Chapter 41| Unending Predicaments.

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**Alexander's P O V.

My mind was halfway focused on Damon while the other was pissed at the fact that I was rendered defenseless at a point in my life.

From his findings, Damon had traced back the day I went missing and went through all the cameras we had all around Staten Island; the Pack manor especially, my work place and the other places I was last seen in. Four pairs of eyes including Lucas and Francis stared hard at the screen that was obviously tampered with.

There I was walking alongside two men, from my stance in the video I was obviously on alert and ready to make a move. But, the moment I followed the two men farther into the woods everything went out and the video ended.

"You can't remember any of that?" Francis revoiced Damon's concerns.

"The only thing I remember was a part of the conversation I had with a man, from my vantage point it seemed like the man was hovering over me and the only reason why I could recall that was because it flashed on me when I first regained my senses." At that point when I first made love and broke into Isabelle.

"I cannot even recall walking alongside those men. How fucked up is that?" I asked taking a swig of the drink in my glass. My fingers twitched against the object, itching to hurl it over the wall.

I need something to burn up the annoyance building in me. The irritation of not knowing, of feeling so belittled as though my authority and dignity were lessened as a leader.

"You need to calm down." Francis took a hold of the bottle that was the source of my drink and held it farther away from me.

"Why the fuck do I have to calm down?" I clenched a side of my jaw hard. "Why should I calm down when all I have the urge to is to run my fist through the face of whoever the hell is behind this bullshit."

My fingers twitched once again.

"Do this for Isabelle. She needs your calm more than anything else." Damon responded in a clipped tone and turned his head as if he wasn't the one who spoke.

"You were poisoned." Lucas deadpanned, speaking for the first time after staying silent for a long while.

"Yeah, you were. Back to you Luke, how did you get the Alpha's ring? You wore it when you took up position as Alpha after the Alpha's disappearance." Damon asked interrogatively, his hands folded against his chest in a stern way that accentuated his grave stance.

Lucas cleared his throat and with furrowed brows he responded to the question with no expression giving away the idea of him not being honest.

"It was given to me by Old Bea. She said some medieval shit before placing it in my palm." He explained.

We all wore identical expressions and the curses that came next were allying with our thoughts.

"Fuck." Damon swore, nodding at the straightforward answer that meant Old Bea knew something but was deliberately being quiet.

The vexing part of her deliberate silence was, she won't talk about the issue unless she deems it worthy. Otherwise, you can take your shit and go to hell if you can't wait. That's what her silence stands for.

"So you couldn't remember a thing and you found yourself at the forest of Eyre? I need to get something right, you were hurt and left for the dead. Whosoever was behind the ordeal must be appalled by your return, must've had an episode of outrage. I also think the poison used to render you memory-less must've had a portion of the obsidian coal, nephenthe too which could only be the cause of your temporary amnesia." Lucas explained as we all stared at him. "From my perspective, that is."

The hell did he know all this?

Our stares must've dug an invisible hole in his shirt because he stood and reflexively justified himself. "I'm not dumb you know," He scratched the back of his head when our stares refused to waver from his person. "Okay I've been studying in the lab recently. Should I be frank with you guys?"

We all nodded as though in a trance at the fact that Lucas was actually speaking like a smart man. I was downright impressed and proud.

"The aim wasn't to render you unconscious or with missing memories, it was to kill you. There was the distinct stench of silver on your ring when it was returned to me but I brushed it off even though a part of my conscience felt the danger in the situation." He admitted, his explanation shading light on the situation.

Francis patted Lucas' back and worded out my thoughts, "Proud of you Luke. You're hired."

All four of us agreed to withhold from disclosing any information shared between us to anyone. So, I had Lucas relate to them all that he informed me regarding his own findings about Arabella.

Francis was the last to speak about what was new on his part. Due to the fact that I had taken Isabelle with me, Francis took reins of the Pack's overseeing and other activities. He met with the Lichen Pack representatives who came with the most absurd request I've ever heard.

"They want the wedding to be held next week and I told them it couldn't be possible. Skorr was there and so was Alberto and Dimitri. The meeting ended with Sylvester Skorr requesting for an adjournment until the next two days. There's something off and fishy about them that I don't trust but can't point a finger on." Francis explained running a hand through his dirty blond hair. Like he always does when agitated and right now he had every reason to feel that.

I feel like tearing the walls apart with my bare hands at the heap of problems piling up without the prior ones being figured out.

"All these issues are piling up at a rapid pace. We need to pay the Lichen Pack a visit." I suggested.

Damon gave a slight inclination of his head upward, "I'll do that, we can only get the best information through someone they've not met. You and Francis are out of the equation. Lucas is busy."

True that.

"Whatever we do we need to make a move as fast as we could, these men are desperate, they can use whatever means to have you married as early as possible to their heiress. Not like I'm opposing to their request, but they're on the brink of brainwashing the Elders with exaggerated consequences that refusal to abide by the edict causes. What they don't know is if the edict was truly decreed by blood there's no force on earth that could stop it from being carried out unless if the conspiracy in the situation is worse than we think." Francis worded out, patting my shoulder. "We need to act fast."

We agreed to have Francis return to the Pack, I return to my mate, Damon to his work and Lucas to his mission.

After the men left and I was left to my privacy I pondered on their words and the whole events that happened today.

Lucas sniffs his mate's scent in Arabella. Interesting.

That very information turned the whole ordeal into something else entirely. Something that had the blood in my veins roaring with a vigor untamed.