The Alpha's Captive (13 page)

“Aiden, we never reported we had Erik to council headquarters. As far as they know our hunt didn’t turn up anything. I’m a man of my word. I will not come after these men again.”

He believed his dad. In all his life his father had never been untruthful to him until now. But the son in him said to believe in his dad. No matter what his father had done, he was a good man. If he said he wouldn’t come after Devon and his pack, then Aiden trusted his word.

“Okay.” Aiden looked over his shoulder and gave Devon a small smile then turned to go to his father’s side.

He watched as Erik touched Brandon’s forearm. The man just shook his head and told him to go. Aiden thought that seemed very odd. He figured Erik would be excited to be reunited with his brothers, but he seemed reluctant to leave the hunter’s side.

Erik made his way toward his brothers, and Aiden felt his eyes water as the three embraced in a hug.

Devon turned to face Aiden and the other men. “Thank you.”

His father nodded his head and turned to him. “Son, let’s get you home.” He grabbed Aiden by the arm and started to usher him in the opposite direction away from Devon.

His eyes burned, and his heart ached the farther he got from his mate. He could hear his father talking, but he couldn’t make out the words.

“Where’s Mason?” Brandon’s loud, booming voice broke through Aiden’s musings.

“What are you talking about?” His dad turned in a circle.

Aiden looked but couldn’t see the other man. Mason had been the one to say werewolves were monsters and they needed to be put down.

“Oh god no.” Aiden took off running toward where he’d last seen Devon. His father called after him, but he couldn’t stop. It didn’t take a genius to know where Mason had gone.

The closer he got he could hear the good-natured sounds of Devon and the others laughing. The sound of his footfalls and heavy breathing alerted the brothers of his approach.

“Aiden, what happened?” Devon raced toward him. “Where’s your father?”

“Devon, run!” That was all Aiden could get out before a shot rang out, breaking up the solitude of the peaceful night.

Aiden launched himself at Devon, taking the bigger man to the ground. He hollered for the others to take cover. More gun shots pierced the dark night, but Aiden couldn’t tell where they were coming from.

“What the hell is going on?” Devon asked him.

Aiden opened his mouth to speak but a harsh laugh silenced his answer. He looked up to see the man named Mason standing over them.

“The others got away but killing an alpha will work for me.” Mason nudged Devon with his boot. “Get up!”

Devon tried to push Aiden off of him, but Aiden wouldn’t let go. “Why are you doing this? You gave your word you wouldn’t come after them.”

“No, your father gave his word. I didn’t promise a damn thing. Now move it before I shoot both of you.”

Devon growled at the other man, and Aiden could feel the rage steaming off of him. The rapid movement of Devon’s muscles under the skin alerted Aiden that his mate wanted to shift.

“Don’t you dare threaten my mate.” Devon’s words came out garbled.

“Mate? That’s interesting.” Mason turned the barrel of his gun to point at Aiden. “Maybe I’ll kill him first just to watch you suffer.”

A loud howl startled them, and a gray wolf came sprinting in their direction. Mason shifted his stance and pointed the gun at the charging wolf. Devon shouted and jumped to his feet. Just as Devon lunged for Mason, a single shot rang out.

Aiden watched as Mason fell to his knees then crumbled to lie in a heap on the ground.

Devon pulled Aiden into his arms and turned in a circle, trying to see where the next attack might be coming from. Aiden wound his arms tightly around Devon. He had never been so terrified in his life. Not even the night Viktor and Josef kidnapped him.

Rustling from the woods had Devon spinning around. He put his body between Aiden and danger. Aiden found the gesture very selfless, and if were possible he fell in love with Devon a little more.

Brandon emerged from the tree line. He dropped his gun to rest at his side. The gray wolf ran to him, and Brandon knelt down to greet the excited wolf. “It’s okay, Erik. I would never let anyone hurt you.”

Aiden heard the soft-spoken words only meant for Erik, and Aiden wasn’t the only one.

