Three people offered to sacrifice their brothers for another update so as promised....
(For legal reasons, this is a joke)
Ares, get back to the Pack House NOW, I hear Cain's voice through our mindlink, and can feel his anxiety through our bond.
What's going on? I ask, and Axel must have received a mindlink from Cain too, because he transforms his arm and fist into metal and scans our surroundings intensely.
Phillip was found dead by the guard who was supposed to replace his post for border patrol, he responds. Phillip was a relatively strong pack member, one of the top warriors we have. Whoever killed him had to have been exceptionally strong in order to subdue him. We are working on securing the border right now to see if whoever killed him is still around. Go back to the pack house NOW.
No, I respond indignantly as Axel and I head back to the territory. I'm going to help you secure the border.
No, Ares! Cain bellows, and I can feel his anger burning our bond hot. Whoever killed him was strong enough to tear him limb from limb. He's dangerous. You are going to go directly to the pack house and wait for me to return.
I can't help the laugh that escapes me, and Axel looks at me curiously, but then goes back to intensely checking our surroundings as we walk back. Good luck with that, Alpha. Let me know how that works out for you.
Ares, go home, he says, and uses an Alpha command.
Snorting, I respond, I'm an Alpha, Cain. That bullshit doesn't work on me anymore. Now make this easy on both of us and tell me where you are.
Go. Home, He says sternly and I ignore him. Fine, so that's how it's going to be.
I mindlink Zach, Where was Phil found?
He immediately responds, Near the northeast checkpoint, why didn't you just ask Alpha Cain? I don't answer, and Zach releases a string of swear words before saying, Dammit, Luna.
Don't worry, I respond. I won't tell him who told me.
Thank you, Luna, He says in relief, and adds after a moment, Be careful.
"Um, Luna, the pack house is this way," Axel calls out when I start heading east.
"I'm not going to the pack house, Beta," I say, challenging him to question my authority.
Axel groans. "Seriously? Just go back to the pack house with me and we can both stay on Cain's good side."
I can't help but chuckle. "I've been on Cain's bad side since I met him."
Sighing, Axel follows me as we change direction. "I was there, you know. When you met Cain."
I tried to recall who all accompanied Cain on the trip, but I could only remember the rage I felt that day. "Hmm. How soon did you realize that you were going to have your hands full babysitting me?"
Axel snorted. "I'm not a babysitter," He pauses before answering. "As soon as I saw you throw two knives at the strongest Alpha on the continent without hesitating."
"You don't happen to remember if they ended up impaling him, do you?" I ask curiously.
He rolls his eyes. "One managed to scrape his shoulder. Think he was too in shock to comprehend what was going on."
"Nice," I say with a grin. It wasn't much, but it would do.
"It was also at that time," Axel said after a moment. "That I realized how perfect you are for him."
I quirk an eyebrow up. "You thought I would be good for Cain because I tried to kill him?"
"Because you were just as strong as him. Even before you were an Alpha, there is no one who could have met Cain's ferocity... Besides you," He says softly. "I can see why the Moon Goddess paired the two of you. If Cain was given a weaker mate... I don't think they would be able to handle his wolf. Blood Lake... wouldn't have been able to respect a weaker wolf. The night you took the lashes for me..." He swallows thickly, "The pack submitted to you. Not just because you were Cain's mate, but because they respected you as a warrior."
"What if I had been given a different mate?" I ask quietly.
Axel's eyebrows furrow as he looks at me. "Do you want a different mate?"
"Of course not," I said quickly. "You just said that Cain couldn't have another person as a mate because they would be too weak. Do you think the same for me?"
"I'm not sure," Axel says after pausing. "I was worried for you at first... I mean, you two would fight so brutally... The pack wasn't sure you would stay with him... Especially after the whippings. I... There was a point in time I... Never mind," He cuts himself off quickly.
"No, tell me," I say, my curiosity burning. "What is it?"
"The night you escaped..." He whispered. "I let you."
"What?" I ask, stopping in my tracks, and Axel stops walking too.
"You know I was supposed to be watching the security footage... I saw you escape. Gave you a head start," He shakes his head, ashamed.
"Why?" I whisper, horrified. If Cain knew that, I had no doubt he would rip his heart out.
"What Cain was doing... Locking you up... It wasn't right," He said quietly. "I saw you wasting away in that cell, every day for a month. When you were getting your lashes, your spine was popping out of your skin so much I could count every bone," He said, mortified. "I thought you were going to die in there. I thought if you escaped, you would be happier. Healthier. I thought I was helping you..." His voice trails off, and his eyes turn glossy.
I throw my arms around him.
"Thank you," I say, touched that he literally risked his life to save mine. "I think... I think if you hadn't done that, you may have been right..." And he was. Cain and I were so stubborn, I would have died in that cell and he would have let me so he didn't have to admit he was wrong.
Axel pulls away abruptly after a minute. "We're almost to the post, let's go."
I nod, and after a few minutes of walking, I see a cluster of wolves, all guards and warriors. As I approach, they extend their necks in a formal showing of submission and acknowledgment of me.
They part as I walk through, and I see a body they were surrounding. Well, what used to be a body. Cain was right. Whoever did this completely tore them apart.
Axel swore under his breath, and I was inclined to agree. I knelt over the parts, picking up an arm and examining it. "Whoever did this was in their wolf form," I mutter. "It wasn't with a weapon; the tears are too jagged. It was with canines."
Axel nodded, and looked like he was about to ask a question when he was interrupted.
"I told you to go back to the pack house," Cain snarled as he walked up, Lucas and the Delta, Elijah, flanking both sides.
I shrugged. "And I told you no. Now that I'm here, I may as well help."
Cain grinded his teeth, and his eyes were pitch black. You don't want to fight in front of the pack, do you, babe? I ask innocently though the mindlink.
"Fine," He hissed, clearly not wanting to deal with a violent mate while trying to calm the pack and secure the borders. "You'll search with me." He gave the rest of the warriors different sections of the borders to patrol, and a few of them were left to bury the body. Luckily, Phillip was mateless, which would make telling the family easier.
Cain and I took the immediate area, hoping to find the killer sticking around, maybe looking for a confrontation. I summoned a sword in case if we were lucky enough to come across him.
"Why would someone come near the border just to kill a guard and leave?" I asked Cain as we treaded through the forest.
"I don't know," Cain sighed. "To cause fear? I'm not sure what kind of message they were trying to send."
"They took a huge risk," I muttered, sniffing as I tried to catch a scent, but couldn't smell anyone. "Attacking a Blood Lake guard in broad daylight. They were sure that nobody would see."
"You think it was someone in the pack?" Cain asks in surprise.
I shrug. "I'm saying it's a possibility. They had to have known that he would be the only guard patrolling the area. Only someone who knows the rotations would know."
"They could have been watching for a while," Cain pointed out. "Figuring out the schedules, how the shift changes work."
I shake my head. "That doesn't make sense. They wouldn't be able to conceal themselves well enough to be close enough to the border to see the guards without they themselves being discovered."
I pause.
"Unless they had the Gift of invisibility."
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