Zane - Confessions of a lycan

Chapter 20

Lucien

Three agonizing, endless days had passed since our arrival at the Crescent Moon pack.

Lily was still alive, but the situation was serious. She got a high fever during the first night, then it accelerated and caused sepsis. Which damaged her body's tissues and organs. She´s in a medical induced coma at the time being, with Zane glued to her side, refusing to leave. I had tried to get him to eat but he had barely touched his food.

All the nurses are scared shitless of him and so is the friendly Dr. Thompson. I can´t say I blame them because his Lycan snarls and growls at everyone for the time being.

Between working on the kidnapping case and supporting Zane, I felt absolutely exhausted.

My heart bled for him and I was terrified he would die if Lily didn't survive this.

I could see in his eyes that she was already his entire world, even though they weren´t mated and marked yet.

Sitting in Alpha Ronan´s office in the packhouse, I tried to concentrate on the task at hand, which was easier said than done.

I accidentally dozed off when my phone started ringing.

Ohh bullocks! it´s Damien again, he was thoroughly pis*ed last time we spoke.

“Good evening, Damien. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Take your high and mighty attitude and fu*k off Lucien!” Yup, what a good evening this will be indeed. Like this day wasn´t all sunshine and rainbows already. “Do you care to elaborate that a little further Damien or should we just skip that part and get to the important bit instead? My temper is short as it is, so speak your mind or find someone else to throw your spoiled tantrums at.”

“Spoiled tantrums!? Zane sent me to interrogate a pack and I walk into a complete sh*tshow which develops into total chaos and my brother refuse to pick up his goddamn phone! Tell me why the fu*k I shouldn’t be pi*sed?!” Damien roared in the other end so loudly that I had to keep the phone away from my ear, so I didn´t go deaf in the process.

I leaned back and pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to curb the headache that I felt was coming.

“Zane doesn’t want me to tell you what´s going on right now. But it is really serious, Damien. Zane will tell you himself when he is ready. I have already sent you more soldiers to back you up, haven’t I? Just follow your gut and experience until we get there. It can't be that bloody hard, can it?” I felt my attitude slipping but I was too goddamn tired to care.

“How serious? Is my brother injured? If something has happened to him, you have to fu*king tell me right now!” Damien went from sounding pis*ed to worried and back again in a heartbeat. Phew, for the love of gods.

“And your mother must tell you boys to start washing your mouths with soap to clean up your language.” All that earned me was a deep growl. “Zane will contact you when he can. In the meantime, do your job and do it well. Talk to you later.”

I ended the call before he had time to answer. I'd had enough. Wolves were so uncivilized, and had a temper that was worse than Hades himself. Even if you gave those bastards a picture book made for 3-year-olds, they still wouldn't understand the concept of behaving with anything resembling good manners. Goddess give me the strength to deal with misfits, peevish wolfs and other annoying beings.

My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Alpha Ronan stepped in with his Luna Cora, his beta Mason whom I met briefly yesterday and Dr. Thompson . “I hope you find my office to your liking, Lucien. We just stopped by to see if there was anything we could do for you. We ran into Matthew on our way here.” Alpha Ronan explained.

Zane had mentioned this pack previously and only spoke highly of them. I must say that my impression so far had been excellent. Everyone was kind and helpful to each other and had equal value regardless of rank. People seemed to be thriving and everyone I spoke to since I got here had nothing but nice things to say about the alpha and his Luna.

“It sure is, and I am grateful that you have lent me your office for the time being, Alpha. But I would like a word with all of you if you have a couple minutes to spare” Ronan nodded thoughtfully in response as everyone entered and closed the door behind them.

“First of all, was there something you wanted to talk about Dr. Thompson?” I asked calmly without conveying my true feelings. Because inside I was trembling with fear. I was terrified of losing the only family I had left.

Zane was my only true friend and even though I had just met Lily she already had a special place in my heart.

Dr. Thompson sighed and gave me a defeated look before he answered. “I just wanted to let you know that we have done everything we can for Lily. I broke the medical induced coma last night. It's in Lily's hands now whether she wakes up or not. All we can do is wait.” I took a deep breath and pulled myself together. “What are the odds that she survives?” I asked, terrified of the answer I might get. "Honestly, I don't know. Based on the information I received that Lily is supposed to be an Omega who was also bullied and neglected, she should already be dead based on how long this went on and the amount of silver we found in her bloodstream. If she had come to me without me knowing anything about her background, I would have guessed that she was a very strong alpha or even a Lycan.” "What are you trying to say, Doctor?" "I'm trying to say that Lily isn´t who she thinks she is. Not in a long shot.”

What on earth was going on? If Lily was much stronger than she thought, then that would be a motive for her stepmother to remove her. Hmm, how fascinating…

"What I am about to tell you now must not, under any circumstances, leave this room. Zane has spoken highly of your pack and I choose to trust his judgment. It would be unfortunate for everyone if it turned out not to be true,” I said as I swept across the room with my gaze. Conveying the consequences of not heeding my warning.

