Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Caden’s POV

We all shift in the woods and place our clothes between our teeth for when we shift back. If we are to get there on time before anything bad happens, being in our wolf form is our fastest bet.

We get to the boulder and I see the patrol team getting on the defensive as they watch the hoa r d of wolves approaching their territory. It occurs to me that we should probably have sent them a warning about our visit but like I mentioned, time is of the essence. Besides, by the time the message reaches them, Jude would have gotten wind of what has happened and be on his merry way.

I run to the front and shift. Turning towards the crowd behind me, I hold out my hands. “Wait here. I’ll go speak to them first.” It won’t do us any good to move further from this point without explaining to them the purpose of our visit. Even doing that is going to prove to be difficult and I silently pray that we won’t have to force our way into the pack.

I walk towards the one that seems to be the one in command. As I draw closer, I recognize him as the G a m m a, Henry. I sigh, already worn out from a conversation I haven’t started.

“Alpha Caden, what are you doing here?” He growls, ignoring the difference in our status and the fact that society dictates that he ought to show his respect to me. I’ignore it too, knowing that this isn’t a usual situation that we’ve found ourselves in.

“We’re here to see the Alpha,” I say, gesturing back to the crowd behind me. “We have something very important to tell him.”

“You saw it fit to come at this time of the day?” He glares at me, his disdain not reducing.

“Like I said, we have something very important to discuss with him and it couldn’t wait for the light of day.” I feel my anger boiling up inside me and trying to find a way out but I force it down, not wanting to escalate the already delicate situation.

“Our Alpha isn’t…available,” he says after a while. “Whatever it’s that you need to talk with him will have to wait for another day. Hopefully, at a more respectable hour of the day.”

Everyone in the region knows about the illness that has befallen the Alpha of the Silver Wood Pack. It has been whispered at all corners of every pack. Some people even said his ailment is so bad that he can’t even lift from the bed that he has been bedridden in. I never cared for the rumors but as I watch the expressions on Henry’s face, I wonder if those rumors are true.

He’s in really in such a bad state that he can’t even get up to talk with us. Are we already too late?

“We’re not leaving without talking to him,” I state firmly. “We have news on his illness. A cure even.” I’m reaching here but it’s all the leverage I have. They won’t let us in unless we give them something they direly need. Hope.

His eyes widen and his gaze drifts away. He’s mind-linking someone and trying to see if he can get us in. I hide my smug smile behind a cough and straighten my face when he turns his gaze back to me.

1/3

Chapter 84

“You better be telling the truth about this cure that you speak of. His gaze drifts back to the h o a r d behind us. “They all can’t come in,” he states matter of fact.

I sigh, already knowing that this scenario may occur. I walk back to the crowd still in their wolf form and tell them about our predicament.

I pick out Alex, Raphael, Isiah and two of our best enforcers to go with me while the others wait behind with instructions to force their way in if this visit doesn’t go the way we planned.

We w

walk behind Henry as he leads us towards the pack house. The first thing I notice when we walk in is the silence. Given that it’s still carly in the morning, I expect a certain amount of silence but this level is a bit too much.

“Where is everyone?” I ask Henry.

He shoots a glance my way, his brows furrowing together in barely concealed annoyance. “Most of the people in the pack have moved out into their own homes. It provides them more comfort.”

Correction- they had cleared out the pack house because they had their suspicion that someone close to them was behind their Alpha’s illness.

Too bad they didn’t figure out that the snake is much closer to them than they realize.

We get to the front of a huge black door and Henry stops, prompting the rest of us to halt too. He turns to face us, his gaze fixed on me. “They have to stay out here. You’re the only one allowed to go in.”

Isiah opens his mouth, probably to let out words of protest. I hold out a hand to silence him and he grit his teeth but follows my order.

“It’s ok. They’ll wait out here while I go in,” I say, accepting his condition. I should be able to convince the dying man on the bed that the person he trusts the most is out to kill him. If that doesn’t work out, we will just go with our less stressful plan. Force our way in and have Jude’s head.

Henry nods, turning around and placing his hand on the doorknob, twisting it and pushing the door.

open.

The room is pitch black inside but I can make out a figure on the bed and my nostrils flare as that familiar smell infiltrates my nostrils. The smell of death.

Are we already too late?