Chapter 17

Henry's POV

All Henry could see was red.

In his anger he'd squeezed the phone so tightly that it had shattered within his fingers.

It now lay in pieces on the floor resembling nothing more than a pile of electrical circuits. His clothes were shredded, scattered across the room as if a tornado had stormed in.

Henry was unsure if Lizbeth had heard him smashing his fist against the glass before squeezing the life out of his phone. It had been a futile attempt to relieve some of his tension.

Through the gaps of broken glass the cold breeze of Everdale snuck in, spreading its icy touch throughout his room.

His wolf form provided a seal of protection against the cold, but any human would have already made their escape to another room. At the thought of humans, his mind drifts back to Lizbeth.

Her words kept haunting him, circling round and round in his head like a broken merry go round that couldn't stop, "He called me his mate".

A growl rips through him, his anger quickly igniting, pouncing onto the bed to rip into his pillows, imagining the face of his arch nemesis Aiden Black. 

Feathers flew everywhere but the soft image of white did nothing to calm Henry's molten anger that was quickly spreading.

His wolf was ready to kill.

He knew what he needed to do. His Father had been preparing him for this since the day he was born. The Norhaven and Everdale pack rivalry had been occurring for countless centuries. Both packs had committed atrocities across the centuries each pack claiming that the other had started it.

Henry knew deep down that it was the Norhaven pack who'd issued the first attack against Everdale.

All chances of peace had been squandered this year when the Everdale pack discovered that Norhaven had been hiring rouges to attack them. It was dirty and disgraceful. The absolute lowest that a pack could fall. The fact that Lizbeth was there made him sick to the stomach.

He jumps off the bed his eyes flicking to the forest below his window, envisioning the path he'd take. The cold northerly wind would give him the extra push he needed to arrive before dawn, and once he entered Norhaven, there was only one goal in mind.

Kill Aiden Black.

His wolf bares its teeth while his claws dig into the carpet tearing at the wool at the thought of Aiden's lifeless body lying on the floor of their pack house.

He needed to save Lizbeth, he would not leave her with him. However Henry still couldn't understand why the moon goddess had paired the two together. Lizbeth did not deserve to be mated to a monster. Truth be told, Aiden did not deserve a mate at all.

So deep in thought Henry doesn't hear his Father approaching before the door bursts open, his wolf steps back as his Father storms in his whole body emanating with fury. Henry notes that this time he hasn't got a phone pressed to his ear.

"Shift" He demands, using his Alpha authority. His hard eyes find Henry, pinning him with a cold disappointing stare.

Henry's nostril flare, growling in retaliation. This would be the third time that his Father had used his alpha authority. He had no right to command this. He needed to save Lizbeth.

He can feel his bones pushing against his skin as his mind tries to fight his Father's command. He sinks his claws into the carpet in an attempt to overpower the command. He was ready for the Alpha position but without his mate by his side, he could not receive that title.

"Shift" His Father booms, the reverberations causing the glass on his desk to rattle.

Henry gives his Father one last aggressive growl before the strain against his body becomes too much and he's forced to shift into his human form. He refuses to make eye contact as he turns, opening up his clothing drawers and pulling a pair of pants and a grey plain t-shirt with a small pink heart stitched at the bottom.

His lips sneak into a small smile, Lizbeth had stitched the heart when she was younger in a playful attempt to annoy Henry. The image of her young and smiling only fuelled his motivation to save her.

"What the hell happened" His Father demands.

Henry needed to be careful how he acted, his Father had threatened him with the pack dungeons before. It seemed that this time he could stay true to his promise.

Taking a slow deep breath, Henry finally looks up.

"Lisbeth is Aiden's mate"

Henry's fist clench instinctively at Aiden's name, he watches as his Father says nothing. The only source of acknowledgement was the shock reflected in his deep brown eyes.

"Interesting" Is all his Father says as he moves to lean against the doorway. The anger momentarily reduced to a slow simmer. "She may be the answer we've been looking for". He says after a pause glancing up at Henry, his lips spreading into a grin.

"What do you mean" Henry responds, eyeing his Father carefully. He cared for Lizbeth but to his Father she was only a lowly human, easily dispensable. To Henry, she was one of the most important parts of his life, he would do anything for her.

"She can be our spy. We could use her to infilitrate the Norhaven pack, if she's his mate then she'd have access to the packhouse she could..."

"No" Henry says standing firmly. "We are not using her as our personal spy. Didn't you hear me, she Aiden's mate, we need to rescue her from that monster".

"And we will eventually" His Father matches Henry's tone.
"But we cannot save Elizabeth without knowing their weakness, without having a plan in place.

Henry eyes his Father, not trusting him completely. But his mind was struggling to find another solution. He turns glancing out of the broken window, swallowing the lump of guilt that had formed in his throat.

It filled him with unease but he knew his Father was right. Saving Lizbeth now would ensure more harm than good.

However, if Aiden ever hurt her he'd recuse her without a second thought, worry about the consequences later.