RAIDEN ||

I don't like this wolf, if that's even what he is.

He doesn't smell like the wolves here, come to think of it, he doesn't hold much of a scent, which further pushes my suspicions of him.

Taj Haller, former pack member of the Shadow pack, that no wolf here has ever heard of. He brought a bunch of other wolves from that pack, majority of them were Beta blood and a few others being gamma and omega blood.

The transfers from the packs that my mate has heard of, aren't bringing me as much pause as these wolves from the Shadow pack.

I just don't trust them, Taj specifically. He's just too nice, too involved, too obsessed with being around my mate, asking questions about his past and his family. Focusing majority of his questions on Dylan's mother, Jade, his father, Dean and his older brother, Bennett, who's dead.

Why would a random wolf from an unknown pack want to know so much about specific members of my pups family?

He hasn't asked any questions about Dylan's uncle Jake, aunt Sophie, his brother Garrett or his cousins Theo and Kaylie.

No...

All of his focus seems to be on my mate's mother, father and dead brother.

I've noticed whenever Dylan mentions anything about Bennett, anything at all, Taj seems to either be confused or irritated or a mixture of both.

On the other hand, when Dylan mentions anything about his mother or father, Taj holds no other visible emotion beyond rage.

I had my suspicions for the last week that Taj was a rogue and so we're the rest of his little minion wolves he brought with him, but if that were the case, they would have found a way to hurt my mate by now.

Both messages have been directed towards him and if Taj was somehow involved in those, I feel like he and the rest of the wolves that came with him, would've had plenty of opportunities to hurt my Dylan.

My mate isn't exactly the smartest wolf. He's way too trusting, way too naive, way too forthcoming with information and way too precious.

He doesn't even notice that Taj has taken a serious interest in him and it's working my last fucking nerve.

Not because I'm a jealous, possessive mate, even though I am, but because I just don't feel right about him. There's something seriously off and I can't bring myself to calm down when around him. Which has been constant because I'm not letting the wolf or whatever he is out of my sight.

Why doesn't he have a scent??

I would feel a lot better if I could figure out his scent. I can't confirm if he's a wolf or not and it's obvious Pups hasn't given that a second thought.

I mean what kind of shifter doesn't carry a scent? One that's doing something shady.

So what is Taj up to? What is he doing here? What does he want with my mate?

I don't know the answers, but I'm determined to find out.

• • •

The moment my pups, Gabe, Hunter, Taj and the rest of the wolves were done putting up the gate surrounding the eastern portion of the territory, we all headed back towards the packhouse.

I stayed close to my mate, but kept a watchful eye on Taj, who was walking ahead of us with Hunter and Rome.

"Hey." Pups elbowed me in the side. "You've been really quiet, I know that's normal for you around crowds, but you're like really quiet."

"I'm on edge pups." I tell him, never taking my eyes off Taj.

"Why? Too many wolves? Do you need to do your thing?" He pauses then scrunches up his face, searching for the right word. "The knuckling thing."

I snorted at his total fuck up of the word.

"You mean kneading?" I laughed as I shook my head.

"Yeah, that." He joined my laughter.

"I'll knead when we get back home, but that's not what's bothering me."

"Then what is it babe?"

"I don't trust the new ones." I nod towards Taj and the other wolves in front of us.

"It's just too convenient, they come here the same day the first message for you was dropped at our doorstep, this Taj is way too friendly, it's almost too much and I can't find his scent, it's like he doesn't have one, but what wolf doesn't have a scent.... I think you're being too naive about this whole thing pups.. None of this makes sense."

"Babe." Dylan stops walking and grabs my arm.

"You might not be able to find his scent because he's new to the pack, it takes time before a new member smells of the pack and as far as your fear about Taj being too friendly, that's normal too. He's just kissing my ass because I'm his Alpha now." He smiles at me.

"And they didn't show up here out of the blue, I approved their transfers alongside Gabe, it's just a coincidence that they showed up the same day that message was sent... it's going to be ok."

His words brought no reassurance to my heart. I still felt uneasy about the whole situation.

