Alpha Raven | #1 in the Trueblood Series

Matt quickly jumped to his feet when he saw his Alpha coming out of his Luna's room. He has been waiting for hours just outside the medical wing for their conversation to end. Although he could very well hear whatever they were talking about, he had decided to respect their privacy and had left them alone. It was around 8 at night and Matt was too eager to know about the next course of action to be taken.

"Matt...go home, have dinner and meet me in my office in an hour," Azraiel spoke briefly and dashed out of the medical wing. Once again, Matt was unable to deduce anything from his Alpha's face. Deciding that it was worthless to ponder on it, he turned and started walking towards his home, completely aware that a certain someone was following him.

He knew she would step put out of the shadows before he could enter his house, so he slowed his pace. As soon as he pulled out his keys, she appeared.

"Beta Matt, Do you have a minute?" Kira asked, making her presence known.

Matt turned around and replied "Yes..Of course. Come in." He pushed the door open and invited her in.

Matt knew what this was all about. The nervous energy was bouncing off her in waves. Matt could barely control the smirk from forming on his lips. Kira had always been like this; a perfectionist. Just like Matt, she had also fought her way to this position of Head warrior. She took immense pride in whatever she did and always made sure that she wasn't overlooking anything concerning the pack's security. Hence, it was understandable that she felt it was her fault that Charlotte could reach the pack borders undetected. The fact that she had no idea about Charlotte being their Luna just made it worse.

"I just saw Alpha leaving the medical wing. Is everything okay with the human?" Kira asked, her voice wavering at the thought of that girl dying or more precisely dying before answering her questions.

"Oh..Yes..yes..She is alright. She woke up today." Matt answered vaguely, remembering his Alpha's instructions to share as little as possible.

"That's great." Kira was happy, she truly was. She didn't want that girl to die. Maybe her reasons for wanting her alive were different from others but nonetheless, she wanted her to live. Now, she had another task, to learn what his Alpha was planning to do now. Maybe she could convince him about questioning her, of course, the one questioning her would be Kira herself.

Matt observed her standing quiet and decided to put a stop to the thoughts running inside her head. He knew she wanted to know everything about the ongoing situation but Alpha had absolutely refused to share anything with her. He wasn't wrong in doing so. Kira was known to get too emotional regarding anything that concerned her work. It was better this way until they knew at least a few more facts.

"Kira, go home and rest. I am sure Alpha will tell you what to do next soon." Matt spoke softly, aware that she would flip if she knew about the long conversation their Alpha and Luna just had in the medical wing. Matt was sure Kira wanted to be the first one to interrogate their Luna.

Kira let out a disgruntled sound and looked at him with dissatisfaction written all over her face.

"Matt, What the hell is going on? It has been two days since we found her and yet Alpha hasn't given any instructions to look into the matter. It's like he doesn't even care."

The frustration of being left out was dripping from her voice.

Matt released a sigh and told her what he could, "Look Kira, even I don't know what's going. The Alpha hasn't ordered me to do anything regarding her, in fact, he has asked me to not do anything unless he specifically orders. I am going to do just that. I trust Alpha's judgment and you should too. You know better than me that he puts this pack above everything else." Matt said pointedly referring to the incidents that have taken place in the past.

Kira looked away from him feeling ashamed of thinking about the Alpha as uncaring despite all that he had done for her.

With a resigned sigh, she said, "Alright, but please let me know if I can be of any help. okay?"

"Okay. " Matt said with a small smile playing on his lips. He knew she didn't mean to question Alpha's actions but she was definitely getting frustrated with the lack of information.

With that, Kira turned on her heels and left Matt to the welcoming silence of his home. He glanced at his watch. There was enough time to take a shower and eat dinner before he has to meet the Alpha. Matt closed the door and walked towards his room, his mind constantly playing the guessing game about the scenarios that the Luna must have described to his Alpha.

*******

Charlotte heaved a sigh as soon as the door closed after Azraiel left. Had someone told her two days ago that she would be battling for her life in the next two days, she would have told them to fuck off. Turns out it's her that is going to be fucked up.

