Chapter Twenty-Seven

Murdoch

I let out a sigh as I stepped out of the council chambers. Something about this whole situation didn’t sit right with me, but I didn’t have much of a choice. When Gabriel took off, his father pretty much took the reins.

Elijah stepped into the role of Alpha, doing everything his grandfather told him to. And everyone else followed suit.

I had thought that either Elijah’s father or I would remain as Beta, but Joel had other plans. He brought in some lackey from the council. I knew Jason wasn’t thrilled about it.

As the second Beta, I thought my role wouldn’t change much, but I was wrong about that too.

I was appointed as the warrior liaison to the council. Basically, I was tasked with going around to the packs to train their warriors for the impending war.

I guess I should have been flattered. They could have chosen anyone from all the packs, but they chose me. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was just a way to get me out of the picture.

I’d always been pretty close with Gabriel. Closer, perhaps, than Jason, even though he was Gabriel’s brother-in-law.

I don’t think Jason or Jasmine ever really forgave Gabriel for sending Samuel away. I knew there was something off about the kid.

One minute he was sweet, the next he was picking fights and acting spiteful. I still thought it was a bit harsh to send him away like that, but what did I know.

I thought I knew Gabriel. I knew he was devastated when Ellie vanished. We all were. She was such a sweet kid. Both Emma and I had been eager to train her.

But as it turned out, neither of us would get the chance.

I hated being away from the pack. Five years away from home. My only comfort was Emma. She came with me. I’d suggested it to Gabriel’s father, and he agreed.

Emma was the best tracker in our pack, hell, probably in all ten packs. While training the warriors was the main task, we also needed all the packs' trackers to sharpen their skills.

Emma wasn’t thrilled about being away from home for so long either, but she had a dislike for Gabriel’s father that I couldn’t quite grasp.

Sure, he’d seized power when Gabriel left, but Emma sensed something else. She wouldn’t tell me what.

I guess she thought the way he took control when Gabriel left was a bit sneaky.

She always kept her cards close to her chest whenever there were any council members around. It was almost like she didn’t trust them, but she wasn’t ready to tell me why. Not yet, anyway.

Finally, after presenting my report on the readiness of the packs' warriors to the council, we could finally go home.

Probably not for long, though, because if the council had its way, we’d be heading towards the border. They had decided to break the truce. I had no idea why. I couldn’t say I agreed with it.

Things had been fine. Sure, there was a little hiccup when Alpha Zagan decided to pull his pack from council control. But that was short-lived.

Not long after Gabriel left, he rejoined the combined packs under council control.

They scolded him for kidnapping Ellie, but since she had now crossed the border into territory that wasn’t under council control, there wasn’t much anyone could do.

Besides, he had strong and capable warriors. The council would need that if this war was going to happen.

As I walked out of the council chambers, I saw Emma heading towards me.

“We need to talk,” she whispered.

I raised an eyebrow.

“Then talk,” I retorted.

I didn’t understand why she was being so secretive.

“No, not here,” she huffed, pulling me away from the council buildings and the guards stationed at the main doors.

I rolled my eyes.

“Then where?”

“This way,” she said, leading me towards a densely wooded area.

The council sort of had its own pack. It was mostly made up of council members. There was a sort of palace where the head elder stayed.

The other elders could either use the rooms assigned to them here, or live in their own packs. There was also an elite group of guards.

They were mainly there for the Chief Elder’s security, but also to keep others out when the council was in session.

Of course, any wolves from the other packs could enter the territory freely. They just couldn’t get into the council chambers or the palace unless they were invited.

The elite guards were the only ones I wasn’t asked to train. I wondered if they would join the forces of warriors when we went to war, or maybe they were too elite for that.

Once we were far enough away from the buildings, Emma stopped and turned to face me.

“Something isn’t right, Murdoch,” she whispered, looking around nervously.

I rolled my eyes again.

“Not another conspiracy theory, Emma,” I sighed, “is this based on fact, or just your imagination?”

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes.

“You’ve said yourself that what’s been happening since Gabriel left isn’t right. It’s not a conspiracy, it’s a fact.”

I nodded in agreement.

“But that’s old news,” I scoffed, “Gabriel left, for whatever reason. We haven’t heard anything. For all we know, he could be dead.”

Emma looked around again, then leaned in closer to me.

“He’s not,” she whispered.

“Not what?” I asked.

She quickly shushed me.

“He’s not dead,” she whispered, “he’s here!”

I frowned. What on earth was she talking about?

“What do you mean?”

She tugged at my arm, and we walked further into the trees.

“While you were in the council meeting, I did some digging. I smelled something. Someone...someone who shouldn’t be here.”

I put my hand on her shoulder, stopping her from going any further. Emma was an excellent tracker. I would never question her scenting skills. But this. This was absurd.

Gabriel had crossed the border with Ellie’s brother. He was trying to get to the western pack lands. The place where Ellie had escaped to.

“Stop talking in riddles, Emma. What are you talking about?” I demanded.

Emma sniffed the air, then looked around again. I guessed she thought we were being followed.

When she was satisfied that we were still alone, she started to talk, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Wolfsbane, when given, takes away a person's wolf. It can even hide their scent to some extent, but it always leaves a hint.

“While you were busy with your report to the council, I let my wolf out for a run. My scenting abilities are stronger in wolf form,” she paused.

She wasn’t telling me anything new.

