The once-bustling manor’s lobby was now silent and tense. Aside from carrying handguns concealed in their holsters and shoulder-mounted automatic assault rifles, the few men who stood guard inside the old hall were heavily armed. They became even more anxious when they saw Max enter, carrying the young woman.
The men remained watchful, but their thoughts. Any time an Alpha was rendered helpless by a violent act of war, like this one, someone was always waiting in the shadows, ready to seize power, whether the Alpha wanted it.
“Why aren’t you talking to me, Max?” Selena begged as she sprinted to match his speed.
“He is your mate. What do you perceive?” Curtly, Max said.
“He is hurt but still breathing. He is hurting.” Through her tears, Selena muttered.
“Right, Cayden is hurt.” He turned to face her.
“Look, the attack didn’t turn out as expected. Fred already knew about it. For your protection, you must remain in your room. I’m unsure of how others will respond because the pack is agitated. Do you understand?”
Selena nodded.
“Okay, follow me now.” Max said. They were suddenly interrupted by Beta Oscar. They could not move much further.
“Max, you must come to the weapons room.” He was agitated, just like everyone else.
“Let me take Selena to her room, and then I’ll join.” Max replied.
“I can accompany her,” Oscar said. After a moment of scepticism, Max nodded.
“Alright. Go with Oscar.” He commanded Selena, and he left.
Selena followed Oscar past the few armed men guarding the manor’s entrance, and he paid no attention to the people watching him for any sign of unrest or uncertainty. He was a man who had absolutely no time to sit around and worry. The time had passed between dwelling on the past and fretting about it. It was better to strike and attack now to establish his dominance than to relapse into complete inaction because it was the present and the future. It was time to act. Selena quietly followed, her body tense and brimming with anxiety. In contrast to her guide, she felt more frightened than ever around Cayden. She followed without saying a word, feeling some regret over her decision. Selena’s feelings and thoughts were validated once they were inside an elevator with the door shut. Oscar gave her a menacing smirk as he turned to face her.
“Your decision was brave. Yet foolishly brave.” As he spoke, he raised his gaze to the elevator doors’ floor indicator lights. “Things will change if he doesn’t survive.”
She gave him a puzzled and alarmed glance. I’m not sure what you mean by that. “Why are you saying this to me?” Selena questioned. As the elevator stopped, a grin appeared on his face. Oscar said as the door opened. “You’ll see. You’ll find out.
~~~~~
They were making their way through the corridors. Cayden’s framed pictures on the walls glowed in the spotlights. Selena’s eyes immediately found them as the two of them walked down the hall, her attention focusing on them to see Cayden’s happy, smiling face. She wanted to pause and examine them as if she were in an art museum. They came to a halt in front of her room on the left, and after unlocking the closed door, Oscar slowly pushed it open, inviting Selena inside to her private bedroom. She stepped inside the familiar space.
Oscar inquired from the doorway, “Perhaps you could enlighten me on something...” That predatory grin was back on his face, sending shivers down Selena’s spine as he leant casually in the doorway.
“And what exactly would that be?” Selena asked, turning to face him, trying to be polite when all she wanted to do was slam the door in his face. Her feet slowly moved her away from the doorway, backing up to place the bed between them both. The smirk widened at the sight of her fear of him. The simplest things in life brought him joy. Even amid a war, even on the deathbed of an Alpha, he found pleasure in tormenting weaker people. Selena seemed ideal for tormenting, so terrified and lost that it made him happy to think of the tormenting truth he was instilling in her mind.
“Why didn’t you inform your father about our attack?” Oscar inquired as he entered the room slowly.
Selena was scared. What exactly did he mean? How did he know her father was contacting her? She watched the unsettling gaze in his eyes close the gap between them with dread. She felt like a little lamb in the presence of a vicious, bloodthirsty wolf, the space between them closing in on her.
“I have no clue what you are talking about,” she replied.
He smirked at her response, his hand gently caressing her cheek. It traced down her chin, the soft curve of her neck, before his hand carefully outstretched and encircled her. He didn’t choke her; he simply held her in place with a firm grip around the softness of her neck.
“You are a terrible liar Selena...” He remarked, his hand slowly pushing through the divide of her nightgown. Gently, his fingertips traced up and down the soft flesh of her firm stomach, slowly teasing and caressing her senses as his fingers trailed ever so closer to the soft, feminine entrance. “... You think your dad only relied on you for information?”
Selena shook at his mere touch. With her emotions frayed and stressed from the long, tumultuous night she had endured, as well as the stress of not knowing what would happen to Cayden, the mere touch of this sickening, frightening man was becoming too much. She pushed herself away from him, freeing her neck from his grasp, with all the strength she could muster from the depths of her mind.
“You bastard, get away from me or I’ll scream.” As she spoke to him, her trembling hands pulled the long gown around her body. As he ran his hand through his hair, his laugh was bitter, devoid of that warm amusement.
“You are welcome to do so. But it won’t make a difference. I’ll just tell Max that you were the one who informed Hawk. And that you’ve been watching us for days.”
Oscar mused, his smirk dangerous, as he turned away from Selena and moved away from her.
Her eyes widened with rage. “Are you and Mishelle working for Hawk?”
He laughed as he turned around. “You are smart. Cayden is losing his touch and his sanity over a whore like you. He is no longer fit to be an Alpha. I have no ill will towards either you or him. But, hey, everything is fair in the war to become the Alpha.”
“You betrayed Cayden.” Selena said, her voice trembling with rage.
“Of course, but everyone thinks it’s you.”
She dashed towards him before he could respond. He got a slap across the face from her.
“How could you? I don’t give a damn what Cayden thinks. I am going to tell him everything.”
He took her arm and twisted it behind her back. She winced.
“That’s impossible, Selena. Cayden will not believe you.”
“I don’t care!” She screamed.
His laugh was cold and demented in response to her threat. “And if you do that, I’ll make it the last thing you ever do in your miserable life.” He spoke slowly.
“I’m going to kill you.” Selena struggled to free herself from his grasp.
“Did my daughter cause you too much trouble, Oscar?” Selena was stunned by Hawk’s voice and his hazy, hologram-like presence.
“Not really,” Oscar said, smirking.
“ She’s quite entertaining.”
Hawk burst out laughing. “You can have her after Cayden dies.”
“Thank you very much, sir,” Oscar responded.
“Can you see him?” Selena exclaimed, surprised.
She thought Hawk could only appear when she was alone. “I can appear wherever you are. But, of course, I don’t want to draw attention to myself, unless it’s to those who are loyal to, ” Hawk boasted.
Selena’s mind was racing; she couldn’t fathom the danger she had placed Cayden in by keeping this secret.
Oscar asked, ignoring Selena, “What is your next command?”
“Just keep doing what you’ve been doing. She won’t talk”. Hawk mocked.
“ Even if she did, can’t you use it against her?” Oscar smiled and nodded.