Chapter 25 #3
The investigator tapped his notebook, not hiding his impatience. “Is there anything else you can add to this? Anything unique?”
“He was bigger than any other wolf I’ve seen,” I blurted out. “I’ve seen Dad, Aiden, and Auntie Hilda in wolf form. I’ve even run around with Auntie Hilda and Dad in the woods. This one was big. And… fast. Really fast,” I finished.
“Well, if he was bigger than an alpha, that rules out beta, gamma, or omega,” the investigator said, sounding satisfied. “I think we can safely say your kidnapper was either an alpha—or a rogue alpha.”
“Hey!” Aiden looked offended. “I’m pretty big! Even for a young alpha.”
“For the investigation, would you mind changing into your wolf form?” the investigator asked politely.
Aiden didn’t hesitate. He turned on the spot, clothes shredding off as his body shifted.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him. That brief flash of pain across his face—it stunned me. I’d never really considered how much it must hurt to change. But now, with my own turn approaching, I felt a surge of fear. Snapping bones. Torn skin. How did they handle it?
His wolf looked at me with such intelligent eyes that I instinctively reached out a hand. He came over obediently, and I scratched behind his ears.
“Are you sure your abductor was bigger than this wolf?” the investigator asked.
I hesitated. Seeing Aiden in his wolf form again made me second guess everything. Maybe I’d just been scared. Maybe the shock of a wolf lunging at me made him seem bigger than he really was.
“I’m second guessing myself,” I admitted, and Aiden licked the palm of my hand as if to comfort me. “But in that moment, when he lunged, he looked like the biggest wolf I’d ever seen.”
“But it’s possible you could be wrong?” the investigator pressed.
I shrugged.
“I don’t know… but the wolf was definitely bigger than my father and aunt. This is only the second time I’ve seen our alpha’s wolf,” I admitted.
Aiden nuzzled his nose against my palm before leaning forward to lick the inside of my wrist.
“He seems to be rather fond of you.” The investigator observed this with a small gleam of understanding in his eyes.
I shrugged my shoulders helplessly.
The older man, charged with getting to the bottom of my kidnapping, looked at me solemnly.
“I only have one last question. Can you tell me where you went to get your tires checked? We had no idea you hadn’t gone straight to school. At the beginning of your story, you said you were surprised over the flat tire because earlier in the day you had checked your tires?”
I nodded and Aiden stilled next to me, listening intently.
“It was at the local tire shop. I always stop there every two weeks to get my tires checked out,” I supplied.
“So you would say this is a fairly regular part of your routine?” The investigator tapped his ballpoint bent against his notepad as he waited for my answer.
I nodded slowly, a little uncertain. Where was he going with this?
“So regular that maybe someone that’s been following you from...let’s assume January to…up until now, we’re in the month of May, would be able to guess that you were going to stop there,” the investigator pushed.
“What are you trying to say?” I choked out, feeling as if all the air had been squeezed out of my lungs. Had someone really been following me?
Aiden’s wolf stilled next to me, tension rippling off of him in waves.
“I’m saying that we’ve viewed the university CCTV footage of your car.
There is no indication someone tampered with the car there.
However, the tire valve was purposefully damaged in such a way to let air leak out slowly.
This was planned. Someone knew your schedule and timings.
They knew how long it would take you in class and at what precise moment the air would decrease enough in the tire to make you stop on that road.
It’s a long road. They had a fifteen-minute window to grab you.
You say you noticed the car shaking a few minutes after turning onto the road, so it was timed perfectly.
They just had to keep an eye out for when you’d stop your car. ”
“So if I had stayed on campus instead of going home, or if I’d left campus a little bit earlier, this wouldn’t have happened,” I said dejectedly.
“What happened is not your fault,” the investigator said kindly.
“And whoever this person is would have kept trying. There was a huge margin of error. Your professor might have held you up after class. There could have been an event going on that prevented you from leaving. But a tampered valve is inconspicuous enough that this person would probably try again a few weeks later if the first time wasn’t successful.
