Jace's POV

"What is it? Talk to me, please," I pleaded with my wolf while trying so hard to breathe.

Hours had gone by, and he couldn't stop howling in pain. I, too, was in pain physically; I felt like my heart was being slightly squeezed, and my body was trembling.

Whiskey mixed with a dose of wolfsbane couldn't work, no matter how I overdosed, because I threw up instantly before I could even swallow the content. My eyes were hurting from the tears that were running down, and my head was aching.

I could hear the sound of birds chirping and a few voices outside. It was already morning, and in just a few hours, my Beta was going to come here to check up on me.

I needed to force myself on my feet because I never wanted to show anyone my weak side.

I groaned in pain as I got to my feet from the ground and moved to the bathroom naked, stumbling a bit. I approached the shower and quickly turned it on. As water began pouring on me, I moved my hand to my aching head.

"Ridge, please talk to me," I whispered to my wolf, whose whimpers had now died down, then fell to my knees to throw up.

Never in my life had I ever gone through so much pain and discomfort, not even when my parents had died.

I stood up with a bitter taste in my mouth and got out of the running shower, walking to the sink where I wasted no time in cleaning my teeth.

I moved back to the bedroom and grabbed some clothes. Although I was feeling a little better, I was still in pain.

I walked out of my room after dressing up and went downstairs into the dining room expecting to find everything set.

When I noticed that the table wasn't set, I looked at the few she-wolves who looked annoyed and were going back and forth.

"Why isn't the table set?" I asked an elderly omega who was quietly observing them.

She gave a low bow and then glanced at another she-wolf who stood a bit further away from her.

"Forgive us, Alpha. Today was Lillian's duty to serve you, but since the party yesterday, no one has seen her," the she-wolf answered as I felt my headache increase.

I was pissed off at her response, more to learn that my so-called mate had chosen not to do her pack's duty.

Was she sick again?

Not only was she weak, she was fragile as a human being. Despite never meeting her wolf, I could sense that she had one. Sadly, it too was weak. Through her aura and pheromones, I could tell.

"How annoying, is Lillian sick again?" I asked, then frowned when all the she-wolves in the room looked at me surprised.

My words came off as me being concerned about her, and I hated it.

It was surprising to them, but I knew her name perfectly well. I mean, why wouldn't I when my wolf was so hung up on forcing me to call her by name, when I had never used it openly before.

"No, Alpha, she wasn't even in her room when I checked," she answered.

I rubbed my forehead to ease my pain, then cleared my throat. I felt like my knees would give up any minute, so I needed to get the hell out of the dining hall.

"Make it quick, I don't give a fuck whose duty it is or was," I ordered, then slowly walked out of the room and went outside the pack house where Harvey's voice was coming from.

I felt powerless just thinking of her spending a night with another male.

"No, it can't be, I'm just overthinking," I said silently to myself as I moved closer.

"Harvey," I called loudly, immediately getting his attention.

He turned and faced me, together with Paul, then they gave a low bow to show their respect.

"Alpha, I'm glad to see you. Yesterday you were..."

"Have you seen the pack's runt?" I asked seriously.

"Who?" Paul asked.

"That dumb, fat omega," I answered.

"You mean the one we usually pick on?" he asked as I clenched my hands into fists.

I usually pretended not to see, despite feeling angry whenever they picked on her. In my mind, I had slaughtered my Beta, Gamma, warriors, and other she-wolves countless times because of how they were treating Lillian.

I hated them deep down to my core yet tried so hard to bury those negative emotions.

"Yes, her," I answered, then faked a smile.

"No, Alpha," Paul answered.

"I was thinking, perhaps she has finally found a fool to entertain her body," I muttered, then chuckled when I noticed how my Beta was looking at me in astonishment.

"Alpha, we did not see her today. The last time we saw her was at the party," Harvey answered.

I didn't want to ask them the question that was going through my mind, but I had to; I just couldn't stop myself.

"She wouldn't have run away, right?" I asked.

"No, Alpha, if she did, we would have known by now, mostly you," he answered seriously.

He was right about that. There was no way I couldn't have felt it if someone had crossed my pack's border. That thought alone made me feel a little bit at ease.

But then, if she wasn't sick or with another male, then where would she be? Was she alone, crying because of how I treated Leah in front of her? Perhaps she was hiding herself because she was in heat?

No, most she-wolves went into heat on the night of the full moon, but she was different. Never had there been a day when I had seen or heard from anyone that she had experienced her first heat. Something about her was quite different and mysterious.

I refused to pay attention to her because she was weak. But every time I tried, I found myself being drawn to her. Her chubby body was adorable and looked very comfortable to touch.

Her hair was a unique white, which I had never seen before in my life, and her beautiful brown eyes reminded me of a princess I had read about in my books when I was young.

I hated to admit it, but her very being was my type. I liked everything about her and I wanted her to change nothing about herself, not even her soft, meek voice.

