HUNTED-Chapter 338: Rubble (1)

Aldric didn’t know how long he stared at the rubble that was left of his house, but for the first time in a while, he actually felt cold. With the wet mud seeping into his jeans and the wind blowing across his bare arms, goosebumps started to ripple across his body. But what did it matter?

He stared at the home he once made with his bare hands. The home where his family lived. His eyes blurred and unblurred from the tears streaming down his face.

Emma.. His beautiful, kind-hearted mate, his wife.

Rex.. His brave, fun-loving son.

Elissa.. His stubborn, painfully blunt, angelic daughter.

His gaze fell to the wooden swing dangling from one of the trees. The ghosts of memories started to plague his mind, but he shook his head, not willing to comprehend what was before him. They couldn’t be dead. They couldn’t.

He searched for his bond again, but there was nothing. Nothing telling him of Emma’s closeness, nothing telling her that she was even there. He didn’t feel any connection like it had gone cold.

"Aldric." His head whipped to the side after Harry shook his shoulder. Aldric smacked his arm away, feeling like he might rip the rogue’s arm off if he touched him.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

His chest rumbled in warning, eyes burning a bright blue before his body sagged again.

"Aldric," Harry said again. He had a feeling this wasn’t the first few times he tried calling him. "I don’t want to give you false hope or something, but let’s check everything first before making conclusions."

For fiery hair, that rogue had a good head sat on his shoulders; he could also remain calm and think clearly when things were tough. Well, it was tough for him, not Harry. Aldric’s eyes moved to the rogue, who remained at a good distance from him now. He was wary but also encouraging.

He was a good lad. But his words were not comforting. His wife..

"I can’t.. feel her." Aldric’s voice cracked. His breath was ripped away from him again from voicing the reality that his mate was dead.

Seconds ticked by without Harry responding. What was there to say?

"And your kids? What about them? I can look for them if you want?" Harry asked. His voice was cold, emotionless. Aldric looked up at him with anger boiling in his veins, but the moment he saw the stoic expression on Harry’s face, he realised the rogue had experienced or witnessed similar things before.

He was stoic, but his eyes were guarded.

"No," Aldric growled. He inhaled deeply, searching deep for whatever strength and willpower he had left and pushed off from the ground. Putting one foot in front of the other, he started walking down the trail to his home.

Each step was heavy, and his body felt broken, fatigued to the point he wanted to curl up in bed and not rise again. He knew Emma was dead. His mate was dead. The bond.. how could he not have noticed the bond?

His wolf had been so quiet. Though his wolf had never been a big speaker anyway, and when he transformed into this beast, he was quieter. Had changing into this form severed the connection between him and his mate?

Aldric hadn’t noticed anything was amiss.

Or maybe he’d been so wracked with guilt, so self-involved, he wasn’t taking note of the bond. Guilt weighed heavily on him again. He was a selfish bastard.

His wolf would have known, though. He had to have known. His temper burned wildly in his chest again, this time directed at the beast within.

"Callan?" Aldric called to his wolf, a vicious growl echoing in their mind.

Callan didn’t respond besides a low whimper like he had been like that for a while. Aldric’s heart seemed to shatter all over again. He tripped on flat ground, but Harry’s hand shot out, catching him before he let himself collapse on the floor again. This time he did not smack him away.

Aldric was too far gone in his own grief to notice anything amiss. Besides his fucking house being burnt down. Aldric kicked bits and pieces aside, trying to get the scent of one of his children. Their scents were barely there. It was old.

Aldric passed through what used to be the kitchen. Some of the furniture was still there, burnt to a crisp and mostly in pieces. The large cook still stood, though. He opened it, and the hinge fell to the ground. Letting go, he noted the inside and snarled.

It was almost spotless.

"It might have been an electrical fault or gas leak," Harry said, though his voice wavered slightly like he, too, doubted his words.

"How old do you think this is? When do you think the house burnt down?" Aldric asked as his mind started spinning.

Was it the hunters? Did they do this? Did they take him and then burn the house down? Were they all in it?

He kept walking through the rubble, going to the living room, but most of the house had collapsed in on itself, with only a few beams holding parts of the structure up. The ceiling from the floor above had fallen onto the ground floor.

"I can’t tell, Al. I’m sorry, I’m not an expert. Es would have been real helpful right now. She’d tell you if this was intentional or not-"

"She’s not fucking here, so what use is it mentioning her?" Aldric snapped. His eyes glowed a bright blue, and his chest rumbled. Callan was close to the surface.

His wolf had been whimpering, but the fucking betrayer had known longer than him that their mate was dead. He didn’t tell him, and now, he was ahead in his grieving cycle, angry, seeking vengeance, wanting nothing more than death on those who took his mate and children from them.

"Why didn’t you tell me?" Aldric growled at his wolf, but Callan snapped back at him, acting more feral than before, making him wonder if he was on the verge of becoming a type 1 rogue.