Chapter 170

170 Tracing Back From Black Reef Island

As per Ronan’s agreement with Kinnon, Gavin Ashmore’s body arrived at the Infinite Eclipse Pack a few days after Ronan went back to his pack house.

The tinted glass coffin was sealed from top to bottom, preventing anyone from knowing whose body it was.

Ronan ordered for the coffin to be brought to the audience hall, and then he summoned Jake and Quinn.

“Alpha,” the Beta and Gamma greeted their Alpha.

Ronan was seated on his throne, his eyes pinned on the glass coffin before him.

A few attendants were working to remove the lid to unearth the content inside the coffin.

“Jake and Quinn, come closer and take a look at this person.”

Both Jake and Quinn eyed the coffin curiously. As soon as the lid came off, they approached the coffin and saw the frozen body inside it.

Thanks to Kinnon’s arrangement, Gavin Ashmore’s corpse was well preserved during the trip. Bloodless and cold, the convicted criminal that had been cut off from the Infinite Eclipse Pack lay there motionlessly.

.....

Ronan narrowed his eyes and pinned both of his subordinates with an icy look.

‘Look at me,’ he commanded using the Alpha Voice.

‘Yes, Alpha,’ both of them responded as they raised their eyes to meet Ronan’s.

‘Tell me everything that you know about the man inside the coffin.’

Jake was the first to speak.

‘This is Gavin Ashmore. He used to be part of the pack until he was punished and then expelled due to endangering Maya Greenwood, another pack member.’

Quinn’s description was more detailed because she knew Gavin the longest.

‘Gavin Ashmore became an orphan at the age of ten. My mate and I raised him along with the other pack orphans. He committed a crime against Maya Greenwood, upon which he was sentenced to imprisonment at Black Reef Island.’

‘Is there anything else that you know after he went to Black Reef Island?’

Jake’s tone was steady. ‘No, Alpha.’

Quinn on the other side was unable to answer right away. Beads of cold sweat appeared on her face. She looked very conflicted.

‘Quinn?’ Ronan put additional pressure on the elder woman. ‘Are you keeping something from me? Answer me.’

Clawing into his armrest, Ronan could barely believe it. Quinn was one of the pack leaders that he valued a lot. She was a lot older than him or Jake, a mother figure for a lot of the younger pack members.

Her loyalty to the pack was supposed to be flawless, so why was she involved in this heinous crime against the Night Prowler Pack?

Quinn must know very well what impact the assassination attempt on Ralph Youngshaper had on her pack!

‘There is something that I have not bothered to inform the Alpha,’ Quinn said with a trembling voice.

Under the Alpha Voice’s influence, even if she did not want to, she still had to obey Ronan’s orders.

‘I have never again seen Gavin after I delivered him to the prison. But, one of my protégées kept a close relationship with him. She visited him almost every week in Black Reef Island.’

So it was not Quinn but one of the children that she raised.

‘What is her name?’

‘Shayla Plainheart. She lost her parents around the same time Gavin did. They have been close since they were children.’

Ronan lifted the oppressive effect of Alpha Voice from his subordinates. Jake and Quinn dropped to their knees right after, their legs weak and wobbly.

Jake looked terrified, but Quinn was as pale as a sheet of white paper.

“Alpha, what really happened to Gavin Ashmore?” Jake asked in confusion.

Gavin had been expelled. His death was nevertheless regretful, but why was there even a need to interrogate them by using the Alpha Voice?

Unless, of course, Gavin’s death was related to something sinister.

This sinister thing was what Ronan had yet to tell his Beta and his Gamma.

Heaving a deep sigh, he filled them in on the conversation that he, Lucien, and Kinnon had.

Undoubtedly, it sparked outrage from Jake and Quinn.

“What audacity!” Jake shouted furiously. “The Infinite Eclipse Pack had no need for such dirty tricks!”

Ronan corrected him.

“To be precise, the belt was pointing out toward the Silverback family in particular, not the pack in general.”

“Still!”

Jake’s eyes were blazing with fire.

“The Silverback family is one of the prominent families in the Infinite Eclipse Pack. Accusing anyone from the Silverback family of the crime simply means accusing the whole pack!”

Ronan sighed.

“Thank you, Jake.”

Quinn’s face was as dark as the night. “Alpha, I am ashamed of my failure for having raised these two irresponsible children. Please punish me as you see fit.”

Ronan shook his head.

“We don’t know about the involvement of Shayla Plainheart yet. Please call her into this hall. Let’s hear what she has to say.”

Quinn bowed deeply in front of Ronan before she left to personally fetch Shayla.

Left alone in the audience hall with Ronan, Jake kept mumbling under his breath, “Oh, Goddess. I never thought that... I never expected this to happen.”

Ronan crossed one of his legs over the other.

“So when Kinnon Youngshaper attacked me as soon as the war began, he truly meant to end me to avenge his son.”

Jake swallowed hard.

“Alpha, I have not heard any death announcement from the Night Prowler Pack. May I safely assume that the little heir survived the attack?”

Ronan nodded.

“You may. Kinnon took him to play to Blue Hill City. He has fully recovered. Then again it was all thanks to their own efforts.”

“I... I understand,” Jake said weakly.

Quick footsteps were heard approaching. The door of the audience hall opened with a loud bang.

A terrified-looking Quinn stood there, her hair and clothing somewhat disheveled.

“Alpha, Beta, I am so sorry. Shayla Plainheart left the pack house two days ago to go back to the university for a new semester. I just called to check with the university, and the staff informed me that Shayla never arrived.”