Un.Requited (Claimed Series) (36 page)

Instantly, Hayden felt Cole’s muscles tense up at the insult and his hand loosed around her waist. She stiffened, expecting the worse, but not having enough time to react.

The silver-haired Alpha squinted at Cole from over his shoulder, a malicious grin in place when he spotted the reaction his words were causing the younger Alpha. “Letting him go like that is careless.” He tsked. “Who knows what he would have done to her next—”

The older werewolf hardly got the chance to finish, as Cole’s meaty fist caught him across the face. Disconcerted, but not surprised, Hayden stepped back, watching as blood poured steadily from Adolf’s nose. No one moved an inch to help, not even Adolf’s silent beta.

“I take the safety of my pack members seriously, Adolf. Don’t try to assume otherwise.”

Cole resumed his position next to his pack members and curled a reassuring arm around Hayden’s waist. When Blake failed to muffle his laughter, Cole offered the beta a cautionary stare, instantly silencing the man.  

Adolf straightened his shoulders and pivoted around abruptly. “You showed me yet again that your age gets the better of you, child,” he hissed. It was clear he was livid over
being put down
in front of the werewolf community. “You don’t make a good Alpha. Your brother would have been a far better leader. What was your father
thinking
? It’s no wonder why half the Slayter pack decided to leave once the authority was passed on to you.”

The revelation that Cole once had a brother
was pushed
aside quickly when Hayden was assaulted with the powerful sensation of unrestrained hatred. She choked, blinking past the suffocating emotions of fury and grief in order to look at Cole.

He could hardly contain himself as he watched Adolf predatorily. His eyes were no longer green, but
amber,
and his muscles were shifting, preparing to attack. There had only been one other time Cole had been this angry, and as a result, Hayden
had been adversely affected
as she shared his emotions.
But
that time had been different. She’d been angry then, and coupled with Cole’s anger, it had been impossible to control
herself
.

Now, she was able to grab a steady hold on her composure before she lost it. 

“Ignore him Cole.” Blake tried to reassure his Alpha with a hand to his shoulder.
But
Cole shrugged him away and Blake quickly dropped down in a crouch, ready to physically restrain Cole if the Alpha attempted to lunge.

Adolf, on the other hand, was grinning ear-to-ear, blood raining crimson rivulets down his nose. He wanted this. The bastard had delivered an extremely low blow. He’d been able to peel back Cole’s
closely-held
insecurities and identified what would really set him off.

Feeling protective of him, Hayden reached out and pressed her hand against Cole’s lower back. Remembering all those times he had soothed her frazzled nerves, Hayden followed his lead and ran soothing circles across his back. Meeting his crumbling resolve with her firm composure, she channeled comforting vibes toward him, somehow hoping to calm his wolf.

His attention immediately swung down to her, his eyebrows furrowing in perplexity. He bent at the waist, leaning down to inhale her hair. A calloused thumb then stroked her cheek possessively and his arm wrapped more securely around her hips as he held her steadily.

“Thank you,” he whispered huskily.

She shivered as his breath tickled the small hairs around her ear. He stayed like that for a moment, his back muscles tensing underneath her hand before relaxing.

After regaining enough composure, Cole pulled away, his amber eyes slowly bleeding back to emerald. Plastering a firm grin on his face, he nodded to Adolf
. 
“Are we finished here?” he asked lazily. “That nose looks as if it needs to be put back in its place, my old friend.”

Blake straightened from his crouched position, a confused expression in place as he regarded Hayden and Cole. She couldn’t blame the beta. The only thing stopping her from asking Cole what happened was her fragile understanding that Alphas had the power to stabilize their pack members. 

Eric took charge of the situation, as Adolf’s disbelief was finally rendering him mute.

“We’ll escort Falco out of town by sunset, which brings us to the last issue on our list, recognizing Joseph as the next Alpha.”

