Bad Love: An Alpha's Regret (Leah and Aaron)

Chapter 44

AARON

I sink into one of the chairs and try to process everything.

Leah. Missing.

Leah. Dying.

It just doesn't make sense.

She's young. A force of life so bright at times I found it hard to be around her. I can't imagine her not in this world. I can't imagine that she's sick or hurting.

Or that she's been suffering for a long time and I never noticed.

My chest aches and I rub at the center of it.

"I still have to make rounds," Adam says. "And there is a chance that if Leah left, that maybe she doesn't want to be found. She might be si ck of all of us."

I nod.

I don't like it, but it may be true.

I should've done so many things differently.

I should've loved her.

All the nights wasted. All the days when I purposely kept her at arm's length. All the times she tried to make our marriage a real one. Not just in bed, but by being a real partner.

She'd help in the kitchen and make my food.

She'd wait up for me in the library, reading one of her books, so I wouldn't work late alone.

She'd laugh and argue with me, and not back down, no matter how many times I tried to relegate her to some background role.

And now she's gone?

Dying???

But I can't lose her. I can't let go.

My throat tightens. And pain seizes my body. It's not physical so much as a wave of grief that floods my entire being.

I go to her bed and pick up the pillow. Beneath the astringent smells of the hospital, I can scent her. That light fragrant smell of her hair that's partly her shampoo and, beneath that, the unique, elusive scent of her skin.

Adam reenters the hospital room.

I can imagine what he sees.

Me holding a bunch of smooshed flowers and breathing into a hospital pillow.

"You, uh, need to see this," he tells me.

Sam walks in behind Adam and holds up an ipad. He plays the footage of Leah being rolled out of the hospital. He freezes the frame.

"It appears she left the premises with someone."

I zoom in for a closer look. "What the he II is Brian doing here?"

"Oh," Adam says, leaning in. "That's right. I knew he looked familiar. Brian Leithrow is an Alpha too. He comes from a good family."

I'm incredulous. "Adam, what are you talking about? That man," I jab my finger at Brian's face on the screen, "is a li ar. I was friends with him until I learned that he lied about everything-his name, his birthright, his background. He ki lled old man Leithrow to assume control of his pack."

"What!?"

"Everything Brian has is stolen...And now he has my wife!"