Chapter 8

Harper’s POV

I nod and glance at Mason, but he looks away, not wanting to comment. He knew that’s where I got marked, since he was also at the party.

Alpha Lucas watches me for a moment before motioning for me to follow. Silently, I do, and I climb in the car when we reach it. Luckily, Mason and Alpha Lucas sit up front while I sit in the back.

I try to ignore the two men as we drive, the silence filling the car and almost becoming a suffocating force. By the time we reach the hotel, I’m practically itching to get out of the car. I jump out and make a beeline for the front doors.

I’ve barely touched the door when an arm reaches past my shoulder and grabs the handle, pulling it open.

Alpha Lucas moves past me, nearly bumps me as he enters the building, and ignores me while walking to the front desk. I huff in annoyance but try not to pay attention to him as I walk to the desk too.

The woman behind the counter smiles at Alpha Lucas before her eyes slide to me with much less joy.

“How can I help you?”

“I was here a while back and need to know if anyone other than myself had access to my room,” I tell her, keeping my eyes off of the Alpha at my side.

The woman blinks before asking, “How long ago?”

“June of 2024. It was room 301 under the name Harper Lewis,” I tell her. I can’t remember the man from that night, but I remember the room number. It was supposed to be my safe haven during the ridiculous party Sierra hosted. “Did anyone else get a key to that room or was anyone else given permission to enter the room?”

Again, the woman stares at me, and I sigh. I know hotels this prestigious usually keep records, especially when there’s a possibility the customer will book again.

“I’ll check. Give me one moment,” the receptionist says, glancing at Alpha Lucas before turning to her computer. As she taps away at her keyboard and clicks her mouse, I barely keep myself from tapping my fingers against the counter.

In fact, I shove my hands into my pockets with each passing minute that she searches her database.

“Harper Lewis, you said?”

“Yes, room 301.”

The woman nods and looks back up at me, “Room 301 was a room booked in June of 2024 under this name, but there is a note attached by the employee who made the reservation. It says that a woman requested an extra key to room 301 be made for her sister, Harper., because she lost her key The room was then co-listed under the name Sierra Lewis to prevent further trouble during the night.”

“So, you gave her a room key?” I ask, irritated.

“One of the employees did, yes. Is there a problem?”

Her words and slight attitude confirm my suspicions. Whatever happened that night was because Sierra was up to something. I’m not surprised, and neither am I relieved.

“Have you or any of the other employees ever seen future Luna Sierra here with a strange man?” I ask. She sent someone into my room, which means she probably knows the man. If she knows him, then she and Ruby lied about the rogue man. There’s a possibility that he’s still around or that Sierra knows where he really is.

Before the woman can answer, something touches my shoulder and grabs my attention. Alpha Lucas’s hand slides off my shoulder as he speaks, “I must leave. Warrior Rone will take you back to the pack house.”

The warrior from earlier stands a few feet away, watching the Alpha as he rushes away. Alpha Lucas must have received an urgent mind link because he and Mason are practically running to get out of the building.

Once he’s gone, I can think straight again, and I turn back to the receptionist.

“Was there any security footage during the time of my stay last year?”

“I’m sorry, but the hotel owner has the surveillance footage deleted every six months because our upper-class clients do not like when they’re recorded,” the woman states primly. She looks proud, like she’s done something worth complimenting, and it makes my blood boil.

“If there’s nothing else, you should go,” the woman adds, motioning to the front doors. “Loitering is not allowed, and since you’re not booking a room, you’ll need to leave the premises.”

Anger and disbelief fill my gut, along with a heavy, dejected feeling. The one chance I had at finding out who marked me, and they deleted the footage so no one can see what the higher-class werewolves are doing here.

I want to protest, but Warrior Rone guides me back to the front doors. As his hand presses into my back, gently moving me forward, my energy fades. The all-too familiar aching pain grows and spreads through my body as we walk.

Each step away from the hotel is a step further away from the truth of that night. Where else am I supposed to look for answers?

No one in this pack is going to admit to marking me even if Sierra and Ruby were lying about the rogue man. The more I think about it, the more doubt creeps in like an icy hand skating down my spine.

“Harper!”

When I look up, I find Nora running toward me. I look around, only finding forest around us. Where had she come from?

“I heard that you were locked in the Alpha’s office and caught,” she hisses. “Was it that bitch, Sierra?”

I glance back at Warrior Rone, who coughs and turns away to hide the shocked expression on his face. He’s probably not used to hearing someone curse the future Luna.

“It doesn’t matter, but I do have a question for you,” I lie, taking her hand and squeezing it. “Do you remember any other people who were kicked out of the pack during the last year? Ruby and Sierra said the man who marked me was kicked out after me and that he’s probably dead in the rogue lands.”

Nora gasps and stares at me, studying my face for an answer that I’m not sure she’ll find.

“There were three men who left the pack after you did, but none of them right at the same time as you,” she says, pursing her lips. “They were all fit and young since they were training to be warriors, but there’s only one who was forcefully exiled out because he broke pack law.”

“Did you know any of them? I think one of them might have been the man who marked me,” I tell her, squeezing her hand again. Maybe she heard something that could be useful. Her brother is the Gamma, after all.

Nora clicks her tongue as she thinks, her face pinching with thought, “The one who was forcefully kicked out is the only one who really fits your criteria, since the others left willingly. Jack was the man who was kicked out right after you left. Should I try to find out more information from my brother?”

“If it’s not too much to ask f—”

“Healer Harper, you’re needed in the Alpha’s room urgently,” Warrior Rone interrupts, grabbing my arm and pulling me toward the pack house.

“Did something happen?”

When he doesn’t answer, I pick up the pace and soon, we’re rushing through the house and pushing into Alpha Lucas’s room. There, half on the sofa and half off, is Alpha Lucas.

The faint, metallic scent of blood fills the room as he leans against the piece of furniture. He groans, his face flushing a pale color. I don’t have to do more than look at him to see he’s in pain, so I grab the medical bag that is by the door and move quickly to his side.

“What happened?”

“Is there no other doctor?” Alpha Lucas growls when I crouch beside him. “This wound does not need her to cure.”

“Are you crazy? You wanted me to stay and be a healer and now you won’t let me help you?” I bark.

Alpha Lucas merely glares at me, but it’s Mason who speaks up, “No other doctor can heal you, only Harper.” I glance at him, but he continues, “Alpha has a rare poisonous worm in his abdomen. If he isn’t careful in pulling it out, it will cause irreversible damage to his nerves.”

I grab the hem of Alpha Lucas’s shirt and begin to pull it up, ordering, “Alpha, please take off your shirt and lie down.”