"You are right, I guess I'll go to my office and look at the files," I said, then took a few steps forward when he called me.

"What?" I asked once I had stopped walking.

"Are you okay? You look a little pale," he asked.

"I am more than fine," I lied, then walked away.

Harvey's POV

I wasn't a fool not to notice how the Alpha was struggling to concentrate. He looked very agitated and made a lot of mistakes with the pack files he was handling.

He actually looked like he was in pain and trying so hard not to show it, and it was all because of that Omega.

A few hours had gone by, and she was not yet back. I felt very guilty, and fear was filling my heart.

If he could act like this when she wasn't around, how would he act seeing her drenched in water and shivering? Yes, he didn't care about her a few days ago, but right now, it looked like he did.

"Harvey, is there a problem?" Paul asked softly behind me.

I turned and looked at him seriously, then at the few warriors who were standing beside him.

"That Omega we used as bait yesterday hasn't been seen for hours, and the Alpha looks irritated. I might be wrong, but he seems like a man in love, desperately waiting for his lover," I replied.

"Are you kidding me? He doesn't care about that bitch," he spat.

"I'm just telling you what I observed. He behaves like someone who does," I replied loudly.

"Do you even realize what you're saying, Beta? If he truly does care about her and he discovers what we did last night, he won't let us off!" He exclaimed, then gasped loudly.

I quickly turned when I caught the Alpha's scent. He was approaching us with an angry expression on his face. At that moment, I knew he had heard what Paul had said.

"Gamma, what is it that I have heard?" he asked once he was in front of us.

I glanced at Paul with a concerned expression on my face, and he slowly looked at the warriors who had their gaze lowered to the ground in fear.

I cleared my throat, getting Elon's attention, and then looked at the other warriors seriously.

Not only was Elon known as one of the troublemakers in the pack, but he usually did things to please both me and Paul.

"It's all the warriors' fault," Paul said as the warriors looked up with a shocked expression.

"You heard the Alpha, didn't you? He asked you a question, it's only right to answer him," he said as the Alpha looked at us with a raised brow.

Elon took a step forward with both of his hands clenched. He was slightly trembling, and we could clearly hear his loud heartbeat.

"Alpha, I...I...," he stammered.

"I wanted to report this to you, but I saw that Omega girl running towards the border last night," he said as I glared at him.

What the hell was wrong with him? Did he think that was the best excuse there was? Everyone here knew that his words were lies because if one renounced his pack member title or crossed the border, the Alpha felt it.

He wouldn't point out who exactly had crossed it, but he would know.

"Listen up, you fucking assholes. I'm giving all of you a few fucking minutes to come clean before I fucking lose it," he said calmly with emphasis.

Although his face looked unbothered, the pheromones coming from him were strong, intimidating, and they made us fear him more than we already did.

"You have five minutes remaining," he growled, and I found myself stepping forward.

My throat was dry, and sweat was beginning to form on my forehead. Each passing minute was making it hard for me to breathe because of how strong his pheromones were.

"Alpha, you see.... yesterday at the party......um...the warrior told you how we were bored and wanted to have fun with an Omega," I said in a low tone, then quickly took a step back with a rapid heartbeat when his eyes turned a shade of dark red, making it known to us that his wolf was present.

"I don't believe this," he whispered in a deeper husky voice.

"Beta, what did you do?" he asked coldly.

I clenched my hands and lowered my gaze to the ground. I was about to look up when I was tackled to the ground with a loud growl that shook the ground.

My wolf whimpered in fear as the Alpha who was on top of us raised his hand to strike us.

"Alpha, no! He is your Beta, your right hand, and childhood friend. You can't kill him just because of her!" Paul exclaimed, and that made him freeze his hand in mid-air.

"My friend, huh! A friend who can't tell me what happened last night," he whispered, then chuckled as his eyes went back to their natural color.

"Harvey, what did you do?" he asked, then got to his feet and surprisingly extended his hand to me.

I slowly raised my trembling hand and grabbed it, getting to my feet.

"Jace," I called softly.

I rarely called him by his name ever since we took over our respective positions.

"When you agreed to let us have fun with an Omega last night, we decided to pick the fat one because she was the weakest in the pack," I said, then swallowed hard and continued.

"We dragged her to the forest...," I trailed off, then held my breath when his hand landed on my shoulder.

"Did you defile her?" He asked huskily.

"No, Alpha, we would never! We asked her to run while we chased her. We told her if she made it past the river, we would let her go. If not, we were going to punish her," I said, then instantly regretted it because his face turned pale. For the first time in my entire life, I saw fear on his face.

"Harvey, by chance, did you push her into the river?" He asked in a cracked voice.

I couldn't understand why he looked so terrified, but I had to let him know the truth.

"When she reached the river, she attempted to run away from us and slipped in. Then she began faking how she could not..."

"No," he whispered, and then instantly shifted into his magnificent black wolf, taking off to the forest, leaving us all feeling very confused about his reaction.