Luna Cora and Dr. Thompson sat on the comfy brown leather couch to my right looking like deer´s in the headlights at my statement. However, Alpha Ronan and Beta Mason looked pi*sed that I questioned their loyalty and character with my warning.

“My Lord Kieran, we would never break a trust given to us, ever. Please let us know what the problem is and we will do everything we can to help.” Beta Mason said diplomatic while leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

He seemed like a good wolf. He was atleast 6'6" tall and bulky and exuded so much power when he walked into a room that I'd easily mistake him for an alpha. Nevertheless, the little I had seen of him, he had always seemed laid-back and easy-going.

“Please call me Lucien, and I mean no disrespect. But there are lives at stake here. I can't take enough precautions.”

Mason nodded in understanding as the others waited for me to continue. I began by explaining our involvement in the kidnapping cases, what we knew so far, and what measures we had put in place before I got into today's main topic.

Everyone seemed to be listening with deep concern about the situation.

"My biggest current problem, though, is that Lily wasn't abducted the same way as the others. She was drugged by her stepmother and sold to the criminal organization that supplies women for the auctions. Zane's brother Damien is in Lily´s pack to interrogate those involved as we speak. But it's not a friendly pack of wolves he's dealing with. They are liars and power hungry, to say the least. Damien is in a hostile environment with difficult things to sort out. Such as who will continue to lead the pack from now on and who they can trust. I need to help him, but I refuse to leave Zane as long as Lily is in a coma. That's why I wanted to talk to you, Ronan. You have long experience as an Alpha and have a pack with good morals and a flourishing environment. We need your advice on how to proceed and how to best deal with this wolf pack. Continuing with the same Alpha and Luna as before is out of the question.”

“We have heard about the missing she-wolves unfortunately. But I would like some clarification. Which pack are we talking about, and what position does Lily's stepmother have that causes the pack's leader to be deposed? Do we know that the alpha was aware of what was going on? Alpha Ronan replied while sitting in the chair across the desk.

“I'm actually referring to one of your neighbors, the Blood moon pack. And Lily happens to be the Alpha's daughter. So I'm sure he knew full well what was going on. Lily didn´t have an easy life. She was severely bullied and forced to work for free as a child slave already at the age of 7.” Cora put her hand over her mouth in horror at my statement while Mason pushed away from the wall he was leaning against, clenching his fists and looking ready to go to war.

“I can hardly believe what I am hearing. We´ve been to a couple of festivities on their pack-lands yet I have never heard of any daughter or seen her around. I´ve met Alpha Corbin’s and his Luna's sons, Jake and Adam. But that's about it.” Ronan blurted out. "It's not surprising. Since they locked her in the basement during all their festivities and meetings with outsiders. They told her that she was a disgrace and was not allowed to embarrass them.” I replied. Just the thought of the things she had endured in that horrid place made me feel sick.

“Ronan, you cannot allow this. They must be held accountable.” Cora said aghast, pleading with her mate.

“I agree with your mate, Ronan,” Mason uttered.

"I agree that this is terrible. It's rare for someone to get pregnant outside of a mate bond, but anything can happen. You think Luna Delores should realize that he had a life before her but that the child shouldn't be punished for it.” Ronan exclaimed.

"You're right, Alpha. But I'm afraid the situation is more complicated than you think. Lily was born to Alpha Corbin's true mate. He seduced her with beautiful promises, but one day he came home with an Alpha's daughter, better known as Luna Delores. Unfortunately, Lily's mother Eloise was already pregnant with Lily. When Lily was 6 months old, she chose to take her own life due to the physical and mental pain that comes from a disloyal mate.”

"I've heard enough! Ronan, you have to do something, now! We can't sit and watch while something like this happens! He's gone against the will of the goddess, disrespected something as sacred as a mate-bond, and then let an innocent child get punished for it!" Mason bellowed in rage. But then he looked baffled by his own outburst. Like he just realized he broke the code of conduct against his Alpha.

“Of course we have to take action, but the best way is not to react with anger and violence Beta Mason, but with planning and building a strategy with assertiveness.” Ronan assured while politely putting Mason back in his place. Hell I might even like this Alpha. “I will summon some of our best warriors to accompany you to the Blood moon pack, Mason. Where you will take over as temporary Alpha and assist his highness in the interrogation and to stabilize the pack again. You're not coming back until it's done. Everything is to be reported back to me. have I made myself clear?” Ronan gave his order with a no nonsense kind of voice. The smiling, funny Alpha long gone. “Perfectly clear, Alpha”, Mason replied with a warrior salute.

Just as we were about to start planning the details, Dr. Thompson's phone rang. He answered while the rest of us fell silent.

His facial expression commuted between concern, then relief that turned into a smile of joy. “Lily is awake.”