Hayden watched Joseph, noticing the man didn’t appear too happy about
being addressed
as the next Alpha. His father
was being incriminated
right in front of him. The last thing he would be enthusiastic about was taking Falco’s place.

As Hayden searched the crowd for more reactions, she paused on Asher. Guilt tugged at her when she realized he was looking pointedly at Cole’s arms around her, his face blank. It seemed no matter what she did, she always ended up hurting him.

“Who will be your beta, Joseph?” Cole asked with an impatient tenor.

Joseph gazed down at his silent father, deep shadows hollowing his eyes
. 
“Timothy,” the new Alpha grunted. A man with a buzzed-haircut bowed his head respectfully toward Joseph. “You will be my beta.” Joseph’s fingers reached out for Sasha’s hand again, curling around the small appendage greedily.

Eric gave a nod of approval, as did the rest of the Alphas and betas. “Then we will wait until sunset to watch our old brother go.”

As soon as it
came to a close
, Cole pulled at Hayden’s waist, leading her away. She craned her neck around, hoping to catch one last peek at Falco. The only thing visible past the thick throng of people was his legs. With an air of dejection, Hayden turned back forward, catching Blake’s eye on the other side of Cole.

“Why was Falco so quiet?” she suddenly demanded, angry. “If he says he didn’t do it, then why wasn’t he defending himself?” She couldn’t think of any reason someone would want to remain quiet when
they
were accused of a crime. His persistence of not saying anything really bothered her.

“Some things are better kept quiet, Hayden,” Blake answered. “He was surrounded by countless of werewolves who witnessed the attack. It was smart of him to keep his mouth shut. He didn’t want to dig himself any deeper.”

Hayden then turned to Cole, hoping to see something there that would explain Falco’s cold indifference. However, Cole was focusing solely on the gravel road in front of him, his mind elsewhere. She pursed her lips, unable to forget Falco’s passionate confession when he insisted he hadn’t committed any crime.

“Do you think he actually did it, Cole?”

“It is a high probability,” the Alpha reasoned with a distant look in his eyes. “Falco was connected to both murders. The lacerations on the corpses were consistent with the wounds Red Donovan sustained from Falco. And there were too many witnesses that saw him attack Red out of bloodlust.” 

It made sense, all of it, and yet Hayden was still indecisive about the situation in general. Why would Falco want to frame her? If she asked, she
would be told
that he had done it to throw the suspicions of his trail, something Asher had tried to convince her of last night. Still, Falco’s dead eyes burned a mental image within her.

“Just say he was innocent,” she persisted. “Why wouldn’t he defend himself?”

Cole released her waist and picked up the pace. “
If
he was innocent, I don’t think he would have wanted any other outcome. He was simply waiting for his punishment.”

“What do you mean?”

Deciding to give Hayden his undivided attention, Cole stopped abruptly and turned to look down at her. A dark blanket of emotion seemed to settle around the Alpha as he placed a heavy hand on her shoulder.

“Sometimes, losing a member of the pack is too heavy of a burden for an Alpha to carry. Especially in Falco’s case, he was completely powerless to protect two of his members. He allowed Matthew to try to infiltrate into Nicolas’ ranks as a spy and he was also unable to stop Ian’s disappearance and murder.” 

Hayden jolted in comprehension. “He thinks he’s incapable of being an Alpha,” she exclaimed breathlessly. It suddenly explained everything; Falco’s empty stare, his submissive demeanor as he waited for his punishment, and his overall defeated attitude.

“Exactly.”

Looking down, she scuffed the toe of her shoe against the gravel. Melancholy smothered her as she looked back up at Cole. “You would never allow yourself to part ways with us, would you? If one of us died, you would continue being a pillar for the rest of us.”

Blake stuffed his hands in his pockets and seemed just as interested in Cole’s response as Hayden was. For someone as strong as Cole, it would be hard to imagine him sitting as docilely as Falco had, awaiting penance.

