable bull, Noah tossed her across the room again. Aria fell on her weak study table, crushing it under her. She hissed with thick tears streaming out of her eyes as a pointed piece of wood pierce her inner thigh. Noah didn't show any pity as he raised her by her hair again. Her scalp ached as a thousands brightly blinking stars burst across her vision. "I detest Moon goddess for mating me with a gold digging whóre like you. You are despicable and..." His words faded out as Aria's senses spun into
116Aria walked on the quiet road on light feet. She was feeling cold and had to wrap her arms around herself. The winds were piercing into her skin and the dust it carried swirled around her. She shuffled her feet ahead with teary eyes as she wondered where to go.She just returned from the club she heard the girls mention in the library. It turned out that Jake left an hour before she reached there. Then she went to his home, the alpha mansion. Unfortunately, there were a dozen expensive cars lining outside the mansion. The alpha probably had visitors, and thus she couldn't gather up the courage to walk into that house while powerful people occupied it.There could be one, if not all, disliking her father. She was too frightened to appear in front of any such person who could take a dig at her to humiliate the most feared hunter in the pack. That being said, she left without meeting Jake.Now as she started her walk to nowhere, she reminiscenced the times she spent with Jake. He had
115. Truth out in front of Daisy "I hate her for hurting Lana, Kai. I will never forgive her."She banded her hands around his waist stiffly and wailed. "She not only cheated on Jake and my sister but on me too. I trusted and loved her just like Lana. Why did she have to do that? She was very well versed with the fact that Noah was dating my sister. But she still kissed him." Kai chewed the inside of his cheek agitatedly. He wished to tell her about Noah and Aria being each other's mate but he bit it down. It wasn't his place to tell her. But he definitely needed to make her see some sense and not entirely blame Aria for the kiss. "Do you realize this wouldn't have happened if Aria didn't go to the old age home with you?" "What are you insinuating, Kai Sinclair? Do you want to say that I influenced Aria to do that." Daisy's voice hardened ruthlessly. "All I'm saying is that Aria isn't the only one who you should condemn. Noah is equally—" "What's wrong with you, Kai?" Daisy pus