Alpha's One Night Bride
Alpha’s One Night Bride – Chapter 42

Erick hasn’t spoken to Ronnie in days, and he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about her. Not since the day, he caught Elijah hunting on Ironclaw territory. Erick knew he shouldn’t have been in Ironclaw watching Ronnie, but he couldn’t help it. He was worried about her; she wouldn’t talk to him, and he didn’t want her going about without protection.

He was only planning on watching her for a little while; he didn’t want to stalk her or make her feel uncomfortable. He knew she didn’t have an actual adult role model in her life to help her with her werewolf training, and he just wanted to make sure she was okay.

She seemed fine for a little while and he was going to leave until he smelled an unfamiliar scent. It didn’t come from any surrounding packs, and it certainly didn’t come from Ronnie. It didn’t take him long to figure out the scent. He realized he did in fact smell it at one point and the memory brought a surge of anger through his bones.

Elijah.

One of Graham’s top werewolves in Blackcrest. They’ve met once before, and it wasn’t a good encounter. It seemed that Elijah and Ronnie were headed in the same direction, and they were after the same black bear. Elijah was a lot older and faster, and Erick knew that he would get to the bear way before Ronnie had the chance.

Which meant Erick had to get to Elijah and the black bear before Ronnie did. He almost didn’t make it. Erick saw Ronnie standing there on all 4’s like a dear in headlights, around the same time that Elijah saw Ronnie. Before Elijah had the chance to get to Ronnie, Erick attacked.

Erick was injured badly, but thankfully Jonathan was able to get there and help stitch him up. Jonathan has always been good with first aid. Ronnie stayed with him for a little bit; they even kissed. But when Erick woke up in a groggy state at the stream in Ironclaw, Ronnie was gone. Only Arina and Jonathan were there. Jonathan was in his wolf form and Arina helped Erick on top of Jonathan’s back. Together, all three of them road off and they dropped Erick back at home in Onyxfang where Erick was able to rest.

It’s been days since then and he still hasn’t seen or spoken to Ronnie. She was only 16, so it was probably for the best that they didn’t see each other. But he just wanted to make sure she was alright. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her and he feared that that’s exactly what he did.

“How are you feeling man?” Anderson asked as he stopped by to visit Erick.

Erick has been secluded for a few days, trying to heal his wounds in peace. It was nice that Anderson took the time to see Erick and check on his well-being. Like Jonathan, Anderson was another of Erick’s best friends. They’ve been close since they were children.

“Like my guts were almost clawed out,” Erick answered, trying to keep humor in his tone. “But honestly, I’m alright. It’s starting to heal nicely. Jonathan did a great job at stitching me up. It shouldn’t be too bad of a scar.”

“What about Ronnie? How is she? It mustn’t be easy for her to face an outsider attack like that,” Anderson said, eyeing Erick carefully.

Erick nodded.

Ronnie was most likely freaked out and he hated that. He wished she could be there, or he could be there and comfort her. He wanted to hold her and tell her just how much he loved her. But he knew that would only freak her out even more. She was already confused and upset enough; he didn’t want to pile more on her plate.

“I’m not sure,” Erick answered honestly. “I haven’t spoken to her since the other night.”

Anderson’s eyebrows shot upward in surprise.

“Really?” Anderson asked. “Did you scare her again?” He teased.

When Erick didn’t answer, Anderson’s smile faded.

“Oh,” Anderson breathed. “Look man, I’m sure she’ll come around. Don’t sweat it too much. I remember it took forever to get Marian to trust me. She came from this rich background, and I was basically a nobody. I was a lone wolf. Somehow, I convinced her to take a chance on me and we’ve been happily married since.”

Erick knew that Anderson was right. If he could convince Marian to take a chance on him and love him, then Erick could convince Ronnie to take a chance on him and love him. Erick knew Marian to be a difficult woman and she doesn’t change her mind often.

How Arina can work for her, blew Erick’s mind.

“Anyways, another reason why I’m here is that Jonathan wanted to have a meeting with everybody tonight. Wanted to make sure you were going to be there. Apparently, there’s a lot he needs to go over,” Anderson told him.

Erick nodded. Of course, he would be there.

Then another thought crossed his mind.

“Is Ronnie going to be there?” He asked.

