The Shadow Wolf - Part 8

Why the hell did Sani rush out and leave him all alone? He was pissed at her as he stood in the middle of the room. She better be coming back soon, or she'd never hear the end of it. Was this any way to treat your best friend? He didn't think so as he walked across the room to check the door.

Sure enough, it was locked. Once again, he was trapped and held against his will. What he couldn't understand was why, if they were the resistance, they were treating him like a prisoner.

Frustrated with the situation, he tried to reach out to Tane, but he only sensed his wolf in the recesses of his mind. Muttering to the empty room, he said, "Damn it, Tane. You better surface soon, or my father will be able to kill me without batting the proverbial eye."

Without waiting for a reply, he added, "Well, I guess I should try and sleep. Maybe when I wake up, you'll come out of hiding."

Kaj walked over to the bed and pulled the heavy furs back. The bed looked too comfortable for a prison cell, with fluffy pillows and a nice mattress. Removing his shoes, he sat down and looked around the room, taking in the creature comforts that someone had left behind.

Noticing the water and the tray of food, he hesitated. For the first time, his stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since he arrived. Bounding out of bed, he stared at the food and wondered if it was wise to eat it. What if it contained wolfsbane, too? Tane would be lost forever.

Kaj wasn't sure he could take that chance, figuring it would be best not to eat the biscuits and butter waiting for him. He couldn't risk Tane's survival on his stomach pains. Begrudgingly, he walked back over to the bed and sat down, staring across the room at the lonely plate of food calling his name.

While he sat on the bed, contemplating his next moves, the door opened, and Lilja entered with another basket of food and clean clothes. When their eyes met, she smiled warmly at him and said, "Kaju, it's been a long time. I'm sorry that we’re meeting under these circumstances, but we must keep you safe until you’re strong enough to defeat your father."

He stood up and hissed, "How is trapping me here keeping me safe? Sani tricked me into following her and then locked me in here without a word. Nothing. What the hell is going on?"

Lilja's eyes grew wide in fear as she took several steps back. Her voice trembled as she spoke again. "I'm sorry, Kaj, but we needed to get you away from the main pack tunnels and your father's minions. She was supposed to stay and explain everything to you, but I'm not sure why she left you alone without the answers you seek."

"Then you’ll stay and explain what the bloody hell is going on. I can't challenge my father with Tane hiding in the shadows. Who knows how long the poison will take to wear off."

Kaj stepped closer to Lilja, crossed his arms, and tapped his foot on the floor. He wasn't willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. At least not yet.

Rolling her eyes at him, all fear had dissipated, she suggested, "Why don't you eat and wash? You'll feel better, and it will help you sleep. Tane should surface once you both gain your strength back."

"No, Lilja. I want answers first. I need to know how the pack fell apart. Did my father go crazy in the darkness of the winter nights? Why does he blame me for Zan's death? I have a thousand questions and no answers, so you best start talking."

Sighing, she put the food and clothes down, sat in the chair across from him, and said, "Sit. I'll tell you the two-minute version."

"Very well," he grumbled and sat on the edge of the bed.

"The night that you left in search of a mate, Zan was attacked in the training grounds and killed. Your father blamed you, insinuating that the reason you left was just a ruse to hide your crime. It didn't matter to him that you had been planning to leave at the next full moon. He never investigated his murder further. We still don’t fully understand why he was killed or who killed him. Afterward, Alpha Luka started to act weird and become power-hungry. He abused his power and started to put people in jail if they even looked at him the wrong way. By the end of the second month, he publicly whipped people if they didn't work out hard enough during training sessions; he ran the pack with an iron fist, bringing fear into everyone."

Kaj interrupted her, "Why? What brought this on?"

"We don't know. He spends a lot of time in his office with the door locked. He's always been secretive, but his abuse and anger have only increased exponentially as we've approached the new year. He’s unhinged."

Rubbing the back of his neck, Kaj couldn't reconcile his father's behavior with what Lilja was explaining, but he knew that his father had gone full rouge on the pack, and something needed to be done to stop him. That something could only be one thing: Kaj would need to challenge his father and banish him. "What's he planning?"

"We wish we knew, but as his vindictiveness has grown, we silently formed a resistance. You're safe here, I promise. We're not holding you captive, but we're protecting you from your father's sentinels until you can challenge him."

"Lilja, you know there’ll be consequences if you lie to me."

"I know," she said, then handed him a bowl of dried fruit. "Eat this. You need to get strong and quickly."

Kaj took the bowl, looked her in the eyes, and said, "I have no choice but to trust you."

"And we've put all our faith in you to lead the pack."