"Pups, I just want you to be careful, this is a serious situation. I'm glad you got the gates put up, but that doesn't take away the fear that something else could happen and I want you to be mindful of everything going on around you." I tell him and he nods before giving my arm a squeeze.

After placing a quick kiss to his forehead, we continued to walk to the packhouse.

Walking in the door, there was nothing out of the ordinary. So I quickly found my way to the kitchen in search of Taj, which I found.

The man could eat more than me. Everyday this last week, I've found his ass in this kitchen.

I looked around to make sure they're we're no other pack members around before I said anything to the man.

"I don't trust you." I tell him, clearly scaring him as he turned around quickly, almost dropping my mate's apple juice.

I hope Dylan kills him for touching it.

"What did you say Raiden?"

"I said, I don't trust you."

"Why?" He asks as he sets down my mate's container of apple juice.

"Everything about you is suspicious, your sudden arrival, your lack of scent, your friendliness towards my mate. Nothing about you is comforting."

"I can reassure you that I'm not your enemy Raiden."

"Are you sure about that?" I ask, making my way around the island counter and stopping in front of him.

"Yes I am, if anything I'm an ally."

"I don't believe that as far as I can smell you, which isn't very fucking far seeing how you don't carry a scent." I narrow my eyes at him. "Why is that?"

"I have a scent, you probably just can't recognize it... You can trust me Raiden." The moment he tilted his head to the side, I noticed it.

His mate mark.

Where the fuck is his mate?

"You're marked." I say, looking between his eyes and his neck before he covers it with his hand.

"Yes I am."

"And where is your mate? I haven't seen him or her with you."

"He, my mate is a man and he's not here."

"You left him back in the shadow pack?" I ask in disbelief.

"Yes because.." He pauses before shaking his head. "Because he had to stay, there's more important things to do and he doesn't need me there to do them."

"So you plan on going back to him then?"

"No." He says, but I could smell the lie.

I stayed quiet as I searched his eyes. I didn't trust this damn thing in front of me at all. There's something else going on here and I would find out what it was.

There's no way he's marked, mated and he just left his mate behind, unless his mate held a higher rank than him, but even with that, why would his mate allow him to leave?

Taj is Beta blood, if his mate is a higher rank than that would make him one of the Alphas he told us about and I don't think an Alpha would let their mate leave freely. On the other hand, if his mate was a lower rank like gamma or omega, he would have been able to leave them behind no problem, I'm guessing.

Either way, the shit didn't make sense!

I don't care what happened, I wouldn't leave Dylan behind. Ever.

Nodding more to myself than the man in front of me, I decided to stay quiet about the rest of my feelings and stay close to him, making sure I always have tabs of the mystery wolf.

"Just know, I don't trust you and I don't like you." I tell him before taking a step back. "Count on me always having an eye on you."

With that, I left the kitchen only going far enough to still be able to see him from the livingroom.

I watched as Dylan went into the kitchen and cooked some steak for himself, Gabe, Avery, Hunter and Roman. When he noticed his empty apple juice container on the counter, his jaw clenched as he rolled his eyes.

That was hilarious, he's trying so hard to stop being selfish and I'm proud of him, but it's so entertaining to watch how serious he is about that damn apple juice.

I didn't have much of an appetite because I was too focused on keeping an eye on Taj.

After watching everyone eat their meals, they all dispersed throughout the packhouse.

The day went by quicker than I thought it would and before I knew it, nightfall had descended onto the sky.

"Thank you for a great day Alpha, I'm going to head out and get some rest." Taj tells my mate and starts to head towards the front door.

"Ok Taj, have a good night." Dylan tells him before coming to give me a kiss, then making his way upstairs.

He knew I was still sleeping downstairs so he didn't fight me anymore on the arrangement, pups knew giving me the space I needed was working for both of us and eventually, I would make it back to the room we shared together.

I waited for Dylan to completely disappear up the stairs before I rushed out of the livingroom and towards the front door.

Opening it and closing it gently behind me, I see Taj walking down the long driveway before turning left towards the pack village.

I quietly followed behind him because I still didn't trust him. He's been here for a whole week now, has gained my mate's favor, knows the way of the territory and holds no scent. This seems like the perfect time to set a plan in motion if he had one.

