Chapter One Hundred And Seven
There was complete pin–drop silence.
The dagger remained embedded into the elders abdomen.
There was one uniform emotion everyone was witnessing; I could see it on their faces: shock.
Thane took out the knife, and the elder fell to the ground, clutching his stomach, his with… fear.
eyes
wide
His skin… There was something weird happening to it; it seemed to be cracking as though his skin was made of porcelain, and then he shattered into pieces, leaving nothing behind but gray ashes.
That’s when the screams began.
“Axel, take her away!” Thane ordered from a distance, and Axel obeyed, immediately picking me up like I weighed nothing and placing me over his shoulders. He carried me back to the packhouse.
The others ran too; no one was bold or willing to witness what a battle with the elders would look like. People trampled over one another to escape.
There was a loud, ear–piercing scream, like one from a banshee. It was from one of the female elders who knelt before the ashes of the fallen elder.
“You cannot leave him…“, I was saying, but my words were drowned out by the turmoil. Thane was the only one left behind, with the cursed dagger in his hands. The elders, on the other side, didn’t seem as calm and untouchable as they once did.
No matter how hard I struggled, Axel wouldn’t let me down; he was strong, really strong. I couldn’t believe he was leaving Thane behind.
He took me into his room, slamming the door shut before finally placing me on my feet.
“Let me out this instant!”
“Stop fighting me, Riley. Stop now”
“I won’t,” I say, attacking him again, pounding my fist against his chest. He took both my hands in a firm grasp.
“You aren’t helping.”
“Neither are you; you should be there, or at least let me help.”
“You can’t help, and this time neither can I. He wants me here, protecting you, and that was an order.”
1/2
“Well, I don’t have a squad of elders trying to kill me, do I? He needs protection, not me.”
“You need to calm down and hear me out.”
“I am calm.”
“You definitely aren’t. Do you think I do not care for my Alpha? I would have been there if I thought there was a thing I could do.” He said, and I nodded, taking a seat. A facade for him to think I was actually calm.
“Why does it always have to be him? Why am I always left at an edge when it comes to him?”
“That’s because you care about him, and it’s okay to care, Riley.”
“What if they kill him?”
“They haven’t,” he said and then flinched; that would mean one thing.
“Thane has just been injured, hasn’t he?”
Axel could feel Thane’s emotions; he would know if he was in pain.
“Nothing he can’t handle; he is very much alive; I would know that,” Axel replied.
“So this had all been planned from the start?”
“Yes. Every single word he uttered, even when he baited them, each move had been calculated, he is no fool” Axel said, and I waited for him to explain that. “Thane was going to kill them either way, but taking them by surprise was a better strategy.
Normally, death is too simple a punishment for the elders; for an offense as grievous as this but they didn’t want to keep Thane alive; even as a human, he threatens them; he also knew they came with the cursed weapon, just in case things went out of hand.”
“And how did he know all these”
“Bailey, one of the elders informed us.
“So you believed her? What if this is all a trap?”
“She had proven herself time and again; she is the only elder Thane planned on keeping alive.”
“So she is… an insider playing informant?. What if she pretended to be that just to get information from you guys?” I asked, wondering why Thane and Axel would ever trust an elder.”
“There is something else. She… she has…” Axel hesitated.
“You will have to speak up if you want to prove your point,” I say to him, now curious due to his hesitation.
“She has a thing for Thane,” he says, and despite everything happening, a hollow ache spreads through my heart triggered by jealousy.
