5. Fate Is A Sneaky Little Bitch.

~ RAELIN ~

I slam the door of her cell shut, and the loud bang echoes down the hallway.

Then I walk away.

Damn that stupid rogue.

She is way more stubborn than I thought. I know she is hiding something. I can feel it in my guts, like she is playing some kind of a long game I haven’t figured out yet.

But I’ll find out what it is. I always do. Whatever she is hiding, I’ll drag it into the light. She can’t keep secrets from me. Not in my own pack.

The cold air hits me as I walk down the hallway, but it doesn’t calm me down. I’m still burning inside with anger and frustration. Two guards stand straighter as I pass them.

"Alpha." They greet me. I barely nod in response.

I don’t care about them right now. My thoughts are a mess, each one leading back to her. Layla.

Rogues are not welcome here. Period.

Their kind brings chaos. Blood. Betrayal. Normally, it is very easy getting rid of them. If a rogue gets caught breaking my rules, we take them in, find out if they know anything important, then… end them.

Simple. Clean. End of story.

But this Layla? She is different.

Because she is not just some random rogue.

She is my mate.

And I wish she wasn’t.

Fate has played the cruelest joke on me. The bond between us is real, undeniable—and unwanted.

She is still alive now, but if I ever find out she is dangerous, if I ever find out that she is hiding something that can hurt my pack, I won’t care that fate tied her to me.

I will gladly do what needs to be done. Even if that means breaking every single bone in her body to get the truth.

I’ll do it. No hesitation.

By the time I reach the main entrance door of the cells, I have made up my mind to choose the hardest path: torture her later to sniff out the truth.

I push the door open. It creaks loudly as I step outside.

The morning sunlight hits me right away. It is warm and bright, and the sky is soft blue with barely a cloud in sight.

It is way better than last night. That storm last night was a nightmare.

I hate storms. They always take me back to the worst night of my life. The night Wes and I became orphans.

We lost our parents that night—to a strange, incurable sickness that no healer could name, no wolf could sense. Our parents withered away before our eyes, and we were powerless to stop it.

Now, all I’ve got left in my life are Wes, Cupcake, Derek, Caleb, Brie, Zuby, and Aunt Gaia. They’re everything to me.

If I ever lose any of them… I don’t even want to think about it.

“Ray.”

I hear my brother’s voice and turn to see Wes walking over. He is still in his black training clothes, and sweat is dripping from his forehead.

Wes is taller than me, built strong, and has those sharp brown eyes that always see through my crap. Just like Dad used to.

I’ve always had more fire—more temper—just like Mom. But Wes? He is the calm one. The smart one. The one who keeps me grounded when I’m losing my shit.

He is my Beta, and he is the only person I trust completely.

He stops in front of me. “You okay? You look like you want to punch a wall."

“Everything is so fucked up." I groan.

“Did she talk?” he asks, wiping the sweat from his brow. “Does she know you’re her mate?”

“She knows,” I say, starting to walk towards the packhouse. “And she’s driving me crazy. She just keeps saying she wandered into the pack by mistake.”

Wes walks beside me. “You think she’s lying?”

“I don’t know,” I admit, rubbing my temple. “When I used my aura, I didn’t feel like she was lying. But I didn’t push harder. I didn’t want to hurt her.”

Because if I hurt her, I hurt myself.

That is the curse of this stupid bond.

“I don’t like her,” I say. “I don’t trust her. I hate that this bond is making me feel anything at all. Maybe I should’ve rejected her right then and there.”

“Don’t say that,” Wes says firmly, putting his arm around my shoulder. “Look, I get it. She is a rogue, and we all hate them. She is not supposed to be here. But fate doesn’t care about rules sometimes. She’s your mate. If you reject her, it’ll mess you up bad, and you can’t afford that right now.”

“I know that.” I say through clenched teeth.

“Exactly. So we wait. We keep investigating. Killing her now or kicking her out won’t solve anything if she’s actually a spy.”

“Wes, she has been here for two days and just woke up today,” I snap. “Two long, agonizing days and nothing. I’m not a patient man. How long do I have to fucking wait?”

Wes sighs. “I hate it too, man. But we can’t jump to conclusions. Besides, you’ve got another problem to handle.”

He nods towards the water fountain near the front of the packhouse.

I follow his gaze.

Fuck.

Kira Gandall.

She is standing there, wearing the shortest, skimpiest black skirt I have ever seen and a yellow corset blouse that barely covers her ample cleavage. She is twirling her black hair in her fingers, while her glossy lips curl into a smile when she sees me approaching.

“What the hell?” I mutter under my breath.

“Yeah. That’s exactly what I said when she started watching Cal and I train this morning,” Wes says, shaking his head. “She was acting really weird. Like, full-on creepy.”

“I do not want to deal with her right now,” I groan, rubbing my eyes.

Wes laughs. “Then don’t. Just let her talk her shit and walk away. Don’t let her waste your time longer than she should.”