Chapter Nine

Ethar's POV

Francis was sitting on the ground outside the steal door of the building. His head hung low between his knees. He looked exhausted with emotion. From the look of him I could tell he hated seeing his brother the way he was. I was praying what he saw wasn't Iliam's doing, if it were Francis would be blind with rage and attack us the first chance he got.

I knelt down my hand on his shoulder.

“Francis get up.” I told him, I felt sympathy for the poor guy, he looked heartbroken which made me afraid for the condition of his Alpha. He just ignored me, so I decided to go see for myself.

The stench of the darkness hit my nose hard. Immediately I felt my chest tighten at the smell whenever I inhaled. I walked down the stairs, the one lightbulb in the room flickering was one of our interrogation tactics that even made me uneasy at times. He stunk so bad and not just of magic, but he was in bad shape all around.

His paws had to be anchored down to keep him from tearing at the flesh on his face. He didn’t look like an Alpha, but a deranged rabid dog, was the guy even still in there? I wasn’t going to get any answers like this. I heard Francis coming down the steps and he stood beside me. His lips quivering, and I could tell he had been crying since I left him.

“He’s gone.” he said, with a hard look on his face as he held back more tears.

“I think I can help him.” I said, my hand moving under my jaw as I thought about what I would do. His eyes lit up, but he said nothing, hope now written on his face.

‘You can’t Ethar.’ I heard the beast speak for the first time in a while. He’s not much of a talker until he thinks I am doing something incredibly stupid.

‘We have to, look at him, we can't get shit from him like this.’ I tell my beast

‘The curse, Ethar if you remove the darkness from him, it could take hold of us, and everyone will be in danger even her.’ He says growling as he gets his last words out.

‘Do you have any suggestions to help me or not?’ I asked growing annoyed with him.

‘Trap it, a strong enough talisman could possibly contain it.’ he says smugly, it was a good idea though.

‘You never cease to amaze me my friend.’ I said smirking.

Francis was still watching his brother thrash around his cage and my voice broke his gaze.

“Do you have something of his he might have a strong attachment to? An object that means a lot to him?” I ask him, His eyes looks down to the ring on his middle finger as rubs it before his eyes dart back to his brother.

“Our fathers ring, he gave it to me at his accession ceremony, my father had given it to him and his father before him. It bares our family's sigil. It's passed down to the next Alpha in line.” He explains.

“Once I do this, you can never wear it again I would have to keep it hidden. It will soon contain the darkness inside of him.” I tell him, I nod my head towards his brother.

“Whatever you can do Alpha, I'm eternally grateful for any help you can provide just bring him back.” he pleads grabbing my hands in his. This mushy stuff had to end, too many men have almost cried in front of me today.

“Stop it! you are a Beta; you can't keep this shit up. If I can't help him, you are next in line, now start acting like an Alpha and we might all make it through this.” I tell him, it was harsh, but he needed to hear it and pull himself together. He had a pack to lead if this all went south.

“I’ll need my Zi’s help with this, her magic should be strong enough now, I'll be back.” I tell him, taking the ring from his hands before turning to walk up the stairs.

“Her magic! No, you can't!" he exclaims, shaking his head.

“What do you mean? I need her help I cannot do this without her.” I tell him to brush off his concern.

“It's too dangerous Ethar, her parents... she...” he stutters. He was afraid of my little Luna.

“She what !?’ I demanded.

“She doesn't remember, but we all do. We will never forget.” he says, his eyes going to the floor like he was remembering something horrid.

“The day her parents went missing, all we could hear was her scream. It radiated through the entire town, everyone on their knees screaming in pain at the piercing noise, our ears bled, our noses bled our eyes bled.” he explained. At this point Francis was visibly shaking.

“A few of us got to our feet as the noise faded, we headed toward a white aura. It was night, but the sky was like the sun was at its highest point. When we got to the Calhoun house the back yard was fried with a sigil, she was in the middle of it passed out she, was out for weeks. Her parents were gone, there was no trace of them, the pack would have felt if they were dead, they were just gone .” he finished, his eyes glazing over as he was picturing the day like he was living it over it again.

“The sigil? What did it look like?” I asked him and my voice snapped him from his memory. His eyes dart to mine.

I rolled up my shirt, turning my back to him so he could see the mark. When he said nothing I looked over my shoulder, and he stared in horror.

“Was it like this?” I asked him, his eyes met mine and he nodded.

“Yes, but different the eye had a star in the middle.” he says, and I let out a sigh of relief.

“It's suppression magic, she didn’t hurt her parents, Francis.” I told him, a confused look on his face as he was sure my mate was a monster. “She hid them."

He shook his head. “But nobody can feel them, they were pack members, we would feel the link” he says in disbelief.

“She hemorrhaged an enormous amount of magic, she drew on her emotions, she drew on the energy of an entire pack, to hide them. She made sure no one would find them. Hell even she has no idea where they are. You wouldn’t be able to feel them, and if what you say is true, we need her now more than ever if you want to free your brother from this darkness.” I told him as I left him there with his thoughts.

My mate was amazing, she was stronger than I could've imagined, and she was all mine. I couldn't believe her pack shunned her, mistreated her, mentally and emotionally abused her. All because they believed this scared pained she-wolf was somehow a monster.

People fear what they do not understand. I know her well now. She would be more than willing to help me save Toto if I asked her and he was the one that attacked her in the first place. They didn’t deserve her. They didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as her. They didn’t deserve to lay eyes on her. I was rethinking, even aiding anyone who was involved in causing my mate the slightest discomfort. I would let her choose their fate and respect her decision. Although I already knew what she would choose.

Bringing Francis here turned out to be a win , He had given me some answers and didnt even know it. I now knew what dark magic flowed through Toto. They were coming for her, she interfered with their most sacred law. The Hunter Sleep. They were after her, I was sure of it. The Jagter Chapter wanted justice.