Chapter 175: The Traitor

Chapter 175: The Traitor
Thorne’s POV

BRAWL DAY TWO.

“We might need more than just hands for this one, Alpha. The Nighthorn pack is well known for their intense… necromancy.” Felix, one of my old guards remarks as we look over our next opponents. “And they are never afraid to combine their natural strengths with their supernatural abilities.”

I run my hands over my face, my eyes flitting to Carlos and for the first time in a long time, he doesn’t look as smug and unbothered as he usually does. 

Every man has his weak point and for most sorcery is one of them. For Carlos however, sorcery is tied to one of the most traumatic experiences of his life from when he was a child. Which is why he isn’t always a fierce soldier in the presence of it. His eyes meet mine briefly before looking away, and I catch a flash of fear in them. 

“If that is so then we are allowed to involve sorcery as well”. I announce. “That way we are not down-sided.” A looming silence settles upon the round table where my guards are gathered, and I can tell they are all wondering where we are supposed to acquire this sorcery support from. But I know just where to go and who to ask. I let the pen in my hand fall to the table with a clank. “Moving on to other pressing issues, how is the storage going?”

The question is directed to the guard in charge of the storage rooms throughout the Reach. But for reasons unknown to me, he seems unable to respond to my question. 
I sit up, leaning over the table with my elbows planted on it. “I asked a question. Will I not get an answer?”

“Alpha I…”. He starts then trails off, his eyes struggling to stay at eye level and keeps falling to his lap.

I stroke my chin, too pressed for whatever nonsense is going on with him. I use my eyes to motion to the guards at the door. “Take him away and make him say what is on his mind. Meeting adjourned.” I push back my chair and stand to my feet, storming out of the room. Seconds later, he is being hauled out of the meeting room by his hands and legs like a sack of beans. 

I know reactions like that a little too well, which is why I have zero tolerance for it. 

“How did you know?” Carlos comes up beside me, walking with me back to the grounds. 

“Know what?”

“About what sorcery does to me”. He concludes and for a moment, I am lost as to what he means, but then it clicks. 
Carlos never directly told me about his trauma with sorcery and why it seems to be the only thing that scares him. It is simply something that I have picked up on over the years of being with him that are ultimately as a result of his failure or inability to hide it. 

I peel my eyes from the woods to his face and then back to the woods again. “I just do. I picked up on it a while ago.”

“How observant.” He remarks coolly, not bothering to look at me. I roll my eyes at how eager he is to be an asshole at times. 

“Thanks.” I walk ahead of him and shift into my wolf to go for a run in the woods. He follows, his darker brown wolf running behind me. Our conversation continues in the quiet language of telepathy. 

“Were you evil to the head of storage because you know what he did, or is today just not a good day?” He asks and my pace slows. 

“What he did?”

“I guess it is for the better that the word hasn’t gotten to you yet.”

I stop completely, instinctively baring my teeth. “What word?”

Carlos is silent for a while before he responds, “He took Garron’s prize. Betrayed the clan”

I am taken aback completely by those words, then that is when it starts to come together. The letter that Garron sent to me with all those claims is real. And It was only a matter of time before the people who made those claims start to show themselves. But I have to admit I allowed myself to be too trusting, because I didn’t expect at all that some of those claims would come from my close seconds. 

A growl rumbles from my chest as I try to control the rage flowing through me. It is always a bigger piece of work trying to contain my emotions in my wolf. “Then how is it that he was still at the meeting today? He‘s meant to be at the dungeons”

Carlos sighs. “The word is simply a rumor. Not proven yet, so we cannot just detain him. Although after today, I think it might be true after all”

I throw him another puzzled look. “After today? What does that mean? And by the way, did the guards find out why he suddenly lost his speech in there?”

“That particularly is my point.” Carlos nods. “There was a break in at the storage rooms that resulted in almost all the food stored being stolen.”

He doesn’t need to spell it out. I know exactly where he is going with that. There was a break in and the head of storage was aware of it. He let it happen, and was probably about to feed me some petty lie about what actually happened. 

“I don’t believe I have become this much of a fool, have I? That a betrayer and a thief would still have the liberty to sit with me and hear my thoughts.”

“You are not a fool. At least not by this. You have other things on your mind to be worried about which one of your guards betrayed you. That is why I am here. And leave it to me. I will make sure he gets what betrayers deserve.”

I give Carlos a long look, blowing a deep breath through my nuzzle. “What would I do without you?”

The look he gives me is revolting. So much so that I have to hold back a laugh. Apart from sorcery, another phenomenon that causes the hair on Carlos’s skin to rise in discomfort has to be the show of emotion. I would know perfectly because I was once there, until I met my wife. 

“Find out what exactly Garron is making the people tell him and trace every single one of them who sold their word. I may have to become a tyrant for this one.” I walk further a little then stop. “Also, put out a word condemning people who sold their word and spelling out the consequences of doing so in the future.”

“What consequences?”

“Death.” I turn and sprint into the woods freely, my limbs barely touching the grass as the wind blows past me. I find a spot directly under a ray of sunlight atop the grass and settle there. My mind reels with thoughts, but most importantly, it is weighed down by the thought of yet another brawl tonight.