The Alpha’s Fated Choice (Alpha's Fated Encounter Trilogy #1)

“I remember it was almost exactly eleven o’clock,” I reply slowly.

“This message probably came seconds later.” Alex shows me the timestamp on the second message. “Her phones must be tapped. The first message arrives at ten thirty p.m. tonight. She calls you half an hour later. Then the second message arrives. Right after she convinces you to come to her house.”

“She died because of me?” The realization has me trembling in both shock and grief. “This was my fault?”

“Don’t be so quick to divert the blame onto yourself,” Alex says, trying to comfort me. “Whatever she was involved in was dangerous, and she knew what she was doing wasn’t right. The first message basically told her to ignore her morals. What I want to know is why she called you. What exactly did she say?”

I close my eyes as I try to recall our conversation. “She sounded frightened. And she told me that there were some things I didn’t know. She also said that she had lied about the Silver Wolf. You see, we ran into each other in town this afternoon, and I mentioned—No…” I correct myself as I remember the last time I saw Rita alive. “I had written down the information you and I had found about the Silver Wolf on a piece of paper. It slipped out of my bag, and Rita saw it. She wanted to know why I was looking into the Silver Wolf, and then she referred to her as a legend. Rita got really agitated about it.”

“This was when you ran into her in town?” Alex questions me, his voice sharp.

I nod. “She seemed upset that I had any information about the Silver Wolf. But later, on the phone, she kept saying that everybody was lying to me and that everything was a lie. Then she mentioned somebody. A male. She didn’t tell me his name, but she said that he ‘knew’ and that she didn’t mean to tell him. It was almost like she was apologizing. I tried to get her to explain who she was talking about, but she just kept telling me to come see her and to come through the woods. She said she didn’t have much time.”

I say all this in a rush, without even catching my breath. Alex finally stops me. “Breathe. Take your time. What did she say about the Silver Wolf?”

I take a trembling breath and let it out slowly. “She said the Silver Wolf is real. She said she had lied about her. I think she knew the identity of the Silver Wolf, and she wanted to tell me.”

Alex presses his lips together, his expression cool. “Somebody wanted to shut her up. Somebody else is also looking for the Silver Wolf.”

“I don’t think that’s it.” I go over Rita’s words in my head, trying to analyze them. “I think Rita came to this town to look for the Silver Wolf, and she managed to uncover her identity. It would make sense that you’re not the only one looking for the Silver Wolf, but I have a feeling she wasn’t talking about the wolf when she said, ‘he knows’ and that she ‘didn’t mean to tell him.’ I think it was something else.”

Alex studies me. “Like what?”

“I don’t know.” I shake my head, trying to figure this all out. “But one thing I am sure of is that anyone listening in wouldn’t have thought I knew the Silver Wolf’s identity. Because on our call, Rita only told me that the wolf is real. She never mentioned her name.”

“And her attacker probably killed her to keep her silent,” Alex says grimly, finishing my train of thought. “He knew she was going to tell you.”

I stare at the burner phone, an itch in my brain. “But in the first text message, it says, ‘Give me the identity of that man.’ The sender wanted to know who a certain man is.” I look at Alex with wide eyes. “You don’t think the Silver Wolf could be male, do you?”

“No!” Alex responds instantly. “Everything we’ve managed to uncover about the Silver Wolf points to it being a female.”

“Then, who was the sender of that message referring to?” I ask quietly.

“I don’t have an answer for that, but I will tell you that when I saw the front of the cottage, there were several people lying in wait. The smell of Rita’s blood would have reached them like it did me, so they knew what had taken place inside. I don’t know why you didn’t smell it. But I have a feeling they were waiting for you to show up. Either because they wanted to pin the murder on you or they wanted to capture and kill you.”

I swallow. I did smell the blood; I just didn’t pay attention to it. I was so single-mindedly focused on getting to Rita’s that I just pushed it to the back of my mind. “Did you recognize any of them?”

Alex’s expression hardens. “One. He’s a member of your pack security team. The others were concealed in the darkness. I could only make out their silhouettes.”

The pack security team? Alex’s words shock me. But should they really? Aside from Drew, all of them have always been incredibly self-serving individuals. They’re not exactly well-liked among the townspeople. And since Alpha Black doesn’t visit Oakrest, their chances of promotions within the pack hierarchy are nonexistent.

“Maybe one of the pack security team members is a spy, like Rita.” I try to push down my fear and focus on the situation at hand. “Maybe he’s working for the person who killed Rita.”

“It could be,“ Alex agrees. “But I’m now worried about your safety. The murderer knows who you are. This could very well have been a trap, planted for you, so that he could get two birds with one stone.” Alex gets to his feet, his voice turning tense. “You need to get back home. Now.”

“What? Why?” I take his hand when he offers it.

“If a member of your pack security team is involved,” Alex says darkly, pulling me up, “they already know that you were in Rita’s cottage at some point. If they alert the pack security and mention seeing you there, somebody’s bound to pay you a visit. And if you’re not in your apartment when they get there, things will not look good for you. So, we have to get you home.”

The urgency of the situation dawns on me. Alex is right. If there is a traitor on the security team, he’s in an ideal position to implicate me in this murder.

It’s as if Alex can read my thoughts because his hand tightens around mine, grim determination in his eyes. “We won’t give them the chance.”

*** **

My house is a thirty-minute walk from where we stopped to talk. But riding on the back of an Alpha, I reach my building in half the time. One problem remains: how I’m going to get inside. The two men lingering near the back entrance are still there. Only this time, they’re on their phones.

“…hasn’t left…No, we’ll wait. They should be here soon.”