Chapter 14: Chapter 14

ETHAN

The scent of antiseptic greets me as I step into the infirmary, relieved to be back in Crescent City after the harrowing journey through the Scourge.

Bethany is moving between the beds where the two sick she-wolves lie. They look pale, their breaths shallow, but there’s a flicker of resilience in their eyes. They’re fighters. They’ll pull through.

“Hi, Alpha.” Bethany greets me and then notices Scarlet. “Oh! Hi there, hope you’re doing better.” She looks Scarlet up and down. “Oh dear, sit. Let me take a look at those bruises.”

I stay close as Beth examines my beautiful mate and talks with her. Anger rises as I notice the finger-shaped bruises around her wrists, the long claw mark stretching down her chest to her abdomen, and the multiple scratches and bruises covering her torso.

I push my rage down. The beast that did this to her is dead. And I’ll never let anyone hurt her like this again.

Bethany cleans and covers Scarlet’s wounds.

Once she’s done being attended to, I tell Scarlet, “Give Bethany the herb.”

She reaches into her bag, pulling out a bundle wrapped in the killer’s T-shirt. Scarlet unwraps it, revealing the sickly green herb inside. Its leaves are twisted and gnarled, a dark sap oozing from its stems.

“What’s this?” Bethany asks as she takes the bag of herbs.

“We found who killed our pack members and this was at his place. Any idea what it is?”

She gets a pair of tweezers and plucks one out of the bag.

“Oof! That doesn’t smell right,” she says as she inspects it closely, her brow furrowing in concentration. “It kind of looks like wolfsbane, but not quite.”

She touches it, but nothing happens. “Hold on, let me get my book of herbs. I might have an idea.” Bethany runs to a nearby shelf and pulls out a massive book.

As Bethany flips through the pages, Scarlet moves to the bedsides of the two she-wolves. Her presence is soothing. I watch her, a mix of admiration and worry tightening my chest.

“Yes! That’s it. Hexwort. It’s infamous for its use in magical enchantments and poisons. The plant’s absorptive properties allow it to retain and amplify magical energy. AKA, a witch definitely put some sort of enchantment on this.”

“A witch?” Scarlet asks.

“Yep. And if I had to take a guess, this is what made them sick.” She points to the she-wolves.

“So now that you know what it is, can you help them?” I ask.

“I don’t know what kind of enchantment they put on the leaves, so unfortunately, we’re not in a much better place than we were before.”

The words hang heavy in the air. Enchantments. Witches.

Bethany’s voice pulls me back to the present. “If I’m right about the enchantment, we’re dealing with more than just an angry werewolf. We need to be extremely careful.”

Witches meddling with my pack?

I clench my fists, anger boiling beneath the surface. “We’ll get to the bottom of this. Whatever it takes.”

The she-wolves stir restlessly in their beds, their faces contorted in pain.

“We need to find out where this herb came from and who’s behind it,” I say, my voice steady. “If witches are involved, this could be just the beginning.”

“I’ll organize patrols to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity,” I say. “And we’ll need to figure out how the killer got involved with at least one witch to make this herb.”

Bethany wraps the herb in a new cloth. “I’ll keep this secure and see what more I can learn. If it’s magically imbued, we’ll need to consult someone with knowledge of enchantments. I have some connections.”

The thought of bringing in an outsider grates on me, but I know it might be necessary. “Do what you need to, Bethany. Our priority is keeping the pack safe.”

“Oh! Bethany, did you by any chance find a necklace after my stay here?” Scarlet asks Bethany.

The doctor’s eyes open wide for a moment, and she holds up a finger. She runs over to a cabinet and pulls out a small plastic bag.

“Is this what you were looking for?”

Scarlet swiftly reaches out and takes the bag from Bethany, a smile spreading across her face as she sees what’s inside. She quickly tips the bag over her palm, and a necklace falls onto it.

“Yes! Thank you so much.”

I watch as she clasps the delicate chain around her neck. There’s a small diamond hanging from it. There is no way someone from the Scourge could afford something like that.

