Ultima Trials

Black Storm

Hayden’s POV

I looked up at Camden, who’s eyebrows were furrowed together.

“Tell Murry that the boy has silver nitrate poisoning.” I spoke after a few minutes of heavy silence.

“She’s dead, isn’t she?” Camden whispered. “Gloria. Noah killed her because she’s been keeping us safe.”

“You know about the wolfsbane and the silver?”

He nodded, “She made us tea every night and for the first few nights it burned, but I noticed a change with my wolf. I slept more than I had my entire life, and I used to be able to run the entire territory and still do an entire workout, but now I can barely make it to the packhouse without feeling like I was gonna die.” He shrugged.

I simply nodded. How does one say, ‘the only living family you have was killed by a sadistic bastard?’

Camden looked out the window as he tried to hide the tear that slipped down his cheek.

“I have some cash.. I’ll pay for the transfusions and whatever else he needs. I’ll find some jobs in the human city and pay you back for all the help.” He spoke softly. “It might take me some time but I’ll… maybe I should just leave Mav here. The life of a rogue is no life for a child. I can shift and stay in the forest at night and work during the days.”

I snorted inadvertently just as my wolf growled as she thought of her mate living in a forest.

“Camden Bailey Tarain. I’m now a rogue.” He stood up. “I don’t blame you for needing to reject me. An Alpha should have a suitable mate, and I’m not that anymore.”

I was staring at him. I wasn’t rejecting him, but I also still wasn’t interested in being with anyone. It wasn’t worth it. I had to focus on getting my pack up to top form. They needed the best of the best and I had been doing that.

Being an Alpha and Luna, I had double the duties. My Gamma was also unmated, so I had those duties as well, though my Gamma, Bentley, did his best to help me with the Gamma female duties. Granted, a lot of those duties coincided with his duties of looking over the warriors and my omega staff. My Beta, Richard, was mated, and Emma was great. She did her best to help but she grew up as an omega, so she was still learning about being a ranked member. She was a member of the Cold Hollow pack, and they were one of those packs that treated the omegas like slaves, which is disgusting. My pack members were exactly that. Members of my pack were treated with as much respect as Bentley and Rich.

I remembered what Gloria had said in the letter, Camden was treated as a slave. He went from Alpha to lowest ranked member in the pack. Possibly lower than that. If Gloria had really poisoned him, then it explained why he looked so much smaller than any other Alpha I had seen. Even Hunter’s muscles were more pronounced than his and Hunter hadn’t moved in nine years.

“You can both stay here. My Beta just moved into a house; their part of the floor is empty. Also, since you’re under my protection, all the stuff for uhm..” I looked at him. “I’m sorry I can’t think of your son’s name.”

“Maverick, Mav mostly.” He chuckled.

“Everything Mav needs is covered because you are under my protection, or, if you would like, you could become a member of the pack. It would help if you could mind link just in case.”

He nodded.

“I know that as an Alpha you won’t submit, not that my command would work on you anyway, but it’s the best we can get right now.”

I could feel something niggling at the back of my mind. Murry, one of the doctors in my pack, informed me that Mav not only had wolfsbane and silver nitrate poisoning, but he also had a slight bout of pneumonia. Since his immune system was compromised, he was less resilient to those pesky human viruses that most werewolf pups don’t have to deal with. We dealt with pups getting into the forests and eating berries they shouldn’t have. Rogues are also a plague in our world. Well, some.

Some rogues come from packs with Alphas like Noah, or don’t fit into their pack. Very rarely are those rogues high ranking members. The last rogue Alpha I saw was Noah, but that’s only because his father booted him from the pack before he could take over. No one is really sure what happened, but my father had always said that Alpha Harrison Shultz was a fair and just man. I guess Noah didn’t get those family genes.

While I was mind-linking some staff to get a room prepared for Camden, he stood in front of the window just watching the forest. I wondered how long it had been since he was able to train, or simply shift into his wolf. With the wolfsbane, he would barely have access to his wolf, so he might not have been able to shift at all. Or maybe he didn’t shift out of fear for Noah. I had heard many rumors about how Noah ran the Silver Star pack, and none of them were good. It was also rumored that Camden had died in the car accident four years ago with his mate, and Noah was raising his son as another slap in the face to the former Alpha. Rumors were probably spread by Noah himself.

Camden didn’t move very much but I could see his eyes watching the warriors and even flickering back and forth between the warriors in front of me, to both doors of my office. As an Alpha, we felt the need to always know our surroundings. It is easier to know how to either fight or escape, and with how he was treated, it’s no surprise that his flight or fighting sense was stronger than most.

“There’s a room ready for you, it’s late and I’m sure you’re exhausted.” I said as I motioned for him to follow me.

The room was on the third floor where there were more guest quarters. It was painted in an off-white color that my mother called ‘shell’ and kept the natural dark oak wood floor. A double king-sized bed took up most of the room, but with a guy as big as Richard, he needed it. There was a small bookshelf and desk in the corner of the room and a 75’ TV on the wall. This was the only room in the house that didn’t have its own ensuite bathroom but shared it with the room next door. Rich didn’t spend much time there, since they all preferred to stay in the guest rooms in the Alpha suite.

“Your clothes are hanging up, there’s a toothbrush and stuff in the bathroom, if you need anything, just use that phone on the nightstand and press 1 for me, 2 for the Gamma wing and 3 goes straight to my cell phone. All the extensions and stuff are on the phone,” I explained. I looked around the room, “Are you hungry or anything?”

He shook his head.

“Alright, well. It’s late. Try to get some sleep.”

“Would it be possible….” He started but stopped. “Uhm.. could I go stay with Mav? Or at least at the hospital. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but he’s the only…” his voice cracked a little at the end.

“I promise you; Mav is safe here. Murry’s the best doctor I’ve ever seen and I’m sure Mav is sleeping. Get some rest and first thing in the morning I’ll take you down to the hospital.”

He nodded but didn’t move. I turned and left the room.

After my parents retired, they moved into the city, but were out in the pack more than they were in the city. So much so that I had to design a house for them. Mom would spend hours mind-linking with Hunter’s wolf just hoping and praying that one-day Hunter would wake up. I went once a week just to update him on everything, and Dad hadn’t been there since I was titled. He and Mom had many fights over it, but I knew that it wasn’t because Dad hated Hunter or was even disappointed in him. Hunter was his only son, and Dad just couldn’t watch as his son became nothing but a shell. In the end, that’s all he really was. A shell. Sure, his wolf was there, but Hunter hadn’t uttered a word.

My room was the same as it had been since I was a teenager. It was weird sleeping in my parents’ room. No matter how old I got, it would always be their room. My room was painted a shiny teal with the same dark wood floor. The pictures of Hunter and I from the time we were six hours until we were sixteen sat in a nice row above my bed. We didn’t do a lot together despite being twins. He always knew he would be Alpha and I was going to be able to do whatever I wanted. At least until some overprotective male claimed me and I’d go live in his pack. There were a few other pictures of me with friends from high school, people that I hadn’t been able to hang out with in years. The picture of me and my parents the night of my Alpha ceremony. Even with the smiles on our faces, you could see the sadness in our eyes. We were missing the one thing that should have been celebrated that night.

I hoped in the shower just washing the thought of Noah off before I dressed in one of Hunter’s favorite t shirts and a comfy pair of shorts, before climbing into bed and going to sleep.