Chapter 65 The pack hospital
The pack hospital
Milo Pov
“…on one condition.”
I narrowed my eyes at him “What condition?”
Cornelius reached into the inner pocket of his coat and brought out something that made my stomach twist. A thin band of silver chains that resembled a collar.
“You wear this throughout.”
Daphne’s sharp intake of breath told me this was bad before I even knew what it was.
“A control collar?” she yelled, her voice filled with suspicion. “You can’t be serious…”
“I am dead serious,” Cornelius replied , a face neither changing nor smiling. “It’s enchanted to suppress a wolf’s aura, and not only that, it will let me know your exact location at all times. You won’t take it off until I say so.”
Mt wolf lurched forward in disagreement. Anger bubbled in my chest so fast that I thought I might explode. “You want me to go out there wearing a leash, I am not your slave!”
“It is not a leash. it's a safety measure” he said with mock innocence. I tensed, “You are unpredictable, a wild card that can not be controlled. And the people don't trust you now. But this way, I will be able to shut you down before you hurt someone.”
The memory of the terrified crowd in the arena flickered in my mind. The fear and terror in their eyes… I clenched my fists so hard my nails bit into my palms.
“You don’t have to do this, Milo. I can come to visit you when I have a chance.” Daphne turned to me, her voice in a pleading way.
But Cornelius smiled, not the type of warm kind, but the type that a predator could give to a prey. “Take the deal, or stay here in this room, and do as I say.”
The room fell silent, and my blood roared in my head like a storm.
I could feel Lior’s growl of resentment deep inside me, “rip his throat out. Kill him!”
I looked from Cornelius’s smug face to Daphne’s conflicted one, then back to the ugly collar in his hands.. I understand what Cornel wanted me to do.
“I agree.”
I closed my eyes, my breath coming in short gasps. I didn’t know why, but I suddenly had that feeling that I had done the wrong thing.
But then, when I looked back at Cornel, his eyes were still trained on me. His mouth twitched, whether in satisfaction or mockery, I couldn’t tell, but a feeling of dread washed over my body...
“There’s one last thing.”
The room stilled.
“What? I have agreed to wear your stupid collar.” I couldn’t stop the anger from flowing out.
He crossed his arms, "Remember i said conditions…, you only heard one of them”
“You…” Daphne jumped before I could say anything, his hand pointing at him accusingly. “He has agreed to your stupid request. What else could you need to want? Dance for you?”
“It's not my business. What he is asking is a big request. Wearing a mere collar won't rule anything out.” He snapped back at her, “but like i said, if he doesn’t want to hear it, then there's nothing I could do.”
My gut twisted “Name your second condition.”
“You fight in the arena during the next pack full moon celebration. Just one match.”
“That’s it?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. “Just one match is your condition.”
He shrugged. “Yes, but I will choose your competitor.”
The way he said it made my instincts stir uneasily. Everything looked vague and hidden. Something kept on telling me that Cornel would go to any length to disgrace me in front of everyone.
Daphne stepped forward. “No, that's ridiculous. The fight in the arena is a tough and dangerous fight with cases of fatal injuries. You can't make him agree to it without knowing what you are sending him to, and let's not forget about what my master would say when he comes back.”
Cornel’s gaze cut to her, but it was unyielding, as cold as ice. “Those are my terms, I won't force him to accept it. Take them, or leave them.”
I placed a hand on her shoulder before she pounced on him. “It’s fine.”
“Milo…” she began, her eyes wide in fear, and something else…concern and worrying. My heart warmed. But I needed to do this. If it's what it takes to get the acknowledgement and respect that I deserve, then I would do it.
“Calm down,” I told her. “I’m ready. I’ll do it.”
“Absolutely not happening, That’s too far.” She turned to Cornelius, ignoring my pleas for her to stop.
Not listening to her, I took a step closer to Cornell. Not in any way breaking eye contact with him. “I will do it,”
The air outside felt… different, just like I had felt when I woke up. I unconsciously trailed my hands over the collar that was strapped on my wrist, still and stale, filled with a depressing atmosphere that bit into my skin like poison.
The pack was a ghost of itself.
This was supposed to be the strongest and most feared pack in the world. The kind that made different Alphas quake in fear. The sound of our feet crouching on gravel echoed through the empty streets. No sound of children training in the yards, no chatter, only the wind, carrying the faint tang sickness and despair filled the air.
And Master… he was nowhere to be found.
I clutched my cloak tighter around me to chase away the chilling feeling while following Daphne as we navigated through numerous blockages and barricades in the pack roads. This was the first time I was walking through the pack grounds without Master’s shadow pressing down on me.
My body trembled unconsciously as I remembered the last time I was outside the pack… master had forced me to wear a butt plug throughout that day.
“Are you okay milo” I didn’t realise Daphne had stopped until I almost crashed behind her. Her eyes pressed down on me.
Are you having second thoughts, milo? It's not too late to go…
“Noooo, we have come this far, I am not backing down” I insisted, stomping my feet to the ground.
After some time, she nodded, turning back “okay, follow me closely.”
After some time walking, a huge building loomed in front. The heavy smell of disinfectants and wails of pain reached me before I even knew what it was.
The pack hospital.
My breath hitched as we entered the lobby, I stared wide-eyed at the building that was overflowing with infected people and a few nurses on white that ran helter skelter to attend to everyone. Beds lined the hallways, their occupants pale and white like ghosts, as they rolled and gripped their stomach in pain.
“Clear the way,” someone yelled at our back before groups of warriors were rolled into the lobby on stretchers.
The tired nurses moved with practiced professionalism, their hands never stopping, as they tried to stabilize the new batch of infected patients. From what I got, there were a few of the patrol groups that didn't make it back on time when the state of emergency was imposed.
The weight of everything hitted me like a sled hammer.
“This…” I whispered, my voice lost in the noise.
“This is what we are dealing with,” Daphne said. Without a bitter smile, she was already moving.
She didn’t give me a chance to dwell on what she said, before immediately running to help the nurses that were attending to the newly admitted patients, whose screams later joined the anguished wails that soon filled the hospital.
I didn’t know that I had spaced out until one middle-aged nurse approached me, thrusting me a new set of scrubbing clothes. “Hey boy, you want to help? Then get on with it, and stop moping around. But I will tell you something, don't touch the wounds unless you want to get infected.”
I nodded hesitantly, my stomach twisting at her last words, but she had already pushed me deeper into the building towards the changing room, leaving me with no choice.