Revenge to the Alpha Mate novel Chapter 265

Chapter 265: Chapter 265

Aurora ’s Perspective

Pushing open the door to "The Propeller" felt like stepping into the stomach of another world.

The noise hit first—an avalanche of sound. The clatter of glasses, slurred shouts, the sharp *crack* of pool balls, all underpinned by a complex odor of stale beer, sweat, cheap tobacco, and something sharper no amount of air freshener could mask. The air was thick, the lighting artfully dim, providing just enough visibility while hiding most faces and transactions.

My wolf senses were on overload. The smells were overwhelming. The sour tang of fermentation, the burn of cheap liquor, the greasy scent of human bodies, and... kin. More than one. Their scents were mostly murky, feral, carrying the gunpowder-stink of street-level struggle, raw desire, or simply numb apathy. The so-called dark creatures or stray wolves.

A few pockets radiated considerable strength, even hints of blood, but a tense, mutual understanding held sway here. No one started trouble lightly, because you never knew if the shabby figure hunched over a drink in the corner might be the beast that tears your throat out the next second. Keeping to yourself was the rule. Break it, and you might wind up a faceless, unclaimed body in some back alley by morning.

Lex moved half a step ahead of me, posture deceptively casual but shoulders tight, protective. He knew the place, navigating smoothly past crowded tables, avoiding the wobbly paths of clearly drunk bruisers, heading straight for the long bar glittering under multi-colored bottles. He moved with ease, even bumping fists with a bald-headed giant as he passed. *Okay, so the kid really has spent time here.* Not that I was in any position to judge.

The bartender was a tattooed, bald man wiping glasses with detached focus, his eyes sweeping the room. He gave Lex an almost imperceptible nod. Lex leaned in, muttered something. The bartender’s gaze flicked to me for a second, cool and assessing, then he spoke quickly into a nearly invisible microphone at his collar.

"Follow me," he said, setting down a glass and coming around the bar. He didn’t lead us through the main room but pushed open a soundproofed door disguised as wall paneling. Beyond was a narrow, cleanly carpeted hallway, the smoke and noise abruptly muted. Another heavy wooden door waited at the end.

The bartender knocked once and pushed it open without waiting, gesturing us inside before staying outside himself.

The room was more spacious than I’d expected, the décor... eclectic. Expensive leather sofas, a worn oak desk, abstract art and a huge city map marked with cryptic symbols on the walls. The air held the scent of fine cigars, expensive perfume, and a deeper, potent, aggressively feminine wolf musk.

Then I saw her. Marta.

She was leaning against the massive desk, draped in a form-fitting, wine-red velvet dress that showcased her incredible curves. She was tall, almost Lex’s height, but far from slender. Her build spoke of honed, powerful muscle beneath a layer of lush softness—strength and... provocation combined. A mane of thick, fiery red hair fell over her shoulders, making her green, cat-like eyes seem to gleam with shrewd, lazy intelligence in the low light.

She was a Beta from some minor Eastern European pack who’d arrived years ago and taken control of The Propeller through a mix of cunning, strength, and, yes, her looks. She was the kind of woman who made men thirsty and women instinctively wary. A beautiful, thorny, possibly poisonous rose.

I’d heard more than once about drunk patrons in the bar doing unspeakable things while watching her swaying silhouette. The thought made me glance at Lex. He stood straight, but his eyes were a bit glazed, the tips of his ears suspiciously pink. *God, I hope my idiot brother hasn’t been one of those creeps...* But looking at him now, the odds seemed high.

"The Moonlight Pack’s little princess," Marta drawled, her voice carrying a lazy Eastern European accent like silk over gravel. "And the future Alpha. To what do I owe the pleasure? Tired of the family’s fine dining, come to sample our street food?" Her red lips curved slightly as her gaze traveled over my face.

"Marta," I nodded, keeping my voice steady. We were acquaintances, but it was a complicated relationship. My mom, Lily, knew of her, had even used her information network, but looked down on her methods and origins. On the pack’s chessboard, Marta was a fringe piece at best, and not a clean one.

I skipped the pleasantries. Time was bleeding away. I gave her the condensed version, emphasizing Brett’s disappearance, his description, the dead ends. I watched her face. She listened attentively, a slim cigarette between her long fingers, smoke curling upward.

