𝖆𝖚𝖌𝖚𝖘𝖙

The early morning sunlight streamed through the slightly parted curtains, landing directly on my eyes.

I blinked them open slowly, squinting in the bright light.

I heard a soft sigh, and looked down to see my precious mate curled up in a massive mound of blankets, both of her small hands wrapped lightly around my arm that was laying closest to her, and her head resting on my chest.

A soft smile took over my face, until I remembered that I actually had work to do today.

I didn't want to leave Heaven alone, especially after the whole mirror incident transpired not even a few hours ago.

But an alpha had duties to attend to, ones that I had admittedly been avoiding since I had first laid eyes on my mate.

So, being careful not to wake the girl laying beside me, I gently lifted her off of my chest, which she was currently pressed into, and laid her back down onto the mound of pillows.

As I got up, I quickly scribbled a note to her.

I'm sorry I had to leave.

If you need me, I'll be in my office.

-A

I place the note on the nightstand, so she'll see it when she wakes up.

I tucked the blanket back into place around her, and turned around to leave.

As I was walking through the doorframe, I turned back to face her sleeping form, a gentle smile crawling it's way onto my face.

She'll be fine. I tried to convince myself.

Heaven was strong, I knew she would be okay. But it didn't stop me from worrying.

I continued down the hall, coming to the door of my office.

Pushing open the large oak door, I make my way into the room and over to my desk.

I sat down at the desk, looking at the massive mound of papers and documents gathered in the desk's surface.

Holding back a groan, I got to work on the papers.

An hour into working, and I had gotten only half way into catching up on everything I had missed the past few days.

It didn't help that Heaven pushed her way into my thoughts every few minutes, distracting me each time I tried to get any work done.

I leaned back, stretching from my stiff position in the chair. As I took a break from the excruciatingly boring paperwork, my phone began to ring.

Seeing Antonio's name pop up, I answered.

"What is it, Antonio?" I asked.

"More rogue scents along the northern border," he answers, then pauses slightly as if contemplating how to tell me the next part. "His scent is here too."

At those words, my hand clenched angrily around the phone as I tried to reign in my resentment at the thought of him.

"How did he get this close?" I grit out through my teeth.

"His scent's a few hours old, along with the other rogues," he responds smoothly, trying to remain calm at my burning rage, "Which means they snuck in just after the night patrol came in."

"Which means he knows our patrol schedule." I conclude, bitterness dripping through my words.

"I'll set up a new patrol schedule right away," Antonio answers quickly.

"Good," I answer, rubbing my face tiredly, "I'm gonna go on a run. I think I need a stress reliever."

"I'll tell you if anything else happens," he responds, before hanging up.

Resting my elbows onto the desk, a long, angry sigh escapes me.

Trying to reign in the rage, I worked on counting my breaths, but it wasn't working.

In a fit of anger, I grabbed the thing nearest to me, which happened to be a small lamp, and threw it directly at the wall.

The porcelain lamp shattered on impact, shards scattering messily across the floor.

I stood up quickly, my chair nearly falling backwards at the action.

I began making my way towards the door, restless to get outside and into the forest.

I really need to go on a run.

✧ ✧ ✧

𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖛𝖊𝖓

I woke up enveloped in a captivating smell.

The woodsy smell of pine and sandalwood surrounded me, enveloping me in comfort and leaving a warm feeling in my chest.

August

It was his smell that was lingering on the bed, and I couldn't help but blush at the thought of sleeping next to him.

Shaking off the thoughts of him, I slowly sat up, rubbing the exhaustion from my eyes.

I sat in the bed for a few moments longer.

As my eyes were scanning lazily around the room, a folded piece of paper resting on the nightstand caught my attention.

I reached over, snagging it from its spot, and unfolding it to read the words.

I'm sorry I had to leave.

If you need me, I'll be in my office.

-A

Sitting the note back down, I slowly rose out of the comfortable embrace of the bed.

Looking down at myself, I wrinkled my nose in disgust as I realized that I was still in the same, dirty clothes as yesterday.

Well, it's not like I had much of an option anyways, considering I had come here in with only one outfit.

Deciding that it was definitely time for a proper change in clothes, I began searching through the drawers, finally coming across one full of t-shirts.

Grabbing a simple black shirt from the drawer, I took it into the bathroom, deciding that I might as well get a shower.

After the quick shower, I quickly dried myself off, slipping the t-shirt over my head.

I couldn't find any pants, so I stuck with my old pair of jean shorts. The large shirt ran nearly to my knees, so it's not like it mattered much what pants I wore.

After getting cleaned up, letting my hair dry in it's natural straight tresses, I decided to explore the gigantic house that I was staying in, rather than sitting in this room for hours.

I made my way into the hallway, and picked a random direction to begin walking in.

I continued to wander the halls aimlessly, until I heard a door slam rather loudly from another conjoining hallway.

Peeking my head around the corner, I noticed August making his way from what I assumed to be his office door.

He seemed to be in a bad mood as his footsteps stomped angrily across the hardwood floor.

I snuck a little closer, not wanting him to know quite yet that I was following him.

As I got within hearing distance, I could've sworn I heard a growl escape his lips.

Maybe he's a wolf-man, I thought, giggling internally at my ridiculous thoughts, That would explain all his weird noises, and why he lives in the middle of nowhere.

Rolling my eyes, I decided to focus on the task at hand before I let my imagination wander too far.

I continued to follow August down the long hallway, being sure to stay several steps behind him.

Where is he even storming off to?

I had been planning on revealing my presence, but the curiosity of where he was headed was absolutely killing me.

August made his way down the staircase out the front door. He seemed to be in quite a hurry to get wherever he was going.

Waiting a few more moments so that he had a head start, I began heading the same way that I had seen him heading.

My curiosity grew even more as I saw him headed towards the surrounding forest.

Maybe he's going on a walk?

I continued into the forest after him.

After walking for awhile longer August stopped in a small clearing, where I quickly hid my body behind a tree, peeking out slightly from behind the trunk.

All of a sudden, a loud crack resonated throughout the woods, like the snapping of bones.

I jumped at the sound, looking out further to where August was standing.

My mouth fell open at the scene, and my mind went blank.