Chapter Sixteen

Clayton

With the knowledge I had now, I knew I couldn’t let the pup out of my sight. Seth was the only other person I trusted. I had trusted Joseph too.

Despite his grumpy demeanor, I never thought he’d be a traitor. It made me wonder who else in my pack could be a traitor or a spy.

The first thing on my to-do list was to bring the pup into the pack. Then, either Seth or I had to check the border on the other side of the river. We needed to look for markers.

We had to see if anything had been left by them, or by others in my pack. I also had to search Joseph’s quarters. I wondered if he had kept any of the messages that the council messenger had left him.

Ideally, I wanted to keep a close watch on the boundary. If we could capture a messenger and interrogate him, that would be great. But I also needed to find out more about Ellie.

Was she being hunted just because she was a hybrid, or was there something else?

It wasn’t dawn yet, and I knew Seth wouldn’t mind looking after her for a while. I decided to head to the library. It held all the records of the pack, dating back to before the war.

I wanted to find out if there were any other wolves or half-wolves that had been immune to silver. How had Joseph even known? I didn’t remember telling him. I wondered if Seth had.

I walked over to the old leather-bound journals. The pages had turned yellow with age. I picked out a volume that had more hybrid listings than most.

From my father's or even my grandfather's time. This would have been several years after we revealed ourselves to humans. No pure wolf could be born with an immunity to silver.

I just needed to know if it was a common thing among hybrids. It wasn’t. Now it felt like looking for a needle in a haystack.

As I skimmed through some of the older records, something caught my eye. Another hybrid who was born with silver immunity.

I looked more closely at the records. The mother had been human. I frowned slightly. The mother hadn’t just been human, but she had been a white witch. I frowned again.

I knew nothing about white witches, or witches in general. I knew that it was a human thing, and female.

I walked back to the bookshelves, searching for something. Anything. I’d hit another dead end.

I was about to give up my task, even before it had begun. Then a thought occurred to me.

If the register made a note of human mates that were also white witches, then I should check some of the newer entries. Entries around my father and grandfather's time.

I went back to the pack records. Looking in the index for white witches, there was only one entry.

I flipped to the page, could this be Ellie’s mother?

Looking at the entry, I gasped.

Eleonora – human – white witch – mate of Alexander – Beta of King Francis.

Could that be possible? Alexander or Uncle Alexander as I knew him. His mate had avoided the purge when he sent her back. Had she been pregnant, or had they hidden the child?

Is that why he sent her across the border to be with the humans?

She couldn’t be Ellie’s mother though. Any child she had would be around the same age as me, in their thirties. But the child, if there was one. They could be one of Ellie’s parents.

We needed to talk to my Uncle. Was Ellie related to my family? After all she had been through, had she finally come home?

I quickly mind-linked my gamma.

I need to set up a joining ceremony, as quickly as you can.

He didn’t reply immediately—could he be another traitor? I quickly scolded myself. I couldn’t suspect every single pack member. After all, Joseph might have been lying.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was in reality just a few moments, he replied.

Of course, Alpha. Is this for the pups that were brought in the other evening?

I sighed, of course not everyone knew what Joseph had done. Maybe this could work in my favor. At the joining ceremony, I would tell everyone what he had done.

Of course, that would warn anyone else, but it also meant that anyone working for the council would want to inform them. We might even be able to catch them in the act.

Yes, I want all pack members in the vicinity to attend. The outlying members in the other towns need to be sent a transcript of my speech.

I waited a little more patiently this time.

Of course, Alpha, I will set it up for noon in the main meeting area.

I smiled. Everything was falling into place. I would stay with the pup this morning and send Seth to the border to check for any anomalies.

Once he returned, he could search Joseph's quarters, then we could both attend the joining ceremony with Ellie.

We would wait for a couple of days, keeping an eye open for any other spies delivering messages. Then we would make a trip with Ellie to see my uncle.

In the meantime, I would have a chat with the pup.

She was pretty defensive and wasn’t particularly forthcoming with information, but now that I knew a little, she might realize that it was pointless hiding things.

The more she could tell me, the easier it would be to understand what the council's plan was.

I walked back to my apartment—it was still dark, only four am. The only light I could see was coming from under the door of the guest room where I had put Ellie.

I quietly opened the door.

Seth looked up as soon as the door opened. I could see his wolf hovering near the surface, just by the color of his eyes. I couldn’t help but smile to myself.

He wanted to protect her just as much as I did.

He was sitting on the bed though, not in the chair. His hand resting on her head, gently stroking her forehead with his thumb.

“Is she alright?” I whispered, hoping not to wake her.

Seth nodded.

“She had a nightmare, this seems to calm her.”

I beckoned him over to me. He stood carefully so as not to wake her.

“Joseph is dead,” I began, my voice hushed, “he was working for the council.”

Seth rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“I need you to go and check the border. They’ve been swapping messages on the other side of the river. Look out for stones, hollow logs, that sort of thing.

“If there’s a message, there should be some sort of marker,” I advised.

Seth frowned, “If Zagan had her, why didn’t he kill her? Wasn’t that what the council wanted?”

I nodded, “Zagan thought she was his daughter.”

“Is he? Is he my dad?”

Ellie’s voice made both of us whip our heads around.

She was propped up on her elbows, a look of despair etched on her face, her voice trembling.

“Leave,” I whispered to Seth.

He hesitated, but then complied, shutting the door behind him as he exited the room.

I moved to the bed and perched on the edge.

“He...He kept calling me his daughter,” she stammered, “every month when he invited me to join his pack. Each time I refused, Dante would punish me, chaining me up for three days without food or water.”

A single tear slid down her cheek. I didn’t think it was the memory that caused it, but rather the idea that Zagan might be her father.

I cradled her face in my hand, gently brushing the tear away with my thumb.

“He’s not your dad. I promise.”

She dropped her gaze.

“I thought my dad was the man who raised me, but he was human, and so was my mom.”

She looked up, fresh tears still streaming down her face.

“Is that why they abandoned me? Because I wasn’t his?”

My heart ached for her. No child should have to endure what she had. I only knew bits and pieces, what I’d learned from Joseph.

But I knew she was being targeted by the council, all because she was a hybrid.

I held her small face in my hands.

“I don’t know, sweetheart, but I’ll find out, I promise. And until I do, I’ll protect you.”

She placed her hands on mine and gently pushed them away. I could have resisted, but I didn’t. I let her push my hands away.

She shook her head.

“That’s what they all say,” she mumbled, “but they break their promises.”

She looked me straight in the eye, her expression suddenly hardened. Too hardened for a young pup.

She hastily wiped the remaining tears away with the back of her hand.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” she snapped.

I sighed. It was going to take more than a few kind words to break down her walls. So many people had disappointed her. Not always on purpose, but still.

I was determined not to be another one, especially considering she might be family.

If my uncle was her grandfather, then that would make me her cousin, once removed. Regardless of who her other parent was, if I was her family, she would have a home here.

“Lie down, Ellie, and sleep. You have a big day tomorrow,” I said, ignoring her last comment.

She scowled, “Why? What’s going on?”

I smirked at her.

“Your punishment, remember? You’re joining my pack.”

She glared at me and huffed as she lay back down.

She curled up on her side, pulling her knees into her chest.

I pulled the blanket up to her neck and gently kissed her on the forehead.

“I hate you,” she grumbled.

I couldn’t help but laugh softly.

“Sleep well, little wolf,” I whispered, settling back into the chair, keeping a watchful eye on my charge.