Chapter 22: The Heart Knows Best

[Cole]
Something was definitely brewing.

The other Alphas and their Betas had started whispering in the background and were unusually cautious. But Owin was still unable to find out more.

"Jave and Saul knew nothing as well?" Jude frowned at Cole.

Cole shook his head grimly.

Tapping a finger on the table, Cole muttered, "Owin said Oscar had been going on hunting sprees with Abe - I didn’t know Oscar and Abe were close. An odd combination, don't you think?”

“Perhaps Oscar is getting Abe on his side?” Jude pinched his chin.

Cole furrowed his brows. “Are you thinking that the rumor might have come from Oscar?”

“Well, he’s always looking for a good fight. He would create one if there weren't any. Remember his battle with Saul’s pack?"

Cole nodded. Saul prefers a debate over a fight and that crazy mutt actually got him to battle. Exhaling at the suffocating thought, Cole said, “I doubt Abe would bother."

“Ah, that sleepyhead," Jude laughed and added, "I can't agree more. But he's definitely the source of the other rumor - that Dove would weaken your powers?”

Cole chuckled and kneaded his forehead.

He couldn’t believe his ears when he first heard it from Owin who had heard it from Jave. Why would anyone spread such nonsense about an innocent person? Cole had immediately guessed that it came from Dove's old pack.

“You believe that, Jude?”

Jude grinned his grin and shook his head. “I believe she can do something but I haven’t figured out what it is.”

He leaned forward and lowered his voice, “There is an ancient rumor about werewolves with unique powers. These powers are unknown - they are usually hidden. It would take something to bring them out.”

Noting Cole’s raised brows, Jude showed his palm and said, “You did say that her silver hair glows when she’s angry.”

Cole exhaled heavily. “I don’t take rumors seriously unless it hurts the pack.”

“As always.” Jude smiled with approving eyes and then said, “but rumors have no eyes.”

Cole nodded and his finger started tapping again.

His Beta was referring to Dove and Cole was instantly reminded that he had to face his irresistible wife soon.

The time he was away, it was the worst mental torture he had ever experienced. Jude's training didn't even come close.

His desires didn't falter with her absence or the long distance. Instead, they grew stronger. She would invade his consciousness once he was alone.

By the third day, he wanted to return to the village and take Dove to bed. He had Owin arranged for visits and meetings back to back; even during meal times.

When he was back in the village, knowing that Dove was near, his body flamed up with intense heat and he could only see bare bodies of him and Dove, rolling and crashing in raw passion.

Cole turned away from his mansion and headed to Jude's place.

But the past two nights continued to be a torment. He ended up at the waterfall and stayed there till the crack of dawn.

"I'll head back to the lads."

Cole blinked and nodded as Jude moved towards the door. He looked away as the doorknob clicked open, thinking hard of a plausible explanation for his absence the past two days.

In case his curious wife asks.

When Cole's eyes flickered back to the door, Jude was still there, his back unmoved.

Puzzled, the giant went over.

Megan was right in front of the Beta, staring at him with a surprised expression.

Cole cleared his throat and Megan shifted her glare at him.

"Cole, is Dove in there?" Without waiting for a reply, she tip-toed and looked over Cole's shoulder, scanning the room.

With a brow raised, Cole stepped aside and mimicked Megan. "Why would she be in here?"

Megan narrowed her gaze, stepped back into the hallway and scanned the length.

Cole followed her. A tiny worry crept into his mind but he quickly brushed it off and said, "Talk to me, Megan. What the hell's going on?"

"We planned to see you together. We found something in the cave, Cole."

Cole's eyes fell into a grim line.

"We've agreed to meet here. But where the hell is she?" Megan swung her head around and studied the empty space and then returned to Cole, "You didn't see her?"

Cole threw a blank expression at her.

"Where did she go?" Megan strode towards the kitchen.

Cole and Jude followed closely behind.


******

That damn woman actually left the village.

They searched all the rooms in the mansion, the fields and Connie's place. There was no sign of her.

Cole dashed off to the waterfall and roamed the vicinity. She wasn't anywhere.

It was nightfall when everyone returned to Cole's study. No one in the village has seen her; they all thought she was at Connie's.

"She might have heard our discussion," Jude sighed.

"About what?" Megan glared at Cole.

"Jave told Cole that Dove would weaken his powers."

"What. The. Fuck. Is that?" Megan screamed, her angry eyes bulging at Jude's blank face.

Then, she spun around to Cole, "Please tell me you don't believe that shit."

"We all know it's rubbish, Megan," Jude said.

Then, Cole straightened and walked quietly out of the study, ignoring the indistinct voices in the background. He wasn't in the mood to listen or talk.

His heart was furious and his mind was frantic. After a few rounds of deep breaths, he caught her faint scent.

His eyes shot up and he was in her room.

It was dark and chilly. He stepped deeper into the blackness and caught a thin stream of moonlight.

Home.

Cole turned away from the fluttering curtains and headed towards the exit.

Passing by Jude, he quickly said, "She might have gone home. I'm heading there now."

Jude nodded as the giant shifted into his beastly form and shot off in the speed of lightning.

Cole hoped that he was right. Otherwise, Dove might already be walking into those rogue wolves near the Hopeless Desert. They will think that she's an Omega since she's without a pack. And she will easily get into trouble with them because he hasn't marked her.

Damn it, Cole!

He blinked to push away the fear crippling his consciousness.


******


[Dove]
I should have taken the right turn.

But I couldn't go back to my old pack; Abe would definitely send my father back to the fields again.

Then, why didn't you go straight?

I mentally slapped my forehead as three faces of malice circled me, staring with a vicious glint in their clouded eyes.

Their snide growls and mean snarls sent chills up my spine. I cautiously lowered my body, ready to defend for my life when they pounced.

“She’s not marked,” the scarred face in front of me sniggered.

“You know the rules, Omega. You have to pay a price before we let you through, pretty one,” the shabby one on my left leered at me.

“Me first, you mutt! I’m the oldest,” the half-blinded one at my right barked.

The hairs on my back stood alert and I spun around just as the shabby one stepped forward. He backed away, shrieking and chuckling, “Don’t worry dearie. We’ll be gentle.”

That wolf with the scarred face had slithered into my blind spot and was about to grab me when I swiftly backed away. He sneered, gritting his sharp teeth, “Come here, you wretched thing.”

A streak of lightning flashed across the dull grey sky, snapping my focus.

Then, a piercing clap of thunder shook my eardrums and the three dark shadows came upon me.