Chapter 178 Finally

Chapter 178 Finally
Maureen's POV

I watched as soldiers joined hands together to pack the dead wolves into a heap afar off from the field. They would be buried or burnt later, depending on what the High Moon generals deem fit.

I stood up from where I had been sitting on a tree trunk for over thirty minutes. I didn't feel the pain in my chest anymore but I still felt sad.

I didn't see Dominus and Lance at first where they stood with their faces looking grim. I frowned because of the look on their faces.

I walked up to them and Dominus was startled as if he had been lost in thought. Lance hissed under his breath. I knew that frustrated gesture. He did that whenever he was hiding something that he thought you shouldn't find out for your good.

Asher ran back from helping the soldiers and stopped where we were standing. He fidgeted for a while before he tried to excuse Lance. I looked at Dad and the Alpha to see they were in deep conversation. They were whispering but it was obvious that the subject was a big deal.

'You don't have to excuse Lance from here Asher. It is obvious that something is wrong. You might all start talking,' I said folding my hands on my chest.

'Maureen, we need to stay focused on this battle. We will attend to whatever it is after everything is over,' Lance said.

'Whatever it is, is no longer a secret because it is obvious that Dad and the Alpha already know about it. I can see that Rocha and Torrent are oblivious to it, or maybe you haven't told them because you thought it wouldn't be necessary,' I said through gritted teeth.

'Calm down Maureen. We just want you to concentrate on the battle,' Dominus said.

'If this thing you are hiding has anything to do with the chest pain I had some minutes ago, you might just have to start talking,' I said looking from one face to the other.

'Fine. Ian was injured, but he is in the hospital now, and he will be fine,' Dominus said, and my ears rang as if a bell went off in them.

'What do you mean by injured? How? He was not supposed to be at the battlefront. How did this happen?' I asked worriedly.

'That is actually the reason we don't want you to know for now. If you know how it happened, you might lose your cool,' Lance said.

I breathed in and out so I could calm down. 'I promise that I won't freak out,' I said.

'Shanty stabbed him with the bane,' Lance said.

'Shanty? His Shanty?' I asked unbelieving.

'Yes. I don't know why Ian went back to the house, but Lucia and Dawn found them together in the house, with Ian bleeding and Shanty holding the bane. She was about to leave the house, and Ian was in blood,' Dominus explained.

I looked over at where Rocha and Torrent were and called him over. He and his mate came to where we were holding hands.

'You are not supposed to be here Torrent,' I said the second they got to us.

'Lucia and Dawn wanted me to leave too. But I told them I wanted to stay with Rocha. You will not force me to leave, will you?' Torrent asked.

'No. I am not going to force you,' I assured her before I turned to Rocha, 'Do you know why Ian left?'

'He said he had a feeling that something was wrong with Shanty. According to him, her face kept flashing into his mind and he had an overwhelming feeling of sadness. He was just going to go see her and then return. Is something wrong?' Rocha asked looking worried.

'Yes. Shanty stabbed him with the bane,' Asher answered.

'What? How did she get hold of the bane? I thought it was with you, Lance?' Rocha said as his voice rose a pitch higher than usual as he faced Lance.

'I don't know and I intend to find out,' Lance said thoughtfully.

'Where is Shanty now?' Rocha asked.

'Lucia asked her to go to sleep till the battle is over. I guess she will be sleeping for a while and when she wakes up, she will face the consequences of her action,' Dominus said.

'What were Lucia and Dawn doing at the Alpha house? They were supposed to head for the pack house,' I asked. I wasn't faulting the fact that they were there, I just wanted to know why they were there.

'They were getting my laptop. There is a camera up in that tree,' Asher pointed behind us. 'The camera is connected to my laptop. It is recording everything. They wanted to get the laptop to keep an eye on the recording,' Asher explained.

'Shouldn't I get to Ian? Healing him will make him recover faster,' I said.

'Maybe ...' Lance's words were interrupted by the scouts who had gone to see what was happening ahead.

If Lance and the others had not told me the truth before the scouts returned, I would have known something was wrong if Ian didn't return with them.

'What did you see?' Dad asked the one who led them.

