Contractually Yours Alpha (Riley)

Chapter One Hundred and Seventy

KAIDA'S POV

Austin walked into my room. Right on time.

"You requested my presence, Alpha."

"Yes. I did. I wanted to know if you've gotten anything on Alexander's whereabouts."

He had told me that if he found anything useful or important, he would inform me immediately, so the fact that he hadn't meant there was no important news. Yet, I still had to ask.

The only thing I know for sure is he hadn't joined any of the other packs."

I wasn't surprised. Of course, he wouldn't join another pack. The big question was, where could he have gone?

He had nobody, no other family members-well, except...

"How much do you know about his grandparents?" I asked

Austin looked confused, and then realization dawned on him. "Kate and Sebastian, the visitors he had invited into the pack, were his grandparents? I should have known." A part of me felt guilty for revealing something Alexander would have wanted to keep a secret, but these were desperate times, and I needed to know if his grandparents could be our next link to finding him. "Do you think he is with them?" Austin asked me.

I thought for a moment. Alexander hardly tolerated them; I didn't think he liked them very much. After all, they had abandoned him too. But then, if being with them meant he could stay far away from me, maybe he would tolerate them a little longer. Still...

"No. I don't think he had gone to them."

One thing about Alexander was that he was his own man. He must have also deduced that the moment he was gone, I would start searching for him-his grandparents being the first people I'd visit. So, he would go somewhere his obsessed lover (me) couldn't find him, which left us back where we started.

I missed him, and I wondered if he felt the same.

***

The pounding on my door jolted me awake.

It was only midnight, and I knew no one would be visiting this late. I rose from the bed, grabbed a gun from my drawer, and headed to the door.

It was a pack soldier. From his tense posture, I could tell something was wrong. "What happened?" I asked.

"We have visitors-or rather, intruders. I think they were heading to the pack house before they were sp They're being restrained right now," he reported.

Together, we left the pack house and headed to the woods, where the 'intruders' were being held down.

I stopped abruptly.

"Right this way, Luna." the soldier urged.

Luna. Not Alpha. It could have easily been a slip, but suddenly I thought about

what Austin and Phil had said about the rebels rising.

Chapter One Hundred and Seventy

I pointed my gun at his head, and he stilled.

"For some reason, I find your 'story' very hard to believe. I wonder, why is that?"

"I-I was..."

I felt something hard slam against my head.

I had been so focused on him that I hadn't realized someone was sneaking up on me. The impact sent me crashing to the ground, my weapon slipping from my grasp. For a moment, my vision blurred, and the strong metallic smell of blood filled the air.

As my sight cleared slightly, I saw the figures standing over me. I recognized Luther and Kade-both among those the Alpha had exiled from the council. Then Stark stepped forward, joining them. They all held iron rods as weapons, but Stark's was already bloody. I had no doubt he was the one who had struck me. "Did anyone see you with her?" Stark asked the soldier. The soldier shook his head, his eyes wide with fear. "You played your role well."

I memorized the soldier's face; the fact that he hadn't bothered to shield it or wear

a mask told me all I needed to know. He didn't think I'd make it out of here alive.

"Cowards. All of you. You couldn't face me in a fair fight, so you set me up instead."noveldrama

"I've wanted to kill you for a very long time," Luther said, a smirk etching onto his face. "I always knew you were trouble and I was right."

I lunged at him, tackling him to the ground. I punched him over and over until a hand fisted into my hair, yanking me off him. Stark was strong-stronger than he looked.

I twisted in his grip and kicked him hard in the knee. He finally let go of my hair, though a few strands still clung to his hand. An iron rod slammed into my back, and I let out a growl of pure fury. The soldier had hit me. Without hesitation, I grabbed him and slammed him against a tree, his head snapping back as it struck the trunk with a crack. He slumped to the ground, unmoving-either unconscious or too dazed to get up.

A gunshot shattered the silence, sending the birds in the trees into a frenzy. They took off, disappearing into the night.

The adrenaline in my system delayed the pain-I'd been shot. In the arm. I spun around to find Kade gripping my gun. He fired again. This time, the bullet buried itself in my stomach.