117

117


MAGNUS 

Who was behind all of this? I was pulled out of my long reverie as the flame in the hearth snapped and hissed, sending beams of orange light across the room. I quickly realised myself, realising I'd been staring at nothing the whole time my mind was pulling me in circles, circles that I couldn't seem to break out of no matter how hard I tried to. 

The question was still embedded inside my skull: who was behind all of this? 

Someone was moving the pieces behind my back. Someone had been bold enough to plot against me, and he'd been so clever he almost succeeded. I wonder what the fate of this Pack and that of my family would have been if that had happened. 

The whole thing was just so troubling, from the planning to the discovery. 

How had Ariadne managed to discover the plan? How did she know? What if she didn't get the chance to stop us from drinking from that glass of wine? 

The possibilities were troubling, every single one of them. 

Rob had played his part, Mira too, but they weren’t the real threat here.

No. 

They were simply pawns, they were disposable and weak. 

Whoever it was that was pulling the strings was still out there hiding behind the smoke and patiently waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike again. I wanted to find him myself. No. I needed to. Because I was pretty sure they weren't going to give up. They were still biding their time, patiently waiting. 

The thought of one of the Alphas inside my Pack being the one was something I had been thinking about since I caught Rob and Mira. But without proof or confession from one of the culprits, which wasn't possible any longer because I wanted to do this myself, I couldn't interrogate them. 

Harming one of them without proof was going to cause a war, a war in which they were all going to fight against me. 

Those filthy rats always came in here smiling and bowing their heads, pretending to respect me, but I knew they have always hated me and wanted nothing more than seeing me fall. I have always felt it. 

My gut has always told me I was being circled like prey, but it was probably the fear of facing my wrath that had kept them away all this time, until someone decided to try their luck. I wasn't going to be anyone's prey. 

This was a wake-up call. 

Maybe I was starting to become too soft on them. Maybe I needed to do something callous to remind them who the fuck I was. But was I becoming soft? I doubted it, even though Vylia had said it to me last night. She'd said Ariadne made me act this way. And thinking about our heated conversation only made me think about him again. My jaw tightened as I turned my thoughts to just how impossible his recovery had been. I didn't wish for him to die but he'd he'd lying in that bed for barely a day, poisoned, torn apart and ravaged but this morning the doctor came to me with a report that should have been impossible. 

I still remembered his words. 

"He's fully recovered, Alpha." 

Any time those words slipped back inside my head, I didn't know if I should call the man a liar or fall silent in shock. It should have killed him in the slowest, ugliest way possible. It only reinforced the resolution to look me into him and find out what he was really hiding. I leaned forward, planting my elbows on my knees as my fingers steepled under my chin. 

That boy looked so fragile. I'd never seen a boy his age that looked that soft, that looked like someone who could barely stand their ground. 

But yet... There are things he'd done that had only forced me to question what kind of person he was. I remembered the guard he'd struck at the throne room. He'd done it so expertly, and the sound of his fist connecting to the man's chest, the sound of his bone breaking as he was sent flying across the room as if he had been thrown by a giant. That wasn't normal. 

And I knew for a fact that that wasn't adrenaline either. And now, he was recovering from the most lethal poison I've ever heard of like he'd just bruised himself. As much as I didn't like to admit it, I knew he was powerful. 

Too powerful.

And I didn't understand it. 

That, alone, sometimes disturbed me more than the fact that someone out there was patiently watching and waiting for me to slip up. My thoughts broke when a knock sounded on the door, and then a voice came from the other side of the door.

"Alpha. Your brother is here. He wants to see you.”

Callan. 

What was he doing here? 

I was pretty sure he wasn't here to discuss or come to an agreement to anything in a civil manner. Lately, all our conversations have always been heated dialogue and even though I hadn't yet seen him, I could already feel the brewing premonition that this meeting wasn't going to be any different. 

"Let him in," I commanded. 

The door opened almost immediately and Callan walked in. When the guard closed the door, he stopped. He stood there for a moment, staring at me from across the room. I looked at him, instantly noting how tensed his arms were. As expected. 

"Do you want to sit?" I offered, keeping my voice even. He replied with a scoff. "You lost every chance of sitting and talking over anything like brothers the moment you lost your damn mind." 

I leaned back on the chair and let out a loud sigh as I watched him. He was acting all this way just because of a boy. I was about to speak when he continued. 

"You used to be my brother," his voice was tight, and somewhat threatening. "Now, you treat people like they are animals, sub-humans. Like they are toys, like their lives are at your disposal so much so that you can just snuff out their lives at your will. I didn't come here to talk about what I'm about to tell you over a drink. I came here to tell you one thing. Drop Ariadne from the competition. Shouldn't be telling you that, but I'm guessing you have done it already. He is not strong enough." 

Callan always thought commanding and shouting would change anything but it in fact, made things harder for him. I was prepared to make him learn the hard way, sooner or later. 

"What's wrong with his health?" 

A heavy sigh left him. He looked like he was holding in his anger at this point. 

"Don't play games with me, Magnus. Whatever it is you think you're doing, it's not funny. Someone almost died saving us, and you're asking me what's wrong with their health? Is this one of your ways to get me angry? Well, I'd love to disappoint you, brother. You can't get to me. You're going to take him out of that competition, unless you want him dead." 

I let the silence stretch for a beat before answering. 

"I have already spoken to the doctor that took care of her. And he said Aridne will be fine. According to him, in a week's time he'll be strong enough to do whatever he wants. I'm guessing you know that."

Callan’s jaw clenched even harder as he glared at me. When he spoke next, it sounded like a growl. 

"Are you that heartless?" His voice cracked through the air like a bolt of thunder after a storm. "You know what he's been through! Do you even care if he dies out there?!" 

Retaining the calmness in my face, I replied. "He's stronger than you think. Stronger than anyone thinks. So I don't think he's going out there to die. He's going to be able to handle it. I know it's his first time doing something like this but he'll adapt. Just like you did." 

"Bullshit!" Callan snapped, before he began to cover the distance between us. His face was already twisted into a grimace with the anger that was pouring off of him. "You're blinded by your own madness. What is this to you? You think just because he recovered from the poison means he's invincible? Do you have any idea the kind of trauma he's going to go through? Psychological, physical, it was at you. It breaks you down. And if he steps into that arena, he's not coming out of there alive. You know this, but your ego and hard-headedness won't let you see." 

I waved a dismissive hand. "He'll come back. He has to. Because he has a sister out here, waiting for him. And I'm pretty sure he'll do anything to come back to her. He'll live for her."