Jace's POV

I quickly shifted into my human form and began looking around.

"Lillian!" I called out in a cracked voice as I walked further at the edge, with labored breath.

She couldn't swim, that I knew because I overheard her talk to an elderly woman about one of her fears. Back then, I thought it was something foolish and weak a she-wolf would say, but now I was terrified by that thought.

"Lillian, please answer me! If you do, I swear to the moon goddess I won't harm you in any way. I just want to see that you are safe, please," I begged, then tensed when her scent reached my nose.

I quickly rushed ahead and saw her body lying near the edge where a huge cut tree had fallen a few days ago. Half of her body was resting in the water while the other half was resting on the side of the tree.

"No," I whispered and ran ahead, instantly jumping into the river and grabbing her body, pulling it into my arms.

I was sniffing and trying to hold back my tears while I swam back to land. Once she was laid on the ground, I looked at her helplessly, tears running down my cheeks.

My body was trembling, and my wolf was whimpering loudly. I felt nauseous, and my headache was throbbing badly.

"She's fine," I said to myself in a cracked voice as I raised my hand and placed it on her chest, tears continuing to roll down my cheeks.

"Alpha!" Harvey called when he reached where I was.

I looked at him with blurry vision, then back at my mate.

"Why?" I whispered in a cracked voice.

"Why can't I hear her heartbeat, Harvey?" I asked with a heavy heart, then moved my hand to my chest as I felt like I was suffocating.

My throat was closing up, and my body was in pain.

"Alpha," he called, then took a few steps closer and stopped when I growled at him.

Why couldn't he see how she wanted to be left all alone? She didn't want anyone to be with her; she was tired and now she was resting.

I slowly leaned in and gathered her in my arms. As I forced myself to my feet, I smiled because she obviously wanted to see me smile at her.

"I know you are tired," I whispered to her and then began to walk back to the pack house.

I heard nothing and relied on my sense of smell as my eyes were very blurry.

The closer I got to the pack house, the more painful each step was for me.

"We will be in our room pretty soon, so please bear with me," I whispered to her and then walked into the pack house and went straight to my bedroom.

I closed my eyes for a second, opened them, and looked at the bed, which was nicely made.

When images of me embracing Leah came flooding into my mind, I took a deep breath to stop myself from throwing up.

I was not only disgusted by myself but by my own actions in the past.

I moved closer and leaned in, putting her on the bed with an apologetic look.

"Please bear with me just this once because you don't deserve to lie down where anyone has," I whispered and then carefully moved her with one of my hands, while I grabbed the bedsheets with my other hand, pulling them from underneath her.

I threw them down as I looked at my desk that was close to an open window.

"Burning them down would be alright, what do you think?" I asked softly, then shifted and moved forward, brushing my hand against her pale white cheeks.

"I know you don't deserve to even be in here," I whispered after I had lifted her up in my arms and walked out of the room.

That bedroom was out of the question. She needed to rest in the spare bedroom, which I usually used whenever I wanted to be alone.

The room was like my sacred sanctuary. No one walked in there without my permission, and no woman or she-wolf had ever entered or seen what the inside looked like.

I went there and carefully put her on the bed.

"Wait for me here, please. I won't take long, I promise," I said, then groaned and moved my hand to my forehead.

My headache was slowly becoming unbearable.

"I need to do this for her," I whispered when I dropped my hand and walked out of the room.

My wolf was quiet, and I couldn't feel him anymore after his pained howls. I had no idea why when our mate was right there with us.

I went back into my bedroom and marched to my desk, opening the first drawer.

I went through the things there quickly, trying to find a lighter. When a minute went by, I began to panic.

I wasn't supposed to be far away from my mate. Something bad could happen to her yet again, and this time she would leave me!

"Where is it?" I asked in a cracked voice, then sighed in relief when the lighter came into view.

I quickly grabbed it and moved to the corner where a table of spirit was.

I looked at the full bottle, wondering if it would be enough to light the whole room up.

"It better work," I whispered and then moved to the sheets which were on the floor.

I opened the bottle and poured some on them, then moved to the bed and did the same. After I was satisfied, I moved to the wardrobe and pulled it open. 

The clothes in there were the clothes I had worn when I was with Leah. They were not something I could ever wear again because my mate would be upset and hurt having to remember what I used to do.

I moved the lighter in one hand where the bottle was and then grabbed the clothes and began throwing them down from the hangwire. Once I was done, I poured the liquid on them carefully and threw the bottle down, not minding the noise it made shattering.

I looked at the lighter, which was now turned on, and then at the clothes.

"It's worth it because it's all for her," I whispered when I threw the lighter there and took a few steps back as fire began to spread.

I was about to move again when I felt a ringing sound in my ear and a piercing headache that made me fall down to my knees and scream out in pain.

I couldn't see anything anymore, and my throat was closing up. I was about to try and stand but completely fell to the ground as darkness consumed me.