Liam’s POV
Dinner was great. Zeke overcooked. Well, I wouldn’t say he overcooked since there was nothing left of the huge heap of food he had cooked. He had cooked that much for a reason and judging by the bright smile on his face as he looked at the empty plates on the table, I was sure that he was glad he had done that.
I patted my belly, feeling full. It was the long time that I had eaten so much in a long while. We had always had to be conscious of eating too much from our food storage of canned meals as we knew we had a long way to go and there was no store around to get food for.
“Thanks for the meal.” I said, bowing to Zeke.
He smiled, nodding his head at me. “I am glad you are all okay.”
We were more than okay if he wanted the truth.
“I didn’t know you could cook this much.” Ella said, teasing her dad.
Zeke chuckled. “Should I tell you a secret?”
“What is it?” Ella asked, leaning forward.
I was curious to know what the secret was but I didn’t lean forward like she did. I kept myself in check.
“My superb cooking skills made me irresistible to your mum.” Zeke said.
Ella laughed and waved her hand in the air at his words. “You don’t say.”
“You don’t believe me.” Zeke sighed. “You should know I had a lot of unique and admirable traits for your mother to have fallen in love with me.”
Ella continued laughing and as I looked around, I was relieved that everyone seemed relaxed. Even Kevin had a smile on his face though I could see the shadows of worries in his eyes.
“Are you thinking of home?” Damien asked, looking at Kevin.
I released a subtle groan as I tried hard not to glare at Damien for ruining a perfectly relaxing atmosphere. How could someone be so good at this?
Kevin sighed as he realized that everyone was looking at him. “I can’t help but think of it.”
“How about you send one of your men home to tell your father and your people that you are fine since you are close to your land now? I’m sure they will be worried about you. You’ve been gone for so long it wouldn’t make sense that they would be worried.” Zeke said.
I refrained from telling Zeke that Kevin’s father wouldn’t really be worried. He believed strongly in his son and knew that he would always be fine. Moreover, he was used to Kevin’s long absence from home from the days the two of us used to travel all around in search of Ella.
Zeke wasn’t done. “You can get news of your people’s welfare too when that person comes back.”
I nodded. Now, this made sense. Zeke’s hair should have been white instead of blue. What worried Kevin wasn’t homesickness but curiosity on how the pack was.
Kevin smiled. “Thank you, Zeke. Who wants to go home and be the messenger?”
He looked at me but I quickly looked away. He should pick someone else. There were men who would be glad to travel now.
I didn’t want to go home. Maya wouldn’t let me rest if she knew I was home. She would pester me with questions till I leave, trying to find out about Kevin and where he was.
I was certain that there were some of us who didn’t like that we were here instead of traveling home but I was glad that we were here.
I didn’t want to deal with Maya so soon, not her questions and the rage she would fly into when we get home with Ella and everyone find out that she had been marked by Kevin.
I wanted to delay the torture that me and Ella was going to suffer through in the hands of my obsessive sister for as long as I could.
Kenneth’s POV
I excused myself from the meeting I was having with the elders of my pack when I saw the messenger bird flying towards me.
The elders mustn’t see it or suspect what I was doing with it. Some of them didn’t like my obsession with getting rid of the alpha of the blood moon pack and would hate to know that I was still holding on tightly to that obsession after all the years that had passed.
“I will be right back.” I said as I walked out of the room, walking fast to my study.
The bird was well trained and didn’t fly towards me till I was alone in my study and out of sight for anyone to see me. It flew in through the window and landed on the desk, careful to avoid the books and maps littered on it.
I ran my hand along its feathers, patting it for its intelligence as I removed the scroll from its leg. This scroll was longer than the others used to be and I hoped that it had news that would be helpful to me or make me happy.
I looked at the bird and smiled. It would have been better if it was a wolf as I would enjoy training it but then I wouldn’t be able to send and receive messages through it if it couldn’t fly.
I poured seeds on the desk and it started pecking loudly as it ate while I leaned back on my chair to read.
The first words I read made me mad and I growled, feeling rage pump through my blood as my hands tightened into fists.
The girl is awake. She didn’t die. She was only unconscious for two days. I’m sorry we didn’t kill her as we should, my lord.
I sighed, forcing myself to calm down. I had known that the girl might not die but I was still angry that she didn’t. Knowing that she was unconscious for two days helped me to calm down as I imagined how much despair Kevin must have been in for those two days.
I continued reading.
They have all moved with the men of the blue river pack that I mentioned the other day instead of going home. I couldn’t move too close to hear their conversation to avoid being seen but I tried to follow them to know where they were going and had to turn back when the second son of the alpha of the blue river pack suspected that I was following them. I couldn’t follow them but I stood at a safe distance to watch where they were going. They didn’t go towards the land of the blue river pack even thought they moved away from the path that leads to the blood moon pack.
I sighed as I dropped the letter, suspecting where they could have gone to. Even if I didn’t know where they went to, they couldn’t be far from the blue river pack land and it wouldn’t be hard to find them if I follow that trail.
I heard a subtle knock on the door of the study and quickly burned off the letter and threw the ashes in the waste bin beside my desk. I picked the bird up and threw it out, watching it as it flew out of the window and sighed, looking around the room and confirming to myself that nothing looked amiss.
The seeds. I gasped as I quickly packed them into a container and shoved the can into the drawer. I checked to see if I closed it tight.
The knock came again though not seeming impatient and I heaved a sigh of relief when I realized that I was done tidying up the mess I had made.
“Come in.” I said, sitting back in my chair as if I had been busy all through and the intruder had been the one to make me lose my attention.
A palace guard walked in and bowed. “The elders are waiting for you.”
Oh! I couldn’t believe I forgot all about them and wondered how many minutes had passed since I left them.
“Tell them I will be there shortly.” I said.
The palace guard bowed and left my study. It wasn’t like the elders would grumble in my face that I kept them waiting but I wanted to be done with the meeting as they did.
I jumped off the chair and walked out of the study. I had a meeting to end and the life of an alpha to end as well.
Killing off his mate and his pack members was a bonus to the mission.