Walking deeper into the tree line, I quickly got lost. This was my fault though, I hadn't taken the initiative to learn the territory that I would claim as my own.

I couldn't see Taj anywhere in my line of sight nor could I smell the fucker because he doesn't have a scent.

Sighing, I decide to turn around and try this shit tomorrow. I didn't get very far before I heard rustling in the bushes and something that sounded like metal.

My ears perked up, interest creeping into my mind, so I follow the sounds.

Everything led me to the eastern side of the border, the same place where I watched my mate, his pack wolves and the new wolves build the gate surrounding the area today.

I seen a man with his back turned to me, pulling something heavy through a huge hole in the newly built gate, so I quickly ducked behind a tree and waited until the man was done with what he was doing.

He didn't smell like any of the wolves in the pack, but he also didn't smell like a rogue. Taking a deep breath in, I couldn't pinpoint the man's scent.

It was almost like he didn't have one.

WAIT A MINUTE...

Could it be?

This fucker! I knew he was responsible for all of this shit! Everything just didn't make sense. Of course he's the one behind it all, I knew I was right!

Moving from behind the tree, I stalk towards Taj, who still had his back to me. When I was close enough, I seen what he was dragging into the territory. Another dead rogue wolf.

He was busy writing something on a piece of paper, rage coursed through my veins as I knew it was another message for my mate.

"TAJ!" I yell, my chest rising and falling from the sheer fury that was taking over.

He flinched at the sound of my voice and just as he started to turn around, I felt something sharp sink into the flesh of my back.

"Now you'll know what real pain is." I didn't recognize the voice behind me, as I gasped at the pain rushing through my body.

My hands instinctively wrapped around my body and go to my back, desperately trying to cover the wound I could feel seeping blood.

The sharp object gets pulled from my back and I cry out in pain as my legs give out, falling to the ground, face first, I collided with the ground. Hard.

Completely unable to feel my legs at this point, I panicked, praying to the Gods and Goddesses, the weapon didn't pierce my spine. I couldn't turn over and take a breath as I inhaled the earth under my nose, causing the scariest feeling of suffocation.

I could feel the blood flowing freely from my wound and pooling under my body, my vision was starting to blur when I seen a pair of shoes by the side of my face.

Next thing I felt was two pair of hands rolling my body and stopping when I was laid on my back. I winced at the pain of my wound meeting the pressure of the earth below.

I blinked a few times, trying to focus on the faces above me, but no matter how times I tried, the images in front of me never cleared. Never coming into focus.

"Shit! Who is this?" One of the voices asks, almost sounding panicked.

"What... did you.. do to.. me?" I breath out.

"We're really sorry, you spooked us, we didn't mean to do this to you.... you weren't the intended target."

"We thought you were someone else! Shit! We have to go now!" The other voice says, panicking just as much as the first one.

"Just wait a minute!" The first voice yells, then I felt a hand connect to my face.

"Come on man, stay awake! What's your name?"

"R-Raiden."

"Oh fuck..." The first voice breaths out. "Call for help!"

"Help is on the way!" The second voice says.

"Tell your current alpha that we're really sorry for this and tell him that we're coming for him sooner than he thinks." The first voice says as my eyes start to flutter shut.

"Tell him to be careful, don't trust everyone around him, some of them would do anything to keep a secret."

Everything was starting to blur together as I felt the life draining from my body. The men had disappeared from above me and I laid here, alone, bleeding out. Scared that I would die here, without being able to see my pups one last time, without being able to tell him how much I loved him, how much I forgive him for the past, how stupid I was for staying in that room downstairs, how stupid I was for not taking his lips a little longer.

My eyes flutter open, desperately trying to cling onto some form of life.

I'm all alone.

My eyes flutter shut again, losing the will to stay open.

I'd rather die trying to breath, than to give up and suffocate.

I suck in a deep breath, every inhale, more shaky and weak than the last.

I'm going to die here.

Come on Raiden! Breathe! Stay alive!

Fuck...

My heart rate slows as my shaky breaths now become shallow.

I love you so much pups..

"RAIDEN!"

"Help me."

DARKNESS.

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