“I picked up his scent, Murdoch. He’s somewhere in council territory.

I think my face said it all. Someone had made him vanish. Someone from our pack, but who? Had he been here for five years? Hidden away and constantly given Wolfsbane?

“Where?” I spat out, anger seeping into my voice.

Not angry at Emma but at the bastard who had done this.

“Underground, probably some sort of dungeon,” she confirmed.

“How do we find him, and more importantly how do we get him out?”

Emma sighed, I could tell she hadn’t fully figured out a plan yet. Maybe that’s where I came in.

“There’s an air vent in the woods. It probably leads to the dungeons. I’m not sure how we can get him out though.

“If he’s been down there for five years, constantly given Wolfsbane, he’s going to be weak,” she finished.

I nodded in agreement, but I also knew we had to act fast. They’d kept him alive this long, I wasn’t sure why.

I had a gut feeling that once we engaged the human forces, his dead body would suddenly appear over the border.

The only thing in our favor was that when the council was in session, most of the guards would be at the council chambers.

If we could find our way into the dungeon, then we would face minimal resistance.

It didn’t take long to gather the supplies we needed. Rope, clothes, and scent inhibitor.

A couple of days later, Elder Joel showed up.

I had a brief chat with him about the training. He was happy with the report that I had submitted and suggested we all travel home together the next day.

I agreed, knowing full well that this wasn’t going to happen. Once we got Gabriel out of the dungeon, we would need to run. There was only one option for us.

Cross into Zagan’s territory, and then across to the western border. We just had to hope that once we crossed into the Blood River territory, they wouldn’t kill us.

It was a risk, but we had no choice.

Emma and I waited until we were sure that the council was in session. It had taken a while for the council to approve the war as Alpha Elijah had been sitting on the paperwork.

If anything, he was the weak link in the council. From what I had heard, he wasn’t too keen on a war with the humans.

We’d heard that his brother had been killed, and all the information pointed to Ellie being the one responsible. I knew they didn’t get along, but I found it hard to believe.

If it was true, then I guessed we would all be heading to our deaths. If that was the case, so be it. I wasn’t about to let Gabriel rot in a council dungeon.

Emma led us back into the forest. My tracking skills were no match for hers, and she finally led me to a ventilation duct.

It was covered with a metal grill, and the grill was covered with leaves and branches. I wasn’t sure if it was hidden on purpose, but that didn’t really matter.

The grill opened in two halves. The shaft was wide enough for a person to fit through. We tied the rope to a tree, and I went first.

Slowly rappelling down the inside of the shaft, as quietly as I could.

When I reached the bottom, there was another metal grill, similar to the one at the top. I looked through, but saw no guards. I gently tugged on the rope, the signal for Emma to join me.

We had thought about leaving someone up top, but I needed Emma’s scent expertise to find Gabriel. If we ran into any guards, I would need to disable them.

We just had to risk that no one would find the rope trailing down the ventilation shaft.

As Emma started her descent, I opened the grill and dropped onto the floor below. There were no guards in sight, and torches lit the wall every few feet.

This place was old. Too old to even have electricity. That would work in our favor as there would be no alarm. I doubted they expected anyone to try and break anyone out anyway.

Emma dropped down beside me, and pointed in the direction we should go.

The corridors were dimly lit, but we soon came to an area with cells.

The smell was musty, but Emma could pick up something else, and she pointed to the middle cell on the left-hand side.

I grabbed one of the flickering torches off the wall, and held it up. There was someone in the cell, but I couldn’t see who. Part of me hoped it was Gabriel, but part of me hoped it wasn’t.

I couldn’t even tell if the person was alive.

Emma pointed to a hook on the wall, where a set of keys hung.

I rolled my eyes. They certainly didn’t expect anyone to be freeing their prisoner.

Emma grabbed the keys and unlocked the door.

I followed her inside, making sure that the keys were removed from the lock.

I didn’t want to risk being surprised by a guard and locked up as well.

As we neared the person in the cell, we realized that it was Gabriel. He was lying on a filthy old mattress. He was skin and bone.

“Gabriel,” I whispered, “wake up...”

He stirred, and his eyes opened.

He frowned.

“It’s me, Murdoch, and Emma. We’re getting you out of here,” I whispered.

He nodded but struggled to sit. He was so weak. I doubted he would be able to walk, let alone climb a rope.

We helped him up so that we each supported one side of him, then walked him slowly back to the ventilation shaft.

We sat him down while I gave Emma a boost back into the shaft.

Once she was in, she dropped the rope back down. I tied it around Gabriel’s middle.

He stared at me with sunken eyes. Then he squeezed my hand. A tear trickled from his eye. I couldn’t begin to imagine what he had been through.

I gently squeezed his hand back.

“You’re safe now, Alpha,” I whispered.

After that, it was pretty much smooth sailing.

Emma scaled the rope, and once she was at the top, she pulled our true Alpha up the shaft. Then, she let the rope fall back down to me.

I stepped into the shaft and shut the lower grill, then began my ascent. By the time I reached the top, Emma had already gotten Gabriel into a fresh set of clothes and sprayed him with scent inhibitor.

I hauled up the rope and shut the grill, then stowed the rope away. Just like that, the captive Alpha Gabriel had vanished without a trace.

Now, all that was left for us to do was make our way west and hope for a somewhat friendly reception when we crossed into the Blood River territory.