136. The Truth of the Matter
“I’m so relieved to see that you are not harmed.”
Z frowns at him as he slowly comes up to us. “You knew I’ve been missing.”
Trevor straightens up. “I know more than that. The Royal Ambassador came to visit on the same day that-”
“Shane was lashed, I know. Some of my men were there to inform me.” Z quickly intervenes.
“You were there?” I ask in surprise.
“It’s how I was able to find Benji and what he could do.” He turns back to Trevor. “You know something that you haven’t told others about.”
“Yes, I overheard him speaking to Alpha Spencer about you and your brother. I’m so sorry for the kingdom’s loss-”
“Zander isn’t dead. Benji and Jonah saved his life.”
Trevor’s eyes widen at hearing that. “But they were for sure-”
“Yes, I know. Victor is on the rise to steal my brother’s throne. I know he’s the one who had my brother ambushed. I also know that I can’t just fully trust anyone. So, I’m going to ask you just this once, Gamma Trevor of Blue Silver.”
Z’s aura suddenly changes one into hostility and foreboding. His eyes flash into a dark silver, while his hair glows brightly. My body shook from the power he was emitting as well as the fear that entered within. I couldn’t help but to shrink back, as did Derek and anyone else who was awake in his presence.
Osmoses immediately falls to his knees, as all the other Elites did the same. Their heads were bowed lowly. My inner wolf begs me to do the same and I quickly comply. Derek, too, falls to his knees and bows to the young prince.
Trevor’s body was shaking as he stares right into the young boy’s eyes. Waiting for him to say his next words.
“Are you a spy and traitor to the current throne?”
I never heard Z’s tone be so harsh and cruel. But Trevor doesn’t back down as he looks him right in the eyes and say,
“I will always and forever be loyal to the rightful Crown, no matter what.”
There was a very long pause as the two of them stood there silently. Then the air around us shifted to a lighter atmosphere, leaving the heaviness to drift away almost like it had never been there in the first place.
Z’s shoulders relaxed as everyone started to get back up, the Elites still a bit on high alert with what just transpired.
“You stated that you overheard the conversation between your Alpha and Victor?” He looks to him with uneasiness.
“That’s correct. Now that you are here, I would like to inform you everything that I heard.”
Osmoses comes up to us with a scowl on his face as he demands, “Let’s talk.”
Trevor looks back to Derek and gives him a tiny smile. “This may take a while. Why don’t you go back to sleep? I’ll wake you when we’re done.”
Derek just nods his head and watches his father follow the prince, and the leader of the Elites, back to the same room where prince Zander was in. I couldn’t help but be curious of their discussion. What was it that Trevor overheard that day? Was it real serious? Was it something that could possibly start a war?
I was starting to get a little scared. Derek walks up to me and asks, “Shane sleeping?”
I nod my head and inform him of his current condition of him shifting soon. Derek frowns when I tell him of his symptoms.
“That’s strange. When I had my first shift, I just felt a slight heat, a bit painful and then a sudden-” He suddenly cuts himself off, thinking really hard.
“What? What is it?” I get his attention back.
“Uh, well, it was just…I went straight to Benji after that because I instantly knew he was my mate.” He rubs the back of his neck. “But I had a sudden thought that maybe because Shane is a Black wolf, soon to be Alpha, that he might have a completely different experience.” He quickly finishes off.
Was that it? Because he was considered to be a purebred Black wolf? I wasn’t sure. Sighing deeply, I bid him goodnight and walk back to the sleeping Shane. Sitting down, staring at him, I didn’t feel tired.
I hear shuffling as Rufus and another Elite help both Oscar and Slater in the cave. I guess they got the okay to come in. Immediately the royal doctor came towards them and ordered where to lay the two of them. Oscar stops midway when he sees Jordan lying unconscious on one of the cots.
As fast as his battered limbs would allow him, he gets down on his knees and nearly weeps over him seeing him still alive. He must have thought he was dead, like all the others. I had to look away from the scene, afraid of crying again. This entire night was emotional, and heartbreaking and I didn’t know how much more of it I could handle.
They set Slater on the other side of the cave, facing me. He doesn’t meet my eyes as he seems to be highly uncomfortable. Still favoring his right leg, he still avoids me like he didn’t even realize I was sitting right there in front of him.
“This one had a dislocated knee. Nico had to pop it back into place, but it’s all swollen and he’s not able to stand of it.”
The doctor quickly goes to him and checks out the knee area. “Were you injured before the dislocation?”
Slater nods his head. “I fell on my knee pretty hard before it was pulled on.” He hisses as the doctor starts to probe around the swollen area.
“It’s bruised pretty badly, there’s a chance you may have fractured the knee cap. You have your wolf?” He asks next.
Slater shakes his head, looking like he wanted to cry. “They did something to me to where we lost all communication.”
At that, everyone looked to him. The doctor sighs. “Lean your head forward, exposing the back of your neck.”
He squints his eyes at the old man with suspicion.
“You have a stinger on the back of your neck. It’s how they keep you from shifting.” Nami speaks up, seeming to be just a bit annoyed.
“A stinger?”
“Just, trust me.” The doctor implores him to move forward.
Hesitantly he complies and winces when the doctor takes something out. “Give it a few minutes, he’ll come back to you and when he does, you’ll be able to heal your leg on your own.”
With that, the doctor heads straight to Oscar and says, “You on the other hand will need treatment. My guess it your wolf is pretty battered himself.”
They put their attention on Oscar as I stare at Slater. Wondering what he was doing here, why he was involved, and why he needed to be rescued as well. He was still avoiding me, but I could sense he wanted to say something.
I wasn’t going to start the conversation, not after what he had done to Shane that day. Or what he had done to Hazel as well. Looking away from him I decided to run my hand in Shane’s hair as he slept, his breathing a little heavier and faster than before. He was still burning up, but it didn’t seem like it was rising which was a good thing.
“I’m sorry.” Slater suddenly whispers.
I snap my eyes back over to him, barely hearing this unexpecting apology. Actually, I wasn’t sure what it was he was apologizing for. There were so many things he needed to atone for, so what was it that he was sorry about?
He finally meets my eyes and they were filled with remorse. “This is all my fault.”
I deeply frown at him now, a slight dread entering my system. “What’s your fault?” I ask.
Looking away from me, his body shaking a little as he exhales a slow breath he says, “I was the reason why you were all attacked. It was because of me that those people are dead.”