SWNOVELS Chapter 75
Chapter 75: Theo
I let Ayla tell the others what was going on, allowing her to decide what information she wanted to give. They were all supportive, as I knew they would be. My dad did insist on her moving into the main house, of course. Mina and Briggs wanted to stay the weekend, but Ayla insisted that wasn’t necessary.
I could tell Ayla didn’t want to linger on the subject, so I changed the subject as soon as I was satisfied they knew what they needed to. We visited for a couple more hours. It was late when I followed Mina and Briggs to the vehicles. I stopped at my car as I watched Ayla go to the guest house. She would move into the spare room of the main dwelling first thing in the morning, but it was too late to worry about that tonight.
‘I’m staying here tonight,’ I mind-linked Briggs. ‘I want to run a patrol. I can establish a route for the others to follow.’
‘I got you, bro,’ Briggs said. ‘I think it’s a good idea that you stay close.”
‘I just want to make sure,’ I said.
‘Theo, you don’t have to explain,’ he said. ‘Let me know if you need to stay another day or two.’
He had already started driving down the driveway. I waited until I couldn’t see his tail lights before pulling out my phone. I dialed Alpha Harden’s number, watching the guest house windows go dark as Ayla settled in for the night.
“Hello?” Alpha Harden answered.
Chapter 75: Theo
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“Alpha Harden,” I replied, “It’s Alpha Theo. Sorry to call so late.”
“No worries, son,” Harden said kindly. “It’s good to hear from you. We missed seeing you at the Gathering.”
“Yeah, I wish I could have been there,” I said. “I had an incident here that needed to be taken care of, unfortunately.”
“Everything okay?”
“It will be,” I said. “I’m actually calling about something else.”
“Oh?”.
”
“Yeah, I heard some news today – about Conner Elkins going missing,” I stated.
“Ah,” Harden sounded. “So, Ms. Garner must be with you then. Kingston said she was out of town. He didn’t say where, but I hoped it was someplace familiar.”
“Are you talking about Ayla?” I said, not sure how much he knew. Not sure I wanted him to know anything. “What makes you think she’s with me?”
Harden chuckled. “It hasn’t even been six hours since I told Kingston Conner was missing. Since only a handful of Alphas know, I highly doubt rumor had time to reach you.
”
I sighed. “She’s staying with my parents. She working on a job for them.”
“Good. I’m glad she’s somewhere safe.”
“About that, I need any details you can give me so I can keep things that way,” I stated. “How much of a threat do you think Conner is?”
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“It’s hard to say,” he said, his tone getting serious. “I’m sure you heard about the incident at the Gathering?”
“Yeah, Conner went after Ayla.” I managed to keep the rage out of my voice.
“Yeah,” he confirmed. “It wasn’t good. The thing is, I’m not sure if he left the territory on his own or if someone went after him. I thought Alpha Kingston may have been behind it, but I’m less inclined to believe it after speaking with him today. But if Conner doesn’t go after Kingston, then my guess would be he’s looking for Ayla.”
“So, he’s a threat,” I stated.
“That’s the best assumption at this point,” Harden agreed. “How is Ayla handling it?”
“Conner potentially coming after her barely seems to phase her. It’s Kingston that’s stressing her out,” I said bitterly. “The idiot actually demanded she return to Sablemane territory. She refused. He wasn’t too happy.”
“I could tell she had a good head on her shoulders,” he said. “Not that I’m surprised.”
“What do you mean?” He said that like he knew something about Ayla.
“Theo, what do you know about her parents?” Harden asked. “Was one of them from a different pack?”
“Her mother was born here. I know of her family,” I said. “Her father, Jack, died about ten years ago. I don’t think I ever met him, but Dad knew him.”
“You should ask him about Jack and Ayla. It’ll be important if you’re going to keep her safe,” Harden said. “And how did she end up with
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the Sablemanes anyway?”
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“That’s a long, complicated story,” I said, running a hand over my face.
I had no idea what he was talking about with Ayla and Kylee’s parents, but I could tell he knew
omething he didn’t want to tell me. I couldn’t
gauge why, though. He obviously wanted me to know.
“What do you know
know about Ayla, Harden?”
“Honestly, nothing for sure. It’s just a hunch,” he said. “But just know, if she ever needs help, she can come to me.”
I could tell he meant it. I respected Harden. He was a good man. If I had to let Ayla go to keep her safe, I would rest easier if she was in his hands.
“Thanks, Harden,” I said. “Hopefully, she’ll never need it. Keep me in the loop on this?”
“Of course,” he agreed.
I hung up the phone. I looked back at the guest house. It was going to be really hard for me to leave her now. I’d worry about that later. First, I had to get a plan in place to keep the area patrolled. I wasn’t going to risk anything.
I stripped down and shifted into my wolf, letting Kieran’s instincts take over as I traveled through the woods. Kieran was incredibly determined. He spent extra time on any path or road he came along. He backtracked more times than I could count, leaving his scent on nearly every tree or boulder to ensure the patrol route was easy to follow. But he needed this as much as I did. Possibly even more. He had been feeling so useless in the situation with Ayla. He was finally able to do something to take care of her.
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It was the first time we had worked together like this in a while. We had been at such odds with each other the last few months that we had disconnected in a way. I was reminded of how natural it was to rely on our animals. It was natural to trust them.
We had circled a wide radius around the lake and up and down the mountain and were nearly back to my parent’s place. I stopped at the top of a ridge along a game trail that allowed a clear view of the lake house property.
‘I’m sorry, Kieran,’ I said to my wolf. For getting us into this mess. I should have listened to you in the first place.’
‘I know.’
‘I don’t know if I can ever make it right, but I’m trying.’
‘I know.’
I didn’t need him to say anything more. I could feel what he felt. We stood and made our way back.
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