“Aiden!” His father shouted as he ran toward him. “Thank god you’re okay.”

His attention reverted back to his father as he rushed forward. Devon still held him in his arms, and Aiden refused to step away from the man he loved. He wasn’t about to lie to his father about the man who had stolen his heart.

“Let go of my son.” Aiden’s dad pulled his gun from his holster and aimed it at Devon’s chest.

Aiden turned and pressed his back to Devon’s front. “Dad, stop it. It’s not what you think.”

“Aiden, just step away from him. I’ll protect you.” His dad waved for him to come to his side. Aiden wanted to roll his eyes at the absurdity of the situation.

“Dad, I don’t need you to protect me from him.” Aiden looked up at Devon. “I love him, and he loves me.”

“Are you out of your mind?” his father asked. His arms dropped to his sides and the gun in his hand fell to the ground.

“No, and I’m insulted you would insinuate that I am.” Devon wrapped his arms around Aiden’s waist, and Aiden leaned back into his strong embrace.

“You just met him and under some pretty peculiar circumstances. I think you still might be in shock, Son.” His dad tried to rationalize Aiden’s feelings.

“Dad, I’m perfectly fine.” Aiden looked up at Devon then back to his dad. “This is Devon. He’s my mate. It is sudden, but that’s what happens when mates meet. He’s the other half of my soul, and I’m never leaving him.” Aiden thought it best to lay it all out at once. This wasn’t something that would be up for debate and nothing his father could say would change his mind.

As if in shock, his father plopped down on the ground. He ran his fingers through his hair as he mumbled to himself. “What am I going to tell your mother? I already had to lie and say you went to visit friends if she finds out the truth she’ll kill me.”

Aiden pulled away from Devon and went to sit next to his dad. A part of him felt bad for him, but ultimately his dad had made his own bed and needed to lie in it. Aiden had been put in harm’s way because of the secrets his father kept, but in the end it didn’t matter. Those lies brought him and Devon together.

“No she won’t, Dad, you couldn’t have prevented this.” Aiden quickly explained the mate thing to his dad. It didn’t matter if he and Devon met a week from now or five years from now, they’d still end up together.

“So what are you going to do?” his dad asked him.

“Well that all depends.” Aiden looked to Devon then back to his father. “It is safe for Devon and his pack to stay here?”

“I think it’s safe to say you guys can stay here. I’ll report back to council that we didn’t find any evidence of werewolves in the area. But I won’t lie to you. Hunters are everywhere, and they are hard to detect. So even if you moved all the way to the west coast, there’s no guarantee you’ll be safe from hunters. Just be more cautious, okay?” His father looked at Devon when he spoke.

“We can do that, sir. Thank you again.” Devon shook Aiden’s father’s hand.

“Since that’s all cleared up I’m going to look into colleges around here so I can be close to Devon.”

“You’d do that for me?” Devon sat beside him and cradled one of Aiden’s hands between his large ones.

“Of course, like I said, I’d do anything for you.” He met Devon halfway when he leaned his head toward his. They shared a short kiss. Remembering they weren’t alone, he pulled away from Devon.

“So this is what you want, Aiden?” his dad asked. He darted his eyes between Aiden and Devon.

“Yes, it is,” he answered honestly.

“Well then I guess I can’t change your mind.” He grabbed for Aiden’s free hand. “But if you need anything, let me know and I still expect you to come and visit. Both of you, but let’s keep the whole you’re-a-werewolf thing quiet for, I don’t know, a few years at least.”

“I can do that, sir.” Devon’s tone was respectful. “We don’t like exposing our secret unless we have to.”

“Great. Now that we have that settled”—his dad pointed toward Brandon and Erik, who was still in wolf form—“what the heck is going on with those two?”

“They’re mates,” Devon answered before Aiden got the chance. He didn’t know for sure, but he expected as much.

Brandon sat on the ground with Erik lying across his lap. Brandon rubbed Erik’s stomach as the wolf snuggled closer.

