Kieran POV
I leave the hospital without telling any of the nurses or the doctors. I am sure the two werewolf doctors who attended to me will know where to find me if they need me.
I stomp out into the parking lot, forgetting that I was brought here by ambulance and my car isn't here.
I hear the jingling of keys behind me, and I turn around to see my fathers waiting for me to get into their SUV.
As I walk toward them, I throw my head back and groan like a pissed-off teenager. "I am not returning to the North Pack without my Luna," I inform them.
Dad chuckles as he climbs in the driver's side. "So you are going to be the Alpha? You can't have a Luna without being an Alpha."
I glare at him from the passenger side and refuse to answer his ridiculous question. Of course, I was always planning on coming back to be the Alpha of the North Pack. I just needed to tie up some loose ends first.
"I need to stop by the hotel and get my things," I tell the three of them.
"Already taken care of," Papa smirks.
"You are returning to the North Pack," Dad says from the backseat. "You will be safe."
"What about Mae? If word gets out that she is my mate, the recusants will stop at nothing to get to her. Who is going to protect her?" I demand to know.
"I have her name and address," Dad says, holding up a piece of paper.
"How did you get that?" I ask.
"Turns out I can still be pretty persuasive when it comes to the ladies," Dad chuckles before he goes quiet. "Don't tell your mother."
Father and Papa begin to laugh loudly, and they start to joke with Dad about what they will tell Mom. Usually, I would join in, but I am not in the mood. I just want my mate.
As we are pulling out of the hospital's parking lot, a sense of worry washes over me. I know they are not my feelings but those of my mate.
"Stop the car," I yell, throwing my Alpha Aura out.
Dad hammers on the brakes, and we all jerk forward. Father and Papa hit the seats in front of them. "What the hell, Kieran?" Father hisses at me.
"Something is wrong," I say. "I don't know what, but I can feel it."
Dad looks over his shoulder at Father and Papa. They all nod to each other, and Dad turns the car in the opposite direction of the North Pack.
"Where are we going?" I ask.
"To check on your mate," Father says. "The mate bond is never wrong."
The farther we drive, the more anxiety builds up in my chest. My heart is racing, and my breathing is erratic. I try to practice the breathing techniques I was given as a kid when I would get too worked up about something, but nothing calms me down.
Papa places his hand on my shoulder to grab my attention. "You are feeling what your mate feels," he explains to me. "That is why it won't go away."
"She must be terrified," I whimper. "I should have never let her leave the hospital alone."
"You didn't have a choice, Son," Father assures me. "She isn't ready for our world."
Deep down, I know my father is correct, but it doesn't make it any easier. I need to know that she will be safe. My sanity depends on it.
We drive to the city's outskirts into a bad neighborhood and pull up to an old apartment building. I wrinkle my nose in disgust as I get out of the car. This isn't the type of place I want my mate to live in. My fathers look at one another, and I can tell they feel the same way.
"Which apartment is hers?" I ask.
Dad checks the piece of paper and responds, "42C."
I look around at the buildings until I find one labeled C. Running to the building as fast as I can, I take the stairs three at a time to the fourth floor. Right at the top of the stairs is her apartment. The door has been broken into and is hanging off the hinges.
The scent of a rogue is thick in the air, and I rush into her apartment, not caring about the dangers that may await me.
I storm through the door and see Mae hugging another woman with tears and blood streaming down her face. There is a rogue werewolf knocked out on the floor. He has a minor head injury, and I know he won't be knocked out for long.
"Mae," I say gently, not wanting to scare her more than she already is.
She pulls away from her friend, and her eyes widen. "How…" That is all she can manage to say before she flings herself into my arms.
Mae buries her head into my chest and sobs loudly. I caress the back of her head, trying to soothe her. I place a little kiss on top of her head and finally look up at her friend, who is staring at me with her mouth open.
"You," I say, recognizing her as the waitress from the bar.
Tish crosses her arms over her chest and glares in my direction. "You never called," she retorts.
Mae pulls herself away from me and looks between Tish and me in horror. "You are the bar guy?" She asks in a high-pitched voice.
"That depends on how much you know?" I try to make light of the situation.
"She knows everything," Tish spits at me.
"Oh my God! OH MY GOD!" Mae yells loudly. "First, I am drug into some crazy supernatural world where you tell me I belong to you. Then my ex shows up at my door and attacks me. Now you are telling me that the person who was supposedly made for me is sleeping with my best friend!"
"Mae," I try to calm her down before she says anything more damning. "I didn't know you two nights ago."
My fathers shuffle into the apartment right when I say that, and they look around awkwardly. The rogue on the ground begins to moan in pain, and my fathers move to restrain him.
The rogue's head rolls from side to side as he comes to, and when his eyes open, he screams in fear. Dad has him by one arm and Papa by the other. He tries to wiggle out of their grasp, but they are too strong for him.
"We can continue this conversation later," I tell Tish and Mae. "I have a rogue to attend to."