Alpha's mate is a male?!?-Chapter 187: Lila Trapped.

On the way from the morgue, the low hum of the engine fills the car as Ace grips the steering wheel, his mind racing through everything that has unfolded.

The city outside is alive with movement, but inside the car, tension thickens the air like a storm waiting to break.

Rica and Max sit in the back, their expressions unreadable, both lost in their own thoughts.

Ace exhales sharply before grabbing his phone and dialing Kieran’s number. The moment the call connects, he speaks first.

"Hey, sorry I couldn’t pick up your calls earlier." His voice is steady, but there’s an edge of exhaustion beneath it.

The response is instant, Kieran’s frustration bleeding through the speaker.

"Not even a message? Do you know how worried I was? I was actually leaving right now, going home to see what was happening!"

Ace’s grip on the steering wheel tightens. He understands Kieran’s frustration, he really does, but the sharpness in his tone, the way his voice raises, grates on Ace’s nerves.

"I get that you’re frustrated because you were waiting for an update, but don’t talk to me like that! Stop yelling in my ears."

That is it, the line goes dead.

Ace blinks, his breath catching in his throat. For a second, he just stares at the phone screen, disbelief settling in like a heavy weight on his chest.

"Did he just fucking hang up on me?!" he says, his voice laced with disbelief and irritation.

His frustration boils over, and without thinking, he slams his fist against the steering wheel.

The sound echoes inside the car, making Rica and Max exchange uneasy glances.

Max clears his throat before speaking carefully. "Maybe he’s next to her."

Ace shakes his head immediately. "No, he’s not. I can tell because his frustration was real."

Rica leans forward, eyes flicking toward the phone still in Ace’s grip. "Come on, call him again. He needs to know about this."

Ace takes a deep breath, forcing himself to push down his own irritation. He redials the number, his jaw clenching as he listens to the ringing.

The call doesn’t go through.

"Great. Just fucking great," he mutters under his breath, tossing the phone onto the passenger seat.

But just a second later, he picks it up again. He quickly dials another number, this time calling the detective head. The call barely rings before a voice picks up on the other end.

"Mr. Carter?" The voice comes.

"Uh... hello, Sam. Is your boss around?"

Sam sounds slightly distracted as he responds, "Yeah, in his office. He said Lucy and he are figuring things out, so no disturbances. So if you want me to go to him... sorry, but I can’t."

Ace’s jaw tightens further. His patience is wearing dangerously thin.

He ends the call, his frustration now bordering on anger.

"What the hell is Kieran up to?" he mutters. His grip on the wheel flexes, his knuckles going white. "Is Lila getting in his head, or is he just that stubborn?"

He turns to Max and Rica.

"One more question, guys. Can you get Lila’s spirit out of that body it’s in?"

Rica hesitates for only a second before nodding. "Yes, that’s easy. But the problem is, once the spirit is out... it’s hard to control it. Maybe even harder to destroy it once it’s free from a body."

Max leans slightly toward Rica, exchanging a glance with her before speaking. "Babe, what if we have her in our cabin? If we set up the place with magic that can restrain the spirit, we could keep it from escaping."

Rica’s eyes light up slightly at the suggestion. "That... actually could work. We can lace the entire place with spells that will keep her trapped. It might be the only way."

Ace exhales slowly, running a hand through his hair. "Okay. So the only real problem we have now is getting her to the cabin."

Silence stretches for a moment as they all think.

Then Max shakes his head. "Honestly, we can’t kidnap her. It’s not possible."

Ace clicks his tongue in frustration. He knows that much. He knows how difficult this will be. But they have no other option.

"Then maybe we lure her instead," Max says, the gears in his mind turning. "Something like a summon. Think about it... right now, Lila can’t as strong as she was in her own body, she can’t be. That’s not her original form, and to make it worse, it’s a human’s body. A human body isn’t built to withstand dark magic. So right now, other magic could overpower hers. That has to be why she’s playing these little games instead of acting directly."

