Chapter 52: Chapter 52

~ ROWAN

I started second guessing my decision to come to this gods forsaken pack halfway into the trip, but after seeing Henry’s annoyed expression upon my arrival, I knew I’d made the right choice.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he ground out looking ridiculous as fuck in his jeans and wrinkled shirt.

He didn’t even take the time to button it up properly before meeting me in the pack house.

“You don’t just show up in my pack unannounced,” he continued. “We have rules for a reason and you can’t-”

“I can if there is a universal problem and seeing as you are incapable of deali9ng with the rogues yourself, I will do us all a favor and deal with them for you.”

He gritted his teeth, his chest heaving with barely contained anger, but I ignored him. I turned to my guards, nodding for them to begin setting up. The quicker we dealt with these rogues, the quicker I’d be able to get the hell out of here.

The longer I lingered, the more likely I’d be to bump into Nyssa, and considering how our last interaction went, I couldn’t imagine it would end well.

“If you aren’t bothered about her, why send Aria to check on her?” that familiar nagging voice in my head asked. “It would be so much easier if you stopped acting like a prick and-“

I slammed my wall up, pushing out every thought of Nyssa from my mind. There were more important things at play, namely the Alpha in front of me who looked like he was a second away from blowing smoke out of his ears.

“This is my pack,” he hissed out. “You have no right-”

“What is more important to you, Henry? Keeping your ego or stopping more innocent people from dying?” I snapped and he immediately went silent. “The rogues are becoming a problem, and I am going to fix it, now get the fuck out of my way.”

He looked ready to refuse, but an older man with greying hair and a hunched figure hobbled over to him, whispering something in his ears. Henry gritted his teeth, mumbling something under his breath before storming off in a huff.

“Please, come with me,” the man said, his voice shaky and soft. “Your bedroom has been prepared-”

“No need,” I cut him off. “I need everything you have on those rogues, every hideout, every potential location, every rogue you have caught and investigated.”

He hesitated for a moment, shuffling on his feet. “We don’t have anything, Your Majesty.”

I stared at him intently, waiting for the punchline that never dropped.

I knew Henry was being fucking difficult about the whole thing but this was plain negligence. It was one thing to make things difficult for my guards and it was another entirely to do nothing to help your pack while they were being slaughtered like animals.

“I want to see your generals,” I said simply, resisting the urge to curse everyone out.

“But sir, it’s late, they’re all-”

“I don’t give a fuck where they are or what they’re doing. I want every general out on their ass. No one sleeps until someone gives me something to work with.” He blinked, mouth gaping like a fish as he stared at me. “Did I stutter?”

He swallowed, quickly springing into action. “No, Your Majesty, right away.”

“Judging by the number of grumbling generals outside and the huffing Alpha, I take it that you’re already making changes,” Aria drawled as she walked into the meeting room where I’d set up.

Maps of the pack and surround ding areas lay spread in front of me. There were markers over the places the rogues frequently attacked. There was a pattern in their movements, I just couldn’t see it yet.

“They’ve sat on their asses long enough,” I murmured. “The rogues need to be dealt with.”

“In one night?” she asked, hands crossed over her chest in amusement. “You’re good, Rowan, but even you aren’t that good.”

I snorted. “Do you want to bet on that?”

Rogues weren’t the smartest or most sophisticated. They lived in the woods and didn’t have access to weapons or supplies from packs. They mostly solicited neutral territory. I already had spies looking into the closest spaces.

They also moved in packs of their own but they rarely had more than twenty members. Anything more, and they were bound to start fighting. If the rogues were as many as the pack claimed they were, then it was only a matter of time before we caught up to them.

I glanced up only to realize that Aria was still standing there watching me.

This was the longest conversation we had since Nyssa left. In fact, when we arrived, she was so eager to get away from me, mumbling something about checking on her friend. I pretended not to care, knowing it would only make her do it more.

“What is it?” I asked, standing up straight. “If there’s something you want to say-”

“I’m wondering when you’re going to ask me about her,” she answered smoothly. “You may have the whole ’I don’t give a fuck’ attitude down, but I’m still your sister and I know you.”

I gritted my teeth, forcing my eyes away from her as I spoke. “I don’t care about Nyssa.”

“Really?” she mused. “So you wouldn’t care that I met a man in her home?”

My blood ran cold at her words.

A cool feeling ran down my spine, smoothing my thoughts and emotions over with frost. There were a million questions at the tip of my tongue, but I didn’t ask Aria, no, I reserved my questions for the guard I’d put in charge of watching her.

He’d tell me exactly why there was a man in my mate’s house and why I wasn’t aware.

“Is that so?” I drawled, keeping my voice neutral. “Who is this man?”

She shrugged. “She seemed to like him. They were laughing when I walked in, and she seemed happy. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her smile that hard.”

The wooden table protested underneath the weight of my hands. If I gripped any harder, it would splinter, and honestly, it sounded very fucking enticing at the moment. I wanted to feel something shatter beneath my hands and if it couldn’t be the face of the bastard who dared go near my mate, then it could be the table.

“I think letting her go was a smart choice,” Aria continued. “You did the selfless thing, I’m proud of you.”

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