He’s an Alpha She doesn’t Care novel Chapter 13

Jared

This was going to overshadow the Luna Ceremony. Something Lance thought he would do; ruin it, because Lance was now the most likely to inherit the pack when it should be Jared’s birthright.

He knew his father didn’t know about the flash flood. No one would have told him because none were injured; it wasn’t an emergency worthy of interrupting the Luna Ceremony.

He had to go and tell his father what he suspected. He tracked his father down. He was standing outside the front of the packhouse, and he knew he was trying to scent for Wynta himself.

“Father,” he sighed. “There was a flash flood down the side of the pack, the guard said it rolled down the pack road. It was petering out as I drove into the pack a second time…” He broached the subject and his father turned and looked at him.

“Explain to me in detail.” His father had asked only after a moment’s thought, took less than 10 seconds, and he was already thinking what Jared was as well.

He explained what had happened, knowing his father wanted the lead up to the event as well as what he’d seen. He explained that his flight was delayed, and the road closures, and then how late he had been to pick Wynta up. That she’d not been in her apartment when he’d gotten there but had gone to the office.

That he’d dropped her off at the pack road because Lotti had called him and told him her car had crashed off the road, and she needed him to come and get her; she’d pleaded with him not wanting to get in trouble or be punished. That he also knew of Lotti’s aversion to rogue and how rude she would likely be; that he’d not known Wynta was wolf–less.

That he’d asked her to walk up to the pack gate and have the guard call for a car to pick her up, that he was just trying to help everyone and stop even Wynta from being late and being punished as per the rules on the invitation.

“So, what you’re telling me… is you put Wynta out of your car on the edge of the pack road when you could have driven her the one mile to the gate, then gone back for Lotti and still managed to arrive on time… When you could have just kept Wynta in the car the entire time! Why did you put Lotti’s needs over Wynta’s? when picking up and delivering Wynta right to me, was my direct order given to you?”

“I don’t know, I guess a pack member over a rogue.” He shook his head.

“Wynta is now missing, and it’s on your hands, Jared, because if you’d kept her in your car, she’d been here inside this pack and in time not to be punished. Now she’s not and has to be punished, I think, son, you’ll find I’ll be punishing you in her stead. It’s now your job to find out if Wynta walked away from this pack feeling unwelcome by you, or did you leave her out there, and she got washed away in that flash flooding. Right where you f*****g left her?” his father snarled.

Jared sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know father.” He answered honestly. “I just did what I thought was right.”

“And you were very wrong,” was snapped at him. “Get your ass out there and find her, dead or alive. I want you to put her in front of me. She is now your sole responsibility, and you’ll not be leaving and going back to France until she is found and brought into this pack.”

“What? I get finding her and I will go out there and look for her, but if she walked away and doesn’t want to come in, something you couldn’t even do for five years, how the hell am I supposed to do that?” he muttered.

“That is now your problem,” his father grated, “I had her. All I needed was for her to set a single foot inside this pack today, and she would be initiated. You screwed that up, now you have to bring it about once more. The rule for that is she has to willingly set foot inside this pack. Only then will she allow herself to be initiated.” Then he was striding away towards the ballroom once more. “Oh, and Jared…” his father turned to him once more. “You’ll be getting punished because you’re now not attending this ceremony, get out of my sight and go find Wynta Morgan.”

A snarl ripped out of him and Creed. How on earth did he find one rogue female who had either just walked away from this pack to never be seen again or got washed away in the flood and likely died in the process. Even just finding her body could be a never–ending task.

It was raining once again; he turned and went inside, and Lotti was watching him. He grated out, “Get back to the ballroom, before you’re punished as well.”

She shook her head and hurried over to him and grabbed on to his arm, “I’m so sorry Jared, I didn’t mean to get you into any trouble.” She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “I’ll even apologize to Morgan.” She told him tearfully.

He was frowning at her now. “Morgan?” he asked.

“Yes, the rogue that was in your car and I just heard you put out of your car, so as not to offend me. Thank you for that, it was very sweet of you.”

He removed her hands from his arm. “That is not her name,” he stated, and turned to walk away from her. He had to go change.

