Page 78 of Forgotten Arcane

Surprisingly, all of the free wolves look at River, who nods encouragingly. I feel like this whole thing has just added to our long list of complications that we already have, but if we can save these other wolves and help them to get out from under the thumb of the cunt of an alpha, then we’re going to.

“There was a supe that came to the pack land just before Alpha gave us the order. He smelled wrong, like he was rotting, but that wouldn’t make sense,” Logan continues to explain.

Well, fuck. I think I can guess where this is heading, but I really fucking hope that I’m wrong.

“Could you describe what he looked like?” Reed asks, tension in his voice.

Logan looks at him, “I could, but it wouldn’t do you any good. He was wearing a glamour, and a pretty fucking strong one.”

“How do you know that?” Calia asks, sounding surprised.

“It’s one of my gifts,” Logan replies simply.

River gets us back on track, as he asks, “What did this person want?”

“He paid Alpha a lot of money upfront, and then told him that if he got the job done, then there would be double that at the end,” one of the others says.

Someone else nods in agreement and adds, “We refused. We’ve always gotten on with you guys, at least we did before the new alpha took over.”

“Because we refused, he took the women and pups,” someone else growls, looking absolutely furious, and I can’t say that I blame him.

“We can’t find them anywhere,” Logan says. “The Beta went to look for them, but he’s gone missing now too.”

“The Beta is a good guy?” I ask. “He can be trusted?”

Logan glances over at me and nods, “Yes, Ma’am. He tries to do what he can to protect the rest of us. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot that he can do against the alpha.”

I nod, “No, there’s not.”

“What was the job?” Coen asks, suspicion in his expression.

Logan grimaces, “We had to keep an eye on the road near the main gates to the compound. He said that if you all showed up, then we were to attack. We were to kill all of you, and make sure that we left Neith alive.”

I’m momentarily surprised that he knows my name until I remember that he most likely saw me on the Choosing with the others, and that’s where he’s learned it from.

He continues, “The guy that smelled wrong wanted us to bring her back to the pack house, and then Alpha was to call him, and let him know that we had her. If we failed, then Alpha was going to kill the pups and the women.”

“He was going to leave your pack as a male-only pack?” Doc asks, looking confused and disgusted.

Logan looks like he’s about to throw up as he replies, “Not exactly. He said that female wolves were easy enough to buy.”

Bile rises in my throat, oh fuck no.

My eyes connect with River’s, and the same disgust that I’m feeling is darkening his eyes. We have to fucking help them, we have to. I don’t know if my thoughts are just that obvious on my face, but River nods, his expression grim.

“Do you know where he was planning to get them from?” Van asks, his jaw tight.

Logan and all of the wolves shake their heads, and thankfully, look as disturbed as we all feel, which means I don’t have to kill any of them.

“We can look into it,” Van says firmly. It’s not a suggestion or a maybe, it’s something that we will look into and figure out how we can help.

We all nod in agreement.

The wolves’ eyes widen, clearly not expecting us to care so much, or even want to help. Their surprise is very telling, and shows the lack of care that they must have been living with under the reign of the Alpha douche.

“Alright, I think we’ve heard more than enough,” Van says as he takes charge. He looks at his parents, “We’re going to head over to the pack house and handle this. Are you willing to look after the injured wolves here and secure the ones that we know are loyal to the alpha? What’s he called?”

Pride shines in both of their eyes as they nod.

---