I Would Rather Be a Rogue [BL]
Chapter 68: The Moonhill Pack

Chapter 68: The Moonhill Pack

A few days earlier, a thousand miles away.

A black sports car passed through the gates of the Moonhill Pack’s pack house, parking right in front of the main mansion. The pack’s leader, Jared Thorne, was already waiting at the door, accompanied by his adviser, three Elders, and two pretty Omegas, all ready to welcome the distinguished guests. It wasn’t every day that someone from a supreme pack came to visit, let alone an heir!

"As we discussed," Kade muttered to his best friend, Fenwick Frostfang, who was sitting next to him in the passenger seat, before opening the door. Fenwick - or Fen, as he was called by most - just nodded his head in response, and they both got out of the car.

"Welcome to the Moonhill Pack!" Jared bowed his head, a polite smile plastered on his face. "How was your journey?"

"It went smoothly, thank you."

The road wasn’t all that long, anyway. While the Bloodmoon and the Moonhill Packs were a fair distance apart, Kade only stopped by on his way back from his business at the Silver Claw Pack. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have a good enough excuse to justify traveling such a distance in person.

"That’s great to hear. Let’s go inside first, we prepared some refreshments." Jared gestured at the door, bowing once again. Although he and Kade were around the same age, and he was already a pack’s leader, while Kade was ’only’ an heir, the power gap between their two packs was so wide they weren’t even worth comparing. With one word from Kade, the Moonhill Pack could end up deep in trouble (or worse), thus everyone was incredibly nervous...

Only the Omegas were a bit excited. If they could catch Kade’s eye, or even that of the other Alpha who was with him, it would be a great opportunity for them! So, they started batting their lashes as they tossed Kade and Fen bashful glances.

Glances that Kade didn’t return, of course. And even Fen only smiled with amusement, before moving his gaze back to the front. Although, unlike Kade, he was still unmated, they didn’t come here to flirt. He had to focus on his task first...

And besides, who knew how long the relations between the Bloodmoon and the Moonhill Packs would remain cordial? Considering that the Bloodmoon’s future Luna was a Moonhill Pack’s runaway...

They followed the Moonhill Pack’s representatives to a garden terrace. Since the weather was nice, the lunch was served outside. There was a selection of sandwiches, tarts, pastries, both sweet and savory, and cakes, all arranged neatly on the plates. As for drinks, there was coffee, tea, and chilled white wine to choose from. It was rather nice, both the location and the snacks, it was clear that the Moonhill Pack put some effort into preparing it, but for the two Alphas from the Bloodmoon, it wasn’t anything special.

Still, Kade took a good look around as he sat down, and didn’t shy from testing all sorts of snacks prepared. Ordinary as it all was, it was the former pack of his cute little mate, where he was born and grew up. Of course Kade was curious about everything!

"Ahem!" All of a sudden, Jared cleared his throat loudly, calling for attention. He was trying to be patient all this while, but enough was enough! He was the pack’s leader, for Goddess’ sake, and yet he was being completely ignored, with Kade paying no attention to him, aside from the short exchange at the beginning! How could he possibly endure it?

He came to regret it a bit a moment later, when Kade’s dark eyes turned to him, now focusing on him so intensely that Jared felt as if the man might burn holes through his head, but he wouldn’t be intimidated so easily. Or even if he were, he wouldn’t let that show.

"So, Kade Blackstone. May I call you Kade?"

"I would prefer you to call me Mr. Blackstone," Kade smiled widely. "Or Young Master."

’Or your ex-mate’s future mate,’ but Kade didn’t say that out loud. It was too early for this reveal, and there were better ways to do that.

Jared’s mouth twitched, but he had no choice but to oblige. "Then, Mr. Blackstone. May I ask you, what do we owe the honor for?"

"Well, the honor is very much undeserved..." Kade started, but was interrupted by Fen’s sudden cough, reminding him to at least pretend to be nice. For now. Kade rolled his eyes in response, but changed his tone as he continued, "We have received a request from one of the nearby packs regarding the issue of your missing pack member, and as we were passing by the area, we decided to stop by to investigate..."

"Ah." At the mention of Felix, Jared stirred in his seat uncomfortably, his jaw clenching and his fists tightening.

None of which escaped the attention of Kade’s purple black eyes. He leaned forward over the table, his eyes narrowing as he impaled Jared with his intense stare. "Since you’ve reported him as missing, I assume you have sufficient proof that he didn’t voluntarily go rogue?"

"Well..." Jared exchanged glances with his adviser and the Elders. "We have strong reasons to believe his disappearance wasn’t voluntary, yes."

"Mhm?" Kade only lifted his brows questioningly.

Silence hung over the table for a long while, disturbed only by the chirping of the birds and distant chatter coming from other parts of the pack house. The atmosphere around the table was so tense that the Moonhill Pack members didn’t even dare to breathe too loud, they were just waiting for Kade to say something, perhaps change the topic...

But Kade wouldn’t. He was clearly waiting for their so-called reasons, so eventually, Jared had no choice but to speak up again. "First of all, all of his things were left behind. His car, his clothes, his phone, his documents, things his parents left behind... If he were to run away on his own, he would surely take them with him, don’t you think?"

Of course, not EVERYTHING was left behind. All of Felix’s money was gone, his account wiped clean, coincidentally right around the time he went missing, but naturally, Jared didn’t mention that part. He was trying to convince Kade, not to reveal the truth.

"There is also no reason for him to want to leave the pack. As you might have heard, the missing Omega is Felix Embermane, the only child of our former leader. Naturally, considering who his father is, Felix’s status within the pack is high."

Except that it was only on paper. The room he was assigned might have matched his status, but the treatment he received from the pack members did not. However, once again, Jared omitted that fact.

Instead, he moved on to his final argument.

"And on top of that..." he paused for a moment, giving Kade a serious look. "What I’m about to tell you hasn’t been officially announced, so I hope you will keep it a secret. For Felix’s safety. Because, you see, Mr. Blackstone... Felix Embermane is my fated mate, and the future Luna of the Moonhill Pack."