Derek furrowed his eyebrows, his lips forming a thin line, mirroring Anthony’s expression, after Agrip’s latest declaration.
He was captured?
Derek shook his head, feeling a strange chill all over his body.
No wonder. He thought, referring to the matter of Agrip’s long time in coming back to the pack.
He heard the other elders murmuring between themselves and sighed. They were probably waiting for him to question Agrip on what had really happened.
He would have agreed with them, but for some reason, he didn’t find it okay at that point. He didn’t know why, but he decided to trust his instincts this time around.
“That’s…new, Agrip” He finally managed to stutter out, ignoring Anthony’s raised eyebrows and the elders’ look of unbelief. He would talk to his brother later.
Agrip nodded his head at Derek’s flimsy statement. And even though it looked like the young man behaved or had acted as if he didn’t care that he had been kidnapped, Agrip knew that the little dude cared. Perhaps something had happened. He concluded, knowing that Derek loved him fiercely too like another father. So, he decided to trust Derek on this one.
“Yes, my Alpha. I hope I’m forgiven for missing out on your coronation.” Agrip said.
“Of course Agrip. We will talk later.” Derek stated and Agrip nodded, his head darting sharply to his left when an elder’s voice boomed across the room from his right hand side. Didn’t the stupid elder learn from what had just happened to Mike?
“Alpha, I think Agrip should give us the details of his kidnap, including his captors. We need all the information we can get to know what we are up against.” The elder voiced out, gaining more confidence when he saw the other elders nodding their approval of the matter. Surely, he was right on track or so he thought.
Anthony looked at the elder and decidedly kept quiet, choosing rather to take in and observe the reactions of the elders in the room. He wasn’t sure what he was gaming for, but he couldn’t stop his prying eyes.
He has known Derek since the latter had been in diapers and trusted him with his life. If his brother had decided to keep Agrip’s activities and kidnap a secret from the elders, then he supported him wholeheartedly, believing that there must be a reason for it.
He actually suspected that the core reason for Derek’s reluctance to let Agrip spill the quite interesting event was because of distrust for the elders.
He didn’t know why his brother was suspecting them, or what cause he had, but he himself was beginning to follow Derek’s line of vision. At this point, he didn’t think they could afford the luxury of trusting anyone.
So, he took a good look at the elder who had just voiced out a complaint, his eyes keen in observation as he tried to place who the elder was and what his trust level might be.
The elder had been a chief pack warrior at one time, during the younger days of Peter’s reign as Alpha. But he had retired early because of a deathly sickness of the liver, a sickness that his wolf abilities hadn’t been able to cure.
Thinking of it now, Anthony found it weird.
How was that possible?
A person’s wolf abilities guaranteed him freedom from a world of sickness and diseases. So, why hadn’t the elder’s wolf pushed on that?
Could it be something else?
Anthony sighed, feeling for a second that he was overthinking things due to the sensitive nature and situations surrounding the pack at the moment. This was because he also remembered that the same elder had received the said injury after the latter had taken a poisoned wine in place of Peter, or so the story had gone.
But he was sure Peter wouldn’t lie to him.
With that point taken down, he turned to stare at Derek, waiting to see what his brother would make of the situation.
“Are you try to teach me my job, Elder Gabirel?” Derek asked the daring elder, who was still standing up after his serious opinions.
“Not at all, my Alpha. I was just…making a suggestion.” Elder Gabirel managed to say, confidently trying to cover up a stutter which had broken out his words after he had met the steely gaze of Derek.
It was really true that tough situations bring out the maturity in people. He thought as he averted his gaze from Derek’s cold ones. He was still struggling to believe that he couldn’t keep a gaze with the young lad who he had thought unserious and unfit for the Alpha’s role.
‘Seems I was wrong.’ He mused to himself, beginning to cuss at himself mentally for speaking a word. He should have just kept quiet as his wolf had admonished. Mike’s punishment should have been enough warning to him. Now, he might have put himself under the radar of the new Alpha, and not for a good reason.
Derek’s next statement strengthened his belief.
“Well, your suggestion, Elder Gabirel is duly noted and dumped away. I wasn’t asking for any input of any kind for your information. It was a subtle order which I had expected you elders to understand. Or should I use my Alpha’s tone for every sentence I make?” Derek asked, raising up his right eyebrow.
“No, my Alpha. I am very sorry for opposing your statements.” Elder Gabirel quickly apologized, his head bent slightly in a bow, obviously embarrassed by the turn of events. None of his fellow elders were even saying anything, despite their earlier agreement with his statement. So much for standing for the crowd! He mused bitterly.
“My last question wasn’t just for Gabirel alone.” Derek coldly pointed out and immediately all the elders in the room voiced out their affirmations in accordance to the question.
Clearly, none of the elders wanted a taste of Derek’s biting words nor punishments. The attacks on the pack was enough to keep them worried and on high alert. They didn’t need an extra.
“Good. You all are dismissed then. Mike, don’t forget your assignment. Tomorrow afternoon, 12:30 pm to be precise.” Derek stated, and the elders nodded and gave a bow before standing up from their seats and walking towards the exit door.
Gabirel sighed in relief as he walked out of the door, happy that no punishment was melted on him. In his worried state, he didn’t need an extra serving.
Seeing Mike walk out the conference room dejectedly, the latter’s anger deflating into resignation to do the said assignment made Gabirel sigh in relief again. He actually pitied the fellow elder even though they were not really close buddies.
****