Too Late Alpha The Mate He Never Wanted (Iris and Eric) novel Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Eric’s POV

I took a deep breath, slammed my foot back on the gas, and kept driving. I didn’t know what the hell Marcus found, but it had to be something, for my wolf to react.

I reached the pack’s border in under seven minutes. Marcus’s car was already parked at the side. I parked, and stepped out of the car.

Marcus stood at the edge of the pack border with two patrol guards beside him.

“What is it?” I demanded as I approached. “Why the hell did you call me at two-thirty in the morning?”

Marcus turned, and dread crept through me as I saw the grave look in his eyes.

“We picked up the scent of rogues a mile,” he said. “The patrol team tracked it. We might need to shift because cars can’t go in, and walking will take hours.”

I nodded, silently giving him the go-ahead.

After shifting, Marcus turned and began walking out of the pack border. I followed in my wolf form, my heart pounding in my chest.

We began to increase pace, and soon, we began running through the woods. I lost track of how long we ran, came to a stop abruptly as the sharp smell of decay and blood hit my nose.

Marcus and the two patrol wolves stopped too.

Then we began walking slowly.

but I

The smell was strong, and I almost gagged from the intensity of it. We followed the smell deeper into the forest.

There were broken branches on our path, and there were deep claw marks on the bark of trees.

Something terrible had happened here.

Marcus let out a low growl as a signal, and we all slowed down.

Then I saw the bodies.

Rogue wolves scattered across the forest floor. Dark, dried blood soaked the dirt around them. Flies buzzed in the air, and a foul stench hung thick in the air.

I shifted back into human form. My heart was pounding too hard. Marcus and the others shifted as well. The atmosphere was tense and silent.

“What the hell happened here?” I asked, my voice rough.

“One of the patrol guards caught the scent three hours ago,” Marcus said. “We tracked it and found this. The rogues are dead,”

I crouched beside one of the bodies. Its throat had been completely ripped out.

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“This wasn’t a normal fight,” I muttered.

“No,” Marcus agreed. “This was a slaughter.”

I stood up, still scanning the area. “Was it another pack?”

“No,” he said. “There are no other packs near this side of the border. And look-” He pointed toward the far side of the clearing.

There was blood. A wide trail of it.

It was dark and dried like the others, but it was different. The scent was very different.

Without waiting, I moved toward it, and the others followed. I crouched beside it, my legs shaking

“How long ago do you think this happened?” I asked quietly.

Marcus glanced around. “Judging by the decay of the bodies… two, maybe three days ago.”

That would’ve been just after Iris left.

I froze. My stomach twisted, my chest tightened and it was suddenly too hard to breathe.

“She was here,” I whispered.

Marcus nodded grimly beside me.

I brushed my fingers lightly across the dried blood. The scent wasn’t just familiar. It was hers. And it was far too

much for someone to survive this.

I rose to my feet, my throat burning. “She was here. She was attacked.”

Marcus looked around the scene with a grave look on his face. “From the tracks and blood loss. We believe she was attacked by the rogues. She fought… or tried to. The trail ends here. The amount of blood lost…” He hesitated.

I looked up at him, jaw tight. “Say it.”

“There’s no way she could’ve survived long in that condition without help. Not alone. She either died… or she was taken.”

That sentence knocked the wind out of me.

She couldn’t be dead. She couldn’t.

I hadn’t felt this kind of dread since I stood over Evie’s casket, staring down at what I had caused. The same dread was back now, and it was probably worse.

I didn’t realize I was breathing hard until Marcus touched my shoulder.

“Alpha?” he said carefully.

I shook him off.

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to stay steady.

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Chapter 33

+25 Bonus

My mind raced. I stared at the trees, the rocks, the pool of blood, and everything else. Where was she? Had she been taken by one of the surviving rogues? Did they drag her off somewhere? Or had she tried to crawl away and died quietly in some ditch nearby?

“Why would rogues attack her?” I muttered.

“She was alone,” Marcus said. “An easy target.”

I clenched my jaw. My heart thudded painfully in my chest.

If she was dead… it was my fault. I ran a hand through my hair in frustration. Another person’s death that was my fault. An image of Evie’s body in that coffin flashed through my mind, and I flinched.

“We searched the perimeter. We didn’t find any body, Alpha.” Marcus was still talking, but I wasn’t paying

attention.

The world tilted slightly beneath me.

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