Chapter four.

~Ethan.

My perked up ears paid keen attention to the chatter and murmuring coming from the ground below me as the members of the high court and other elders trooped into the compound and into the courtroom. From my window I watched them coming in small groups of twos and threes, with some of them throwing angry glances towards the direction of the royal chambers.

“Are you ready?” I shook my head at the familiar voice but, not in negation, rather in disapproval of his choice of word.

“You sound as though they are people I should be scared of,” I replied, my eyes unmoving from the window.

“You should. These people are furious at you, and they are searching for a reason to pounce on you, even the slightest misstep from you could cause a fight between you and them.”

I chuckled lightly and turned to the voice behind me, the worry in his voice evident in his eyes, “then let’s not give them any reasons to.” Tapping his shoulder lightly, I turned back to the window, with a confirmation that my guests were already settled inside, I pulled away from the window and out of the room. “You are to come with me, Sam, you are my right-hand man.”

“Oh, yeah.” The young lad, who was a tad younger than I was, jerked back to reality before rushing up behind me.

On getting to the courtroom, I turned to Sam with a shake of my head, and he raised both shoulders in response. We both knew what we were going to face; the elders and the members of the high court, and though I have enjoyed most of my gatherings with the high court members, I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to entertain them. Drawing in a deep breath, I walked into the room.

Feet and seats dragged against the floor as they all stood up, “Long live the king!” they chorused and I hummed a response. Their greeting, I was certain, was merely a chant and not a pleasant wish. None of them wanted me well, if anything, they wanted their “incapable” king out of the throne.

“Take your seats, please.” I said with a small smile as I assumed my position on the throne. “I was informed this meeting was a matter of urgency, yeah?” They murmured a response, “Okay, so what issue are we handling?”

“What issue are we handling, you say?” One of the elders fretted, and we all turned to him, “people are dying, women and children are dying, your men too, and you ask what issue we are handling as if you are unaware of what we have been dealing with for almost a month now.”

“Who else wants to try?” My smile was still plastered on my face as I turned my eyes away from the loudmouthed man and back to the rest of the people in the room.

“My king,” Diane, one of the members of the high court called as she stood, “we are here to discuss no other thing but the epidemic that has befallen us, we have been trying to contain this issue and wait as you told us but, with the tragedy that befell us yesterday, we are not sure if we can keep waiting.”

My smile fell, and my brows knitted; “what tragedy?”

She sighed and turned briefly to the rest of the occupants of the room before turning back to me, “As you may have known, Felicia’s daughter, Anastasia, was supposed to be married yesterday, but the marriage didn’t go through because she contracted the plague. She and her younger brother are both in the pack's clinic now and aside from them, three other men and Seth’s grandmother were admitted to the clinic yesterday.”

I scanned the crowd and saw Seth alone looking back at me, “Where is Felicia?” She was a member of the high court and was always present at every meeting.

“Still in mourning. Our guests didn’t stay long because of the plague, my king, we think this sickness will reduce our interactions with oth-”

“I am trying my best to contain this situation and to bring a solution.” I knew better than to allow her complete that sentence because if she did, another issue was sure to arise, and I have already had my fair share of the plague talk. Diane sighed and assumed her seat.

“That is all you have been saying, when are you going to provide a standard solution for us?” one of the elders said, and they all murmured in agreement.

“The expert doctor is on her way to us, I have asked and pleaded with you all to exercise patience. She will come to us soon, I promise.”

“We can no longer hold you by your words, Alpha Ethan, you have been promising us this doctor even before this epidemic became this rampant. You couldn’t contain it, how then do you expect us to believe you when you say you can find us a solution?” Another member of the high court, Gideon said.

I clenched my jaw to keep my anger in check, it was one thing knowing that some of my subjects consider me to be incapable, and it was another thing hearing them say it to my face and that other thing it came with was anger. Pain. Betrayal.

I held my palms in a fist and looked up at them, “The doctor will come to us, soonest, I wasn’t going to say it until she got here, but she has agreed to help us, and she will be here in a few days.”

“But my king-” I raised my index finger, shushing the woman who tried to speak.

“The doctor will be here in a few days and that is it.” Murmuring arose amongst them.

“How do we even believe him?”

“What doctor is he even talking about?”

“I will be leaving this pack at the break of dawn to find a physician for my son, I can’t keep waiting for him.”

I chuckled in disbelief at their words, it was quite disheartening knowing that everyone thought of me as incapable, first Isadora who practically left me for my best friend, then my beta -the best friend Isadora left me for- and now my subjects.

“There is no reason for anyone to be bothered, the doctor will be here in a few days and that is all I can say to you for now. And this meeting is over.”

They grunted as they rose to bow in greeting before leaving the room, some even dared to curse under their breaths, but I turned a blind eye to their mischief. The plague has brought extreme fear and stress to everyone, especially to me, who had sent a thousand letters to the doctor without a response.

I sank into my seat with a sigh once the room was void of them. Realizing I hadn’t heard Sam’s voice during the meeting, I looked around searching for him to notice him gone and just I began to wonder where he was, he hurried into the room beaming with smiles.

“She replied, Alpha! She has responded!” I sat up in my seat and reached for the envelope in his hand. I already knew who it was, it was just one person we have been awaiting response from. Hurriedly, I tore the envelope and took out the letter to see three simple yet infuriating words staring back at me.

‘I humbly decline.’ And that was it. No explanation, no courtesy.

“You do know where this doctor stays.” I said through gritted teeth, my anger, and irritation visible in my voice and face.

Sam nodded, “I do know where she lives and works."

“Good,” I slapped the letter against his chest and he took hold of it before it kissed the ground, “then go get me that woman and bring her to me at all cost. Bring her to me alive.”