Wrong Room, Right Mate Chapter 05

Wrong Room, Right Mate Chapter 05

His hand shook from how hard he was gripping the phone.

“Ma’am… you’re saying Nova was claimed too?”

“That’s right! Alpha Theodore carried her out himself!”

Theodore.

A lightning bolt seared through his mind. He pictured it again—the man on the ridge holding the quiet woman in his arms.

That familiar silhouette.

“Why?” His throat felt blocked. “Why would she go with him?”

Nova’s aunt laughed. “Honey, what are you talking about? He’s her mate. She didn’t even fight him. She just went with him.

“We all thought it was weird. With her temper, we expected her to bite and claw him! But nothing. Maybe she just loves him that much.”

The phone slipped out of his hand.

No. That wasn’t Nova. That couldn’t be.

He remembered her sitting on the porch of his pack house, legs swinging.

“Bloodfang girls don’t just let Alphas have their way! We kick, bite, scratch—leave ’em looking like a mess!”

Once he’d teased her. “Who’d bond with a wild thing like you?”

She’d rolled her eyes and lifted her chin high.

“Don’t you say that!”

Then she’d paused, cheeks flushed, and turned away.

“But if it was you, I’d only put on a show of fighting, then go with you right away.”

He’d teased again. “Really?”

“I’d only fight three times max!” Her eyes had sparkled like stars back then. “If anyone messes with me, I’ll jump on your back. I’d never let anyone lay a finger on you.”

Back then he’d thought she was the sweetest, most naive girl in the world.

“Ma’am.” Arlo heard his own voice, rough and low. “When… when was Nova taken?”

She thought for a second, then answered, “Tonight. Right after you left.”

Arlo opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

“Hello? Hello?” she called through the line. “Alpha Arlo? Are you still there?”

“Yeah. I’m here.”

“Why are you asking all this anyway? This is Nova’s business, her mate’s pack will handle it. You took Sloane tonight, right? Poor kid, no dad. You take good care of her, okay?”

Arlo hung up.

Noise closed in around him—singing, laughter, music. Pack members clapped him on the back to congratulate him. Someone shoved a drink into his hand and tried to drag him to dance. Sloane waved from across the fire, smiling.

But he couldn’t hear any of it.

Right when he’d carried Sloane away, Nova had been on another Alpha’s back, passing right by him in the dark.

Arlo turned and ran.

“Arlo!” his men chased after him, grabbing his arm. “Where the hell are you going?!”

“I’m going to find my mate.” He shook them off and didn’t slow down.

“Which mate?” his Beta blocked his path. “Have you lost your mind? Sloane’s your mate now.”

“She’s not.” His voice was raw.

“Alpha!” one of his men begged. “Nova won’t stay mad forever. Apologize tomorrow and this’ll all blow over.

“But if you leave now, what about Sloane?

“If you don’t finish the ritual, what’ll happen to her reputation?”

Arlo stopped.

He looked back. Firelight glowed over Sloane’s face. She still stood there watching him, her eyes bright.

“Just one night. For the pack. We can’t let Bloodfang Pack think we humiliated them,” the Beta said, gripping Arlo’s shoulder tight. “Once the sun comes up, you can go wherever you want.”

Arlo clenched his fists, then slowly unclenched them. He walked back to the fire. Sloane came forward and tugged gently on his sleeve.

All night long, Arlo sat by the fire, calling Nova over and over through the mindlink. Every time, the mindlink stayed cold as a brick wall.

At dawn, he left without a word.

“Arlo!” Sloane called after him.

He didn’t look back.

He ran along the mountain path, following last night’s tracks, heading for the neighboring territory.

The sun had just come up. Dogs barked, morning smoke curled soft from cabin chimneys.

He stopped an old man carrying water and asked where Alpha Theodore of North Ridge lived.

“Looking for Alpha Theodore?” the old man said. “He left at dawn with his new mate.”

Arlo froze.

“Where’d they go?”

“How should I know?” the old man waved him off.

Arlo stood for a long time in front of the iron gates of North Ridge’s largest pack house. He pulled out his phone and dialed Nova’s number again.

It was still dead.

He scrolled through his contacts, but he didn’t have Theodore’s number.

He didn’t know where Theodore lived, what other territories he controlled.

The image of Nova pressed quiet against that man’s back burned into his brain like a brand.

“No,” he growled through gritted teeth. “No!”