Erick knew that Ronnie and Arina were in the process of building a relationship. Jonathan had told him that the other day. Erick couldn’t be happier that Arina was finally giving Ronnie that chance she deserved, but he was afraid that she would be at the meeting and then they’d be forced to speak.

“I’m not sure. Should she be?” Anderson asked; he was oblivious of what was going on around him.

“I just know that they’ve been building up their relationship. I just wasn’t sure,” Erick told him.

“Oh,” Anderson said as his brain got lost deep in thought. “Well, I’ll see you tonight.”

Anderson gave him a side wave before heading out the door.

…

Night fell fast as Erick got to Sabrebite and entered the home of Jonathan and Arina. He could smell the pork roast instantly as he got there, and his mouth began to water. It definitely wasn’t the cooking of Jonathan or Arina, which meant that Jess, Jonathan’s mother, was there.

For once, he was the last to arrive at the group meeting. Usually, it would be Anderson, but Erick had to rebandage his wounds before joining his friends.

As he stared amongst his friends, his eyes found hers.

Ronnie.

She was as beautiful as always; she wore a button-down purple blouse with a pair of black jeans which were ripped towards the bottom. Her red curly hair fell in messy waves around her shoulders. Her features were pale and lightly freckled. She batted her long lashes in his direction and her green, emerald eyes showed only concern as she stared around his body from afar.

She was assessing the damages done the other night, except she couldn’t see the wounds due to his shirt being on.

“Hi,” he said to her softly as he approached her.

He was glad that she was there, even if things were a bit awkward.

“Hi,” she said in return. Her naturally pink lips turned upward in a sheepish smile. “I’m glad to see you.”

A smile appeared on his lips as she said those words. A flood of relief washed over him. He wanted to k**s her right then and there.

“You are?” He asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

“Yeah, of course,” she said back. “It was a nasty fight and an even nastier wound. I’m glad to see you alive.”

“Oh…” he breathed; a bit disappointed that was the only reason she was glad to see him again. “It would take a lot to kill me,” he chuckled. However, his chuckle didn’t meet his eyes.

They stared at one another for a long minute before Jess interrupted.

“Dinner,” she called to them.

Falling in line with the others, they sat at the big round table in the center of Jonathan and Arina’s kitchen. The pig roast looked delicious as always. Erick helped himself to a huge helping of the roast along with the other varieties of the food. Nobody cared. They all did the same thing.

He tried not to make eye contact with Ronnie, not wanting to make things weird. But it proved to be difficult; he wanted to make sure she was okay. Like truly okay.

“There’s a lot we need to go over,” Jonathan began.

The last time they had a group meeting like this, Erick was bringing up Ronnie to Arina and telling her that she should give Ronnie a chance. Arina was pissed, which Erick kind of felt bad for but at the same time, it kind of worked out in both of their favors. Now they were working on a bond and Ronnie was here to help them.

“For starters,” Jonathan continued. “There’s going to be a territory war. Or so we think.”

A territory war? Was he serious? That hasn’t happened in centuries. Was history really repeating itself?

“Graham has a couple of other packs on his side, and they are planning on attacking during the red moon next month,” Jonathan explained.

From the looks on everyone’s faces, that was news to them, including Arina’s.

“What?” Arina whispered to him.

He glanced down at her and took a hold of her hand.

“I promise, I’m going to protect you,” he turned to everyone else. “I’m going to protect Sabrebite and try my best to protect the other towns as well. We are going to fight this war and we are going to win.”

Both Arina and Ronnie had identical worries lingering in their eyes. Ronnie glanced over at Erick and then looked away just as quickly.

“We are gathering the strongest for fighting in this war. I’ll need your help to gather your strongest in your packs as well,” Jonathan ordered.

They all nodded in agreement.

“There’s more,” Jonathan said hesitantly.

Erick noticed he glanced at Ronnie who was sheepishly staring down at her hands.

“It’s been brought to our attention recently that it was Melissa who killed Emlin,” he announced.

A round of gasps went around the room.

“Melissa?” Jess breathed.

Jonathan nodded.

“Yes. She poisoned Emlin with wolfbane,” Jonathan answered.

Arina was ghost white and it was clear she was holding back tears.