“That’s what she goes by, Morgan, not Wynta.” She told him and then turned and walked away, heading for the ballroom.

He stopped and watched her go; he didn’t think that was at all true. His father had called her Wynta, and when he’d asked at the office where Wynta’s office was, he’d been directed to it. She’d also not correct him when he’d used her name; she had responded to it as anyone would their preferred name.

What was Lotti playing at? Was she trying to see that when he did find Wynta he’d addressed her incorrectly, as if he didn’t care to know her name? That would definitely annoy or anger Wynta after their current interactions. She’d called him Alpha Blood. That was rogue terminology for one that didn’t think you were worthy of the title you held. Acknowledging the bloodline but not the rank.

Calling her Morgan would only see Wynta be more resistant to becoming a pack member. His brain was ticking now, on all the things Lotti had said in that car about Wynta. Lotti was more than jealous of Wynta; she hated her, he thought.

He was willing to bet that Lotti also knew that he had been tasked with picking Wynta up and bringing her to the pack. That made him wonder if she’d set up that little accident on purpose; she’d called him directly; known he wasn’t in the pack… it was likely she’d been somewhere she could see him drive past.

He didn’t know, but now wanted to find out. He connected with his Beta, ‘Dwane, when did Lotti leave the pack today to go into the city?‘

‘I didn’t know she had, though I did think it was odd that she arrived with you. I didn’t bring it up because you were in a rush.‘

‘I need you to find out the answer to that question while I go change. I’m no longer attending the ceremony. Ms Wynta Morgan is now my sole mission; I have to hunt her and be able to bring her in for initiation.’ He muttered as he headed upstairs.

‘That’s not really surprising… although as for Lotti, she was wearing an evening gown under that coat.

Jared’s jaw tightened now, he knew from that one sentence something was off. He came downstairs as Dwane mind–linked him, ‘Lotti left via the back entrance to the pack at 5pm, the patroller warned her not to leave. The road was rough and could be washed out. That she needed to come back at 6pm. She told him she would be.’

‘Right, he muttered. He knew that the back road was a full 30–minute drive on a good day, so just where had that she–wolf been going… nowhere is where, because it was another 15 minutes from that road to the freeway. She ditched her car on purpose to have him come and get her. She’d staged the whole damned thing just to be seen arriving with him.

He thought about it… he hadn’t seen her car coming in, but she had to have been somewhere she could watch for him. She’d called him right before he got to the pack… timed it out, he thought.

With her attitude, he had no doubt she would have tried to pull Wynta from the car demanding she sit in the back, could well have shoved her, making her fall, ruining her dress. He’d unwittingly played right into her scheme, enhanced it by putting Wynta out of the car.

Though Wynta hadn’t waited for him to pick her up even under threat of punishment, was there more to it? Or was it just that he’d been so very late? He didn’t know, but she’d looked a little surprised to see him at the office, picking her up.

‘Almost as if she no expecting it, reeks of deception.‘ Creed growled.

‘It does, Jared nodded. ‘We’ll have to get proof, of course.‘

‘We ask Wynta Morgan, she tell us, why she no wait.’ Creed huffed.

‘We have to find her first Creed! Jared sighed, ‘and if she’s been washed away or died,‘

‘Is wolfen, tough. A rogue female for five years?‘ his wolf snorted, as if disbelieving she would die.

‘Likely more than that.’ Jared thought to himself as he headed for his car. She was hard to bring in, because she had that female rogue mentality. He’d seen it when she swore at him. She was uncaring of him being an Alpha. He got into his car as he pondered that very thing.

He’d read her profile. She was 32; minus the five years his father had been trying to bring her in, brought her age down to 27. Then add to that another four or five years to get that mindset, which he knew stemmed from one being on their own so long. She’d have been 22 or 23.

‘Rogue at 18, Creed murmured following his thoughts, ‘is wolfen, but has no wolf. She left pack when she turned 18.‘

‘Agreed, and that is why she’s so very difficult to bring in, been a rogue now for 14 years. She doesn’t want an Alpha telling her what to do.’

‘You no help, you annoyed, angry, yell at Wynta, make demands.‘ Creed shot at him.

‘Mm, definitely not going to help the cause, if we can find her, of course.’