Charlotte had a low chance of being alive, she knew that very well. But, according to her she was meant to live. There had been many instances when she had been on the verge of dying but her will to live preceded everything else.

Moreover, she couldn't let their sacrifices go to waste. The sacrifices they did to keep her alive. It wasn't going to be easy, to stay alive till the shift, she knew that. She doubted it would be easy even after she turned into a wolf.

Although she hasn't met any of the other pack members apart from Azraiel, Matt, and the doctor, she didn't think they would be too welcoming. Then there was also Azraiel. Alpha Azraiel. She was confused regarding him. Sometimes, when he spoke she could see the glimpses of a harsh, strict leader but otherwise, his poker face revealed nothing of his personality. Although he hasn't talked harshly to her till now, she doubted he spoke to others the same way. Maybe he was going soft on her because she is injured. Yeah...that must be it. Her face flushed at the memory of her leaning her head on his chest. She felt like his arm was still around her shoulders. Charlotte squeezed her eyes and let out a loud groan. Fuck....she almost died and here she is crushing on the big bad wolf. Ugghhh....

The thought of him knowing the truth bought her back to reality. Azraiel wasn't a fool. She was sure he would learn the truth soon if he hadn't already. But till then, she would use every minute she was here to increase her chances at survival. Besides, the wrath of Alpha Azraiel couldn't be worse than death, or Could it be?

*********

Azraiel was standing near the window sill in his office. While waiting for Matt, he started going through the story told by Charlotte for the tenth time. Matt knew she wasn't lying but he also knew that she hadn't told him the entire truth. He could believe some of the events happening but some were still questionable. And that made her untrustworthy. His wolf growled lowly at the idea of calling his mate names. He just refused to think that she could have ulterior motives. For him, she was his mate and that's all that mattered. But for Azraiel, it wasn't like that. He had to think about a lot of other things before succumbing to the mate bond.

So he decided to make a mental list of all the events that he thought she wasn't truthful about. Then he made another list of people he needed to contact to cross-check her story. Some of the names on his list were difficult people and he could already feel a headache coming at the thought of talking to them.

A knock on the door broke his chain of thoughts. Azraiel muttered a "come in" knowing well that it was Matt. He watched as Matt entered and bowed slightly. He took a seat on the other side of the desk. Azraiel too walked and placed himself on the chair.

He started describing the events that lead Charlotte here. He watched as Matt's face grew perturbed. He too was feeling the same way.

Azraiel interlaced his fingers and put his elbows on the desk. He gave Matt a few seconds to process everything. He knew he had already looked over the incident from different angles but he still needed someone to look at it from a different perspective. He was afraid he would become biased when it came to Charlotte. Matt had already proved himself by passing the Beta test and there was no one else he could trust right now.

"There are rouges in the woods? That too this close to our borders?" Matt asked, confused and honestly worried.

"Yes...that's what shocks me the most. We have been patrolling the borders daily for years and we have never seen them this close to our borders, at least not since I took over. But...we don't know anything for sure. Maybe Charlotte got confused while describing them. But I still want you to form a team and search the pack grounds as well as outside the pack territory to find any clues. Also, ask Kira to increase the force at night." Azraiel spoke in a business tone, aware of what was going on in his Beta's mind.

Matt just nodded his head and looked at him as if wanting to say something. Azraiel jerked his chin as a gesture for him to continue.

"When Theo informed me about a human scent, I immediately went to the borders with Mason and Zoro. The three of us thoroughly searched around the area where we found her. There was no scent....neither of another human nor of another wolf. We didn't see any foot prints either. However, there was just one footmark, which looked like hers since it was so small. Then...How...?" Matt ended his question because he didn't want to complete it. No...he didn't want to think anything else.

Azraiel nodded his head thinking hard. He completely forgot about this. Now that Matt had mentioned it, he remembers Matt telling him about the footprint when he was driving back to the pack from King's castle. He had even sent his Gamma to match the footprint with her shoe and he had confirmed it to be hers. Then how the hell Charlotte's footmarks were found near his border, when she claimed that she was unconscious all the while and that the rouges had dropped her there.