“Where did you get the necklace?” I inquire, my body instantly tensing, anticipating an answer I won’t like.

She looks up at me with a cold expression. It seems she’s done showing her fragile side to me. “A friend gave it to me.”

“A friend?” I ask, my voice gruff and disbelieving. ~What kind of a friend gives someone expensive jewelry?~ She nods at me, reluctant to say any more. “What friend?”

“Just a friend from the Scourge.”

“And how did your friend afford something like that?”

“He found it.”

“~He?~” my wolf growls. ~Why is another man giving her jewelry like that? No wonder she didn’t want to answer me.~

Bethany clears her throat as she comes up to me, interrupting the conversation that quickly seems to be heating up.

“Well, Scarlet shouldn’t take more than a couple days to completely heal. Nothing to worry about. The main thing I could suggest right now is some rest for her. Quite frankly, it looks like you both could use some, Alpha.” She gives me a pointed look, and I smirk and nod at her. “And in the meantime, I’ll look into this herb and let you know when I find out anything.”

The infirmary door swings shut behind us, muffling the sounds of the sick she-wolves. I glance at Scarlet, noticing the tension in her shoulders and the dark circles under her eyes.

“You should get some rest,” I say, my voice gentle but firm.

Scarlet looks like she’s about to protest, and I interrupt her. “I’m taking you upstairs to rest, and that’s final.”

She hesitates for a moment, then nods, allowing me to guide her down the corridor to the elevator and up to the top floor. The familiar scents of the pack house—earth, pine, and the lingering traces of the pack—provide a small measure of comfort.

As we approach my room, I open the door and gesture for her to enter.

“Sit,” I say, pointing to the bed. “I’ll get you some water.”

Scarlet complies, sinking onto the edge of the bed, her posture slumped with fatigue. I move to the small table, pouring a glass of water from the pitcher. As I hand it to her, our fingers brush, and I feel a spark of connection, and I wonder for a moment if she feels it too.

“Drink,” I insist. “Then lie down.”

She takes a sip, then another, the cool water reviving her a bit. I sit next to her, the mattress dipping slightly under our combined weight.

“Why didn’t you tell me you knew who killed my men? What was your relationship with him?” I say, trying not to let the anger come out in my voice.

Her eyes shoot back to me, narrowing with anger of her own. “We didn’t have a relationship. He was just some asshole who lived in the Scourge with his little gang of thugs.”

“But you knew he was guilty, and you didn’t tell me. Why?”

“I didn’t know anything, I guessed. Last time your pack was in the Scourge, innocent packless died. I was protecting them by trying to find evidence. Besides, it’s up to the packless to decide what to do with them.”

“They killed my men. It’s my business. My decision. I will deal with them how I see fit. You should have told me.”

“Oh yeah? Why? So more innocent people could die in your quest for justice? They were my friends, Ethan. Valued members of the community. The packless aren’t bad people…,” she says before I cut her off with a scoff.

“They aren’t bad people? Are you fucking kidding me right now? Do you know what that asshole was going to do to you? Do you know what would have happened if I hadn’t shown up?” The idea of what could have happened kills me. I saw the damage Ray did, and I could smell his arousal. He was enjoying it. My fists and jaw tighten in anger.

“Not everyone in the Scourge is like that. The thugs like to cause trouble, but most of the people there are really decent. I just didn’t want to risk any of them getting hurt if you went in there guns blazing again. And the packless have the right to know who they are living with. They would definitely send them away after knowing what they did.”

I can’t stop the growl that bursts through my clenched teeth. She was protecting those lowlifes. Her eyes narrow at me, and she sits up straighter, clearly going on the defensive.

I decide not to argue about the morals of the packless. It’s obvious that we don’t see eye to eye on that matter and right now there are more important things to worry about. I take a steadying breath before ordering, “Tell me about that guy who was attacking you.”

“His name was Ray Jones. He’s lived in the Scourge for as long as I can remember. He was always up to no good. Picking fights, crossing borders, stealing stuff, that type of thing,” she answers, taking the chance to avoid an argument as well.

