BECKYWith how small Wild Crawler was in comparison to Anemond, I didn’t expect much in the way of entertainment and dining. But when Dickson and I arrived at the restaurant just down the street from the clinic, I had to fight to keep my jaw from dropping.It was a cozy little place with a large deck extending off of the building. String lights hung from dark wood beams and lit the entire place like stars. With the gorgeous, fragrant forest lands in the background, the atmosphere was immaculate, and I found myself in awe.Anemond had its highlights and its charm, but it had nothing on this smaller Pack on the borderlands.“Wow,” I uttered. If only Mother could see how beautiful this place was. Like me, she’d never left the capital city, and I often wondered what things would have been like if we’d ventured farther into Wegalla.Dickson smiled when he noticed my expression.“It’s my favorite place in Wild Crawler,” he noted with a gleam in his blue eyes. “Just wait until you try the fo
BECKYBefore my brain could start spinning out with the possibilities of this revelation, I gestured to the cots pressed up against the walls.“Why don’t you take a seat and tell me more about this,” I advised gently. “I’ll go grab a stool and then we can talk.”The mother nodded, and as they got situated back in their beds, I stepped into the office and grabbed the stool in front of the desk, along with a notepad and a pen. I carefully wheeled the chair out into the hallway in front of their beds and opened the pad to a fresh sheet of paper once I sat down.“So, before we start, what are your names?” I asked with a small smile. “I’m Becky, and I’m a researcher and healer in training from Anemond.”“Anemond?” the mother asked in surprise, and when I nodded, her eyes widened. “Wow. I’ve never been to the capital before. Is it as amazing as they say?”“Parts of it are alright,” I admitted, and then I leaned in closer. “But from what I’ve seen of Wild Crawler… it’s much better here.”“Re
BECKYI went to Wild Crawler’s Pack House immediately after our conversation. Dickson remained at the clinic in my stead. He’d gotten plenty of rest the night before, so he was awake enough to handle the patients while I was away.The entire walk there, I tried to formulate a plan. I needed Alpha Rayden’s permission and blessing to leave since I was a guest in his Pack, and I wanted to speak with him in a way that demonstrated that I was up to the task of investigating the mountain area of Wild Crawler.Being younger than most of my peers presented me with a challenge when it came to most things. While I wasn’t as experienced as most, I was a hard worker and quick on my feet.Once I reached the Pack House, Jasper escorted me to the Alpha. Rayden was sitting in his library and when I entered the room, his eyebrows knitted together.“Becky,” he greeted me as his dark eyes studied me with concern. “Is everything alright? You look exhausted.”“It was a long night,” I admitted and I manage
BECKYDickson and I stepped into the woman’s home, and the moment we did, the strong scent of herbs tickled my nose even through my mask. The scent was pleasant but erring on the side of too potent, and winced slightly.The woman led us to her parlor, and as we stepped through the kitchen, I was reminded of my home back in Anemond. Her house was cozy and simple, and my heart ached a little as I thought of my mother.Once we entered the other room, the woman stared at me for a second. Though her eyes were bright, the rest of her looked exhausted. Her skin was deathly pale, and though she wore a top with a high collar, I could see a prominent back mark that spanned from her neck to her ear.“Please, take a seat,” she said, and she gestured at the round white dining room table. “Can I make you some tea?”Dickson and I glanced at one another as we took a seat.“No thank you,” I said as I shook my head politely. “I appreciate your hospitality, but we’re here to ask you a few questions. We
BECKY Angela stared at me in disbelief and her eyes widened in surprise. “What do you mean?” she asked confusedly, and she glanced over at Marina. Her daughter shrugged and stared at me with the same expression. “The water in the lake,” I clarified, and when she still didn’t seem to understand what I meant, I took a breath and then relayed what her friend had told me about the water and its supposedly healing properties. “Did you know anything about this?” I asked once I finished. Angela shook her head slowly. “No, I didn’t. No one ever said anything about it, especially not her. Besides, when I was there for a visit… Pauline just kept crying. She was so upset about her health and her husband’s that I was hardly able to get a word in otherwise. All I could do was try to soothe her. She used to be so happy before, but since the illness set in, she hasn’t been the same.” “I’m sorry to hear that,” I remarked. I couldn’t blame Angela’s friend in the slightest. Any person would feel
ASHER“Checkmate,” I announced with a small smirk, and when I looked at Finnick, I had to fight a laugh. The poor boy pouted as his big gray eyes stared down at the board and appeared disappointed.“Shoot,” he muttered.“Don’t be sad,” I chuckled, and I reached across the table and touched his arm gently. “You’re making excellent progress, Finnick. You’re learning chess in such a short amount of time. At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before you will defeat me.”The young boy didn’t seem all that convinced and continued to study the board carefully without saying a word.Meanwhile, I looked at Finnick and began to wonder whether I should let him win the next time we played. It was incredibly tempting, but I remembered Cassandra’s advice that Finnick was a proud child who wouldn’t be happy if he found out I’d deliberately lost the game.Just as I was about to say something to cheer Finnick up, Cassandra finished her call and entered the room. Her emerald eyes were full of worry
