Chapter Sixty Two

Florence sat up instantly when he stepped into the room.

“Alpha,” the woman greeted, bowing her head.

Impatience ran through his blood but Nikolai managed to keep himself in check. “How are you doing now?”

“I am better, thank you very much.”

“That is good. I will not beat around the bush, I was told you are asking for your Luna but she is unavailable and I am here to listen to what it is you have to tell her.”

She looked up at him, her eyes widening before she immediately looked down again. “Of course, Alpha.”

He let out a slow exhale and placed his hand behind him, squeezing them together once they were out of sight —he was banking on Florence’s testimony. Nikolai still planned on going ahead with the invasion of Emerald’s pack but if Florence had something enough to pin Warren with then he was no fool, he would use that rather than subject his and Callan’s pack warriors to this war.

He would find another way to get his son from Emerald pack, after all this was an opportunity for him to be allowed inside. The Alpha had banned him from the pack since Ada’s death.

“The Luna sent me on a quick errand. I was to drop a letter just outside the pack border by the ridge.” She paused, wringing her fingers. Nikolai could tell she was scared and deeply affected, he realized how hard retelling this was for and he felt insensitive for not making certain she was fine with telling it first.

“It's okay if you can't tell it, Florence. I need you to understand there is no pressure and whatever you need would be made available.”

She looked up at him, tears gleaming in her eyes. “I was stupid enough to not have realized I was being followed from the pack but as soon as I got there and I’d set the letter down, a woman appeared from the woods. She was hooded and she struck me as familiar because I’d seen her a few times in the pack around Alpha Warren. She approached me and took down the face cover but I didn't recognize who she was. I quickly grabbed the letter and tried hiding it from her but then she hit me and yanked it away from my hands. We engaged in a scuffle for a while but I was immediately overpowered when two other men joined her. She read the letter and asked who it was meant for and when I didn't respond fast enough for her, she had one of the men strike me. She proceeded to ask if I knew if the Luna’s sister, Sophia would be attending the moon festival and I told her I didn't know who that was.”

Nikolai remained still as he listened to Florence’s narration but his hand had balled into a fist and his anger was increasing by the second.

“Finally, she asked about Gretchen. She wanted to know what the Luna’s plans concerning her were but yet again, I told her I knew nothing concerning that. It was then a man came out from the bushes, he’d been there for a while listening to our conversation, he was irritated and told her she was wasting her time with me because I was, in his words, “a clueless, idiotic servant with nothing of worth to offer them.” the man seemed to be in charge of whatever it was because she listened to him and passed him the letter…”

“Do you know him? This man?”

Florence shook her head. “I’d never seen him before. He was tall, very tall, and seemed powerful and assured, and exceptionally proud despite his defect.”

Nikolai stopped. “What defect?”

She swallowed. “He was missing an eye. It was a horrid sight, the space where his eyes should be was empty, and... I’d never seen anything like it but regardless, he was the cruelest of them.”

Silviu!

“You saw Silviu?” Nikolai asked, his voice raised.

“You know him?”

“This woman he was with… Describe her to me.”

And Florence delved into the physical features that matched just one person — the woman who had left with Warren, Elena, the current Alpha female of the Dark Wood pack, and the sister of the late Alpha Alexander, the bastard that had tortured Natalie’s sister, Sophia.

That would make sense why Elena would ask Florence if Sophia was attending the moon festival because, during it, she had been audacious enough to briefly take Sophia’s child away plunging them all into worry.

But the fact that Silviu was closer than he’d imagined was infuriating to Nikolai. He had his people searching the depths of Earth for him and those incompetent fools had told him the man was hiding somewhere else meanwhile Silviu, the audacious bastard was hiding right in front of his pack and had someone inside his pack for a long time providing him the information he needed.

Nikolai felt stupid, enraged, and embarrassed. He had underestimated Warren, that was his first mistake — he'd thought his cousin was a fool but the man had proven he was no fool and left Nikolai with nothing but a pack submerged in chaos and an imprisoned Luna.

“What happened next?” he asked Florence, his voice was tight this time and he was barely holding on.

A tear ran down her cheeks, she swallowed and sat up grasping the pillow on her thighs tighter. “He read the letter and muttered something about the Luna thinking she is smarter than she really is and that it's about time she returned his position to him…”

The Alpha position. Silviu Alden was still obsessed with becoming Alpha of the Mystic Hollow pack and Nikolai doubted he would ever give it up, especially after surviving what he had from Sophia, if anything, his bruised ego would encourage him to continue to go after it.

“He asked the woman if Warren had gotten in touch with the Alpha of the Emerald pack and she said yes, they were yet to receive a response from him. She then looked over at me and asked him what they were going to do with me and he looked at the two warriors and said…” Her voice broke and the tears ran down freely this time. “He said that… He said…”

Nikolai knew something terrible had happened from this point and he had no idea how to console her. Slowly, he took a step and then another until he was right next to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and patted her back.

“He told the men…” Florence attempted to speak again in a tear-filled voice. “He told them to have whatever fun they could with me and then to leave me to die but before that, he put a knife to my arm and sliced a spot then made sure the letter was covered in my blood and told the woman to have the letter delivered directly to a man called Luther.”

Nikolai was short of words. “Those men…” he started but words failed him.

“I tried to stop them.” And she broke down, sobbing so hard, Nikolai’s heart broke for her. He staggered backward, the horror of it dawning on him.

“I tried my best but the men, they were too strong, and my wolf... My wolf was too scared and I couldn't shift and they... I let them have their way and I hoped and begged the Goddess to take my life before they had the chance to do it themselves but they didn't care much about me. When they were done, they simply left.”

“I'm sorry,” Nikolai said quietly.

She wiped her eyes. “That is all that happened, Alpha.'' She faced him with red-rimmed eyes and quivering lips. “Have I been of much help?”

“Florence, that is not what matters.”

“It is! I might have not been able to fight for myself but I knew if I made it alive, the Luna will fight for me. I saw how she was disturbed about Gretchen and wanted to help her. I knew then that if I survived that, she would get those men and she would get justice for me.”

And Nikolai in all of his hard-heartedness didn't have the heart to tell her that Gretchen was dead and Natalie had been arrested for her murder.

He simply nodded, fighting his own emotions from materializing. “She will, we will.”

She nodded. “Then I'll hold onto that.”

Without anything left to be said, Nikolai quietly exited the infirmary.

How did it all get to this extent? He knew now that Ada’s father was in cohorts with Elena, Silviu, and Warren. They'd contacted him and the fact that he’d immediately had Natalie arrested and now in his custody was glaring evidence of what his response to Warren had been but what Nikokai still couldn't wrap his head around was the connection between Elena and Warren.

And now he knew there was no other way to go around this, Natalie’s trial would not be a fair one. The only thing left here now was to invade Emerald pack, get his mate back, and wait for what would happen next.

He just wished she would open up their bond for him to communicate with her, he had so much to tell and now it seemed he was too late.

“I have been searching for you,” a voice said, snapping him out of his thoughts.

He looked up and saw one of Natalie’s sisters. She was in a disheveled state, her eyes were red and heavy as though she’d been crying.

Nikolai recognized her as Catherine, the one who had tried to unseat Natalie from the Alpha position.

He stared at her with undisguised disdain. “What do you want?” Even his voice held the hostility he didn't seem to be able to hide.

“We just received news from our pack,” she said, her tone said whatever it was the news was, she was still in shock.

“The Beta, Augustine has officially deposed Natalie following her arrest.” Kate’s voice quivered as she announced. “Augustine has, with approval from the pack members, been declared the current Alpha of the Mystic Hollow pack.”