"I’ve seen the kid. Brett," she exhaled a smoke ring, her green eyes narrowing behind the haze. "Tagged along with Lex a few times. Wild eyes. Different from you. A pretty boy with a knack for trouble."

"Can you ask around? Any lead. Any whisper," I pressed, holding her gaze. "Anything helps."

Marta was silent for a moment, tapping ash. I saw a flicker of... reluctance cross her features.

"Aurora ," she sighed, her tone losing some of its earlier languor, turning blunt. "It’s not that I won’t help. This very afternoon, your Moonlight people—more than one group, in different ways—have already ’inquired.’" She used the word with clear implication. It could mean a polite request or a pressured probe. "What I could say, what I could check, I’ve already passed on. Right now... I have no new leads for you either."

My heart plummeted, a cold stone sinking into an abyss. Even Marta had been tapped dry? Disappointment, cold and heavy, washed over me, followed instantly by a fiercer wave of frustration. I couldn’t just accept this.

"Marta, please," my voice held an unfamiliar edge of pleading, rare between us, "ask again. Your way. Your most discreet contacts. The ones who might be too scared to talk, or who thought the info worthless. I’ll owe you. A big favor."

This wasn’t just my personal plea. Lex was here, too.

Marta’s green pupils contracted slightly. She was weighing it. A favor from me, the implicit leverage of the Moonlight Pack, was tempting currency. But getting too deep could bring its own risks. She studied me for a long moment, then glanced at Lex, who stood tense but determined beside me.

"Alright," she finally said, stubbing out her cigarette and standing up, her figure even more striking, though I was past noticing. "For your pretty boy. And for... potential future cooperation. I’ll make some calls. Wait here. Don’t touch my things." She gestured to a mini bar beside the sofa. "Drinks are on the house."

She picked up an old-fashioned phone from the desk and walked onto a small balcony, sliding the glass door shut. Through the frosted glass, her red shape was a blur, the glow of her phone screen flickering occasionally.

Every second of waiting was agony. Lex went to the mini bar. "Want a drink?" he asked softly.

"Something light," I rasped, my throat parched. I needed something to quell the churning anxiety.

Lex mixed me a strange, supposedly low-alcohol fruit concoction and opened a beer for himself. I pretended not to notice the underage drinking—now wasn’t the time. We sat on the sofa in silence. I sipped the questionable drink, ears straining for any sound from the balcony, but the soundproofing was excellent.

Marta nodded, her tone flat, professional. "The good news: a very fringe, highly unreliable source mentioned something about an hour ago. A privately-run lock-up north of the city, near the junkyard and the homeless encampments. Apparently, they’ve brought in a young male matching your description in the last few weeks—brown hair, green eyes, right age, with a vibe my contact described as ’like a pup just learning to snarl.’" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"What do I do?" The words escaped me, laden with a helplessness I’d never shown her before.

Marta looked at me, her expression complex. After a moment, she said slowly, "What I can do is have someone watch the junkie. The moment he’s coherent, we press him. And I’ll have people ask some quiet questions, see if anyone’s noticed unusual activity. But it takes time. And it has to be discreet, or we spook whoever’s behind it."

She stepped closer, looking down at me, her powerful scent and the smell of smoke enveloping me. "Aurora , I get it. But you need to be smart now. Rushing in blind won’t find him. It’ll just get you lost, too. Go home. I’ll contact you the moment I have anything solid. That’s the best I can offer."

*Go home? Keep waiting?* Like some helpless animal?

I looked into Marta’s cool, almost callous green eyes, then at Lex’s worried, frustrated face beside me. The alcohol burned in my veins. Anxiety and guilt were twin blunt knives sawing at my insides.

I knew she was right. Logically, I knew. But every wolf instinct in me was screaming, urging me to *do* something.

I stood up slowly, my legs unsteady. "...Thank you, Marta. The cost, the favor... I’ll remember." My voice was calm again, but it was the calm of dead things.

Lex quickly moved to support me. Marta simply nodded.

We left the room, retraced our path through the noisy bar, and stepped into the cold night. In the car, Lex looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t know how.

I stared out the window at the city lights blurring past. Dangerous thoughts swirled in my head.

*Wait? Or...*

My hand tightened around the phone in my pocket. Maybe there was one other person. Someone who might understand this kind of desperation and had the means to get information in less... conventional ways.

*Liam Thornton.*

The thought surfaced, carrying with it the weight of uncertainty, risk, and a dark, compelling allure.