Chapter 19

Adam.

As much as it had pained him to walk away that day he kissed Ella, he knew he needed to let her choose. If he pushed her too far too fast, he would lose her again, and that wasn't something he planned to do this time around. It had been a few days, and he had hardly heard from her besides when he came to see the twins.

Adam hated how much more he'd been seeing and smelling Cassius around his compound. The guy was a lone wolf and probably up to no good. But he hadn't done anything yet for Adam to kick him out. So he let it be.

He walked into his bathroom to take a shower. As he lifted his shirt up, he noticed his wound had almost completely healed. The gashes had closed entirely and the only thing left were jagged scars, which he knew would disappear within a few days. He whipped the shirt up over his head and undressed the rest of the way.

He stepped into the shower and turned the nozzle on. The cold sent a shock through him, but was quickly replaced by the comfort of the hot water. He let it pour over his head, relieving the aches and pains of the last few days, allowing them to melt away.

When he finished, he turned the water off and entered the steam-filled bathroom. He rubbed a towel across the mirror so he could see as he combed his hair after drying it with his towel.

His fingers then raked over the skin where Orion had sliced him with his claws. The skin was still a little tender, but Adam was doing much better overall. He couldn’t believe what only a few days could do once his mate was back in his life. Adam sighed as he remembered she might not stay his, though.

He had to think of a way to win Ella over. Something that would blow this Cassius dude out of the water.

He couldn’t think about that right now, though. He had a meeting to get to with his Beta, Clint. After the mysterious wolfsbane poisoning in town, three more victims had shown up dead with no one to get to them quickly enough. He needed to get to the bottom of this before there were more casualties.

Adam quickly got dressed and headed to the pack house to meet Clint and his other advisors.

When he arrived, Clint greeted him at the door, bowing in respect to the Alpha. They walked together to the meeting room. Adam was glad to see everyone was already there and seated. He hated wasting time waiting for others to arrive.

“So tell me what we know about the victims. How are they similar? How is it they came in contact with wolfsbane?” Adam asked the group as he sat down at the head of the table.

Gereth spoke up, “They seem to have all ingested it somehow. It wasn’t introduced to their blood stream directly.”

“So that narrows it down to things they ate or drank. That’s helpful,” Adam replied sarcastically. “What else do you got? Surely they all ate or drank something from the same place? Do you know what?”

“We’re still going through the stomach contents of the dead victims,” Gereth answered, “but so far, our search is inconclusive.”

“Great,” Adam muttered. “Do we have any other leads that connect the victims? Age? Sex? Area? Anything?”

He looked around the table, not one of his advisors would meet his gaze.

Why had he even come here?

Adam let out a frustrated sigh.

“Until we figure more out, I want more security to be posted around the town in case more poisonings occur. Hopefully then we can save them before it’s too late.”

“Yes, Alpha,” chorused around the room.

“Alright. Anything else pressing we need to discuss today?” Adam saw a few of his advisors share glances nervously with each other. He lifted an eyebrow. “Well, there’s obviously something. So let’s hear it.”

An uncomfortable silence settled over the room as the council members refused to meet his eyes once again. Then, Clint cleared his throat.

“It’s about your mate,” Clint said, barely masking his disgust.

Adam stood up, glaring at Clint. “I suggest you choose your next words carefully.”

“With all due respect, Alpha, I, and many others, do not agree it is good for her to continue staying here. She abandoned her pack years ago. She no longer belongs. Besides, she has brought in a lone wolf into our territory.”

Adam scanned the room, seeing slight nods coming from the other members. “You all feel this way?” he asked with a dangerous edge to his voice.

None of the members would answer him, so Clint answered for them, “The majority of us feel it best if she leaves. You’re just about healed and won’t need her anyway.”

Adam’s eyes snapped to Clint’s and he gulped nervously, realizing he had stepped too far.

“Wh-what I mean is that the bond had done its job. You are the strong Alpha our pack needs now.”

Adam stood tall, addressing the whole room, “Anyone who has a problem with Ella can deal with me directly. She is my Mate and nothing will ever change that. No matter what Ella has done in the past, she deserves a place here in the pack, as well as her and my two children.” He stared each of them down, daring them to challenge him.

“Yes, Alpha,” rang across the room from everybody but Clint who just folded his arms and huffed.

“If that is all, I suggest you all go about the rest of your day,” Adam told them.

Adam watched as all but Clint stood up and walked out.

“Adam,” Clint started tenderly, “You just got your strength back and are finally ready to lead us as you should. I would hate for Ella’s presence to cloud you now that we’re finally here, now that you’re finally healed.”

Adam was about to retort when he heard a thump just outside the room, followed by a shout for Gereth. Adam turned toward the door and rushed out without a second glance at Clint.

“What happened?” he asked as he barged through the doors.

Two of the council members lay on the floor as the rest stood, worriedly watching. After a quick examination, Gereth confirmed Adam’s suspicions.

“They both have aconite poisoning,” he declared.