Confusion flashed in Nikolai's brown eyes, and he immediately drove off the center of the road, parking by the side.
He glanced at the back to inquire why they had to stop, but Caesar pushed the door open and stepped down.
The man hurried off, rushing to where he had gotten a glimpse of the familiar person, and came to a stop, his eyes moving to stare at the unconscious, injured body.
His brow angled up slowly. "What a surprise..."
"Sir?" Nikolai breathed in concern and shifted his attention to what he was looking at. His gaze fell on Adeline's unconscious body, which was still bleeding, unfortunately.
"Isn't this...?" He looked at Caesar.
Caesar nodded, a glint too fast to be read flashing in his eyes.
Nikolai blinked rapidly in perplexity. He couldn't help but wonder why the wife of the next Don of Petrov's mafia group was sitting unconscious under the rain, bleeding to death.
He glanced at Caesar, aware that he was definitely wondering the same.
Caesar squatted down, extending his hand to Adeline's nose. "She's breathing," he said. "But she might die out here if we don't do something soon."
Taken aback by his words, Nikolai turned to catch a glimpse of his face. "Sir, she is a member of the Petrov family. Why should we-"
"keep quiet." Caesar slid a hand under Adeline's legs, the other around her back, and gathered her into his arms. "Let's go."
Nikolai frowned as he watched him walk to the car.
What was going on? Caesar couldn't possibly have smelt that woman's blood and scent from that far despite being a supreme alpha, right? It was impossible. The only blood that a werewolf could catch onto was his or her mate's blood, at least from such a distance. Not to mention that they were in a car.
But since he did smell her blood, didn't that mean…
His expression immediately dropped, eyes broadening like a saucer.
No! No! She's human. She can't be his mate. Impossible!
"Nikolia!" Caesar, who had arrived at the car, shouted at him, snapping him out of his drifting thoughts.
He quickly rushed to him with an apologetic look and opened the door.
The man stepped in with Adeline resting in his arms and adjusted her properly to prevent making her injuries worse than they already were.
Nikolai on the other hand sat down in the driver's seat and started the car engine. He turned the steering wheel and drove off into the center of the road.
"Drive to my penthouse," Caesar ordered, lowering his head to gaze at Adeline's face.
Nikolai responded with a nod, "Yes, sir." He took a reverse, turning around to drive off in the opposite direction.
…
Caesar took the elevator up to the second floor of his estate. Adeline was still cradled in his arms, unconscious.
He walked to the closest guest room and stepped inside, making his way to the bed to carefully lay her down.
His eyes examined her thoroughly, and he took his gloves off, squatting down beside the bed. He extended his hand out, gently beginning to caress her wet hair with a wrinkled forehead.
Why a human? What will I even do with you? They surely won't accept—
"Sir, Yuri is here."
His straying train of thought was suddenly cut off and he stood up to his feet to walk to the door. "Make sure Yuri gives her proper treatment. I'll bury him six feet underground if anything goes wrong." His eyes shifted to meet Nikolai's nervous gaze.
"Of course." Nikolai nodded, beads of sweat trickling from his forehead.
Caesar diverted his attention to his bloody attire and gloves. A grimace of discomfort emerged on his face, and he strolled off, proceeding off to his master bedroom.
Nikolai watched him, and as soon as he was out of sight, he exhaled deeply, as if he'd been holding his breath all the while. "I'm going to die of a heart attack someday, I swear!"
Among werewolves, there was what they called 'ranking status.' A system that ranked alphas, betas, and omegas.
There were the Supreme Alphas, the highest of the beings who were completely above standard alphas, very well known as pureblooded alphas. Standard Alphas even obeyed their commands.
Then there were the betas, the ones without scent. They had it hard as they were basically viewed as useless. They were unfit for taking an alpha's knot, didn't bear scents, and were incapable of producing pheromones.
Following them were the omegas, the weakest of them all. Just like supreme alphas and standard alphas, they produced pheromones and were capable of taking an alpha's knot. One could say, they were made for alphas.
Nikolai himself was a standard alpha, but he was below Caesar because, unlike him, Caesar was a supreme alpha.
"Yuri!" He threw his head back, taking a glance at the supposed Yuri, ascending the last two stairs to the second floor.
Yuri was a man in his early thirties with blonde-colored eyebrows and hair that fell slightly over his face. His height wasn't more than one hundred and eighty centimeters, and in terms of body size, he was in the lean category. Unlike Nikolia, he was a beta.
"Did Caesar say he would bury me six feet underground again?" he asked, amused.
Nikolai frowned at him. "Don't joke like that. He might do it this time around."
"Relax. As much as I may mess things up often, Caesar would never kill me," Yuri said, knocking their shoulders together. "I am that important to him, his consigliere."
He stepped into the room and ventured toward the bed where Adeline lay. His face crumple into a frown as he examined her, and he reached out his hand to touch her forehead.
"She'll be fine," he said, confident.
————
The sound of a shattering vase reverberated through the entire office, and the two men in fine working suits flinched, their eyes taking a glimpse of the old man, who was furious.
He was Dimitri's father. Gray eyes, gray hair with a mix of dark healthy strands, and not over six-foot tall.
"You useless idiots! You couldn't even find one woman! One freaking woman! What the hell do I pay you for? Huh, Mikhail?" the man, Mr. Petrov shouted at them, his eyes blown wide in fury. "I asked you to bring her back, and you let her escape. It is five in the evening, and with your two legs, you both walked in here to tell me you couldn't find her!"
"Should I be amused? Should I laugh?" he questioned, and when neither of them answered, he grabbed the glass bottle of water on his desk, throwing it at them.
Dimitri, who was in the room as well, jolted as the bottle shattered on the head of one of the men.
He looked at his father. "Dad, please calm down. You can't lose your temper because of Adeline. We'll find her. In fact, I'll look for her myself."
Mr. Petrov's shoulders heaved in deep breathing, and he ruffled his tie, taking it off. "Why did you even let her go to the hospital in the first place?" he questioned and when Dimitri couldn't give him a response, he slammed his hands on the table. "I want her back in that mansion in twenty-four hours!"
"Find. Her!" he emphasized.
Dimitri responded with a nod as he stood up from the chair and adjusted his tuxedo. He left the office, and the two men followed behind him, the other ignoring the blood dripping down his face.
"Why couldn't you apprehend her?" Arriving at the escalator, he came to an abrupt stop.
The two men lifted their heads and glanced at him.
Mikhail, whose blonde hair was a sweaty mess, replied, "She jumped out of the second floor through the window and ran off. We were not sure which route she took, but we couldn't find her no matter where we searched."
"So you are saying my wife disappeared into thin air?" Dimitri turned to look at the both of them, a disdainful glint flickering in his gray pupils.
The two men glimpsed each other and swallowed, unable to utter a word. All they could do was shamefully nod with their heads bent.
"I see." His brows creased, and he smirked to himself in annoyance. "All she had to do was sit her ass down at home, but who is Adeline if she doesn't misbehave?"
"Let's go." He stepped onto the escalator to proceed down to the last floor, and the two men moved after him, following him out of the building.
They boarded two separate cars and drove off onto the road, in search of Adeline.