Abused and Broken

Chapter 9

AIDAN

For the last few hours, it has been non-stop.

Walking back to the pack with the guys, I kept my head down, but I could hear the murmurs from pack members about what had happened to Beta David’s cabin, but none were for Mia. Not one word was mentioned.

My wolf was quiet in my head. He has moved deep within as I went over everything.

Mia and I were once friends—in love even. I cared more about her than I let on. Only Darren and Lee knew. I never understood why I fell for Chloe as I did, but she was the only one there after a while, not Mia.

Why the hell was I wondering about her?

Darren walked inside and went into the arms of his mate. She held him in her arms as his head went to the crook of her neck.

My eyes lingered on them briefly, but I walked toward the stairs when I heard loud voices from my father’s office.

I tiptoed over to the door and tried to listen in by pressing my ear to the door, but I could hear my father’s voice. Whoever he was with, their voice was muffled, so it was hard to work out who was in there with him.

“How could you?” my father roared, making his door shake, and I jumped back. My eyes stayed on the door, but I could only hear muffling.

Who the hell had my father angry?

I looked to the side and noticed a few pack members looking, confusion and concern written all over their faces.

Frowning, I move away and stop in front of them.

“Nothing for you to see here,” I murmured. “Get back to work.”

The pack members looked to the ground and nodded. They turned to leave, but I grabbed one of the woman's arms. She flinched at my touch as she looked back at me with wide eyes.

“It’s okay,” I murmured. “I wanted to know if you know who is with my father?”

The woman looked at me, but her eyes went to the office door, then back to mine. “Beta David,” she whispered. “Alpha took him back to his office as the Beta was upset and rambled about something. He wanted to comfort him.”

I gave her a nod as I let go of her arm. “Thank you,” I murmured. “Go back to work.” The woman nodded and left.

I looked over my shoulder toward the office. Why would my father be angry with Beta David? He lost his home and daughter all in one night.

I looked back and sighed.

Turning on my heel, I headed toward the stairs and headed up.

My mind raced as I went over everything, but I stopped as soon as I approached my room. A scent wafted toward me, which made me still while my wolf growled.

Chloe.

What the hell was she doing in my room?

I moved toward my room and opened it to find Chloe sitting on my bed. I stopped as her eyes met mine.

“Baby,” she purred as she rose and moved toward me.

My stomach dropped. I didn’t need her here. I need to be on my own for a while.

As Chloe approached closer, I took a step back. Chloe stopped and frowned. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “I thought we could celebrate.”

I growled. “Celebrate what?” I grunt as I move away from her and head to the window. My wolf was on edge, and Chloe being here did not make it easy for me to calm him down. “Well, your birthday,” she said. “And we don’t have to concern ourselves with Mia.”

I spun around on my heel and glared at her. Taking in what she had just said, I growled. “What the—” I muttered, making her look at me strange. I took a deep breath and sighed.

My wolf growled lowly in my head, but I ignored him.

“Don’t talk about Mia like that,” I muttered.

Chloe stared at me as she tried not to laugh. “You can’t be serious,” she said. “Why are you acting like this and about Mia?”

I stared at her, but I was numb. I couldn’t understand why I was acting like this. Chloe moved toward me, but I took a step back, making her stop. She frowned. “Aidan,” she said. Clearing my throat, I glared. “You need to leave,” I said.

Chloe huffed and let out a laugh. “You don’t want me here,” she said. “You didn’t say that the other night. You wanted me just as much as your friends.”

I growled.

“Enough,” I grit out. “Get out of here.”

“With pleasure,” Chloe huffed, turning on her heel and walking to my door. I watched as she stormed out and slammed the door behind her.

I felt my wolf come closer and stare. “Stupid, she-wolf,” he huffed.

I said nothing as I turned around and looked out my window.

My mind was full of questions.

“Need a run,” My wolf murmured. “You are overthinking too much. We need to clear our minds.”

He’s right. My mind was working overtime, and I had many questions about the cabin that didn’t make sense and how Beta David acted. He was never nice to Mia, not since her mother left him. He stayed here most nights at the pack house, leaving his child alone in a place that was nowhere near the pack house.

“Okay,” I blurted, agreeing with him. Maybe a run would help clear my mind.

Turning around, I walked over to the door and headed out. I ran down the stairs and headed to the pack house. No one was around.

I opened the door and headed into the forest. As I reached the forest line, I let my wolf take over, pushing me further into his mind as he shifted, shredding my clothes, and took off running.

I moved closer and watched as he went but stopped suddenly. I stared at the sight before me and sighed.

“What the hell are we doing here?” I said, staring at the reminisce of the cabin.

“Thought we should look for clues,” my wolf mumbled as he moved closer, placing his snout into the ground to sniff.

I said nothing as he moved around, taking in everything and smelling everything that he came close to.

My wolf entered the cabin and moved closer, but something in the air caught off guard—blood.

My wolf growled as I moved closer, and he placed his nose on the ground to find where it was coming from. He moved around, and I soon realized that we were in the kitchen part.

A low growl rumbled through us as he scratched at a bit of wood. “Here,” he grunted. “Blood.”

His scenes take over as I breathe in what he smelt, and he was right. There on the wood before us was a small hint of blood.

“What the hell happened here?” I muttered as my wolf walked out of the rumble and sat to the side, looking at all the scrapes of wood around the place.

My wolf lay down and sighed. “Can we stay here for a while?” he asked.

I said nothing as I looked through his eyes.

There were more questions than answers. I needed to investigate; that’s what an alpha would do, and I was to take over when my father was ready to retire.

Even though there were loads of questions, like how the fire started, the only two that stuck with me were did Mia survive? And whose blood did we find?