"I don't like this one bit, Aiden." Rafe paced nervously in my living room. "We should have gone with her."

"To the Sun and Moon Goddesses? Last time I checked, no one extended the invitation to us, Rafe, and it's not like we can just show up there."

"I just have a bad feeling," he said as he massaged his temples.

Goddess, he really had it bad, despite all of his seeming denial. He couldn't fight anymore what Riley meant to him and he couldn't hide it from me either because our new bond meant that I knew exactly what was going on in that head of his. It really was something that I ought to teach our mate how to do as well- life would be much easier for all of us like that.

"You have feelings?" I chuckled, teasing my best friend. "Hell must have frozen."

Rafe looked at me unamused and rolled his eyes at me. "Prick."

"Nah, mate- that role is solely reserved for you," I continued teasing him. "So, what is it that you are worried about exactly?"

"We should have been there with her. What if something happens to her? What if Markolf showed up?"

He looked like he had a long list of possibilities for what could go wrong while Riley visited the Goddesses but luckily didn't list them all. I wondered how much time he had spent thinking about all the potential outcomes.

"What if she decides to break the bonds?" I threw the idea out there just to gauge his reaction and it looked like I had struck gold. But then the reality of what I suggested hit me as well- what if she really did ask to break the bonds?

My whole body tightened at the thought. Worry clenched like a tight fist around my chest.

I knew that I was being irrational. I felt Riley and her emotions after we marked her and I knew Rafe had too- she was embracing the connection between the three of us. Not only that, it seemed to even make her happy. Like she welcomed it not because she was destined to do so but because she wanted it.

Truth to be told, I think that was also what freaked Rafe out in the morning. It was easy for him to pretend that he didn't want to be a part of our triad when Riley was rejecting the idea as well. But now that things had changed- hell, now that we had marked her- none of us could pretend anymore. It didn't mean that Rafe wasn't going to try- he was a stubborn bastard that Alpha. Yet, I knew that deep down, he wanted this and he wasn't going to let Riley go without fighting for her. His uneasiness right now was a dead giveaway.

"You really are a dickhead today," Rafe growled, as I grinned. He got up from the sofa and made his way towards the door. "I have to get back to the pack and to check on Natalia in Talamaire. Let me know if you hear anything about Riley."

I leaned back in my seat, trying to think about what we were going to do next. There was Markolf, there was our triad, there was my clan. So many open questions still but it looked like I wasn't going to figure them out at that moment because my phone vibrated from the text message that I had just received.

Meet me at my place. We need to talk. Cyrus

Cyrus was probably the last person that I was expecting to hear from but, seeing as I had nothing else to do while we waited for Riley to return, I figured that it couldn't harm to hear what he had to say.

I shifted and let Blaze take us quickly to Cyrus' place. It had been a while since I had let him out so he was making the most of soaring in the sky. In fact, the last time that Blaze got to spread his wings was with Riley on his back, which made both of us think about her again. There was a silver lining in the pain that Blaze and I felt from having her far away from us though because it meant that our bonds were still in place, which reassured me.

Carried away in my thoughts, I did not realise it as we reached Cyrus' home. The thump with which Blaze landed made my arrival known. I picked up some clothes from the storage spaces that were there to use when shifting back to human form and went in to look for Cyrus.

It was unusual for us to meet at his place rather than at the packhouse but I guessed that after our last heated conversation, he didn't want the rest of the clan to overhear us.

"Aiden, it's good to see you." He motioned for me to grab a drink from the bar when I joined him in his living room.

"You nearly make it sound like you missed me, Cyrus."

"Oh, come on now- I hope there are no bad feelings for not allowing you to go and save the Macalister girl."

I rolled my eyes in disbelief- did he really think that I was just going to forget about that?

"You know, I have been thinking," he continued.

"That's a first." I didn't even bother to hide the disdain in my voice.

"Be careful there, Aiden- you are still part of my pack and I am still your Alpha. I will let your disrespect pass this time because of everything that you did as Beta before you quit but don't push your luck."

I sat down and decided to keep quiet so that I could hear what he had to say and get the hell out of there and hopefully back to Riley, if she had already returned.

"So, I have been thinking about what you said- that this cambion is a threat to all of us- and I realised that you are right. I can't count on the fact that he won't dare go against dragons."

