[Kieran's POV]
I watched the sudden shift from the crowd, whose whispers of suspicion silenced as all that echoed in those moments was the breeze in the forest.
My gaze remained locked on him, the elder leader, as he stood there, seemingly processing what I had said. I wasn't joking, not the kind who would leave such a bluff. I'm sure he knew better than that.
I wanted answers, and if I had to turn into the monster they feared just to get those answers, then I would.
My eyes trailed through the crowd, who stood trying to avoid glancing at me.
"Could he be among them?" I wondered, thinking about the very same mastermind.
Just then, I watched the elder step forward, managing a breath before he spoke, "Alright, maybe there's been a misunderstanding. We will look into it." His voice was tight, as though he was trying his best to force a calm, one that was never there in the first place.
I didn't give a response. Only tightening my grip on Elara as I adjusted her carefully in my arms. And then I turned, hoping to leave. But just then, I heard the elder's voice, one that seemed to cause a pause in my steps, "And where exactly are you taking one of our people..."
His people? Where was he when she was facing all this? They claimed to care for each one of the town members, but I couldn't help but see myself thinking everything with them was just falsehood—lies that they cared little about telling.
Or does he think I was going to let Elara out of my grasp again? If only I hadn't allowed them to take her, maybe she wouldn't be in such a state. My jaw clenched, bitterness filling me. If only? Now, after so long of being away from her and the sight I caught of her, her condition was worse than the illness.
They shouldn't even think I wasn't going to question further how she ended up here. I would make them spill out the answers. I didn't care even if I had to force it out of those very sealed lips of theirs.
"I asked a question here, Alpha Kieran. Where are you taking her to...?" he questioned again. I didn't turn back to him. Instead, I pulled out the token—obsidian and silver, gleaming dark in the light—a symbol known to only a few. It was the seal of the Lycan King.
I could notice the blood-drained look from the crowd. I guess it was high time I used it and made them understand who they were dealing with here.
"She is unregistered," I said, my voice cold as ice. "And she is also a possible witness in the investigation the King personally assigned to me."
I then turned back to him, the elder whose words seemed to halt, as though they had caught up in his throat all of a sudden. "She is under my supervision from now on. No one touches her. Anyone who tries? That's treason."
My words were the final contemplation as the silence between the crowd resumed. The elder stood there with a pale look.
I could see he wanted to say something, but his words only failed him each time. Those hands of his that clenched into a fist—he shouldn't think wrong, having the idea that I didn't see it. His attitude only made me more curious about him. But for now, I needed to leave immediately. I shouldn't be wasting any more of my time with them.
My gaze went back to Elara, who still remained unconscious. I then turned to walk back on my path. I gave no words to my soldiers and Beta before they followed me.
I could sense the crowd's gaze on me, most out of fear.
"Don't look at him," my eyes drew to a woman somewhere behind me who suddenly pulled her child close. "Don't make him angry," she whispered.
A monster. There was no doubt now. That was surely the view they had when gazing at me. The Lycan King had sent a devil to handle his work.
Yet, I cared less about how they pictured me. As long as I had her—Elara—safe, it only proved little worries to me.
They were all hypocrites in the end.
I paid less attention to the woman, taking further steps as the guards who had come with the elder took some steps back, unclenching their weapons. Their legs trembled as, in a blink, they cleared my path.
I gazed at each one of them whose gaze went downcast immediately.
The same silly guards who couldn't even keep their people safe from danger—did they really deserve their names? To be called the protectors of the town?
As I kept on walking, about to cross the edge of the village, I stopped.
I then turned my head, just a little, the elder was staring at me, and I stared back.
I could tell he was trying to figure me out. I was a stranger, after all, who had entered their town under the Lycan King's orders. I was still one. But it was a lost cause for him, trying to do that.
He didn't have to say those words. I was already able to tell, "This isn't the end." I'm sure he must be saying that. But he was right. It wasn't.
Yet, in those moments, I caught sight of an illusion, one of the black wolves standing beside the elder, that grin. Only to fade into the mist. It wasn't real. Could it just be that I found myself getting obsessed with this whole thing that now I began seeing things?
But the scent from the elder was still there, the one that drew my attention to him and the rest of the elders in the first place.
"Alpha..." I heard my Beta whisper, snapping me from my thoughts.
"Let's go," I said, continuing my steps with my gaze on Elara throughout. "Please stay with me, Elara. You have to..."