Chapter 44
Chapter 44
Gannon
Last night, the King granted me special leave while Ivy was transitioning. I had been in the car ever since. I tried to ring Abbie to speak with her and convince her, but she never answered her phone. Abbie had been ignoring my calls.
I am to report any issues, although I was angered that Kyson wouldn’t allow me to drag her out because forcing someone from their mate was illegal if they wanted to remain with them. However, I was tempted to break that law. I would take jail time or the lashings.
I know Kyson would be reluctant to hand the sentence down, but with pressure from the packs over, which he governed, it didn’t look good for a king to go against the law he helped create to stop Alpha’s forcefully marking multiple women and stealing them from their mates.
This is precisely why Kade never marked any of his wives. Technically, they were free if they found their mates. But Abbie, he did mark, knowing having a mate makes him stronger.
So, for now, my only option was to convince Abbie to willingly leave him. He didn’t deserve her. Neither did I, but I would spend the rest of my life trying to prove my worth to her if she would have me. As stupid as it might be to try, I had to.
Yet going against a mate bond was near impossible for she-wolves, and so far, my attempts to convince her of her mate’s infidelity have failed when I had managed to get a hold of her until suddenly she stopped answering all together.
We rarely came this far out into the pack. Even when invited to stay as we passed through it sometimes, we always stayed elsewhere. It was uncomfortable being in packs, never knowing which
side they were on or if they were working for the hunters. You could never be too careful.
However, Alpha Kade had been good to us, always helped, and never questioned when we asked anything. We would even ask him to send his men out to scout for hunters in his area. He always obliged willingly, but he was a shitty werewolf nonetheless, the way he kept women as if they were trophies or some possession, not a person always infuriated me.
My phone starts ringing, and I pull over to answer it, knowing I would need to type in the address soon, anyway. Damian’s name pops up on the screen, and I hit connect, placing it to my ear.
“Did you get the address?” I ask him, rummaging for a pen and paper in the glove compartment.
“Yes, I have it right here. Try to remain unseen, Gannon. It will raise suspicions if you get caught lurking without formal notice,” Damian tells me, and I growl.
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him that Ivy wanted to send a care package.” Damian tells me.
“Fine, I will stop on the way and buy some shit in case. I can play the delivery boy.” I snapped.
“Good idea, but please don’t kill anyone, for god’s sake.”
“I’m just there to get my girl, that’s it,” I tell him.
“You can’t force her; you know what will happen if you do,” Damian reminds me.
“Maybe I am willing to accept the punishment, Damian.”
“Then what becomes of her when you take her away? Think, Gannon. You force her, and she wants to go back. Then what? You would be banned from entering his pack. She is stuck there, and the KingBelonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.
has to give you 1000 lashes and jail time. Don’t make him do that. You know what happened last time he had to do that? And it nearly killed one of our men, and it nearly destroyed him.”
“But that idiot forcefully claimed the girl; I am not claiming her, just taking her,” I retorted.
“Same difference. Don’t make me order you back, Gannon.”
“This is Abbie, Damian,” I breathe.
“I am aware, but our hands are tied, and he is the only Alpha we have an actual alliance with.” Damian says. I glare out the windshield at the forest.
“What’s it going to be? Am I ordering you back, or can you contain yourself?” I snarl.
“Fine, I won’t force her, but if he has hurt her, I will fucking kill him.”
“The king said he saw Abbie, and she was in good health besides Kade’s cheating.”
*That’s still fucking hurting her.”
“Gannon'” Damian snaps at me
Fine, I will keep my hands to myself, just give me the address,” i tell him, worried he would order me back home after driving all this way. I’m only a Gamma, just like Dustin and Liam, yet Damian was a Beta. Despite Liam being of Beta blood officially, he never used or resisted Beta Damian’s commands, yet at this moment, if Damian ordered me back, I would ask Liam to overstep his ranking for Abbie. And he would that I was certain of
Everyone knows if it wasn’t for the trials and Liam not wanting the position, the King would have had two Betas. Both of them were equally ranked by blood, yet Liam hadn’t the responsibility of what that position would hold.
Regardless of Lian’s position, Damian could order me back, and I would be powerless to stop him if he did. I jot down the address before hanging up and putting the address on the maps. It was indeed out of town, miles out. I expected her to be at the packhouse. That is where an Alpha’s mate should be, not hidden away in some cabin. Nothing around her; he kept her from everyone, including the town.
I grow at the realization she was out there alone. Starting the car, I drive to the closest town before stopping at one of the general stores and filling a basket. I grabbed all her favorite fruits and candies I had forced her to try since she was sketchy, taking anything from me at the castle. Although, towards the end, she really dropped her guard, and I had her agree to be with me only for that fuckwit Kade to show up and ruin it.
I looked around for something else, but they didn’t even have flowers in this shitty store. I thought that maybe she would like a book before remembering she didn’t know how to read. Perhaps a comic, then. Maybe she could interpret the pictures with any luck. Perhaps I can get her to come back with me, reject her mate and teach her to read myself.
It takes me another half an hour to drive to the outskirts of Kade’s territory. She was barely on the border as I pulled down the long dirt driveway. The place was surrounded by dense forest as I pulled up at the house. Although, calling it a house would be too kind of a word, it was more like a shack. Even that might be too generous. The place looked like it was one strong gust of wind away from falling over.
I could see her at the clothesline, and she looked over her shoulder at my car as it pulled in, putting her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun so she could see better. I quickly stopped the car, sending a text to Damian that I’d arrived as requested. Abbie looked at the vehicle nervously as I swung the door open as she strolled over.
She lets out a breath of relief, making me wonder why she was worried about a random car. She looked the same, though she had a slight tan as if she had been outdoors a fair bit. Her cheeks were
hollow, more than they were when she left, and her skin was sallow. She looked tired. Regardless, she seemed okay, I think.
“Oh, it’s you?” Abbie says, walking over. “Why are you here?” she asks nervously, chewing her lip.
“What, that’s it?” I ask her, raising an eyebrow at her. Her lips tug up in the corners before she rushes over, and I grab her, crushing her against me as I embrace her.
“Gosh, I have missed you,” I tell her, and she nods, her skinny arms wrapping around my neck, and she shrieks when I lift her off her feet, hugging her tight.
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