The Beast's Possession
14: Keep this a secret.

**Killian

pov**

The phone call lasted for a while. All I did was remain silent and listen. My calls, messages and voicemails still were ignored, so I stopped sending more.

For now, I would allow Milly and her father to burn in fear for what would happen if my bride had not returned by the time I was back home. Best of all, I wasn't that far away from the pack to give them enough time to come up with another stupid excuse.

I couldn't believe everything I was hearing, but most of all, the 'breeding machine' comment. I wanted children, yes, loads of them, but I never mentioned that I would take in a woman to make her my breeder. That was messed up, even for

me.

"Please don't tell this to Alpha, son. The whole pack is in panic, they're turning the territory upside down looking for her, it's really not my fault. I'm scared to think what Alpha might do to us after he finds out what happened," the old man sobbed, clearly deep in his feelings and fears.

Jonathan threw another quick glance in the rearview mirror to check my reaction and sighed. "I will have to tell him everything, dad. You know we can't keep secrets from Alpha. But, on the bright side, I think he won't flip his shit. Our Alpha is a fair and understanding man, he targets only those who are at fault so the pack definitely shouldn't worry." Jonathan spoke my mind.

We had spent so much time together that he didn't have an issue reading me. Thankfully, I didn't have to make myself known because of that, otherwise his father might have a heart attack.

"Listen, dad, I need to go now but I promise to call back in a few hours. I'll talk to Alpha and calm him down before he does something he might regret, yea? Just sit down and rest, make sure mom is okay and if the others want to run around like their asses are on fire to cover for someone who isn't even our friend - let them."

I liked his approach, straight forward and no bullshit at all. That was one of the reasons why I chose Jonathan as a person of trust. He knew how to approach every situation without freaking out, so his presence actually calmed me. "Promise? I wouldn't want innocent to suffer," the old man muttered, reluctant to end the call.

"I promise. Trust me dad, I know Alpha, I know the man he is. Raging and punishing innocent bystanders isn't in his nature. Now, calm down and rest. Can you promise me that?" Glancing at the mirror, I saw an amusement dance in Jonathan's eyes. He knew something? My driver was so adamant to end this call, surely he had something on his mind.

As soon as the line disconnected, he took a sharp turn off the main forest road and grinned. "Hold on, Alpha, we're taking a detour. I just noticed something of interest."

Frowning, I allowed him to make the decision. For once, I wanted someone else to take the damn control and let me rest a little too. There was too much on my shoulders already, I couldn't be the strong one when I was breaking. After a couple of minutes, Jonathan pulled the car off the narrow road and killed the engine. Then, he stepped outside and opened the door for me, taking the extra step of offering me his hand as if I was a woman and he was playing the role of a gentleman.

"Alpha?" He grinned, still holding out his hand.

Laughing, I decided to play along. Whatever it was, I needed a good laugh, so I grabbed his hand and let Jonathan pull me out of the car. He stood a little closer than usual and then spun me towards a direction.

At first, I couldn't figure out what he wanted or where I was supposed to be. Again, Jonathan was too close this time, instead of stepping aside, he placed his hand on the small of my back and pointed his finger at something. "There," he whispered, impossibly close to my ear.

This had to be the weirdest thing I had ever experienced. What was this? Some shitty highschool rom com?

"Where? I don't see anything," I huffed, a little uncomfortable with the closeness.

Jonathan had never acted like this, never been this weirdly touchy and always respected my personal space. I guess everything happened for the first time and for some odd reason, he felt like being close? What the fuck? "Look carefully and tell me what you see, right where I'm pointing my finger at. I know your vision is good, you should see it," he whispered, seemingly even closer. So close that his goddamn lips brushed my ear as if he was some kind of

casanova.

Alrighty, now I was so fucking uncomfortable that my skin felt like it was crawling. This behavior was so out of character for Jonathan that I didn't know what to think.

But alas, instead of confronting him, I decided to focus on what he was trying to show me. The longer I looked, the more frustrated I grew. I couldn't see shit. Until..

Until I noticed the faint trail of smoke in the distance. This forest was basically nothing but a sanctuary for wildlife, so there was no way a camper got lost and decided to sit down and chill. No one was allowed in these woods because of the few endangered species that lived here.

"Shit," I hissed, both pissed at the possibility that it was a fucking camper and a little excited that it could be her. What would be the odds for me to run into her after she escaped just a while later?

"There, you see it too," Jonathan whispered, hesitantly stepping aside and removing his hand from me.

I looked at him and grinned, instantly slapping a hand on his shoulder. "Jonathan, you're a genius. Thank you, pal, I appreciate this!"

He flinched at the nickname, but quickly masked the reaction with a forced smile and a sharp nod. Weird, he definitely was acting weird.

"Go, Alpha. It might be her, so don't waste any time with me," he muttered, looking pained.

Making a mental note, I promised myself to have a private talk with Jonathan later. Something was seriously bugging him and I would be a terrible Alpha, even worse friend if I didn't try to help him.

Pulling him into a quick hug, I thanked him again and then took off, leaving him behind still hearing his promise to wait for my return, alone or not.

A slight smile tugged at my lips as I walked in the direction of smoke. When it got a little thicker, I raised my hands to show I was no threat and approached with no ill intentions. If it was my future wife who camped here in the woods, she would see me from afar.

Getting even closer, I couldn't hear any movement, so at least no one was trying to run. I took that as a good sign and kept moving forward only to reach the camp and stand face to face with a massive, angry-looking wolf.

The animal was breathtaking. Those deep, blue eyes paired with brown fur that I was dying to touch made it look just as beautiful as threatening. And while the aura that surrounded the animal was all-consuming, what caught me off guard the most was the sheer size of the wolf.

As an Alpha, I myself had a wolf that towered over others and I had met many just as large wolves, but never one larger than mine. I just stood frozen on the spot, my hands still raised in surrender.

Under different circumstances, I would have shifted and forced the wolf to submit, but this was no regular situation. The wolf was young, maybe a couple of months, and going against one as young was a stupid idea. Especially since the wolf would only keep growing and the youngsters were known to hold grudges.

Today wasn't the day I signed my death certificate. Today was the day I let someone else lead.