Arranged To The Beast Alpha
She is different

DAMIEN

Kai and I stepped out of the car, gravel crunching under our feet as we approached the abandoned warehouse. Warriors were already there, waiting by the door, looking as edgy as always. The plate number matched the one found by the detective team, which meant we were in the right place.

Now, it was just a matter of figuring out what had gone down here.

Clinton, head of the detective team, walked up to us, looking grim. "What did you find?" I asked, cutting straight to the point.

He shook his head. "Nothing useful, Alpha. We searched the entire place. From my perspective, they were heading somewhere else. It wasn't entirely cleaned up-still some traces of their belongings scattered around." comfort.

"That's not enough," I told him, voice sharper than I meant it to be. "Did you check every single belonging of those men? Every pocket, every hidden seam?"

"Yes, Alpha," Clinton answered, his tone steady, but I could see the flicker of frustration in his eyes. "We checked everything. There wasn't anything useful. Nothing that would lead us to a damn thing."

I clenched my jaw, feeling the familiar weight of anger simmering just below the surface. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. I should've had answers by now, a clear lead. Kai cut in, glancing at Clinton. "Do you even know how many of them were here?"

"Three, sir." Clinton's response was quick and crisp, but it wasn't enough to settle the unease curling in my gut.

"Three?" I repeated, mostly to myself. My mind was already turning over the possibilities, the implications. I killed two of them myself; one who was still out there. In my pack.

Whoever it was, they were still here, and they knew the territory. They knew how to stay hidden. But they wouldn't stay hidden forever, not if I had anything to do with it.

"I want every inch of this place searched," I said, my voice low and controlled. "Check every exit, every dark corner. If there's one thing out of place, one tiny clue, I want it found. Got it?" Clinton nodded, his face hardening with determination. "Yes, Alpha."

I started toward the door, needing to see it all for myself. If someone thought they could hide here, slip under my watch, they had another thing coming.

I nodded and brushed past him, stepping inside the building. The place reeked of cigarettes and stale smoke, with a faint undertone of something sour, probably drugs. It clawed at my nose as I moved through the space, taking it all in. My senses sharpened, picking up stale smoke from the far corner of the room.

I walked over and saw a pile of cigarette butts, some half-burnt and others crumpled out of frustration. Bending down, I picked one up and brought it close to my nose. Fresh enough. Someone had been here, not too long ago. Either the scouts were sloppy, or our visitor had slipped out just before they arrived.

It'd been two days since Leah's encounter. I'd be damned if I let anything like that happen again.

Tossing the cigarette aside, I noticed something half-buried in the dirt-a jacket. I picked it up, my eyes landing on a logo stamped on the back. The design was clear, even in the dim light-a finely printed wolf's tail.

It felt familiar, like something from a distant memory I couldn't quite place. But I knew I'd seen it before.

I walked back outside, tossing the jacket to Clinton. "Figure out where this is from," I said, tapping a finger over the logo.

Clinton nodded, slipping into his usual formal bow before leaving with his team.

Kai raised an eyebrow as he watched them go. "So, another dead end?"

I shot him a look that would've shut anyone else up. "It's not," I replied, my tone hard. I didn't appreciate his cynicism-not today.

"You know, you could have spared them, and they would be in our dungeon now. Answering questions." Kai's Sarcastic tone made my blood boil.

"Speak one more time and I will have your tongue," I warned.

We got back into the car, and I gripped the steering wheel, letting my mind race through the possibilities. Every lead felt like sand slipping through my fingers, but I wasn't about to give up. I drove us back, the silence heavy, only broken by the low hum of the engine.

When we finally reached the house, I headed straight for my room. As soon as I pushed the door open, I stopped dead in my tracks, eyes widening at what I was seeing.

My room. It was... different. Completely different. What was once a dark, gothic sanctuary-a space that reflected every shadow and cracks inside me had been transformed into something unrecognizable. Every shade of blue imaginable was splashed across the walls, the bedspread, and even the damn curtains. It looked like an ocean had swallowed my room whole, drowning it in blues and soft hues that felt completely alien.

I stepped in, still stunned, and scanned the space. This wasn't the room I'd left two days ago. Leah had to be behind this. Only she would have the nerve, the audacity, to turn my personal space into... whatever this was. But as I looked around, I realized she wasn't there.

The silence in the room was louder than any words, and a strange feeling settled in my chest.

Where could she be?

Her scent lingered like she was still here, she had just left.

My eyes caught a piece of a paintbrush collection on the floor. I headed out of my room, to the one place my conclusions led me.

I stopped by the Gallery and slowly walked in to evade my presence being known.

There she was, sitting comfortably on the wooden floor, with a notepad in her hands; the bag I had given to her to improve her skills was right beside her; it didn't look like she had touched any of them. She was hesitating. "Alpha Damien," Andy called out to me." Andy."

"She insisted on painting, I just wanted to make her a little more comfortable around here," Avdu added, but I didn't care for her explanation.

I was more focused on why Leah remained hesitant, like something or someone kept holding her hand back.

I wanted to go to her and watched her paint, but she wouldn't be so sound with a presence like mine. An Intimidating monster. A beast who killed his father, an inhumane ruler who does nothing but kill.

Leah doesn't have that irritating fear in her eyes like my people; she's neutral as if she had no care in the world. She's different...

"Let's go," I said, angry at my thoughts; there are proper issues to address, not the features of a woman who knows nothing about my kingdom and rule.