Chapter 96: Back from the dead
Ares’ eyes surveyed the hallway before he slipped out of his room dressed in black.
The guards had been dismissed, just as his father had promised but that did not mean the place was unwatched.
Ares took the servant’s passages because going out the main gate was out of the question. His father would have doubled the watch after Damon’s daring escape, and fighting his way through would only raise the alarm to his plans.
So Ares went the other way. One he was very familiar with from years of sneaking out of the palace to hunt.
He finally found himself on the other end of the wall, out of the palace and began to walk making sure he was alert to his surrounding.
The boundary between the packlands and the Forest of Death was not marked by any wall or gate because there was no need for it. Every wolf knew the moment they crossed that threshold.
The air was very different, thinner. It was almost like some premonition that you were about to experience something bad. Ares felt that now, that cold creeping sensation climbing his spine and there was the smell of rot drifting toward him now from every direction.
He slowed as he neared the forest, his eyes picking up on a shape slumped at the edge of the boundary.
He frowned, inching cloer until he saw what it was... or in this case, who it was.
"Damon?" Ares stumbled forward. "Damon!"
His brother did not move.
Ares dropped to his knees beside him. Damon’s face was gray and his lips were already turning blue. His tunic was torn and burned in places, revealing skin that was mottled with bruising. There were dozens of puncture marks on his neck, arms and ribs. He also had a satchel slung across his body which he looked to be tightly holding unto.
"Damon." Ares gripped his brother’s shoulder and shook. "Damon, wake the fuck up."
There was nothing.
Ares pressed his fingers to Damon’s throat and for one terrible moment, he felt nothing.
"No, Damon!" he shook him again, pressing his fingers to Damon’s throat, willing him to be alive.
He laid Damon flat on the ground and began pushing both hands to his brother’s chest in hopes that his action would jump-start his heart.
Finally, after pressing his finger to Damon’s throat for the fifth time, he felt a pulse. It was weak but it was there and it only meant Damon was alive.
Ares exhaled, relief coursing through his veins.
He grabbed Damon’s arm and hauled him up, shifting him across his shoulders then he began to run.
...
Soren strode into the great hall and found it already half-full.
The long tables had been righted and cleared of the chaos from the banquet. Someone had scrubbed the floor where Ayla had collapsed, but if you knew where to look, you could still see the faint stain of blood.
Soren’s jaw tightened.
He had not been able to reach Alistair since the poisoning. He had vanished like smoke and so had the keys to the archives room.
And there was Willow, ignoring him. His own fucking daughter.
He had gone to her chambers twice now, knocked on her door, called her name without avail but he knew she was in there and would not open the door.
Damon on the other hand had run off to the forest of death like a fool chasing a plant that probably did not exist, all for a girl who meant nothing and should have died in obscurity, unknown and unmourned if the moon goddess had not been such a jester.
Soren forced his curled fists open.
He would handle all this later but now, they had to reassure the people that the leadership of this pack was not falling apart.
The confusion and fear on their faces had to be extinguished or all would be lost.
Soren found Cassian near the dais with his hands clasped in front of him and his expression unreadable. The bruise on his jaw was new.
He approached him
"Where is your brother?"
Cassian did not look at him. "I have no idea."
"Did you not..."
"Soren." Cassian turned then, cutting him off, his eyes hard as ice. "Why the hell are you so bothered? Should you even be here? Your daughter is dying, and you are more worried about the child of someone else." He stepped closer, his voice dropping. "Do not question me further." he warned.
Cassian walked away.
Of course, he knew exactly where Ares was.
He had seen him slip out of his room with nothing but a knife strapped to his waist and he had let him go because he knew it was the right thing to do.
Alpha Kieran entered the hall and the pack fell silent as bodies parted to let him through.
He walked to the front and mounted the dais, turning to face his people.
"My people." Alpha Kieran’s voice carried across the hall. "I know you are frightened and that you have questions. I will not pretend that what happened at the banquet was not a tragedy but I am here tonight to tell you that there is no cause for alarm. The situation is under control and the girl Ayla is receiving the best care our healers can provide, and we are doing everything in our power to ensure she recovers."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
"I ask only for your patience and your trust." Kieran continued. "The banquet will proceed as planned. We will not let fear dictate our actions. We will not let our enemies see us fractured. We are one pack and one people and we will..."
A commotion erupted at the back of the hall.
Alpha Kieran stopped speaking.
"What is happening?" he turned to Soren who shook his head.
"I do not know. I will go and check."
The crowd parted as the Beta made his way to the back of the hall, where he finally saw what was causing the commotion.
Ares was walking with something slung across his back.
"I found him," he said, his voice raw. "I found Damon."