“We feel like there’s more going on in that household that we are still investigating. Once we know more, we will let you guys know. We just wanted to keep you updated considering you guys are in this as much as we are,” Jonathan explained, staring amongst them.

“What are we going to do about Melissa?” Jess asked. Staring at Ronnie, Jess added, “And what about her?” Her voice leaking with accusatory.

Ronnie looked almost shocked but then her face fell into what seemed like sorrow. Arina eyed Jess carefully.

“What about her?” Arina asked.

“Isn’t she Melissa’s daughter? Can we even trust her? How do we know she isn’t going to report to them everything we are saying,” Jess asked, still eyeing Ronnie.

“Mom!” Jonathan shouted at her, making Jess flinch.

With everything going on, it was hard to be in the right mind space and have a mental hold on things, especially for Jess. She was as much involved with this whole ordeal as Jonathan and Arina. Jess lost her husband, her friends, and now the only family she has left are in the middle of a dangerous battle. This whole thing was hard on her and none of them blamed her for having these feelings and trust issues.

But to point fingers at Ronnie, who was just sitting there and minding her own business, Erick wanted to stand up and say something, but Arina beat him to it.

“Don’t forget, Jess. Rock is my father, and I am nothing like him. I spent my life trying to get away from him. Away from all of them. Just as Ronnie has been trying to do,” Arina told her.

Jess pried her eyes away from Ronnie to look at Arina.

“She stood by her mother’s side up until recently. Now she’s deciding she wants to be on our side,” Jess asked, disbelief in her tone.

“Mom, that’s enough,” Jonathan ordered.

“I’m only trying to look out for you both. Now is not to the time to be having these outsiders…” Jess tried to say but Arina cut her off.

“Ronnie is not an outsider. She’s my sister and she will be treated as such. It’s because of Ronnie that we now know who killed my mother. Ronnie is not Melissa, just as I am not Rock. She grew up having shitty role models but that doesn’t make her a shitty person,” Arina barked.

Jess deepened her frown.

What has gotten into her? Erick has never seen her like this before.

“I don’t trust her,” Jess muttered, glancing at Ronnie again.

Ronnie now had tears filling her eyes; she wasn’t looking at Jess. She wasn’t staring at anybody. She was staring down at her hands, looking mortified. Her cheeks were flushed a red color and she was trying hard not to burst into tears right then and there.

“That’s fine,” Arina told her, eyeing Jess carefully. “You don’t need to trust her. I trust her.”

It was comforting to know that Arina was finally trusting Ronnie; Erick was sure that Ronnie felt just as comforted. But looking over at Ronnie, she just looked sick to her stomach. Erick felt awful and wished he could provide her with comfort.

“Ronnie?” Arina said to her, trying to get her attention.

The whole room fell silent as Ronnie lifted her gaze to meet Arina’s. Arina stared around her face with compassion lingering in her eyes and a small smile placed upon her lips. But Ronnie didn’t return the smile.

Erick knew that look and he could feel her emotions.

She was hurt.

“No, it’s okay. I get it,” Ronnie said in a broken whisper.

She forced a smile for Arina’s benefit.

“I wouldn’t trust me either,” she said, glancing over at Jess sheepishly.

Jess’s face softened and she appeared almost guilty.

“With that being said, I should probably go,” Ronnie said as she stood from the table.

“Ronnie, please don’t,” Arina pleaded.

Ronnie was already making her way to the doorway.

“No, honestly. I’m okay. It’s okay. It’s getting late. My mom and Rock will be wondering where I’m at. Thank you for dinner and for including me,” she said to Arina.

Arina just looked sad; she knew nothing she could say would make Ronnie want to stay.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t stay longer.”

She glanced around the room one last time, her eyes falling upon Erick. Erick wanted her to stay; he wanted to stand up and tell her not to leave and to forget what Jess had to say.

Though, at that point, Jess was already looking quite guilty. Not guilty enough to apologize in front of everyone though.

“I’ll see you later,” she said softly to Erick as she slipped out the doorway.

The room was silent, only the faint sounds of their breathing. Erick could feel the pent-up anger raging in Jonathan as he stared at his mother. Arina looked sad, and Jess looked guilty. As for everyone else, they just looked awkward.

Eventually, the silence was broken by an angry Jonathan who stood up from his seat to address his mother.

“What the f**k, mom?”