'They are approaching with over five hundred soldiers and this time their golden wolf is leading the troop,' the head of the scout said.

'We don't know if the soldiers are real wolves or their made-believe soldiers,' Lance snorted.

'If only Ian were here, he would have gotten closer to know what they are,' Rocha sighed sadly.

'I think I would have to take a closer look myself,' Dominus said and disappeared.

The general and several soldiers of High Moon and that of Alpha Antonio gasped in surprise when Dominus disappeared suddenly.

'I have to get to Ian,' I said feeling restless. My whole being was with Ian.

'Ian is responding to treatment, Maureen. We need to concentrate on this. If we lose the battle, even Ian wouldn't be safe then,' Dad said looking concerned.

'I need to be sure that he is okay. My heart is restless,' I said to Dad.

'You can mind link Lucia or Dawn to ascertain the fact that Ian will still be alive by the time we are through here,' the Alpha said.

I looked from the Alpha to Dad. I knew that they were not mean and they wouldn't ask me to stay when they knew that Ian was at risk of losing his life.

'Or you could call so that you can speak with him,' Rocha said.

'Who comes to a battlefield with a phone?' Asher asked rolling his eyes.

'I have my phone here,' Torrent said and then removed the phone from her pocket. 'I didn't remember to remove it when I ran out of the house,' she explained why she had her phone on her.

Asher collected it and called Dawn's number. It rang twice before she finally picked. I was becoming agitated by the time she picked. I collected the phone from Asher.

'Dawn, how is Ian?' I asked.

'He is stable now,' Dawn answered sounding drained.

'Can I talk to him?' I asked with trepidation.

'Yes. He can hear you but the doctor said he is not permitted to talk until the tube in his mouth is removed,' Dawn said.

'Put the phone to his ear,' I said to Dawn.

'He can hear you now,' Dawn said.

'Ian, can you hear me?' I asked, and a groan came over the phone, making me sigh in relief. 'I will be with you in a short while. Wait for me Ian, please. I can't lose you,' I said, and he answered with a humming sound.

I was suddenly very emotional. Anger warmed my blood and my eyes glowed brighter. I felt like getting my hand on Shanty to squeeze life out of her.

Dominus returned just as I ended the call. He was sweaty and breathing hard. He had run to and from wherever the council's fake golden wolf and his fake soldiers were.

'He has more than five hundred fake soldiers with him. The new president and Mathias are riding on a horse behind them,' Dominus said as he caught his breath.

'Good job Dom. So we wait till they get here. Leave their fake golden wolf to me. Rocha, once I am through with the fake golden wolf, you know exactly what to do,' I said and Rocha nodded in understanding.

'We might not have to wait for long. They are about ten minutes away with the way they are matching down here,' Dominus said so we waited.

Dominus' estimation was right because a little over ten minutes later, they matched into the field from the trees, with their eyes looking lifeless. The fake golden wolf was the only one amongst them as many as they were, that had the normal look in his eyes.

'You still have a second chance to surrender now before woe betides you all,' the new president shouted using a megaphone.

'You haven't learned your lesson yet, right? You are about to watch everything you believe in crumble before me,' I said to the new president with a loud booming voice. I didn't need a megaphone. My wolf could project my voice.

I mind-linked Lance to use their attention on me to get soldiers to lurk behind the new president and Mattias. They were not going to leave the field unscathed again.

'I believe I am the one you have business with, fake golden wolf,' the fake golden wolf said, sounding like a sissy.

'I guess so. We finally meet. What are you doing here parading yourself as what you are not? You are nothing but an experiment. The handmade of wolves like you,' I said bitterly.

'I have finally met you and today I must get rid of you. You are nothing but a hypocrite and a liar,' the fake golden wolf said.

'Why don't you bring what you have on the coward,' I said teasingly.

'Are you sure you can survive the onslaught of what I am capable of?' The fake wolf asked smiling sheepishly.

From the look in his eyes, I could see that he thought little of me because I was a girl. He was in for a surprise. I had looked forward to a time like that with him, and finally, he walked into my den himself. I swore to make sure that even his dead body would not be spared!