ASHERI considered the idea for a moment before speaking up. This decision couldn’t be a careless one, not if Ector Felix’s life were at stake.I knew at once that Silas’ suggestion for royal healers was out of the question. The Felix family had been banished from Anemond. There was no way we could let something this confidential be revealed to healers I didn’t even trust with my own condition. Ector wouldn’t be welcomed back to the Crescent Pack with open arms. I knew well that the people of the capital wouldn’t be satisfied with his return, not when he’d been so publicly banished by my father.But they didn’t matter.Cassandra and Ector were the only ones I was thinking of.Ector needed my help and I wasn’t about to refuse him medical intervention.“I’ll visit the borders in two days,” I decided. “I’ll need your company as well, Silas, but I want this trip to remain confidential. I don’t want this news to get out to anyone else in Merliscire. Is that clear?”Silas nodded. “Of course
BECKY After my call with Cassandra, I had a conversation with Alpha Rayden, and my departure was quickly arranged. This would be my last night in Wild Crawler, and despite my short stay, I had grown fond of the small Pack. The trees, the fresh air, the seclusion, and the general feeling of hominess made my return to Anemond feel all the more difficult. While some patients could be unreasonable or even extremely hard to deal with at times, most of them had been so kind to me. Anemond had a tendency to treat outsiders with scrutiny and mistrust. Wild Crawler had been the opposite. I’d never felt more welcome in a Pack. In Anemond, I was just a poor commoner with no title and no worth other than my scientific mind. Here, I felt valued and cared for. It would be hard to leave, but I had no choice. I had to get the sample from the lake to the clinic in Anemond so I could conduct the proper research and get a step closer to solving the mystery of this terrible illness. I had to break
CASSANDRAIt was a sunny day, the first one in a long time.After the long winter and cold spring, summer eventually came, and it was hotter than it had been in forever.Sunlight streamed in through the clinic window, and I was a little distracted as I stared out at the window at the kids in the yard.Finnick, Lila, Marley’s boys Eric and Adrian, and Dominic were all chasing each other, playing a game of tag with one another. Marco was out there with them too, but he was sitting on a bench alone, meters away from the rest of the kids. He looked lonely and didn’t move as the others played around him.It had been a month since the chaos in Merliscire and Adalyn’s death. I supposed it was still hard for Marco to accept the fact that his mother was gone. She had killed herself right in front of him after holding him hostage and threatening to hurt him. The poor little boy had endured so much trauma in such a short amount of time.He wasn’t a bad kid. He had a mean disposition at times, bu
ASHERIt had been a while since Cassandra entered the building, and with every passing minute, my nervousness and anxiety grew stronger. While I knew she was capable of handling herself, I didn’t like the idea of her being in the House of Moses without me.I began to feel restless. It was a mistake to let her leave with Adalyn alone.I pondered my options for a minute and then decided I couldn’t wait out on the grounds any longer, not when my mate could be in danger. I started to walk toward the building, but before I could get too far, the soldiers guarding us stopped me.At first, they were polite but quickly, they became rude. They shouted and told me to back up. I wasn’t allowed in, not until Lady Adalyn said so.I considered pushing past them but didn’t want to escalate the situation, so I nodded and retreated ever so slightly. All around me, the councilors grew restless. They too, wanted to leave, only they desired to go back to Merliscire. However, when a group of them tried to
BECKYAfter our conversation with Oliver Moses, Dickson and I had been seized by the Moses guards and taken into a room that appeared to be used for interrogation. The door was crafted from iron and there were no windows, so the room was dim and quiet. There were only a pair of chairs, each a little rickety and old-looking. It was a pathetic, desolate sort of place, which was surely on purpose.Time didn’t make much sense in there and I soon couldn’t figure out how long we’d been locked in. My body ached and my mind was spinning out with a million thoughts as I absorbed all of the information I’d heard in the past couple of days.I had thought Oliver Moses would quickly find out the truth or ask me to confront Adalyn again, but Dickson thought the opposite when I presented the idea to him.“Look at this place, Becky,” he said, his voice gloomy and negative. “No one is going to visit us any time soon.”Sadly, he appeared to be correct, and his point was only proven as time went on. Tho
ADALYN Ada. How long had it been since I’d heard that name? My parents had never referred to me as Ada. They had never given me a single nickname or pet name. Mother had always said it was improper to call a child by anything other than their name and Father had never given me enough affection to bother. There were only two people in this world who had ever called me Ada. Asher. And Cora. I tensed as I tried to understand how Cassandra knew this. Had Asher told her about our close friendships when we were young? No, there was no way. Suddenly, I was hit with a realization, one I couldn’t ignore. I stared at Cassandra and studied her carefully. I searched her features, scrutinizing her nose, her mouth, the shape of her eyes. None were familiar, but as I stared at her deep emerald green irises and recognized the hue of them, it all began to make sense. I’d never understood how Asher could fall in love with a common healer. Cassandra wasn’t ugly by any means but to care so deepl
CASSANDRAAdalyn’s golden eyes narrowed and then locked on mine.“Why would that wicked woman come with us?” she demanded as she continued to shoot daggers in my direction.“Those are my terms,” Asher insisted. “You want an audience with me? Those are my requirements.”It was a bold assertation on his behalf. As long as Adalyn had Prince Marco in her grasp, she had the upper hand, but she was far too weak to realize her power. Asher was still the Alpha King, after all, so I supposed that subconsciously, she felt compelled to obey.Silence hung heavily in the air and then finally she sighed.“Fine,” she huffed and then she flashed me a sneer. “Let her come. Perhaps we’ll have some fun with your little plaything once we’re there.”“You won’t harm her,” Asher growled.“We’ll see,” Adalyn said with a shrug. “Come. It’s time we left this musty room.”Her big eyes scanned the room and then she addressed the councilors. “The rest of you shall come as well. Might as well make an event of it.”
