Aiden Freeman

Chapter eight

I felt numb. I could see Autumn talking to me but I couldn't understand a thing. I could recognize Rudolph and Harry, but I didn't hear them either.

And just like that... Everything became blurry.

-

When I woke up I was in my room. I could recognize it. In front of me, the door. To the left, the window. On my right, the walk-in closet. The room was bigger than any master suite I've ever been to.

In this room mom and I talked about Iris for the first time. She was happy I had met my mate so quickly and she was eager to meet her. I know Iris was excited to meet her as well. I started imagining how awesome it would've been if Iris and mom met. Iris had a good relationship with my other mom, and she was mature enough to understand many things involving werewolves, which meant she would've been great friends with mom. And now, that couldn't be.

That couldn't be...

But why?..

I was angry. I was frustrated. I was partially in denial of what had happened two days ago. Why does this happen to me? Why was she gone?

Why?

-

After I settled down in my room, I decided to go downstairs to eat something. It was two in the afternoon and I was a bit hungry. I expected to see Autumn. Actually, I wanted Autumn to be there. I had talked with her the day mom had died, but I hadn't since and I needed someone I could talk to about how I felt. I thought of Jo, I hadn't called her for some days. She was probably wondering how I was. But I couldn't just go ahead and tell her such bad news. Same with Iris. She wanted to meet her pretty bad. The two of them had even made plans to meet inside pack territory. I couldn't just call her and say "Hey, my mom died!". I needed someone that knew more than I did at the moment. I needed to talk to Autumn, but she wasn't there.

I just settled to eat a ham sandwich with a Caesar salad on the side and drink an Ice tea Arizona can. But I only half ate the sandwich and the salad. I didn't feel that hungry. I just wanted to rest.

While I was walking up the stairs, I felt Autumn running toward the mansion. She entered through the front door and walked toward me.

"I need you to come with me." She told me with a serious glare.

I simply nodded and left with her after changing my clothes. We reached the pack prison and met with Rudolph and Harry. They took me into an office to talk to me apparently. I was sitting down in a chair and Harry, Autumn, Rudolph and some of his guards were standing around me.

"Two days ago, your mother came to the pack prison early in the morning to meet with a prisoner. The rogues came straight into the pack prison to kill this prisoner, they found her and killed her off as well. Four of my men also died." Rudolph put his hand over my shoulder. "I know how terrible this must be for you, which is why I'll be glad to inform you we have an idea of who sent these rogues to do this."

When he said that, something triggered inside of me. Someone was guilty of this. There was a murderer on the loose, and I was already plotting in my mind a way to end his or her life. Whoever it was, was going to pay. My mother's body couldn't even be kept in a funeral or anything. She was unrecognizable from what Autumn had told me. I was going to leave the body just like hers, or worse.

"Who?" I asked in a husky and angry tone.

Rudolph seemed to regret telling me what he knew for a moment. He looked at Autumn and when she nodded, he proceeded.

"The rogues are usually bloody, but they prefer living outside the packs with the humans... peacefully. We've heard of female wolves being kidnapped and then forced to mate with strong male wolves to have pups." Rudolph was telling me in a calm tone. "We have evidence that suggests that your mother was a victim of this crime." I was holding my rage inside. "The day we found her, the prisoner was forcing her to mate with him. He was the Beta of a pack far away from ours."