Chapter 38
Aiden sat in the clearing thinking about the words he had said. He had never admitted it before, not even to himself but hearing it out loud had opened up a wound that he hadn’t realised he had. He thought about Charlie and how alive she made him feel. He thought about the static electricity that hummed around them, pulling them together whenever they were near each other. He thought about the time he had spent with Sarah, getting to know her, relying on her and even turning to her for support and he thought of the worry he had felt when he smelled her at Ben’s.
We aren’t so different after all, his wolf said and Aiden knew he was right.
A flock of birds suddenly burst into flight from behind Aiden and a moment later, Red Dawn's beta came charging through the trees. Aiden instantly tried to stand, sending a wave of pain through his leg as he straightened. The wolf took one look at Aiden in his human form and snarled triumphantly.
“Come on you bastard!” Aiden roared as he let his wolf take over.
The beta wasted no time in charging directly at Aiden, but he was ready. As the Beta got close, Aiden leapt to the side at the last minute, then rushed towards the scrabbling wolf, his teeth bared and ready for the beta’s fur-covered flesh. Aiden felt more attuned to the instincts of his wolf than he had before and as his wolf ran to the beta, Aiden felt a hunger deep inside himself.
He didn’t try to stop his wolf as he pounced, aiming his muzzle towards the beta’s throat. Ben was right. If he was to tune into his wolf completely, he had to let him follow his instincts without consciously holding him back. He had to trust in his wolf and in what his wolf was doing.
Rearing up on his hind legs, the beta grappled with Aiden, trying to lock his own jaw around Aiden’s fleshy, exposed throat. In a tangle of paws, Aiden wrestled the beta to the floor, sending a wave of dirt dust into the air as the beta landed on his back. Aiden snarled and battered against the beta’s outstretched paws, trying to get his muzzle closer as the beta fought to keep him at bay.
I will kill him…
Aiden felt the desire, the need to rip the beta’s throat from him, building inside of himself with each bat of his paws against the beta. His claws caught the fleshy underbelly of the beta, causing him to yelp and curl himself to protect the wound. It was the opening Aiden had been waiting for and as the beta turned his head, Aiden swiped a paw hard against his throat.
He felt his claws dig into the flesh with ease, like hot blades through melted butter. The beta howled in agony and tried to flip himself for protection but it was no use. Aiden lunged downwards, sinking his canines into the bloody skin of the beta’s throat, then paused as the beta stiffened and whimpered. Aiden’s wolf began to rumble a slow and deliberate growl from around the beta’s throat.
It was a growl that said he was the son of an Alpha. It was a growl that said he was the son of a faery princess, but most of all, it was a growl that said he was Aiden Metcalfe and he was one pissed off fucking wolf that kept his promise. Clamping his teeth in place, Aiden slowly and deliberately turned his head. The beta’s howl became a gurgled scream as the skin, tendons and gullet began to stretch and tear, before being completely ripped away. He watched the floor take a crimson sheen as blood began to run over the damp moss and decaying leaves, as the beta’s life slipped away.
A triumphant howl erupted from Aiden’s bloody mouth, sending birds scattering into the air, away from the beast that was threatening their peaceful world. Sniffing the air around him, taking care not to miss the delicate scent that he was looking for, Aiden silently promised them that it would be over soon. He just had one more person to find.
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Holding Charlie under her arm for support, Sarah led her through the trees and towards the winding road that led to the town. Her heart was racing at the thought of one of Dawn’s wolves breaching Ben’s barrier and making their way to her and Charlie before she managed to get her back to the village hall on Ben’s pack land. She wanted to run like the wind but Charlie had been through enough, besides, Sarah had already told her that she was practically safe and it had eased her worry about being caught by her father.
“He’s going to be okay, isn’t he?”
“Of course, he will be okay. Ben has been through something like this before and knows what he’s doing. Granted, before it was the Dark Fae and not rabid wolves, but it’s pretty much the same thing, really,” Sarah said, hoping that she sounded more confident than she felt.
“But how will they know it’s Aiden and not one of those bastards? What if they get the wrong wolf and hurt Aiden?”
Sarah stopped walking and turned to Charlie. Taking her cheeks in her hands, she held her face, forcing Charlie to look into her eyes. It was something she had done many times before during the Darkness back in Faerie and she hoped with all her heart that it had the same effect on Charlie as it had on the terrified Fae folk back then.
“Charlie, honey, he will be fine. Ben knows his scent. So do Simon and Paul, besides, Aiden is probably already on his way to finding you. Ben said he will send him straight to the village hall as soon as he sees him. Stop panicking. Okay?”
Sarah saw Charlie’s eyes fill with hope as she nodded and pulled Sarah in for a hug. “Okay. Come on. Let’s go meet him.”
Suddenly, a slow clapping sound came from the trees behind them, sending panic racing through Sarah as she frantically looked around for the source.
