SEQUEL: TWENTY-NINE

Roman couldn’t believe he was doing this. There was literally no reason for him to come all the way to Mistbourne in person just because Alina wasn’t picking up his calls. It was the most ridiculous thing but he had boarded the flight anyway.
He told himself as Lou drove him to the airport with Iyla in the passenger seat that he was doing it to get away from them, because they seized every chance to double team him. But he knew better than anyone else even as Iyla teased him for crossing states after being left on read that their hurtful sarcastic quips weren’t the reason he was flying to Mistbourne.
He was doing it to have a reason to nullify their contract, that way, they wouldn’t even have to be mated in the first place. He could only do that with Alina present and since she wasn’t picking up his calls or reading his texts, he was going to her.
Honestly, he didn’t know why he agreed to this anyway. It had been a colorful mess right from the start but he wanted to keep to his words anyway but now, he had had enough.
Since Alina wouldn’t pick up his call, he had to resort to tracking her down, when there were much better things he could be doing, like sitting in his quiet office smoking a cigar. It was like he was actively searching for trouble but then again it was Alina, she was the personification of trouble.
He had taken a detour from the hotel she had been staying in when he noticed her tracker move, following it instead. He had to wonder just where she was going that night but knowing Alina, it was definitely to go clubbing or something along that line.
While he personally had nothing against clubs and club goers, he didn’t see the sense in going to such a noisy, crowded space to drink bad alcohol and make terrible decisions involving sex.
By the time he got close to them, a series of cars had been parked around their car. Good thing he had turned off his lights a while back, it wasn’t because he planned to stalk Alina but that his vision was impeccable in the dark and therefore a waste to have his head lights on.
It didn’t matter though because his choice to put off his headlights came in really handy. From the spot he was in, he couldn’t really see what was going on but he could hear clearly.
So he quickly picked out the sharp, angry voice of a woman that was very familiar. It wasn’t Alina though, it was her friend who didn’t understand boundaries… Madeline.
She was berating someone and also saying things that made his brows furrow as he quickly put things together. If Roman wasn’t all alone and not completely sure of what was going on, he would have ridden up because he was completely certain that Alina was there as well.
It was strange for her to be so quiet, it meant that something had happened to her and if he wasn’t jumping to conclusions, he could safely say that Madeline was behind it. He started moving again when the cars in front did, ringing up Lou.
“Hey boss, did she kick you in the nuts?” Lou immediately took a jab at him.
“I fucking wish,” He muttered, meaning his words because that would be less of a problem than whatever the clusterfuck was going on at the moment. “I need you to find some men in downtown Mistbourne for me ASAP,” He said quietly, Lou immediately going on high alert at his tone. “You know my location, I’ll call if I need you.”
Roman hung up and then put all of his attention into tailing the men ahead, he had enough ammunition in his car to wipe out an entire avenue, and he wasn’t worried about going up against the measly humans Madeline had hired all alone, it was just smarter to arrange for back up.

-+-

Alina woke up with a banging in her skull, it felt like her head had been spilled open by a hammer, nausea overwhelming her the moment she regained consciousness.
Although she was fully conscious, she refused to open her eyes trying to remember the last thing she was doing. Somehow she felt that it wasn’t that she had fallen asleep while Madeline was driving and was now currently in her bed.
There were a lot of flaws in that theory because she was currently lying down on cold concrete, it wasn’t the first time she would be waking up in that situation after all, she could tell concrete without having to look at it.
Also her hands were tied behind her as well as her legs and she could feel that a hood was placed over her face. She immediately started cursing Iyla mentally although she couldn’t even remember how she got into this situation.
She had been heading back to the estate with Madeline and she had asked Maddie something… Alina winced even with her eyes close at the memories that slammed into her in quick succession, they had gotten into an accident.
The last thing she remembered was a loud crash and the smell of burning metal before blacking out- Oh God! Was Madeline okay? Shouldn’t they be taken to a hospital after getting into a car crash? Or was she hallucinating at the moment?
Her mouth wasn't sealed and although she had wanted to pretend to remain unconscious until she had gotten a feel for her surroundings, her panic threatened to drown her so she spoke up.
“Maddie? Maddie! Are you okay?” She asked desperately, wiggling around in a bid to get the hood off her head.
The person she was so worried about stood a little distance away, staring her down with disdain and a hint of disgust on her beautiful features. She was dressed in an oversized sweatshirt, her platinum blonde hair in a lazy bun.
Madeline dispassionately watched Alina squirm around on the dirty concrete floor, making no move to help her or order someone to help her.
The men around her watched with question-filled eyes at the scene before them but there were just the hired hands, they weren’t connected to whatever relationship their client had with the target. They were also humans so they guessed that this was some kind of werewolf business that they would never understand.
Alina finally wiggled free of the hood but not without hardships, her shoulders and arms hurt from bumping them against the hard ground and her tied wrists were scraped and bruised but the pain was nothing compared to the ringing in her ears and the pain her head.
Her vision returned when she was on her back so the first view she saw was that of a warehouse, it was dim but she could still see perfectly well. The sound of footsteps made her flick her eyes in that direction, her eyes bulging out when she saw who it was.
Since Madeline hadn’t replied to her, she thought that her friend was still unconscious or worse still separated from her, and a worst third option that she didn’t even dare think about. She absolutely didn’t expect her friend to be standing over her, unhurt and wearing an expression she had never seen on her face before.
“Ma-Maddie?” She whispered, her shock shifting to disbelief. “What are you doing?”