Cole withdrew his hand from Hayden’s shoulder and grinned humorlessly. “I never intend to be in the position where I would have to make that decision.” He tilted his head marginally, his chiseled jaw clenched. “And if anything were to happen to me, I would expect that my beta and my female Alpha would have the sense to take responsibility of the pack.”

It was Hayden’s turn to grin humorlessly, but it quickly turned into a grimace at the ominous topic. “And why would you think that we would ever be in that position to take on that responsibility?” She had meant to use Cole’s earlier words to make light of the situation, but she certainly didn’t feel as if it had the intended impact.

Abruptly, Blake threw an arm over Hayden’s shoulders and pulled her flush against his chest. “
Of course
we would take up the glorified mantle.” He held up a hand, a finger lifting for everything he’d do when he became Alpha.

“Naturally, Fergus would have to be my beta. We’d take advantage of your absence by hiring a chef who works around the clock. Addie’s great and all, but she needs a break. I’d also buy that trampoline that Fergus and I have been nagging you to purchase. The kid needs something to do besides bothering us all day. Don’t you agree, Hayden?”

And
just like that, Blake was able to push away the negative air. Hayden didn’t know how he did it, she was just thankful of his endearing sense of humor.

_______________

It wasn’t often Hayden was in the mood for television. Usually, Fergus and Blake liked to drag her downstairs and make her watch their movies. As it turns out, the one and only time she had the remote to herself, she couldn’t find a single channel that held her interest. Then again, she supposed it didn’t help matters that her mind was preoccupied.

Outside, the sun was nearing the horizon, only a few minutes left before it disappeared for the night. She tried not to think of Falco
being hailed
off by the Alphas. Hayden had hastily declined Cole’s offer of accompanying him and Blake to the send-off. She was already bothered over the whole situation. She didn’t want to see Falco leave behind his mate and children. 

Her fingers fiddled with the rabbit leg Shane had given her for her first full moon. Not only was Falco keeping her thoughts occupied, but Hayden also couldn’t help but to dwell over Shane and Red. She had no way of knowing how Red’s condition was fairing.
And
Shane wouldn’t call Hayden with any news, as he was probably too flustered in making sure his grandfather was as comfortable as possible.

“Well, aren’t you a Debbie Downer tonight.”

She flashed Devan a cool stare as the female entered the living room. “And you’re finally in a good mood. Imagine that,” Hayden said scathingly. She tucked the rabbit leg underneath her shirt and proceeded to flip through the channels.

“Oh come on,” Devan scolded callously. “What’s there to be so gloomy over? Falco was caught and you don’t have to worry about people assuming you’re the one responsible.”

“Should I feel relieved that Red Donovan is fighting for his life?” Hayden asked tonelessly.

The shorter female leaned against the wall and surveyed the sorry-sight Hayden made. “Well, let’s hope he makes it. I couldn’t imagine the consequences if he dies in the hospital.”

She waited for Hayden to ask her what she meant, and when the blonde Alpha didn’t feel the need to humor her, Devan continued anyway. “Red Donovan has been protecting this town from Hunters for years. He
does
have family, you know. He may be retired, but they aren’t. If Red is killed by one of the werewolves, what’s stopping his family from taking revenge?”

It wasn’t as if Hayden needed anything else to feel guilty
about
. She hadn’t even
thought
about that possibility. By not telling Cole about Falco’s assault on Red Donovan the night before, she had not only let the attack happen this morning, but she could have also had a hand in inviting the Hunters to Albertville.

“Don’t be so upset over it. I’m sure Red will pull through.” Devan then held up a piece of paper, her crimson-painted nails still perfectly manicured even after weeks of use. “If it cheers you up, we get to go shopping to grab a few things for Addie.”

“You mean
you
get to grab a few things,” Hayden replied monotony, hardly missing a beat. She hated grocery shopping and she was hardly in the mood. “Blake and Addie just went
to the store,” she exclaimed sourly.
“Just the other day.”