Was I really hearing right? Cyrus Murray had been thinking about something other than himself and he actually considered the pack's best interests? I had to pinch myself to make sure that I was not dreaming.

"A good Alpha would always think about the future and would do what's best for the clan," he stated as if he came up with that all on his own.

"For once, I couldn't agree with you more."

"Perfect. So this would make everything much easier- I am glad to hear you understand," Cyrus exclaimed and walked over to a chest of drawers behind me, leaving me puzzled by his statement.

I got out of my seat to follow him. "It would make what easier?"

"This."

Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I looked up. My Alphas stood in front of me with what I could only assume was an energy blaster, the kind that I had seen too much of lately.

"Is that what I think it is, Cyrus?"

"If you think it is an energy blaster that can neutralise your dragon for a while, then yes."

Are you fucking kidding me?

I couldn't believe it. I had already understood in recent years that he was not as bright as I had once believed- or perhaps hoped- but this was insanely stupid even for him. In what kind of a delusion was he living to think that it was a good idea to side with the enemy?

"Cyrus-"

The blast hit me before I could even start my sentence. I fell to the ground, Blaze recoiling in pain inside my head. My mind was still conscious, although barely so, yet my body was paralyzed- I couldn't move my legs or my arms.

"I'm sorry, old friend- it had to be done," the Alpha who betrayed me muttered.

"Why?"

"Because I made a deal- you in exchange for the clan's safety. I'm thinking about the best interest of the clan, remember?" He smiled at me as if I was meant to understand his thinking. If only he knew- Markolf was not going to play nice with anyone and Cyrus was a fucking idiot for believing otherwise.

"You fool," I whispered before everything went black.

I couldn't shake off this nagging feeling that something bad was going to happen. Having Riley away from us made Kai and me feel anxious but I wondered if there was more to that. Sure, marking her inevitably meant that things would always feel off whenever we were apart and I couldn't wait for her to return. I could only feel peaceful again having her near us.

This was exactly why I wasn't sold on the idea of having a mate. The fear of not having her near me to protect her brought back my unresolved guilt and pain over not being able to save my mother and protect Natalia from the hands of Markolf. Seeing the cambion's hands all over Riley at the gala though- I just wanted to tear him into a million pieces and yet I couldn't. He had Aiden and me under his control so he just tortured us by making us watch as he manipulated our mate into hooking up with him.

Just the memories of the whole thing were enough to make my blood boil. It was at that moment that I had promised myself that I was going to end him for what he had done to Riley and to my family. It was also at that moment that I realised that I could never let her go- without even realising, she had already crept up in my soul and in my mind. I was starting to feel things that I had never felt before and it fucking scared me but there was no way back, not after we marked her. She was ours now and I was not going to let anyone hurt her.

Right now though, I had to direct my attention to the pack. Tom had done a good job while I was away but now that my father was gone, I had to focus on all the areas that he had neglected for years now, spending money on showing off our greatness and building our army to demonstrate our strength instead. Most of the packs' buildings needed modernisation and we had to bring our infirmary, as well as the education and social well-being aspects of our pack up to date. There was a huge job to be done, one which very much required me to start thinking about appointing a Beta.

And then there was the question that I did not even dare to think about- every Alpha needed a Luna and, in my head, there was only one woman that could be my Luna. Yet, even if we did go through the mating ritual, I was not sure whether she would ever want to be Luna. Riley was no Luna- she was Alpha material, through and through, and letting her settle for anything less than that, even if it served my need, was wrong.

Engrossed in my thoughts, I barely noticed as my phone kept on ringing. When I looked at the screen, I already had two missed calls from a number I knew. Just as I contemplated calling the number back, my phone rang again.

"Alpha Macalister," I answered with the authority of the Alpha that I was.

"Rafe, Aiden is in trouble. You have to get here now."

I fucking knew it- my gut had sensed it all along. Was it the cambion? Did he dare attack us on our turf?

"I'm coming straight away." I rushed to the main entrance, ready to shift as soon as I was outside. "Where is he?"

"At my house. Hurry- I'll explain it all as you get here."

I didn't even have time to let Tom know- my best friend was in trouble and neither Riley nor I would have forgiven myself if anything happened to him.

"I'll be there as soon as I can, Cyrus," I hung up and left my mobile at the packhouse before I shifted outside and bolted in the direction of the dragon Alpha's house.