Chapter 28: Silver Moon Legacy

Wolfgang

Max and I were in the village of White Mountain at the alpha summit.

My main goal was to gain allies to overcome the rogues, but Remus had found out that not far from here was the village where Aurora’s mom had come from.

I left a few days before Max so I could go there first. Once I arrived, I met with one of the elders of their pack.

He said that he remembered her. She had been a unique wolf, in many ways.

She had appeared there, a stranger to the pack, when she was only three years old. With her had been her guardian, a witch.

They’d said they were running from hunters.

That her parents had died, and entrusted her to this woman, whose name was Eleanora.

Eleanora explained that she was the pack’s witch, and that they came from the western cities. Before they were attacked and forced to leave.

When the alpha’s pack had inquired about her pack's name, she’d said it was the Silver Moon pack.

“But that couldn’t be,” he told me. “It was impossible.”

That pack was known to have vanished years ago.

Eleanora had the pack had gone into hiding, in order to keep their kind safe.

“Their kind? What did they mean? The werewolves?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“She did not specify,” he answered, “but I got the feeling they weren’t just talking about our kind. I think they were talking about something far greater, and more unique.”

“I need to find out more,” I said.

***

Max and I were on our way to our hotel suite after the final meeting with the alphas.

“That went smoothly, didn’t it?” commented Max as we turned the corner to our rooms.

“Hmmm,” I murmured, not really listening.

Indeed it had. We’d gained more allies for the upcoming fight against the rogues.

But for hours now, I’d been feeling a discomforting itch at my back. A persistent nagging feeling I couldn’t get rid of.

~“Something is not right. I can sense it,”~ Cronnos said in my head.

He was putting me on edge.

~“Shut it, fleabag,”~ I was irritated about this itch I’d been feeling all evening. I didn’t need his constant nagging.

As we stepped into the room I went straight to the walk-in closet and disposed of my jacket and shirt.

“Hey, Wolfie! There are about twenty missed calls, and a shit load of text messages, from Remus on my phone,” Max shouted from the living room.

He laughed. “Looks like he’s at his limit as the alpha in charge.”

It was strange for Remus to call us when he was left in charge of the pack. It must be something urgent.

I grabbed a fresh shirt and walked over to the living room, where Max stood, reading the messages on his phone.

“What does he want?” I asked my beta. He had a grim expression on his face alerting me that something was very wrong at home.

“It’s Rory,” he answered.

Chills went down my spine. Max’s gaze was still fixated on his phone. “She was accused of robbery and sent to the dungeons.”

“What?! By who?!” I shouted at my beta.

“It was your mate, Tallulah Wilhelm,” Max said, anger clear in his eyes.

“Remus said he tried to defend her but couldn’t do much because of the warning she already had—the incident with the uniform.”

He glared at me. “By you! If you don’t love that girl, why can’t you just let her be? She is young, and soon she’ll probably find her mate. What are you going to do when that time comes?”

I turned and punched the wall.

Why the fuck had I placed that warning on her record?

“Wolfgang! What…what are those marks on your back?” Max asked.

I turned to face him. “What are you talking about?” I asked.

But even as I spoke, I instinctively raised my hand and scratched at the spot where it itched.

“You have red slashes all over your back,” Max said.

“What?” I said, trying to see over my shoulder. But I couldn’t get a good look.

“Never mind that,” I said. “It must be an allergic reaction or something. Call Remus. Make them release Aurora right away.”

I pulled a shirt on, tired of Max staring at the marks on my back.

“He already tried, sir, but they won’t let her out until the alpha himself signs for her release. We have to leave immediately! It’ll take us at least five days to get back to the village.” Max cried.

“Go downstairs and check us out of the hotel. I’ll get our stuff and I’ll meet you in the lobby in fifteen minutes.” I said.

Max was already halfway out the door by the time I finished talking.

I turned my phone on and dialed Remus’ number. He answered almost immediately. ~”Alpha!”~

“Remus, what the hell happened?” I growled into my phone. As I talked, I began grabbing clothes and tossing them into my suitcase.

“Wilhelm accused Aurora of stealing some silverware. I warned you about that accusation, Wolfgang. You should have removed it a long time—!”

“WHAT was the verdict, Bowman!” I cut him off.

He went silent.

“Remus!”