CASSANDRAAdalyn’s face twisted again at Karsh’s cold and daring question, only this time, she didn’t recover and lost any sense of calm within her.“How dare you demean the future king’s mother?” she roared, her golden eyes flashing with anger as she bared her teeth.Despite her outrage and fierce expression, the councilor remained as cool as ever and didn’t even flinch. It was an impressive sight to behold and it made me respect Karsh even more. Adalyn had always been a brat but I had the sense that her ferocity wasn’t something to take lightly, at least not today.“I’m just stating the truth, Lady Adalyn,” Karsh said with a slightly raised chin, his eyes locked on hers. “The king is alive, I can assure you-”Before he could finish his statement, Adalyn motioned with her hand and gave a signal to the soldiers behind her.“Seize that traitor!” she ordered, and her men launched into action at once.My heart raced in my chest as I saw the soldiers approach Karsh, but before they could
CASSANDRAThankfully, Adalyn’s proposal wasn’t as convincing to the councilors as she’d expected. It was clear from the glint in her golden eyes and the proud expression on her beautiful face that she assumed all would accept the idea of Marco’s ascension without complaint, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. The room dissolved into whispers and gasps at once.One of the councilors I didn’t know the name of cleared his throat and all fell quiet.“Pardon me for my bluntness, Lady Adalyn, but it’s absurd to announce a new Alpha King when there is no evidence showing that the king is dead,” he pointed out, his thick dark eyebrows furrowed at her. “We have nothing of the sort before us-”“The forensic report will explain everything-” Adalyn began to say but the councilor waved her off with his hand.“A report means nothing,” he stated boldly, and then he glanced around the room to garner attention from the other councilors. “If the Alpha King is dead, we need to see his co
CASSANDRAOne thing was absolutely certain amongst Asher, the councilors he trusted, and I.Whatever Oliver Moses wanted to do at the council meeting, we needed to stop him. We were in complete agreement but knew we needed others to agree to our cause. We needed the support of other Packs in order to bring him down, and knew we wouldn’t get far without it.“Oliver Moses has quite a number of soldiers stationed in Anemond, especially around Merlisicre,” Karsh revealed solemnly. “If we want to confront the Moseses, we will need a troop of good soldiers of our own.”Though I didn’t want to admit it, the councilor was correct in his assessment. Despite having support from Alpha Gareth, Wild Crawler on its own couldn’t provide enough soldiers. If we wanted to gather real numbers to stand against the Moses soldiers, we needed to contact other Packs and ask for their support.“Your Majesty, it would be best for you to remain in the darkness before the meeting,” Jacoby advised after a moment
ADALYNThis girl was stupid and annoying, to say the least.Yet, despite these facts, I regretted that I had underestimated her. I should have dealt with the tiny redhead girl right after Cassandra Keller had disappeared. Now, she had become a big problem, one I wasn’t sure how to handle.“I was hiding in the room next to yours when you spoke,” Becky chimed in.Father’s face changed when she mentioned the meeting. His complexion paled and his hazel eyes widened, but when he ran his hands through his graying hair, it was clear that he seemed convinced by her words.I had to hand it to her.Placing herself at the scene of the crime was a bold move, one I wasn’t sure how to work around. This was damning to be certain but I had to remain collected if I wanted to make it out of this and continue my plans without interruption.Silas’ little kitten was a true thorn in my side.Father studied the girl’s expression like a fox studying its prey. “I hope you acknowledge that you will be punished