Bride of the Cursed Alpha - Chapter 69: Chapter 69

Lucien POV
I hated leaving Auren like this and wanted to fucking murder those who created disturbance in my perfect moment. But Tarian said this was an emergency.
I reached the pack border on the south and the scent of blood was thick in the air. They must have killed a few rogues. A large number of warriors were already assembled there. “What’s wrong?” I practically growled at Tarian, my skin lingering with the sweet touch of Auren, my mind still flooded with images of her lips around my cock. Damn it. I adjusted my cock as I walked toward the crowd. I stepped over the rough terrain as the warriors parted for me. But my instincts coiled as I neared the place. And then I saw it.
There was a body sprawled lifeless at the base of a poplar tree with its limbs twisted unnaturally. Blood pooled around it, some soaking the earth beneath it. Shocked, I stared at the body. The victim was a male. Max, to be precise. The boy who fought Auren in the ring at the arena. A shudder ran down my body. I knew that with his murder, the pack people may blame Auren. I had to do something and do it quickly.
“Who found him?” I asked as I stepped near it.
“The morning patrol warriors,” Tarian said.
It was unusual to find a dead body in or around my pack, and so this was quite a bold act from someone.
I lowered my eyes to his body and studied it. From the looks of it, it seemed like there was no sign of struggle. There were no claw marks, no bites, not an iota of resistance from him. His claws were intact, which meant that he didn’t have the chance to attack his murderer.
There was just a single, deep wound slashed across his throat. It was precise and efficient, planned.
I clenched my jaw as I crouched beside the corpse. I scanned the body in order to find clues. Who the hell had the guts to kill Max and then leave his body on my pack’s border? Rogues were common and my warriors dealt with them. But this—it felt different. Calculated. A message rather than a kill.
“Where are his parents?” I asked Tarian as I brushed his throat. The drying blood had caked over there.
“We have already informed them. They had gone to meet their relatives in a different pack,” Tarian informed me.
Tense, my eyes ran down his body and I noticed a piece of paper jutting out of his pants pocket. It was so small that it could be easily missed against his white pants. I pulled it out and opened it. I froze when I saw what was drawn on it—a golden moon shackled in thorny vines, bisected by a jagged claw.
Fuck.
A dangerous growl came out of my throat which belonged to Remus, and my warriors inclined their neck in submission.
It was the same mark at Auren’s back. My eyes darkened as all I could think of was to kill whoever committed this murder. What was that person trying to message me? That he would kill my Auren? How dare he mess with me? I would tear his guts out of his stomach and hang him with that. On this tree!
Something rustled in the breeze, carrying the faintest scent of something… familiar. Something I couldn’t place due to mayhem in my head. I turned swiftly, my muscles tensing, but didn’t find anything. I needed answers and I was going to get them.
Straightening up, my gaze dropped back to Max’s corpse. Remus growled inside my head again. ‘Whoever killed Max is after our mate. Find him or her. I will kill that bastard!’ He was getting so aggressive and agitated that all he saw was bloodbath. And I knew if I unleashed him right now, he could kill my warriors.
‘Tonight we run around the border, Remus,’ I promised him. ‘We have to mark our territory again.’
Remus was fiercely territorial. Ever since Auren had come into our life, he had become dangerously territorial. Auren was ours. No one could take her away from us.
“What do we do with this body?” Tarian asked me. He was just as tense. It had been ages since any of our pack members were murdered in such a gruesome manner.
I was furious. How dare they touch my pack members? Then they had the audacity to use him to send me a message?
“Take him to the morgue,” I gritted. “And I want a team of warriors to hunt this murderer. Get every video camera’s feed and study it. For the next three days, other than his parents no one is allowed to leave the pack or come into the pack until the investigations are over!”
“Yes Alpha,” Tarian replied as I quickly went out from there, my mind into an overdrive of possible scenarios. As I walked to my car, Tarian followed me. “When do you think he was killed?” I asked him.
“I noticed his absence in the training,” he said. “He hadn’t come for the last two or three days, ever since Luna Auren defeated him.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Do you think he was humiliated because of her?”
“I think so. He couldn’t accept his defeat from her. Especially because she isn’t a trained warrior.”
Something inside me went black. What if she was attacked next by one of our own pack members? She wasn't safe in my own pack? I clenched my fists so hard that my knuckles turned white. “I need full security for Auren at all times. Am I clear?”
“Yes Alpha!”
“She is not to be left alone when she steps out of the house. Ask Vivi to taste every food before she serves it to Auren!”
Tarian jerked his head back at my orders. He stared at me like I had grown two heads. I had never been so overprotective about anyone, and so I could sense his suspicion. Though he didn’t voice his doubt, I knew that he was going to ask me about it soon. I hadn’t revealed it to anyone that Auren was my mate. I think I made the right decision. If this was what happened when I didn’t reveal it, what would happen when I actually declared it? A chill ran down my spine. She was my only weak spot—my life and my strength.
Remus would go moon crazy without her. He kept finding ways to go near her. His restlessness was increasing by the day. I was afraid that if I delayed marking her, he would simply break free and mark her in his beastly form. And that made me nervous as hell.