“It must be a freaking epidemic. At least that explains why he wouldn’t let me run any tests on him or turn Erik over to headquarters.” His dad started to laugh. “Mason was furious, but Brandon kept saying he still needed time to question the kid. The heads of the hunter’s council don’t like to be bothered unless we have concrete evidence. So I never reported that we had your brother in custody.”

At the mention of the other man’s name Aiden’s gaze landed on Mason’s prone body. He cleared his throat. “Speaking of Mason, what are we going to do about him?” He pointed a finger at him.

“I’m going to tell headquarters that Mason attacked me, and I shot him in self-defense. Brandon will back me up on it.” He looked in the other man’s direction. “They didn’t get along too well, so I’m sure there is no love lost with Mason being gone. And if what you two say it true, Brandon only did what was in his instincts, and that was to protect Erik.” His dad let out a low whistle. “Damn, talk about a weird fucking night.”

“Won’t you get into trouble?” Aiden didn’t want to see him go to jail.

“Ah, no.” His dad waved off his concern. “Mason was a hothead who got into trouble regularly. Headquarters won’t have a hard time believing he finally snapped and turned on one of us. Trust me.”

They sat there a little longer and talked. His dad explained how he’d been a hunter since he was in college. While out late one night with a friend they were blindsided and attacked. Aiden’s dad survived, but his friend didn’t. It wasn’t like in the movies where if a person got bitten they became a werewolf. A werewolf had to be born.

While in the hospital he had been approached by some men who told him what exactly attacked him. Since Aiden’s dad was attending school to become a veterinarian, they thought he’d be useful. They wanted him to run tests on the wolves to learn the secrets that gave these people the ability to shift into another form. And who better to run tests on a wolf than a veterinarian?

Aiden couldn’t believe his father never said anything to him before now. Being a werewolf hunter seemed like a pretty big freaking deal, but like most parents, his dad had only been trying to protect him from the terrible things in the world. But his dad admitted after spending time with Erik, he started to question his path in life. Just because some werewolves went feral and attacked humans at random didn’t mean the whole lot was bad. It could be said the same for human society. There was both good and bad. It didn’t matter the species.

When his dad asked about what his immediate plans were, Aiden told him he wanted to finish out the holiday break with Devon. While there he would explore his college choices that were in the area. Aiden admitted he didn’t want to be separated from his mate, and as long as he finished his college education, he was happy. His dad agreed and promised to still pay his tuition. Devon offered, but Aiden’s dad said as Aiden’s father it was his right to provide for his son’s education, and he was honored to do so.

“Are you really going to be okay with this?” Aiden asked as he stood up.

“Honestly? I’m not sure. It’ll take some getting used to, but you’re my son. I’d do anything for you.” He let his dad pull him into a hug. “Plus I think it’s time for me to retire from the hunting business. I can’t very well go hunting my son and his boyfriend, now can I?”

“Thank you, Dad.” He gave one more squeeze to his dad then let him go.

His dad called for Brandon, and the big man whispered something in Erik’s ear then followed Aiden’s dad out of the woods. They left the body but promised some of their men would be by to collect it in a few hours and for Aiden and Devon to be long gone by then.

Erik stayed in wolf form as they headed back toward their car. His head hung low, and Aiden could sense his sadness. The young wolf wanted to be with his mate, but with Brandon being a hunter, and Erik being underage, they had some obstacles to overcome first.

When they finally made it back to the house, everyone went to their rooms. It’d been a long day, and emotions had been running high.

Aiden followed Devon up to his room, and once the door was shut, he stripped off his clothes. Devon followed suit then pulled back the blankets, and they climbed underneath and cuddled close together.

“I can’t believe you jumped in front of a bullet for me.” Devon ran his fingers through Aiden’s hair and played with the soft strands.

“You would have done the same for me.” Aiden rubbed his cheek against Devon’s chest where his head rested.

“Yes, I would have. I just didn’t know you were that strong. It was quite impressive.”