“Thirty lashes on her back, and to be locked in the cellar for a month, sir,” Bowman answered.

I stopped packing, going totally still.

“Fuck!”

I threw the phone across the room into the wall, watching as it shattered into pieces.

I jammed what clothes were left into the suitcase and shut it, then raced down to the lobby.

There I found Max at the front desk, signing us out.

I shoved the luggage into the bellboy’s hand.

“Get these sent to the alpha’s house in the White Mountain village,” I ordered the red-suited bellboy.

“Ye—Yes sir!” he said, panicking.

“What are y—” Max asked, coming over to where I stood.

“We’ll go faster in our wolf forms. C’mon!” I said, walking out of the hotel.

We sprinted to the forest and shifted into our wolves. Then we ran as fast as we could.

We had no time to waste. Aurora needed me.

~“I can’t sense Aurora’s wolf, kid. Something is wrong!”~ Cronnos cried, putting me more on edge.

***

It took us two and a half days to reach our village. We shifted at the border and put on some clothes that we usually left in a hole in a tree.

Then we ran barefooted the rest of the way to the pack’s house.

“Go straight to the dungeons and get Aurora out of there!” I ordered Max.

He didn’t even hesitate, and bolted toward the stairs that led to the cellars.

I flew up the larger staircase and barged into the elders’ office. All three of them looked up in surprise to see me there, panting.

“Al—Alpha Wolfgang! We weren’t expecting you back so soon—” Elder Radolf stammered, but I cut him off.

“Release Aurora Craton immediately!” I ordered.

They looked at me in shock.

“Sir, we found evidence that she was stealing from the house, she—” Elder Leto said.

“I don’t give a fuck what she is being accused of! Did you even do a proper investigation?” I asked them.

“No, sir…but—”

“Release her from the dungeons immediately!” I growled.

They all looked at each other for a moment, then Elder Leto picked up a phone.

“Release Prisoner Craton until further investigation is done,” he said.

His brows came together.

“What? By who?!” he asked, confusion and distress in his tone.

“Very well,” he said before hanging up.

“She’s already been taken out by Beta Barone, and carried to the hospital. Apparently, she has a high fever,” said the elder.

I didn’t wait for them to say anything else, just headed out of the office.

Moments later, I was on the first floor, and nearly out the door, when an annoying voice called out to me.

“Babe?”

I turned to see Tallulah walking into the room.

“I didn’t know you were back, honey. When did you arrive?” she asked.

“I just got back,” I answered, irritated.

“And you weren’t planning on telling me?” she pouted.

“I was in a hurry,” I answered, becoming exasperated.

“I can see that.” She eyed me from head to toe, probably wondering why I was barefoot and shirtless.

She walked up to me and placed her hand on my chest.

“Where are you off to now? Aren’t you gonna change? Relax for a bit, hun,” she purred into my ear.

But it only irritated me more.

“Maybe I could help you…relax…” she said seductively into my ear. Her hand glided down my chest, but I stopped her before she could go any further.

“No, Tallulah. I need to leave now, but when I get back, you and I need to talk.”

“Talk about what…?” she began to ask, but she was cut off as one of the elders came into the room.

“Alpha Wolfgang, I thought you were on your way to the hospital, sir,” Elder Aldo said.

“To the hospital? Why?” Tallulah asked.

“Get me video footage and evidence by the time I return. Got it?” I spoke to Elder Aldo, ignoring Tallulah’s question.

“Yes, sir.” The elder bowed and left for the guards room.

I turned around, and was about to open the front door again, when Tallulah’s insufferable voice stopped me once more.

“What’s going on? Why are you going to the hospital, and why do you need footage and evidence?” Tallulah asked, totally exasperated.

I rolled my eyes, then turned to face her.

“I’m on my way to see Aurora,” I said with a growl.

“The hospital! I thought she was locked up in the dungeons for robbing the leader’s house?” Tallulah said.

“I ordered her release until we can find further evidence that she indeed committed the robbery,” I said.

“Further evidence? What evidence do you need? We found the stolen objects in her room! That girl is a thief!” Tallulah shouted, throwing her hands in the air.

“~I~ will decide if she is a thief or not! I may have named you my mate, but I am the alpha here!” I said.

I walked out the door before I could lose my patience any further and do something I might regret.

Aurora needed me right now.