Alpha's One Night Bride
Alpha’s One Night Bride – Chapter 35

Erick had mind-linked Jonathan and told him that there was a fight in the Ironclaw woodland forest. He mentioned being hurt and that he needed first aid.

The fight was between Erick and an outsider; someone who had no business being in Ironclaw. Apparently, this outsider was hunting on Ironclaw territory, another breach in the law. Most likely a wolf from Blackcrest.

Jonathan had just gotten back from Blackcrest this morning and from the way he made it sound, the conversation he had with Alpha Graham left him unsettled. I’ve never actually met Graham but just based on what Jonathan says about him, I don’t trust the guy.

He says he has no knowledge of his wolves hunting on marked territory, but I don’t believe that for a second and I know Jonathan doesn’t believe that either. Jonathan brought it to his attention, and he said he will be sure that his wolves stay out of marked territories.

Then Erick called and said that there was an outsider wolf hunting in Ironclaw and that they got into it. He mentioned being wounded badly. Jonathan said that Erick sounded so strained on the other end of the link and that he needed to hurry.

“What was he even doing in Ironclaw in the first place?” I asked as Jonathan scrambled around to find the first aid.

He didn’t have to answer for me to realize the answer. He glanced over at me, raising his left eyebrow as though the answer was obvious, which it was.

Ronnie.

I should have known Ronnie would be involved somehow. I wondered if she was going to be with Erick when Jonathan arrived there.

Leave it to Ronnie to get herself in a situation like that and then have to have Erick risk his life to bail her out.

“Let me go with you,” I insisted. He stopped running around to stare at me.

“No,” he said flatly. “You need to stay here.”

“Jonathan, Ironclaw used to be my home. Part of me still cares about it despite my relationship with my father. I need to make sure it’s okay,” I told him firmly.

His frown deepened.

“And you don’t trust me to do that for you?” He asked.

“Of course, I trust you. But I need to see it with my own eyes,” I told him. “Plus, what if Ronnie is there?”

“So?” He asked.

“Maybe she knows something about who that wolf was and why he was there. Maybe she knows something about Rock. Maybe she knows something about my mother,” I breathed. His eyebrows creased as he stared at me with confusion, unsure of where I was going with this. “Erick obviously likes her enough to where he’s risking his life for her. So, maybe she isn’t as bad as I initially thought. I won’t know until I talk to her.”

Jonathan’s gaze softened.

“You want to talk to Ronnie?” He asked.

I nodded.

He smiled and wrapped me in his arms, pulling me close to him so my head was rested against his chest. I breathed in his comforting scent and felt the warmth of his body radiating and wrapping around me like a warm blanket.

…

As we got to the stream, in the Ironclaw woodland forest, Erick was exactly where he said he was going to be. I wasn’t surprised to see Ronnie with him, but I was surprised that we practically walked in on them making out.

Thankfully, neither of them noticed us until they had pulled apart from one another. I made it a point that we were close by ruffling some leaves for them to hear. As soon as Ronnie heard the movement of the leaves, she pulled away from him. Her face was flushed, and her breathing was rapid; she stared at Erick with this awe in her eyes.

It was something I never thought I’d see from Ronnie.

She looked surprised and even terrified to see us as we came out of the shadows. I thought maybe it was because she couldn’t see us at first and she wasn’t sure who was lurking about. But even as we were under the direct lighting of the moon and she could see our faces, the fear in her eyes never disappeared.

Ronnie looked amongst the two of us and then back at Erick.

I’m guessing he never told her that he mind linked Jonathan, therefore she didn’t know we were going to be there.

“How are you feeling?” Jonathan asked, kneeling beside Erick with the first aid kit.

“Like some a*****e tried to claw my guts out,” Erick chuckled, then he winced as a shot of pain went through his body at the sudden movement of his chuckle.

“Pretty nasty wound,” Jonathan said as he peeled the leaf off Erick’s skin.

My eyes traced Ronnie’s face. She was staring at Erick’s wound as well. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. She was playing with her fingers nervously.

As Jonathan cleaned out the wound, he started to ask some questions about the outsider.

“Do we know who this outsider was?”

“Yeah, he goes by Elijah. He’s a Blackcrest wolf. Works close to Alpha Graham,” Erick said between making pained sounds.

“You’ve met him before?” Jonathan asked.

“A couple of times. He’s a common thief. Used to steal from Onyxfang all the time until I banned him from the town,” Erick explained.

“I smelled him before I saw him,” Ronnie spoke up.

Her voice was weak and cracked slightly as she spoke. She wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“By the time I got to him, it was too late. He had already seen me. He would have…” her voice trailed off as tears formed in her eyes. “If Erick hadn’t…” she stopped again and stared down at her hands.

“Hey…” I said, kneeling next to her. “This isn’t your fault. Erick was just trying to protect you. Blackcrest has been all over the place lately. It was only a matter of time before they came to Ironclaw. You just happened to be here at the wrong time.”

Her gaze shifted in my direction; she was surprised at the fact that I was speaking to her, let alone providing her with comforting words. This was foreign to her. I spent most of our lives avoiding her and ignoring her. Growing up, I remember times when she would try to speak with me, but I always shut her down.

Seeing her like this right now, distraught and broken, I felt kind of guilty.

“If anything happens to him…” her voice trailed off again as Erick grabbed her hand gently. She met his eyes, and he gave her a reassuring, yet weak smile.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he promised her. “I’m in good hands. Jonathan has always been good at this kind of thing. That’s why I linked him.”

Jonathan was heating a needle with a lighter. He was about to stitch the wound closed. That was something I wasn’t sure I would be able to watch. My stomach was already weak with the baby inside of me.

“Do you want to go for a walk while Jonathan stitches him?” I asked her.

She looked back over at me. I could tell she was having a silent debate in her mind but eventually, she nodded and stood to her feet.

We began walking the trail beside the stream; she walked a bit slower, not wanting to travel too far from Erick. I couldn’t blame her. If roles were reversed and it was Jonathan in this position, it would be hard for me to leave him too.

We were both quiet for a long while; only the sounds of the trickling water rushing down the riverbed filled our ears. I noticed Ronnie had stopped walking to brush her fingers through the cold water. Washing her fingers of the b***d and debris that lingered in her hands.

After a while, she finally gazed up at me.

“You know…” she began; her voice was in a high whisper. “I was envious of you for a long time.”

I frowned.