Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty Six

As the moon appeared in the sky, the gammas returned to the pack house. Alex was seated in the study room, and was informed about their return. He was surprised when the messenger told him, and he had immediately left the study, and walked down the stairs.

The gammas were in the living room when Alex came. "Reynold," Alex called the name of the chief gamma.

"At your service, alpha," Reynold answered.

"I'm surprised that you're back today. I was expecting good news by tomorrow or the next," Alex said with a puzzled look on his face.

Reynold smiled. "I still brought good news, alpha. We found a medicine man. The greatest medicine man in the kingdom," he announced.

"This is unexpectedly quick. How did it go?" Alex asked.

"It was easy to find him, alpha. He's well known in the kingdom," Reynold replied.

"Alright. Tell me where he is," he urged.

"He lives in a cabin deep inside the forest. He isolates himself from the rest of the world. People go to meet him for various reasons. He is also a healer," Reynold divulge his findings to him.

Alex nodded. "Tomorrow morning, you shall take me there, alright?" He said.

"As the alpha pleases," Reynold replied with a slight bow.

"You may leave. Goodnight," Alex dismissed them.

"Goodnight, alpha," they chorused and walked out of the pack house.

Alex retreated, and climbed up the stairs. He walked in the hallway, and headed towards Mia's room. He knocked once, and he got no response. He knocked again and still, no one answered him. He turned away from the door, ready to leave when the doorknob twisted, and it gave way.

"Alex," Mia exclaimed, and he turned around. "I'm sorry I could not open the door on time, I was occupied," she explained to him, and he stared at her blankly.

"We'll be leaving for the medicine man's cabin," he said to her, going straight to the point.

"My, you've found him already?" Mia asked with widened eyes.

"The gammas got hold of him quicker than I thought. He's well popular," he explained.

"Alright. We should rest now. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," she said, and he nodded, and turned away to leave.

"Alex," she called him, and he inhaled as he stopped and looked at her. "About what you said earlier today, I just want to let you know I will not do as you have said," she said, and he stared at her like she had lost her mind.

He walked away without uttering any word to her. She could do whatever pleases her, but, she should stay the hell away from him.

Mia smiled as she watched him leave. "Yes, cold hearted alpha, I will not let you tell me what I should do," she soliloquized, still having a bright smile on her face.

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Morning approached quickly the next morning, and after breakfast, Mia and Alex were set to leave the pack house. They got into the carriage, and the coachman stirred in the direction of the medicine man's cabin as instructed by Reynold, who sat with him as he controlled the horse.

"Did you take the spices?" Alex asked Mia when he noticed there was nothing in her hands.

She gasped in shock. "It escaped me. I'm so sorry," she apologized as she looked out the carriage. "Coachman, please wait! Turn around!" She screamed out to the coachman.

"You do not have to shout," Alex said irritably, as he pulled her back into the carriage. Mia locked at him, and then at his fingers that encircled her arm.

They locked eyes for a few seconds, and Alex broke away from the gaze. He let go of her arm.

"Coachman, stop," he ordered, and the carriage immediately halted.

"I'll go get the spices," Mia said, turning towards the entrance of the carriage so she could leave.

"No, you'll stay here. I do not want you to go back to the pack house, and forget one of the spices, then you'll come back here exclaiming how you forgot," Alex shot at her, and she stared at him. He got down from the carriage and went back to the pack house.

"Then, you'll come back here exclaiming how you forgot," Mia mimicked his tone, and made faces. "Is it possible to not forget anything?" She asked no one in particular as crossed her arms on her chest, and huffed as she leaned back into the carriage backseat.

A few minutes later, Alex returned to the carriage, holding a bag containing the spices. He signaled to the coachman to move, and once again they started moving towards the direction of the medicine man's cabin.

Alex and Mia said not a word to each other. Whenever Mia thought of starting a conversation with him, he gave her the cold shoulder, and totally ignored her. His back was leaned into the seat, and his eyes were closed as he pretended to be asleep, so Mia would no longer try to speak to him.

She moved a bit from her seat as she peeped at him. She watched him sleep, taking note of his even breathing, the rise and fall of his chest, and the way his lashes fanned out.

She admired his strong chiseled jawline, and full lips. "He has no moustache," she muttered to herself. "How old is he? Eighteen, nineteen? Twenty Five?" She wondered out loud.

"I'm twenty," he replied, and Mia was stunned that he was not asleep. "And stop gawking at me, it's irritating," he added, and she rushed back to her seat feeling embarrassed that he had caught her checking him out again for the second time.

About an hour into the journey, they were waylaid on their way. Multiple arrows flew into the air, and no one had an idea where they were coming from.

The horses screeched as the coachman pulled to a forceful stop in other to avoid the poisonous arrows.

Mia fell on the carriage floor, hitting her head on the seat due to the immediately of the stop. "Hell," she muttered.

Alex looked around, wondering what was happening. He helped Mia up. "Are you okay?" He asked her.

"I think so," she replied.

"Wait here," he said to her as he stepped down from the carriage. Two poisonous arrows were fired in his direction, and he immediately averted them, and they pierced into the carriage.

The gamma chief and the coachman pulled out their swords as they jumped down from their seats.

Out of nowhere, masked men emerged from the woods. Alex narrowed his eyes, as he recalled that they were familiar to the men that attacked him the night he was heading to the river.

The masked men wasted no time in attacking them. Alex drew out his sword, and the fight that followed was bloody.

Mia watched in horror from the carriage as she watched Alex slay the men effortlessly, not just with his sword, but also his hands. He was like a killer machine. The chief gamma and the coachman did not slay many men like Alex did. He was merciless, and Mia realized why he was dreaded, even for a young alpha.

From behind the carriage, one of the masked men dragged Mia out of the carriage. "Alex!" She yelled out just before her mouth was covered by the man. Alex turned around at her outcry, and he saw her being dragged away.