Rica slowly nods, catching on to where Max is going with this. "So, if we combine the right kind of magic, we can summon her magic. And she’ll have no choice but to come."

That’s how their destination changes.

Without hesitation, Ace turns the car around, heading toward Max and Rica’s cabin.

The streets blur past, but his grip on the steering wheel remains firm, his knuckles turning white as the weight of everything settles in his chest.

His thoughts are a whirlwind, What’s wrong with Kieran, just now when he hanged up on him, was it intentional or something else is at play.

The very idea sends a chill down his spine.

His mind rushes back to Lila. He’s seen Lila’s cunning firsthand, witnessed the destruction she was capable of in her original form.

But now, she’s inside someone else’s body, a human body, one that isn’t naturally meant for her powers.

That means she isn’t as strong as before, but it also means she’s more unpredictable. Desperate. Dangerous.

In the backseat, Max and Rica exchange glances, their expressions unreadable, but the tension in their bodies is unmistakable.

They aren’t talking, but Ace knows they’re thinking the same thing. This situation is spiraling faster than any of them anticipated.

The drive doesn’t take long, but every second feels stretched, the weight of their discovery pressing down on them.

As soon as Ace parks in front of the cabin, Max and Rica don’t waste a second. They leap out of the car and head inside, their movements quick and precise.

Ace stays back for a moment, exhaling sharply. His hands remain on the steering wheel, gripping it tighter than necessary.

His heartbeat is loud in his ears, his thoughts racing too fast for him to make sense of them.

This could be a mistake, or it could be not.

His phone vibrates, startling him.

He glances down, his stomach twisting when he sees the name flashing on the screen.

Kieran.

He hesitates.

The memory of their last conversation lingers, the frustration in Kieran’s voice, the way he hung up abruptly.

Ace had barely had time to process his own emotions, and now Kieran was calling him again.

A part of him wants to ignore it, to let it ring out. But something in his gut tells him that this is not the time for their personal problems.

With a deep breath, he steps away from the car, answering the call but saying nothing.

"Baby, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry." Kieran’s voice rushes through the speaker, "I don’t know what’s happening. I know you were busy, and that’s probably why you didn’t pick up, but I just..." He exhales, voice shaky. "I felt this frustration that I couldn’t control, like something was pushing me to be."

Ace remains silent, letting Kieran’s words settle. He isn’t sure how to respond, at least not yet.

Kieran continues, filling the quiet. "Are you guys doing something? Because she looks restless, like something is irritating her under her skin."

Ace’s brows furrow. "Yeah, we are." He hesitates for only a second before delivering the truth. "Kieran, the woman that has been surrounding you is Lila."

A sharp pause.

"What?" Kieran’s voice is sharp, filled with disbelief.

"Lucy isn’t just Lucy," Ace says, his voice steady. "She is Lila. Lila’s spirit is inside her body."

The silence on the other end is different this time. Heavy. Unsettling.

Kieran moves. Ace can hear the rustling, the hurried footsteps, the sound of a chair scraping against the floor.

"Shit!"

Ace straightens immediately. His entire body tenses. "What?"

"She’s gone." Kieran’s voice is strained, laced with a mix of panic and anger. "She was here, just a second ago."

Ace doesn’t hesitate. "Maybe she’s heading here," he says quickly. "Max and Rica were summoning her spirit."

Kieran lets out a sharp breath, and Ace can practically feel the intensity of his emotions through the phone. "Ace, do you know how risky that is?" His voice is urgent, almost desperate. "Where are you? Stay away from her. Where are you?"

Ace exhales, the weight of Kieran’s worry settling deep in his chest. It’s not just concern. He can hear what Kieran isn’t saying: I don’t want even a single bruise on you.

"Their cabin," Ace answers.

The line goes dead.

Ace lowers the phone slowly, staring at the screen for a moment. The message is clear.

Kieran is on his way.