Chapter 55|Bone-Deep Possessiveness.

Alexander's P O V.

Seeing Arabella walk into my solar in confident strides and a determined expression made my hope rise up. Damon and Old Bea were the sole two people who knew fully what was happening.

The call I'd received from Francis assuring me that Isabelle was alive and in full health nearly had me spiraling off the ground and leaving to wherever the hell they were. But he had to go on and tell me that they were far from the pack as was necessary but they were returning in a few hours. I knew and felt it deep in me that Isabelle was alive else I would have felt the heartwrenching pain that was said to be attached to the death of one's mate. Rather, I felt some sort of tranquil, especially after receiving the call from Francis.

The whole propaganda was yet to be imparted to the Pack members. Our aim is to lay low because of the treacherous insiders amongst us. The less people who knew about Isabelle's situation and health status, the better.

To say I still wasn't feeling anxious and agitated would be bullshit because as much as I was as eager to know fully what was going on I was apprehensive at the same time. Prior to Francis' phone call, I had apprised Old Bea of all that was happening including my agreement with Arabella. She confessed to knowing that Arabella was never my mate, she furthermore blew me off my feet literally by announcing that she always knew Isabelle was my mate.

Old Bea also knew of the bond between Arabella and Luke, but until they acknowledge it and give in to the pull no one will be more the wiser.

I couldn't believe the odds.

True, Lucas has told me about the connection between himself and the girl but for Old Bea to notice on her own while I did not for once caught a clue befuddled me.

But then, I had too many things on my mind to notice.

With a clipped tone she explained to me how she knew Isabelle and that she was the one who helped Isabelle's mother at her birth, that she was at Isabelle's Pack at that time. I knew there was something much more inportant that she wasn't telling me and when I pushed she shrugged her shoulders in a nonchalant gesture before speaking.

"In every leader, patience is required of him."

This leader wants to know which Pack his mate hails from.

I knew she wasn't adding anything pertaining to the topic so I asked a more reasonable question of how she recognized Isabelle and knew she was the one.

"Only a few are born with hair her shade and the freckles on her shoulders, read them next time you see her. They're unique."

Of course I more than anyone knew exactly how unique my mate is. Having Old Bea telling me only served as a reminder.

Now, I was waiting on pins and needles for what Arabella came to say as it was clear she had a lot in her mind.

She released a huge breath wringing her hands, "I came to the De Luca Pack an imposter, claiming to be who I'm not. I know I have no right to seek your forgiveness but I'm nonetheless pleading for it. I'm pledging my allegiance to you and breaking any alliance I might have with my former Pack, the Lichen Pack or so I claim. I am originally from the Bane Pack of Alpha Drake Knight. Alpha Alexander all I'm entitled to say regarding your one true mate is that she comes from the... " The sound of the doors to the solar opening swiftly had all four of us turning sharply to the unannounced intruder.

Leah came barreling forward, her chest was heaving and her face a furious shade of crimson. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before as it was highly unlike Leah to react in a way that will ever make her appear disheveled. In all occasions she was primped if not proper to a fault. Wild yes but never raving mad to the point that she is unable to hide her emotions.

"You bitch! You killed her! You killed the closest person I had to a friend, a sister, you took her away." She snarled taking a fistful of Arabella's dress and pushing her away with so much force that had her toppling her to the ground. Caught unaware all Arabella could do was shield her hands from her face in a defensive gesture as Leah pounced on her intent on pounding her fists unto the latter's face.

Damon snatched Leah up from the other girl while Old Bea helped Arabella up.

"She took her somewhere and killed her. Don't believe any lies she sprouts to you, she's a murderer and she killed Isabelle. She killed Isabelle." Leah cried, the sounds of anguish and pain coming right out of her chest while the distraught Arabella fumbled with her clothes, arranging her torn shirt in a way that shielded her body from our sight.

"Nobody's killed anybody." Damon assured the raving girl in his arms. She was restlessly trying to be rid of his embrace and definitely to pounce on the other girl from the looks on her face.

Her expression gave away the fact that she was seeking for blood.

I made my way to her and spoke for the first time since she came barging in. "Leah look at me, nobody's dead." I assured her, taking her face into my hands and staring right into her eyes.

"She's lying!" She shrieked, her voice was breaking and turning hoarse as she spoke again. "A body was found..burnt to the point of little to no recognition. Her red hair, it's her." She stuttered, falling into my arms as I reached out and closed my arms tight around her.

Sobs shook her slim shoulders as she wheezed.

I gestured at Damon to check out what was happening for there was clearly a commotion going on. Knowing Isabelle was alive was the only thing holding me together. The significance of a burnt woman with red hair appearing on our doorstep at the same time as Isabelle's disappearance wasn't lost on me. It seemed too much to be a coincidence.

If I didn't know better I would've believed the corpse to be my dead mate. The thought made the rage I was cooling down resurface.

I could feel the steady beat of her heart in me just as I could feel mine. Isabelle was alive and there was no way the other woman could be her.

Old Bea came forward and took Leah from my arms. The girl sagged in the old woman's arms weakly as they made their way out of the room. Once out, I shrugged out of my coat and shrugged it over the frightened girl's shoulders. She fastened the buttons with shaky fingers and her eyes had a dazed expression turning them cold and unmoving.

She seemed odd and highly unlikely to be the same as the confident Arabella I escort to the dinner room on a weekly basis, the haughty one with a stubborn chin and red lips. This Arabella didn't seem meek, she merely seems genuine in a strange kind of way. And very vulnerable.

I urged her out of the room and met Damon at the room where they had the corpse kept at before it would be taken to the hospital's morgue for identification and to be later on given a proper burial.

"It's not her." I worded the moment my eyes found the girl's hair, it wasn't as red as Isabelle's and definitely not as voluminous. With a critical eye I observed the dead body. She wasn't burnt to a crisp, it was as though some parts of her were deliberately set aflame while others were void of any evidence of burn.

After barking out orders on what needs to be done I returned to the sun lounge with Damon, Arabella and Dominique Alberto in tow. All I needed at the moment was having my mate in my arms and Francis was doing a hell of a dirty job keeping her away for me and refusing to drop off information about their location.

He knows how I would drop everything and appear within their sight in the blink of an eye because nothing was as relevant and vital to me as holding my mate tight to me and reassuring myself that she was safe.

Every other thing could come after.

Speaking of which, I have insiders in my Pack sourcing out information from within to whoever the fuck they work for. The first incident I traced back to was the attack that cost two of my wolves' lives and which was the cause for my mate suffering in the hands of men who assumed she had a hand in it.

With determination that was made from steel I ground my jaw hard and turned to the new man who'd recently joined us in the lounge. Lucas. He was looking every bit worried now having heard of the details on what had the Pack on the verge of combustion.

I observed closely for any sign of him acknowledging his mate who was sitting with her back straight and head held up high. To my utmost surprise, I felt the slight switch in the room's temperature as they fought a battle of wills where no one made a move to take their eyes off the other's.

Fuck Dammit. How the hell did I not notice the chemistry they share? It was too unnatural to pass as fleeting attraction.

It was the bone-deep possessiveness bordering on obsession that every wolf feels for its mate.

Well, fuck.

Things are getting more interesting by each passing second.