Big Bad Alphas
Chapter 28

“Eric!” I call to him as the two of us make our way onto the training grounds. Eric’s eyes replace mine then they move to Alpha Kenn, probably confusing him.

“Alpha Kenn,” he greets. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“My Beta, Lucas, your sister’s mate, I have come to collect him and move south, but I recently discovered he left last night. The issue is, no one knows where he has gone.”

“What if he was attacked,” I cut in.

Eric sighs, taking a moment to think. “I’ll have search parties organized. You and your men are welcome to stay here as long as it takes. Caroline must be worried.”

“That’s an understatement,” I tell him.

“I should join my men. Caroline is showing them where Lucas entered the unclaimed land. We’ll be looking around there for now, and thank you for your hospitality.”

Before anyone can mutter another word, Alpha Kenn hurried off in the direction we came. He must be worried too. I look back to Eric. “What if a rogue actually attacked him?”

“He’s a Beta; he can put up a fight.”

“What if it was a group? This cannot happen to Caroline. God forbid she loses her mate so quickly.”

Eric places his hands on my shoulders, reeling me in. “Don’t worry. I’ll replace him. I’ll have search groups set up as soon as possible. The only problem is, if rogues did attack him he might have run off, which would be the right choice if it was a group.”

“What will happen if he runs off?”

“He might get stranded, lose his way in the unclaimed land,” Eric explains. “That land is littered with rogues, especially further west.”

“I’ll tell Caroline to stay with us until Lucas is found. The last thing she needs is to be all alone.”

Eric glances down at me. “What about Olivia?”

“She’s going through something; she wouldn’t give much emotional support. Caroline needs me.”

I walk with Eric around the training grounds as he observes. Alpha Kenn’s words will not leave my mind. He said I was beautiful and that Eric should have announced my presence, and I know I should not be so hung up on such silly things. Why does everyone need to know that I am his mate anyways? Things have been good so far.

My eyes narrow in on a particular person as we weave through the people training. Landon. Promptly, I feel my cheeks heat with annoyance. The memories still manage to rile me up. “Let’s walk the other way.”

Eric looks ahead, seeing the problem that I am trying to dodge. “He won’t cause any more problems, Isabella. I’m sure he has learned his lesson.”

Landon notices me and his muscles tense.

“Every time I see him I can’t help but imagine Kendra in danger.”

We walk past with no issues.

“I wish he was Olivia’s mate,” I whisper to myself, making sure Eric cannot hear me. It may sound petty, but Landon almost killed my sister and Olivia almost killed me, they deserve each other. They can bond over their sinister acts. “Maybe I can help replace Lucas?”

Eric shakes his head, not even giving me the pleasure of hearing him say ‘no.’

“Well, Caroline and I can’t just sit at home and wait for something to happen. I’m sure she wants to help too.”

“Caroline is too emotionally attached to the situation if we replace him and things did not go as planned, she’ll be traumatically scarred—and you’re going to stay with her. She needs you, right?”

I huff. Way to turn my own words against me. “Fine. But I want to know right away if anything happens.”

I walk back to the pack house alone and replace Caroline inside talking with Marina. She explains what is going on and Marina takes her mind off things by asking for help with lunch.

Caroline spends the rest of the day by the phone, waiting for any updates. Eric said he was going to set up search groups and I am sure he has. I wonder if he went with them, though he probably did since Alpha Kenn most likely joined also. Since I cannot go out and search with them, my mind invariably conjures up different scenarios and theories to what happened to Lucas. What if he is fine and was just a little slow getting back to his pack? That is one of the more positive theories.

“Want to come with me to get some stuff?” Caroline asks, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Yeah, of course.”

At her house, Caroline grabs a bag and fills it with clothing and other necessities, leaving me to wander while waiting. My eyes drift down the hall and land upon Olivia’s bedroom door. “When was the last time she went outside?”

“At the party.”

I sigh. “We still have to replace her mate. We just have to come up with more ideas.”

Caroline glances back at me. “What if we never replace him? What if he’s dead?”

“Why do you say that?”

“I mean, she is all depressed and whatnot. Marina talked about her sister when she lost her mate, so what if Olivia is feeling those same feelings.”

I lean against the wall and look at her bedroom door again. “Maybe Marina can talk to her about it.”

“What, ask her if she is feeling death?”

“If not that, maybe she can cheer her up a bit. She’s always been good at that,” I mumble. “I want to hate her, I really do.”

“Then why don’t you?” Caroline questions.

“Because if I hate her, then I won’t want to help her.”

Back at the pack house, Caroline brings her things up to one of the guest rooms while I wait for her downstairs. I hear the front door open, and I turn to it. “Alpha Kenn?”

“Eric told me that I would be staying here.”

“Oh of course,” I smile. “Would you like me to show you upstairs?”

I lead him to one of the guest rooms then bring him extra towels and such. I set the things on the bed and figure him to be in the bathroom when I discover the bedroom to be empty. Just as I head for the door, he appears. “Thank you,” he says. “And please, call me James.”

“Alright. Good night, James.”

In the hallway, I catch Caroline leaving the guest room, so I walk with her back downstairs.

“Alpha Kenn is staying here?” She asks, and I nod.

“It seems right, I mean, he is an Alpha. James appears to be a nice person and—”

She interrupts, “James?”

“He asked me to call him James,” I shrug.

Caroline watches me carefully as we make our way down the steps, and I am not sure why.