MAXIMUS
I knew Starlette didn’t poison Lauren, but what was even more frustrating was that I didn’t know how to prove her innocence. It hurt me that I had to order her to be taken to the dungeon, but I only did what I had to do.
She was being accused of poisoning Lauren, and it didn’t matter if I believed or not; it was just the right thing to do at the moment. It was the pack’s rules, mate or not.
Although I was beyond glad that her innocence had been proven, I hated that it had to be Lucius who proved it. She liked him now, and she hated me. She wouldn’t even talk to me; she wouldn’t allow me to explain myself to her, and that was frustrating.
I paced back and forth in front of the room, banging on the door at regular intervals, with frustration pulling at my chest, hoping she would finally open the door and allow me to speak to her.
She was driving me crazy; thoughts of her were driving me crazy, and I didn’t know what to do with all these feelings.
“Nile, do you think she would ever forgive me?” I asked my wolf.
“If you were in her shoes, would you have forgiven yourself?”
I exhaled sharply, answering honestly. “I don’t know. It won’t be easy.”
“There you have your answer.”
He retreated to the back of my mind immediately, refusing to continue conversing with me. He was also annoyed at me for not standing up for her and protecting her. Ever since she was taken to the dungeon, he has not stopped trying to convince me to set her free. But I only did what was required of me as an Alpha. I couldn’t let emotions cloud my judgement.
The door creaked open, and I snapped my gaze in its direction to see my mate staring at me with wide eyes.
“Maximus.” She called breathlessly. “The prisoner. The invisible wolf. You need to get to him now!”
“What?” I was confused.
“Hurry before he escapes.”
I had a lot of questions to ask her, but I had to quickly act before it became too late. I tried to mind link the warriors stationed to guard him, but I couldn’t reach them.
“Kade, Tom. Meet me at the pack square, now.” I mind linked them on my way.
When I got there, the circle of salt had been broken and the prisoner wasn’t in sight. The guards stationed to guard him were all on the floor, passed out.
“What happened here?” I heard Kade’s voice say from behind, and I turned to look at him.
“He escaped.” I exhaled. And I had no idea how he was able to.
Immediately, I mind linked all the pack warriors and told them the situation on the ground.
“Spread out into the woods and don’t relent until you find him. He couldn’t have gone far.” I instructed.
A part of me knew that it was nearly impossible to find him as he was no longer entrapped in a salt circle. But as Starlette said, they could only remain invisible if a particular candle keeps burning. My only hope right now was for that candle to have burned out; that way, we could catch him.
We searched the woods thoroughly, over and over, but there was no sign of him anywhere.
The more we searched, the more it sank in that we had lost him, the only hope we had at finding out who the invisibles were. The only hope we had was in finding out who was after my pack. The more I thought about it, the more regret tugged at my chest. I should have pressed him more during the interrogation, even if it meant joining him in the salt circle. But all the opportunities I had were gone now.
How do I protect my people from these so-called invisibles?
We headed back to the packhouse, and the warriors that were supposed to be guarding him were now slowly regaining consciousness.
I instructed them all to be assembled before me. I crossed my arms, pacing back and forth in front of them as I asked.
“Explain yourselves. What happened?”
All I could hear was silence, and none of them was making an attempt to speak.
“Are you all deaf?!” I growled loudly. “How did the prisoner escape?”
“I don’t know what happened. It feels as though my memory was wiped.” One of them finally spoke.
“And you?” I pointed at the warrior beside him.
“I can only remember waking up in my bed this morning. I don’t remember anything that happened after that.”
I pointed at the next warrior. “I also can’t remember anything.”
“They must have been drugged.” Tom suggested. “Cups of wine were laying next to them while they were unconscious.”
I had suspected that it was an outsider who set the prisoner free. But my guess was wrong. It was an insider. We had a mole within us, and it had to be someone well-known because the warriors wouldn’t take wine from just any werewolf. Who was it?
I darted my gaze between all the other warriors present. “Someone must have seen the person who served them the wine. Ask every pack member and find out if anyone happened to see anything.”
Whoever it was was a dead wolf!
“Yes, Alpha.” They all chorused before dispersing.
I flicked my gaze at my Beta and Gamma.
“Hold the drugged warriors captive. They might regain their memories, and I don’t want whoever drugged them to come and try to finish them off.”
“Who do you think the mole could be?” Kade asked.
I shook my head. “I have no idea.”
Although I wondered how Starlette got to know that the prisoner had escaped. She was the one who gave information on who the invisibles were in the first place and how to catch them. That girl knew a lot of things.
A thought hit me, but I quickly shook my head in a desperate attempt to not entertain the dark thoughts roaming my mind.