” He shared a glance with Dad. “We all know the circumstances involving your kidnapping.” The investigator glanced at Aiden’s wolf now.
“I think right now, the best thing you can do is not be alone. We are doing our best to find the people behind this.”
With that, he exited the house, bidding his farewells.
I hadn’t realized it, but, at some point, Aiden’s wolf had jumped up onto the couch next to me, resting his head on my knee as I draped my arm over his wolf form.
My hand unconsciously clutched his silvery gray fur over his neck, trying to process this new information.
Aiden seemed to be nuzzling my knee, giving me comfort his human form could not.
Dad turned to eye us, viewing the unconscious push and pull dynamic I was suddenly very keenly aware of. I was seeking comfort that Aiden was giving.
Bobbin’s hands reached out, ripping open my shirt, buttons clattering to the ground. His pudgy hands gripped my breasts painfully.
“You can’t run away forever, sugar.”
His voice belied a threat yet to be fulfilled. His eyes were crazed with bloodlust.
I screamed, trying to fight him off, but he was pinning me effectively to the bed.
“When Boss gets here, he’ll want his turn, too.” Bobbin chuckled gleefully.
“NO!” I screamed, trying to fight him. “Get away! NO!”
Somewhere in the foggy recesses of my mind, I heard a voice calling out to me.
“Rose…Rose!”
And my eyes blinked open into the dead of night, Aiden’s hands on my shoulders, his intoxicating smell helping to regulate my emotions.
Safe... I was safe. His brown eyes stared back down at me anxiously, and it was then that I realized I wasn’t in the shack anymore.
As if to confirm it, I looked around the room blankly in the dark.
Aiden reached to turn on the lamp on my bedside, and as the room flooded with light, the monsters receded.
I felt foolish. It had just been a nightmare.
“You…were screaming. I thought…” He expelled a breath. “Goddess, I thought somehow someone broke into your room. After what the police told us last night…” He trailed off, looking at me.
Worry was etched into each line of his face.
I was still shaking, unhinged by the dream.
“I think reliving my ordeal brought back…my fear,” I said the last two words in embarrassment.
“It’s all right,” Aiden said gently.
His eyes held more emotion in them than they had this entire week. He wasn’t cold or aloof right now. He was warm, and he was worried about me.
“I was so afraid,” I confessed. “I thought they…it was awful.”
I expelled a breath.
“You were brave,” Aiden said sternly. “It’s OK to be scared, Rose, but I promise you… I’m going to make sure no one can get you again. Trust me.”
It was a plea that left his lips, traveling straight to my heart.
“I do,” I replied honestly, looking into the warm molten whirlpool of his eyes.
His gaze suddenly darkened, flitting to the neckline of my silk tank top, taking in the matching silk shorts exposing my thighs.
I blushed, feeling self-conscious. It probably wasn’t the best of times to realize Aiden wasn’t wearing a shirt.
My eyes trailed his form, fingers itching to run over his taut muscles.
“Are you wearing socks?” I burst out.
“So?” Aiden retorted, cheeks turning pink.
I started laughing uncontrollably.
“Do you wear socks while you sleep?” I snickered.
“My feet get cold.”
His words were defensive, like he’d had this conversation before.
I couldn’t stop laughing.
“Well, I’m glad you find it so funny.”
The words were said testily, and Aiden got up to leave.
I grabbed his arm. He turned to me, his gaze questioning. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him to stay, but I stopped myself just in time. I didn’t want to be alone right now, but I also didn’t want to burden him further.
“I…sorry I woke you up.”
I released his arm.
Aiden swallowed, staring down at me, his eyes boring into mine.
“Don’t worry about it.”
And he was out the main door faster than I could blink.
I stared after him, confused over his rapid departure. Then I tilted my head to look at the side-door built into the wall separating our rooms. The symbolism of him choosing to come through the main door was not lost on me.
Opening the door between the two rooms would have been too…intimate.