KADEN’S P.O.V

I watched Amelia disappear up the stairs towards my private office. I knew I was taking a huge risk by asking her to be present but I felt it was a better alternative than leaving her in Clara’s house where he could easily sneak in to find her.


If I had my way, we wouldn’t have been having the meeting but we needed to tackle the rogue problem that had been plaguing not just this pack but others. A lot of packs had complained about it and we needed to sit down and figure out a way to sort it out. I never held meetings like this in the pack office, there was a building with a hall designated for these kind of things because most meetings with Alphas tended to end in bloodshed.

Gregory arrived in his car and I expected his daughter to step out on the other side with him but I was shocked to see Blake. His face had healed well and my wolf fought to come out and kill him but I had to keep him at bay. I couldn’t attack him without telling Gregory why and I didn’t want him to know that Amelia was here.

“This is my son-in-law,” Gregory said as he walked over to us. Blake stretched out his hand to me but I ignored it. Just because I wasn’t beating him up didn’t mean I liked him.


“The guards will lead you in. The meeting will start momentarily.”

Gregory glanced between Blake and I as if wondering what the cause of the animosity was but he didn’t say anything. I watched him disappear and I immediately tasked a few guards with the prospect of watching over him to make sure that he wasn’t going to places he shouldn’t.


I stayed there and welcomed the other Alphas. There were only five Alphas present and once they all arrived the meeting began. It was supposed to be simple- we talk about the rogue problem and how to handle it but Alphas have never been known to do things the easy way. There was a lot of bickering about what could have caused the problem and who was behind it.

I allowed it go on for a few minutes at first but the shouts started to escalate. I rested my hand against my head in frustration. Alphas could always be compared to toddlers- they were always throwing tantrums and they were entitled pieces of shit. I finally decided to step in when someone stood to his feet.

“Enough!” I bellowed. “You will not sit here and act like children. If you want to do that, then do it in your own packs. We have a rogue problem and we will never get to the bottom of it. If you want to waste my time then we can end this meeting right now.”

“You’re right,” Gregory said shocking me. “I suggest putting our guards out to scour the area. These rogues are dangerous. They get in without detection and leave just the same. I think there is more to this than we might know. They may be looking for something or someone.”

“What are you insinuating, Gregory?”

“I’m just saying that if we happen to see any strangers on our doorstep then we should not be so keen to accept them.”

He kept his eyes on me as he spoke and I knew that he was speaking about Amelia. He must not have believed me that time about not having Amelia but I didn’t care. I kept my face impassive and pretended like I didn’t know what was going on. His words caused another argument with the Alphas and this time I let it play out. I was about to call an end to the meeting when Blake suddenly stood to his feet catching everyone’s attention.

“I just wanted to use the bathroom,” he said sheepishly and Gregory waved him off after muttering something under his breath.

I glanced over at a guard and silently instructed him to follow Blake. I didn’t want him accidentally coming across Amelia. My skin itched to follow but another Alpha brought up a discussion and I had to be roped into it but my mind was fixated on Amelia.

Bake returned after a few minutes but he looked upset. I didn’t know why and I didn’t care why but I was relieved that he was upset. It probably meant that he didn’t see Amelia. I ended the meeting as quickly as I could and I escorted most of the Alphas to their respective cars. I was roped into discussions with most of them and I tried my best to cut them as short as possible but it wasn’t always easy.

The last Alpha remaining was Gregory and as I got closer I realized Blake was nowhere to be found. I tried to glance over at the car to see if he had gone inside already but I couldn’t see anything.

“Are you looking for someone?” Gregory asked making me turn to him. “It was honorable of you to choose to have the meeting here. You barely allow people into your pack on a normal day and yet you offered to hold the meeting here.”

“I did not have the energy of going to someone else’s pack, not that I need to explain myself to you.”

“Of course,” Gregory’s words had a hidden meaning behind them. “You left out last meeting so abruptly last time. I was wondering if you had seen her yet. You said you hadn’t but I figured it was only a matter of time before she showed up.”

