22. Spirit
Oliver’s POV
I woke up with heavy eyes, my head aching and I couldn’t feel my arm. I glanced down at my newly changed shirt along with the sleeping figure of Freya laying her head on my arm while she sat on a stool.
I sat up slowly acknowledging the pain was almost gone just a little bit aftermath of tiring bones and weak limbs.
“Freya” I croaked, she shifted slightly in her sleep—I let her sleep. She got up from the bed and walked out from the covers she had placed on top of me.
The once warm bowl of water and a towel sat on the bedside table along with the bandage and other first aid she had used on me.
I needed to drink water, so I walked to the kitchen with the empty jug in my hands—I placed the empty jug on the cupboard and opened the fridge, I pulled out a cold bottle of water, uncapped it, and started gulping it down—I was damn tasty.
“You know you shouldn’t be taking something that cold on that injury you have on you” She leaned on the wall, arms folded on her chest.
Ignoring her, still taking small sips from the bottle.
“Seems you didn’t lose your period moods” She shook her head coming to sit on the kitchen pavement.
“I am fine, how long was I out for?” I discarded the bottle, watching as she thought for a while.
“I don’t know. 10 hours? , a day? I fell asleep so I couldn’t keep tabs on your sleeping habits” she shrugged.
“Yeah, I know your loud snores woke me up” I cringed, if looks could kill I would be 6 ft under the floor.
“Dick” she scowled “are you okay though?” Concern washed every spot on my face.
“Yeah I am, it felt like a scratch. Nothing I couldn’t handle” I bluffed—even though I knew how much in pain I was, it felt like they were breaking my bones and arranging them back.
“I doubt that you were red from pain” she laughed, the memory fresh in her mind “What happened though?”
“I got in a fight, got stabbed” I shrugged like it was no big deal.
“Yeah, they had a magical sword that turns blood black,” she said sarcastically—she sounded hot “Quit the charade Oliver and tell me if something is going on, I promised your grandmother I would look after you. And you are making it a hard job to do if you keep getting into fights that leave you on the brink of death!” she pointed at me, she seemed infuriated at me and I don’t know why myself. Cause there was so much anger in her orbs to be directed at one person.
“I don’t need you butting in my affairs, I think I am too old to have a nanny” I glared at her “I have responsibilities, and if I get hurt while fulfilling it. That is on me not on anyone else so stay where you are supposed to be.”
“Then don’t keep coming to me with your mess to be fixed” she yelled.
“I guess that is the only thing you are good at, other than that you are useless” Immediately the words came out of my mouth I regretted it—from the pissed-off expression along with the pained expression on her face I knew I couldn’t take it back even though I wanted so badly to.
“You know what” she got off from where she was sited “fuck you and shove your moods up your ass” She walked away, the anger radiating off her feeling massive.
Shit—I fucked things badly just like I always do.
******^
I looked around the ground where the rogue was, it was all clean even the blood that had spilled from them to the floor was nowhere to be found—everywhere was clean except the faint rotten scents still lingered in the air. Disturbing the fresh air that came from the trees around.
“What was the result like?” I crossed my hands behind me, feeling fully recuperated after a day's rest.
“I have yet to hear from him, we should probably go together to make solving this easier and faster,” Eric said walking beside me —we were both absent from the office, Ethan covering for both of us. I for sure left my company in good hands.
The pack lab was somewhat empty except for the lab doctor, Fredrick, and his mate, his lab assistant—Lily.
He was a nice man in his forties who ended up coming across his second chance mate after the first one had died due to a sickness that no doctor could find a cure for —something about it being an ancient sickness from the forefather.
His love story–was that the right to call it? It was something more like a reunion than a story since she was his childhood story spread throughout the packs like wildfire—I was happy he was happy.
“Good day alpha to what do I owe this glorious visit” he smiled, his eyes crinkling around the corners.
“Fredrick, I see you have been doing a good job around here” I looked around the neatly arranged lab, impressed—no matter whether dead bodies were laying around with preservatives.
“Concerning my presence here, I was told you were going to place a verdict concerning the blood sample my Beta had dropped here 2 days before?”
“Oh yes” he looked back at his wife silently passing a message to her, she moved silently around the lab and grabbed a file walking back to a waiting Fredrick.
She handed him the file and went back to standing beside him—nothing weird about that.
He opened the file taking a minute to gaze through it. “From the series of tests we conducted, it came to our notice there was not an ounce of life in their blood.” He adjusted the glasses he had on, closing the file and placing it on the table beside him.
“What do you mean by no life particle in them?” Eric had beat me to it, asking a question that was at the tip of my tongue.
“What I meant to say is that this isn’t blood, just plain red paint” he divulged.
I looked at Eric waiting for him to explain to me what the hell was going on.
His face contorted to a confused expression “I had picked it right from the fight scene so I don’t get how that could be painted”
“Maybe you didn’t get the blood, or someone had exchanged it. These are the results I had today. I am as confused as you are”
Lily moved forward whispering something in Fredrick's ears causing his eyes to light up in remembrance.
“And I also forgot to add, the so-said blood turns stale when left uncovered, some sort of substance in it”
“Could you identify the substance in it?” I spoke up for the first time since I had been told this news.
He shook his head “I couldn’t perform a test on something that turned stale but I can tell you it did smell bad than a corpse”
“I was there the night of the fight, this is definitely weirder than the way their body had dissipated after they had been killed,” the lady beside him said, thinking out loud.
Fredrick glanced at his mate in concern, the lady seeming to read her husband's mind and waved him off “Oh I am fine, only the alpha was hurt. They solely came for him and other pack members got woven into the ball they had wanted to create” she said.
I thought for a while. Her assumption was right. They came at me like they were programmed—I had thought it was weird but had forgotten all about it the moment I had crashed.
“And what if they were just an illusion? Has anyone thought about it?” She continued, breaking my train of thought—she was indeed smart behind the silence she chose to maintain.
“I doubt that they dropped blood after being killed. Does any illusion do that?” Eric said, staring pointedly at the lady that had just spoken up.
Everyone kept quiet, Fredrick breaking it “Actually I have heard something like that” he spoke up “There is something from ancient times” his face contorted painfully no doubt remembering his first mate—he loved her, Lily placed a comforting hand on his arm in understanding.
He took in a deep breath “Called Saman, an act of them controlling a body from somewhere, assembling different people, something about their family line spirit. So they are brought back for the meantime when they are killed, they return to their resting place where they were called from ” he said.
“So what you are trying to say is that they are basically spirits that can be killed again?” Eric asked, surprise coating his voice.
“Something like that, but worst of all their spirit keeps haunting this pack” he shivered.
I thought these were just rogues but I was in fact so wrong we were dealing with something I couldn’t even place a name on—my pack was in for some serious dancing, and this time we were going to be dancing with spirits.