Mated To The Wrong Alpha
Chapter 27

Ava called John several times before she finally got a response. Apparently, he’d been in the theatre and his cell phone was set on vibrate, so he hadn’t noticed it right away. As succinctly as possible, she explained the situation and he said he’d head right over to Marla’s.

Twisting her fingers, she listened to the sounds of the argument going on at Marla’s apartment. There’d been no more screams, just yelling and angry voices, but she couldn’t make out what was being said except once she was sure she’d heard Arthur’s name. At that her stomach had clenched in fear. What if Ryne was trying to lure Arthur over to Marla’s so he could attack him? After tense moments, a door slammed and glass broke, then all was silent. Tentatively, she called into the receiver. “Marla? Marla? Can you hear me? It’s Ava. Arthur’s on his way. Marla?”

There was a scuttling sound and then Marla spoke, sniffling and obviously crying. “Ava? Is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me. Marla, are you all right? What happened?”

“It…it was Ryne. He broke in and…and… He was going crazy, yelling at me and hitting me.” Marla’s voice cracked and she started to sob.

“Marla, shh, it’s okay. John and Arthur should be there any minute.” Ava’s eyes filled with tears at the sound of the other woman’s grief. While Marla wasn’t her favourite person, she didn’t deserve to be treated that way. Eventually, she heard Marla’s doorbell ring and then John’s voice was on the phone.

“Ava? I’m here. Marla’s pretty upset and it looks like Ryne slapped her, but I think she’ll be okay. I’m staying with her until Arthur arrives, then I’ll go look around to see if Ryne left a trail. If you don’t mind, I think we’ll be bringing Marla back with us. She’s in no state to be left by herself.” “Of course! She can’t stay there. I’ll make sure the guest room is ready.”

“Good, we’ll see you in a while.”

“Okay— and John?” “Yes?”

“Make sure Arthur doesn’t do something crazy like going after Ryne on his own tonight. He was really upset when he left here and—”

“Don’t worry, Ava. I’ll keep our Alpha in line.”

“Thanks.” She hung up the phone and leaned against the wall, slowly sinking to the floor. She hadn’t realized how tense she’d been holding herself until now. Her arms and legs felt rubbery and she was light-headed. Thank heavens Ryne had left before Arthur arrived. While she knew Arthur could take care of himself—he’d defeated the other man before, hadn’t he?—she didn’t want the two meeting. What if Ryne had a gun or a knife? Arthur could be seriously hurt, and the very idea of that happening caused an ache in the centre of her chest. Forcing her mind away from that possibility, she switched her thoughts to Marla. The poor thing; Ryne had been her lover. How could he turn on her like that? What real or imagined action on Marla’s part had sparked the man’s fury? There could be no doubt about it now; he was definitely unstable and extremely dangerous.

She shook her head. Just the other night, Arthur had been telling everyone that there was no hard evidence against Ryne; that he might not be guilty of shooting at Thomas, but now… Well, there was no doubt in her mind about the man, and she certainly hoped she’d never come face-toface with him. Frowning, she realized that she had no idea what Ryne even looked like. Possibly there was a picture of him somewhere; she’d have to ask Helen tomorrow. Gathering her energy, she stood and went upstairs to prepare a room for Marla.

It was late by the time they got back to the house. Marla’s face was bruised on one side where Ryne had hit her, and her wrist sported a bracelet of bruises from being grabbed. Ava got ice and salve to apply to the injuries and then helped Marla into a nightgown. The woman shook with fear and kept bursting into tears. Holding her hand, Ava offered what comfort she could, finally getting her to take a mild sedative so that she could rest.

Once Marla was asleep, Ava convinced Arthur that he needed to go to bed as well. He and John had done a cursory look in the area around Marla’s apartment building and were planning on a more thorough search in the morning. Ryne had definitely been there—his scent was strong in the immediate vicinity, but he’d travelled by car and the smell of exhaust and fuel obliterated the trail once they reached the main highway.

“I should have listened to Marla the other night,” Arthur muttered as he prepared for bed. His movements were angry and abrupt. “She told me tonight that Ryne had left a threatening message on her answering machine. That’s what she wanted to say after the meeting, but I wouldn’t listen. I was too mad at her for even thinking that we should sell out to Northern Oil. If I’d paid attention to her, this wouldn’t have happened.” He balled up his shirt and threw it in the corner before flopping onto the bed, his dark brows set in a scowl.

Ava hesitated before climbing in beside him, sliding up against his side, and laying her hand on his arm in a comforting gesture. “Hindsight is always twenty-twenty. And from what you’ve told me about Ryne, this type of behaviour is totally out of character. Even if you’d known about the message, you probably wouldn’t have suspected he’d actually carry it out.”

“But I should have, especially after the incident with Thomas. Despite what I said at the meeting, Ryne is my half-brother and I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Now, he’s obviously becoming increasingly unstable and we have to find a way to catch him before he really hurts someone or does something that could expose the pack to the humans.” He scrubbed his face with his hands. “Tomorrow I’m going to personally head up the hunt for Ryne. We’ll put even more men on it and if he’s still in the area, we’ll find him.”

“Just be careful, okay? I’m sort of getting used to you, and I don’t want to have to start breaking in a new mate.”

Arthur smiled at her teasing. “Thanks a lot.” He rolled over and faced her. “You did well tonight, Ava. Staying on the phone, then getting hold of John. You were really compassionate to Marla, too.” He brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. “That’s one of the things I like most about you.”

She felt all warm and mushy inside from Arthur’s praise, but shrugged in response. “I didn’t do that much.”

“I still appreciate it.” A yawn escaped him, even as he brushed the pad of this thumb over her lips. “I guess I’d better get some sleep. Tomorrow looks to be pretty busy.” He reached over and turned out the light, then pulled her to his side.