Chapter 99 : Empire
THEO.
Right. Just in time to bust us.
I can’t help but curse under my breath as Ajax and Jonathan make their way down the cliff. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that they are both safe. But I would have preferred to find that out some other time, in some other situation. Not now, when they can stop Maxine and I from saving these women.
“It’s Draco,” Maxine answers them. She also looks wary. “Look, I know we shouldn’t be here. But we heard the women. We heard Draco. And we just sent away one soldier who was tasked to kidnap these women and turn them into Werewolves. One of them is already bitten and one is unconscious from the situation and right now we just want to—”
“Jonathan, prepare the cargo car,” Ajax orders without taking his eyes off Maxine and me. “You need to transport the women to the Human world.”
With that, he slides down onto the rock and runs straight to the bleeding woman. Jonathan follows him and instructs the women to get on his back after he shifts. He carries them all the way up the hill in his Werewolf form, then he comes back for the unconscious one.
Relief floods me. I should have known that Ajax would not rat me out. I really want to trust him, but knowing what his father and brother are doing out in the world just makes it harder, even though he doesn’t deserve that.
Meanwhile, Ajax is still kneeling next to the woman. He has a fanny pack, which looks weird on him considering he’s dressed like he just went golfing in the country club, but it’s full of so many essentials. He has a fuckton of meds in there, and now he’s injecting a clear liquid into the woman’s neck.
“The venom didn’t quite make it into her bloodstream,” he whispers, pointing at the bulging veins across her neck. Maxine reaches out and touches her pulse, her eyes going wide with relief when she feels a pulse. “If we can coax it back out, she would be alright. In great pain and possibly impaired in some way for the next few months, but she will come out of this alright.”
“She would need a bunch of money for therapy too,” I can’t help but mutter.
Ajax’s jaw clenches. “You’re probably right. What she witnessed, what she experienced… It’s just not right.”
Jonathan peeks out from the cliff. “Should I take her too? Is she stable now?”
“Yes, please,” Ajax says. “And yes, she will be stable in a while. Just take her out of here and make sure someone looks after her when she gets back out there.”
Jonathan comes down and fetches the woman, delicately balancing her in one arm while using the other to climb. Soon enough, the rumble of a car engine starts to sound from above, signaling that Jonathan is on his way out of here with the women.
I deflate, knowing the worst of it is being solved. I rest my head against the rocks, and Maxine rests next to me. But she’s watching Ajax warily as he looks around like he’s trying to look for something.
“You’re not going to call Draco and tell him about us hiding in the forest, are you?” Maxine finally asks.
Ajax pauses, taking a deep breath through gritted teeth. “No, of course not. The forest is my territory now. They tasked me to look around and find out some weird stuff going on, but we all know they're just trying to keep me distracted so what happened last time won't happen again."
I know what he's talking about. The trial. I don't think I ever did get the chance to thank him, so now I step forward and pat his back. "I'm still really grateful about what you did for me."
"No problem," he says, and I can tell he's being genuine. "I just... it's the least I can do. How I saved those women right now... it's the least I can do too. I had no idea that they were really doing it, taking Humans from their homes and turning them into one of us. I just could not fathom it. I had a feeling. I had a hunch. But when I came to see you, Maxine, saying that I'm done helping, that was me giving my family the benefit of the doubt. That was me being scared of what they would do to me if I didn't obey. But right now, I don't know. I haven't felt right in days. Katherine Finnegan is gone."
"Paul is gone too," Maxine whispers, and I wrap my arm around her shoulders. "I'm worried about Livia."
"I will send word to Jonathan and have him make sure she's safe," Ajax replies, then he looks at me. "I will make sure none of the Unclaimed get into any kind of trouble too. We all know Draco, and he will just about punish anyone for the smallest shit."
We all stand in silence for a while, mulling over the things that happened.
I look over at Ajax, and only then it occurs to me how similar we actually are. Eerily so. I still don't want to believe the conversation I had with the Alpha Supreme, but right now it feels unshakable.
Ajax takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry about everything. I'm sorry about my family...."
"It's not your fault," I tell him. "You're the only one who can redeem them. You're the only one who can make this right, and you're doing it now."
"I need to do more," he whispers, looking at us with renewed fire in his eyes. "Would you still stay out here in the forest? Because I would need your help. I would take down all of this once and for all, and I want you both to stand with me. This can't continue."
The anger in him is fuelling me, and I can tell it's doing the same for Maxine. We both nod, and Ajax exhales.
"I will collect some evidence, and present it to all the Werewolves. I will show them what my Father is doing, and his empire will crumble."