“Your daughter is not in my pack Gregory,” I made my tone as bored as possible. “If I were you, I would keep a better handle on my children. It prevents situations like this from happening in the future. The way I see it, you seem to let people slip out from under your nose all the time.”

“What do you mean?”

“Where is your son-in-law?” I asked and Gregory seemed to realize that Blake was nowhere to be found. “As far as I know, he isn’t here. Is he snooping around in my building, Gregory?”

“Blake would never. He is probably at the border already waiting for me with the other guards.”

“You better hope for his sake and yours that he is. If I find him anywhere near my things, I will kill him.”

“There seems to be some animosity there. Is there something I am unaware of?”

His tone was eager as if he was waiting for a certain response from me but I ignored him. I turned on my heels and made sure my voice was clear when I spoke over my shoulder. “Have a good trip back, Gregory.”

It was an insult to speak to an Alpha so dismissively and I knew he bristled from the insult but I didn’t care. I needed to get back in and make sure that Amelia was safe. Caleb was with the Alphas making sure that they all left the territory and did not snoop. I couldn’t tell the other guards why Amelia was so important so I went looking for her myself.

As soon as I got to the floor of my office, I knew something was wrong. I heard whispers and one of them was Blake’s voice. I rushed over to the opened door and I stopped short when I heard what he was saying.

“You didn’t respond to my letters,” he spoke in an accusing tone. “Why are you hiding from me, Amelia?”

“You need to leave,” Amelia whispered harshly. “Kaden will be here soon and he is going to kill you.”

“Kaden, are you on first name basis with him now? What happened to Alpha? Isn’t he your Alpha? Are you fucking him?”

“You have no right to say that to me. I need you to leave, Blake, now.”

“Not until you answer me.”

I decided to interrupt at that moment and my blood boiled when I saw what was happening. Bake had Amelia backed into the table and he was leaning over like he wanted to kiss her. Once he heard my footsteps, he jumped back from her but I had already seen what I needed to see. I started to stalk in his direction but Amelia stepped in front of me.

“Please,” her voice dropped to a whisper so he wouldn’t hear. “Don’t do this, I beg you. It isn’t worth it. He isn’t worth it.”

I hated the fact that she was begging for him. She had never outrightly told me that she didn’t want him. Was that why she was begging? Did she have feelings for him? I hated the feeling crawling up my chest. Before Amelia, I never had reason to be jealous and I knew in that moment that it wasn’t a feeling I ever wanted to experience again. It felt like a snake crawling up my back and wrapping itself around my throat, restricting my ability to breathe.

I wanted to move Amelia out of the way and pummel his face in but I knew she would never forgive me for it because for some messed up reason, she liked the boy. Despite everything he had done to her, she still had feelings for him and I hated it.

“Get out,” I said over her shoulder to Blake and he hesitated. He glanced between me and her and he opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off. “If you say a word, I will make sure it is the last you ever do. Get the fuck out of my office before I change my mind and kill you where you stand.”

This time, he didn’t hesitate before he rushed out of the room. When he had disappeared, the tension left Amelia’s shoulders. She let out a sigh of relief and placed her hand against her chest. That feeling of jealousy crawled up again. She was relieved that I had spared his life.

“If I ever see him around you again, no amount of begging will save your little boyfriend,” I spat and her brows rose.

“What are you talking about? Are you okay?”

“Go to Caleb, he will take you back home,” she opened her mouth to speak but I cut her off. “I don’t want to talk to you right now, Amelia. Go home, I have work to attend to.”

“You’re being mean.”

“I could have killed him where he stood for trespassing and no one would have said a thing. I spared him because you asked and yet you call me mean.”

“You’re jealous,” she deduced and she scoffed. The corner of her lips quirked up and I hated it. “Kaden you have-”

“Leave, Amelia, I will not ask again.”

Her eyes widened at my tone and annoyance clouded her features. She crossed her arms over her chest and stormed out. I waited until she slammed the door behind her before reaching for the nearest thing to me and throwing it with a loud roar.