Chapter 57 57
Alpha Knox~~
I stayed two months under the ground with my men and beta, which was why the building didn't entirely get burnt, because I had known something like this would happen, and provided ways to quench whatever flame was set up.
It was a relief that my people were only taken as slaves, and I was the only target, so my aim after reconstructing the palace was to set them free.
Standing before the building, I shook my head. The best decision I ever made was building that underground, and even beta Drogo didn't know about it. I made sure it was a kinda place where one could stay for years and still sustain, because aside from the construction rooms and stores, there were living rooms, water, and food available.
It took me a lot to achieve it. I spent tons of money, but I never regretted it.
Seeing how the palace had returned to what it was, I staged an attack against the Crescent Moon pack with my men. With the map, we planned out everything, and on that day, I took off with them. What I hated was that Dean escaped from the palace, so I had to take his people with me, just like he did.
I picked out Angeline and the slave mistress and questioned them about Phoebe, but the response shattered my heart into pieces.
It couldn't be true. Phoebe couldn't be dead.
If Dean escaped with her, then she should have been the reason for him to be caught. I wasn't even able to sense her wolf in that pack, but I still wanted to believe that she was still alive somewhere.
“Alpha, I could take you to one of the guards appointed to take her away that day. I'm very sure they would know her whereabouts.” Angeline stated, and I ordered Levi to go with her to the slave yard, where the several guards were ordered to the throne room.
If I ripped them apart, I wouldn't find a solution. How do I save everyone but not my mate? So what was the essence of my being so fast in whatever I did?
They didn't expect me to show up again, and that was because they never knew about my underground. The spy, too, seemed to have no dealings with them any longer, or she knew of the underground and should have revealed it.
I stood from my throne and began parading around, trying hard to subdue my anger before speaking to those men. When my wolf had calmed down a bit, I turned to them, “Where is she?” Those three words were heavy enough that they flinched in fear.
One of them managed to respond, “She fell off the cliff into the river in her wolf form.”
“The plan wasn't to hurt her, but to bring her back to the pack.”
“Lie!” Angeline screamed amid tears. “Alpha Dean doesn't want her alive unless she agrees to be his woman. I heard you all whisper that she was shot and slipped into the river. If not, how did I come to know that she ran off?" The lady looked angrier than I was, and her energy was one I didn't expect.
For someone who was sent to my pack to gather information, she was supposed to be behind those men.
“Phoebe can't swim. You all caused it!!” she shrieked, and my wolf stirred in anger that moment.
The last time, I had saved her. This time, what could happen? She wasn't truly dead, right? It had been months, and it looked like all hope was lost.
I turned to the men and said, “One of you must take me to that cliff. And if I happen not to find her there, I wouldn't spare any of you.”
From there, I organised my men who were good at diving into the ocean, and we took off to the cliff. When we reached, I dropped into that river with them and began searching for at least her body, even if it was so decayed.
Hours elapsed, and the river was a huge one with a high current. I was beginning to feel weak from so much swimming, and also had that feeling that the oxygen bottle would be empty soon, so I had to mindlink the rest, and we got off.
As expected, neither of them found even a piece of her or her belongings.
“The water is so deep that reaching the floor suddenly became hard for me. There are so many creatures in it, too, and I hope it's not what I'm thinking of.” One of my men started, and the others sighed in pain.
Whereas I sat aside, gripping my throat while a weird hot sensation burned up there. Soon, I threw up a mouthful of blood, and my wolf's whimper drew the attention of my men towards me.
“You look so red, Alpha. What could be happening?” one of them asked, and I seriously had no answer to the question.
I was already in a bad mood for a mission not well accomplished. At some point, I felt it was no use going to the Crescent Moon pack when Phoebe wasn't there, but then I recalled my people and hers that were captives there.
“What about seeing a doctor? You look drained.”
I nodded, and then we began leaving.
When we began returning to the cliff from the track road that led out of the river, I mindlinked Levi, ‘I'm not returning to the palace with them, so unalive them.’
Since they had the guts to chase my mate into her death, which I didn't believe, they had no reason to live. They would be so useless to Dean, so using them as a threat wouldn't make sense. And before I reached the cliff, their bodies had gone cold already.
Just staring at their corpse, I felt satisfied. But deep down, I wished to find my mate regardless. For some reason, I still didn't believe she was dead, and I must go to great lengths to find her again.
When we returned to the palace, I summoned a doctor who couldn't find the cause of my sickness. I felt so weak, like I had lost a lot of strength, yet he said nothing, which almost made me go insane.
“Then should I run a test?” I said to him, and he shrugged his shoulders.
But after he left, Levi insisted I shouldn't waste time running a test.
“I feel like this is beyond a medical issue. You've been draining slowly since you awakened your black magic, so I will bring in a witch doctor,” he suggested, and at that point, I had no other choice but to let him do what he wanted.
In the next few hours, the witch doctor was brought into my bedroom, because I didn't need anyone finding out what was wrong with me. While pretending to check my pulse, I knew she was doing more than that.
“Alpha,” she muttered and slowly let go of me. She got to her knees and bowed respectfully, causing me to glance at Levi in confusion. As she raised her head, she explained, “I feel a black energy roaming in you and is draining in you.”
My gaze narrowed. So could it truly be because I made use of magic in the past?
“You were cursed, and if you didn't use that magic, your curse would only activate if you fell in love with your mate or marked her. As it is now, with or without your mate, the black energy would drain you to death…”
For the second time in life, fear gripped me so much that I bit my lip until it was broken.
“So, what would be done? There should be a remedy.” Levi asked her, and she nodded.
She sighed and whispered, "There's a divine artifact that would raise the curse. So only if it's found, there's nothing else to do.”