SWNOVELS Chapter 35
Chapter 35: Theo
I felt like I was on auto–pilot for days after I felt Ayla with Kingston. I slept even less. My nights were plagued with dreams of them together whenever I closed my eyes. The only way I could get any peace was to get drunk enough to pass
out.
I was avoiding my parents, and Kylee, and anyone else for that matter. Especially Briggs. After Kylee’s cousin, Mina, turned out to be his fated mate, I couldn’t handle being around them.
I was holed up in my office again when he burst through the door without knocking..
“In case you didn’t get the hint,” I said, “I’m not in the mood to talk to you.”
“I’m just here to do my job,” he replied, dropping a folder on my desk. “I finally heard back from some of the other packs. There have been four similar fires set in other territories. Two
with casualties.”
I picked up the file and was eagerly opening it when Kylee rushed into my office, followed by her mother.
“You need to find her, Theo,” she yelled angrily.
“What are you…”
“Ayla,” she interrupted, fury rolling off of her.
I felt the blood drain from my face. Had she found out her
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Chapter 35. Thas
sister was a rogue?
“Calm down, Kylee. What’s going on?” I said, trying to maintain some composure.
249 Waurturg.
“She took it all. She stole everything,” Kylee shrieked. “She stole every last penny our mother had. She took my tuition money. Everything.”
“Shit,” Briggs said under his breath from behind her.
“What?” I asked, standing up as my anger quickly built.
“Over thirty thousand dollars from Ma’s account. Gone. Her phone is off. She’s not answering emails. The neighbors say that they haven’t seen her in weeks,” Kylee continued. “She took everything and ran like the selfish brat she is.”
“Kylee,” Marie admonished, but there wasn’t a lot of
conviction behind it. “Alpha Theo, we have no idea where she could be.”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I know exactly where she is. I’ll take care of this, Kylee.”
“How do you know where she is?” Kylee asked with a strange look.
“Ayla cut ties with the pack a few weeks ago,” I told her.
Marie gasped, her hand going to her mouth. This wasn’t exactly the way I was going to break the news to them, but right now, I didn’t really care. I couldn’t believe I had been wallowing over her all this time. I couldn’t believe Kieran couldn’t see what a snake she actually was and reject her like I had.
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‘Not true. She lies.‘
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I cut him off, pushing him out of my head. I was tired of his stubbornness, I grabbed my phone and keys from the desk drawer.
“She wouldn’t do that,” Marie said.
“Of course she would, Ma,” Kylee spat, not evening caring that her only sibling cut herself off from them. “She’s always been selfish like that.”
“Just let me handle this,” I insisted, heading for the door. “I’ll make sure you get every penny back, Marie.”
I was halfway down the hall when Briggs caught up with me, grabbing my arm.
“Whatever you’re about to do, Theo, don’t,” he hissed at me.
“I’m ending this once and for all,” I said through gritted teeth. “She’s just as bad as I thought she was.”
“You’re not even going to check…”
“I’m done, Briggs,” I interrupted. “I’m not living with her hanging over my head anymore.
***
I didn’t leave town right away. I stopped at the police station to file a report to press charges against Ayla. I had to get things expedited, but it wasn’t too hard. It still took most of the evening to get all the paperwork together. So I got a hotel room to avoid returning to the packhouse and headed out before sunrise the next morning.
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Briggs had been calling me practically non–stop since I had left, so I cut my phone off a few hours into the drive. Until I got to the Sablemane border, that is.
I pulled over on the side of the road and turned my phone back on, scrolling through to find Beta Pierce’s number. I had gotten the number from Briggs‘ contact list when he wasn’t paying attention. I texted him that something happened with Ayla’s mother and I needed to see her. That would hopefully get me permission to enter the territory and Ayla’s location.
I waited about twenty minutes before he messaged back. As soon as I read it, I was peeling off. I was still a few hours away. I used the time to try to settle my chaotic thoughts and fighting Kieran. I was warring with my emotions. The part of me that didn’t want to believe that she had done this and the part that desperately needed to believe it.
If I could confront her, I would get an answer, and I would be free.
I made it to the address he gave me around noon. I checked the building directory and found the company Ayla worked for, taking the elevator to the fifth floor. There was a front desk with a secretary sitting at it.
“Hello,” I said with a gentle smile. “I’m here to see Ms. Ayla Garner. My name is Briggs.”
“Ah, yes,” the woman said. “She’s out to lunch at the moment, but she should be back shortly. Would you like to wait in her office?”
“Yes, that would be great.”
“End of the hall to the right of the corner office,” she said with
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a smile.
I nodded and headed in that direction.
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I closed the door when I got there, pausing to let her scent wash over me. She must not have been working here long. Her scent was still settling in. But it was still very present. I hated that I missed it. But I had.
I could sense the source of that intoxicating scent even through the door.
Ayla was here.