"Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside while we live."
-Norman cousins
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Aaron rubbed his tired eyes, red veins crawling to different areas of the white area surrounding his forest green irises. Just as he was setting aside another paper, he signed. His door was rudely pushed open. The fact that the intruder hadn't bothered to knock could only mean that an emergency had occurred or his father had decided it was time to force him to get some shut-eye. Judging from the lack of commotion from the outside, it was the latter.
"Don't even bother." Aaron spoke before his father could even get a word out. Aaron glanced up at his father and gave him an unamused stare before returning his gaze to the never-ending pile of papers before him. Lawrence brought both arms up in surrender and chuckled at his son.
Lawrence gave Aaron a once-over. His black hair, that was usually slicked back, was now messy and all over the place. The sides sported a tapered fade. Beneath his forest green eyes were big bags of dark brown. The amusement that clouded Lawrence's features before now reformed into an expression of worry and concern. "You look like a 300-year old me."
"Don't flatter yourself." The 24-year-old copy of the older man retorted with a scoff. Lawrence didn't reply, and the room had gone silent, a cold silence. Sensing the dark atmosphere, Aaron brought his green orbs up to look at his father, who released a small sigh.
"Drowning yourself in work won't lessen the pain, it won't bring her back." Losing a mate would normally make a wolf lose themselves in sorrow, kill themselves, waste away until the pain of the loss kills them. Aaron had lost his mate, the love of his life, only a year after meeting her, taking his emotions with her.
He was cold. He shut everyone out and drowned himself with work, not a minute of rest and not a moment of letting his mind free. He didn't want to think about her. Her pearly smiles brightened his day and her sweet words resolved all his miseries. "At least get some rest; you have a long trip tomorrow."
"If you're done, please leave." Aaron went back to signing peace treaties, resolving himself to completely ignore the words of his father, no matter the truth in them. That's how Aaron spent the next three hours, skimming through the contents of papers before scribbling his signature at the bottom.
In the middle of signing another paper, he heard the creaking of his door hinges. "Did father send you?" Aaron asked, not bothering to look at the intruders who could only be his beta and gamma, seeing they were the only ones disrespectful enough to enter his office without knocking. Their scents were also a huge giveaway.
"Guilty as charged." He heard the voice of Cameron. Aaron nodded with disinterest and continued on with the work he was doing. "He is right though, you should get some rest before tomorrow." He chucked a small vial of purple liquid at Aaron, who swiftly caught it and stared at it for a while.
"Speaking of tomorrow..."
Before Carter could even get another word out, Aaron interrupted. "Let's not talk about tomorrow. I'm sure Mom will soon rush in here and give me 100 reasons why I should rest. "
Aaron stood up, took a pile of paper in his hand, and knocked it against his wooden desk to do a quick organization. "Speak of the devil." A second later, his mother waltzed through his already opened door. "I'm going to go sleep, mother." He didn't bother to hear what she had to say. Everyone who visited him seemed to have the same motive. "Don't." He ordered when he saw her mouth open. "I'm tired of this."
Disappointment clouded the eyes of his mother; disappointment mixed with sadness, worry, and grief. "This is not the reason I rose." Tears pooled in her eyes. "I raised a strong, kind boy."
"Mom," Aaron called, looking his mother square in the eye. "Stop."
'Alpha.' A voice called from the mind-link only blooded werewolf packs could use. 'We have an intruder.' Aaron froze. The last time they had an unannounced visitor was the day he lost the love of his life.
'Take him to the dungeon.'
Aaron looked at his beta and gamma and saw that their eyes were glazed over. "Let's go." He said, assuming they had both received the message. Alpha, it's a female' The same wolf from before was informed.
"What does that have to do with my order?" He got no response, meaning the wolf had gotten and understood his threat.
Aaron gave his sobbing mother a single, cold glance before sauntering out of the office with the other two trailing behind. They passed corners and wolves as they made their way to the dungeon, and it wasn't long before they stood in front of a large metal door with a hand scanner that had the prints of a select few in the pack. Aaron rested his hand on the device, and after 2 seconds of scanning, the door pulled open with a loud creak.
The inside was dark and foul-smelling. A metallic odor mixed with the scent of vomit and body waste. The trio was used to this greeting, so it no longer bothered them. They walked through the skinny hallway, passing different barred rooms along the way. These rooms housed different prisoners, all here for a different reason.
They didn't ask what cell the intruder was placed in, but Aaron assumed it was the nearest empty one. So that's where they headed. It took a while because of the many occupied cells, but they made it. Aaron stood before the cell and stared down at the witch. She was curled up in a ball, sobbing. "Mate." Aaron heard a whisper from behind him. He turned and saw that it was Carter who had said it.
"Wait here." Aaron ordered, not wanting Carter to interfere with the interrogation. He glanced at Cameron, 'Hold him if he tries anything.'
Cameron nodded, 'Please don't do anything to her, it'll kill him.' Cameron hoped that Aaron would feel some sort of compassion for the mate of one of his only two friends and be gentle, or his beta, Carter, might hate him forever.
Aaron stepped into the cell and the girl flinched back. As she did so, Carter moved as if to go inside and comfort her, but Cameron held him.
Due to the spell that was cast on the cell, the other two on the outside couldn't hear what was being said inside. This was originally to keep their screams and cries inside as to not torment the pack members living above. This was the reason the dungeon was always so quiet. "Do you know?" The girl looked up into the eyes of Aaron with her dark brown ones. "One of the two out there is your mate."
The girl looked surprised and a bit excited. She tried to look through the bars, but Aaron blocked her. And if you don't tell me what I want to know, you'll die knowing that your mate was just one step away from you. The witch looked at Aaron as if he were a monster, but Aaron didn't care. "Now, why did you trespass on my lands?" Don't bother saying it was an accident; the trials that one has to go through would stop anyone from advancing any further if they came by accident. "
"I was looking for someone." She gazed up with a longing look in her eyes. "My friend, she left our group a few days ago but she still hasn't come back. I was told that packs kidnapped runts for slavery, so I decided to go to the different packs in the area. This was the last one. "
Aaron stared at her every action and listened to every beat of her heartbeat and saw that she wasn't lying, so he stepped out of the cell and glanced at Carter. "I don't want her roaming around the pack until you can one day look me in the eyes and tell me with full confidence that she isn't a threat to the pack, disregarding the fact that she's your mate." Don't be stupid. "
Carter nodded frantically. At least Aaron hadn't beheaded her the moment he saw her. "Should I leave her here then?" Carter took in the condition of the cell. It was not something he wanted to leave his mate in.
"Lock her in your room or something."
Aaron and Cameron left the cell to give Carter and his mate their privacy.
As Aaron lay on his back on his king-sized bed, the soft mattress sank with his weight. He held up the vial that Cameron had given him earlier. It was something he was all too familiar with. The witch of his coven, the same one who cast the spells on the cells, was the one that made it at Aaron's request. He chugged down the purple liquid and shut his eyes, falling into a dreamless sleep.