“And what about this gang of his that you mentioned? How many other wolves did he hang out with?”

“Five. But they never use their wolf forms.”

“Why not?”

She gives me a weird look as though she doesn’t understand my question.

“Because they’re packless,” she states like that explains everything. When she sees that I’m not following, she continues, “Packless can’t mind-link each other. So, they don’t usually shift because that leaves them no way to communicate. They typically only shift to hunt for food to bring back to the shelter.”

I nod. I never thought about that before. That would suck to not be able to mind-link my pack. My eyebrows furrow as I continue to think. “What’s the shelter?”

“The place you followed my scent to, where you found Will. It’s where I live, where most of the packless live,” she answers. She looks down and plays with the hem of my jacket that she’s still wearing. Is she uncomfortable talking about this?

I want to ask her more about the shelter, but I need to stay on track. Getting to know her and her past can wait. First, I need to get justice for my pack, and that means finding the rest of Ray’s gang. “So, did Ray and his men live at the shelter too?”

“No. They lived in one of the abandoned apartments next to where you rescued me, but they’ve been laying low since your last visit.”

“Any idea where they would be hiding?”

“Not really. There are plenty of uninhabited buildings in the Scourge. And we are along the outer borders so they could hide in the woods that are outside of the territory. Those would likely be their only options unless they decided to take their chances and leave the area.”

So far, the information doesn’t seem to be narrowing down the possibilities. “Okay, can you describe all of his lackeys for me?”

She nods with a sigh before her face twists in concentration as she tries to remember Ray’s goons. “Well… first there is Frank…,” she begins before telling me about the scents and descriptions of each of the members of this so-called gang. I quickly mind-link the details to all my pack’s warriors and guards. I also make sure to tell Alex and Xander so they can inform their own packs.

“~Great. We’ll let you know as soon as we find anything,~” Caleb’s voice comes through in my head.

“~I have all my guys on the lookout for them. Don’t worry. We’ll get them,~” Alex replies.

“~Don’t worry bro. They’ll soon know they messed with the wrong pack,~” Xander answers in his usual arrogant tone.

When my gaze lands on Scarlet, she’s looking at me, observing me. “What?” I ask her as I raise an eyebrow.

“You aren’t going to hurt anyone else, right?”

“Scarlet, my responsibility is to my pack and our allied packs. They come first. As long as the packless don’t get in our way, they won’t get hurt.”

“We weren’t in your way the last time either. They were minding their own business, and you and your men tore them apart,” she seethes, making my own anger spike.

“Why are you always trying to protect them?”

“Well, someone has to!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Seriously? Ethan! We don’t have an alpha to protect us. We aren’t allowed to work and constantly have to scrounge for food. Living on the outskirts of the borders, we have to worry about rogues and other threats.”

“Why do you keep saying ‘we’? Those aren’t your people anymore.”

She gives me a withering look, and I exhale the rage that is boiling to the surface.

“That is seriously what you took away from what I just said? Do you even hear yourself? And I’m not part of your pack, Ethan! I’m not part of any pack! That’s the very definition of being packless! What do you have against us?”

My jaw clenches, and my hands fist in frustration. Part of me wants to tell her, the other part of me doesn’t want to relive the pain. But how will she ever understand if I don’t say anything?

With gritted teeth I force the words out as my fists curl tighter. “The packless killed my mother.”

Once the words are out, I look up to meet her gaze. I see shock wash over her face at my sudden revelation, and I turn away from her.

All those bitter memories begin flooding my mind, the night we were told, the stabbing pain in my chest as my heart broke, the look on my brothers’ faces. I don’t want to relive this. I don’t want my mate’s pity. I need to get out of here.

“Ethan, I’m—” she begins as her hand lightly lands on my shoulder.

I shrug her away, not even bothering to look at her. My feet immediately carry me to the door, and I reach for the knob.

“I have things I need to take care of. I’ll send someone to bring you up dinner. Don’t wait up for me.” I fling the door open and close it behind me, not even sparing my mate a glance in her direction.