Derek bit his lips, increasing his working pace as he walked swiftly down the hall, almost breaking out in a run but for the Anthony and Agrip that were right behind him.
Whilst he wondered how he would go about talking to Emma and asking her for help after his unfairness toward her, his ears picked on the conversation that was going on between Anthony and Agrip.
And of course, they were both discussing, or rather Anthony was filling the old man in on the events of the pack since the latter’s absence. And when he heard Anthony mention about his drunk incident and Maya’s interference, he couldn’t help but call Anthony a loud mouth.
‘Since when did the guy start talking this much?’ He muttered to himself, biting his lower lip again, wondering what Agrip would say about Emma’s role in his life. Would his mentor bark at him in disappointment, or keep calm over his foolishness. He wasn’t sure.
And so, even as he quickened his pace, he made sure his ear was attuned to the discussion going on behind him.
In the next minute, he was thinning his eyebrows when he saw Clem and Shane approaching him. But they weren’t alone. They were in the company of Shane’s father who was his father’s gamma, and Clem’s father.
What was happening? He thought, scrunching my eyebrows the more when he saw the grim look on their faces. What went wrong now?
“Good afternoon Alpha Derek.” Shane’s father greeted, causing Anthony and Agrip to stand still behind Derek, their conversations obviously forgotten.
Derek looked at the people that were in front of him, their heads bowed a bit low to show respect. If anything, it made him scared. Was his father dead? He thought.
It was true that he had been conferred the Alpha title last night but he hadn’t been called that title officially, unless his friends and he had wanted to joke around.
So the only reason why they could be calling him that was if…
“What’s going on, Caden?” Agrip asked Clem’s father, coming to stand beside Derek, interrupting Derek’s unsure thoughts. Anthony was right behind him.
“There has been another attack.” Caden replied, staring at Derek dead in the eye, like all the bad happenings in the pack was his fault.
What was Caden’s deal? Derek thought, refusing to back down or cower under the fiery gaze of his father’s beta. Caden was not the beta anymore though. His son was.
Derek didn’t think the older man deserved his respect or responsibility other than the fact that the latter was Clem’s father and a respected member of the pack.
“Attack? How? When?” Anthony queried, incredulity ringing in his voice; echoing Derek’s current thoughts. He, too, couldn’t grasp why his pack was attacked at this critical period. Was it because of the prisoner in their possession? If that was so, then it meant that the prisoner would be a strong bargaining chip. A sinister smile slithered across his lips, as he thought of ways he would utilize that.
A smile which Caden misinterpreted.
“And why would our Alpha be happy for such bad information? Did he perhaps arrange it?” Caden stated, without hesitating for a second after he had seen the smile that had besotted Derek’s lips after Anthony’s question.
This question of his left the occupants of that particular region of the long hallway in shock. They hadn’t seen it coming.
“What do you mean by that Caden?” Agrip asked, more like gritted through his teeth, when the implication of Caden’s statement dawned on him.
“Nothing much. I just want to know why he would be smiling about such bad news? Or isn’t it bad enough for him to be serious and talk about how we would curb the situation or retaliate?”
“I didn’t know smiling had become a sin.” Anthony muttered, glaring at Caden. His uneasiness about the latter grows with every passing second. He would have thought that the man was washing hands together with the black witch, but he couldn’t imagine that either. Why would the uptight beta do that?
The man had a vendetta against witches and all their wiles. So why would he be in the same coalition with the black witch? Or perhaps was it because Derek had rejected Claire in private after he had announced her as Luna in front of the pack and other packs last night? Was that why he had been so uncomfortable and angry?
If that was it, then the man was more narrow minded and foolish than he had thought. Why would he impose his daughter on someone that is not her mate? Wasn’t he worried about her later years?
“It is a sin and wrong in a situation like this.” Caden stated vehemently, a string of his spittle landing on Derek’s face. Something that Derek didn’t find pleasant.
“Caden, is this because I rejected your daughter after crowning her Luna?” Derek asked calmly, sighing deeply when Agrip gasped from beside him. It was obvious that Anthony hadn’t gisted him up to that extent. Oh bad.
He saw Shane’s father sigh deeply and ruffle his dark brown hair roughly, looking pissed with the direction that the conversation had taken.
Derek wasn’t happy about that either.
When he saw that Caden was just breathing in and out in anger, he notably sighed before continuing his next statement.
“Caden, there are more important issues this pack has than crowning a Luna. My father is on a deathbed, and our pack has been attacked. Your inability to separate work from family would not be of help to us on this matter. I suggest you go back home and take a rest. Your son is here after all, and he is my beta. Shaw(Shane’s father) will fill me in on what I need to know about the attack.” He said, slipping his left hand into the left front pocket of his trousers.
“Derek, you might be the Alpha but you can’t…” Caden was saying, taking a step toward Derek, when Derek cut him short.
“That was an order Caden. Go home.” Derek commanded, using his Alpha tone, all traces of amusement gone.