Chapter 420: Close Watch
Violet felt him leave. The male who had marked her. When he left her it was like a weight was taken away, and she breathed deeply—exhaling him out and letting him go. It was freeing.
And then suddenly the hollowness set in. Everything became gray and bleak and lonely.
"This will pass. It’s like a new moon," she whispered to herself in the corner of the cell that she was stuck in.
It felt like specters were whistling through her hollow body. She was a haunting. She was the shell of a person she had once been.
She didn’t know how much time had passed since she was in this cell. There was no light, so there was no indication of time. And the minutes bled into hours and the hours bled into whatever was next, her time becoming an infinite expanse of nothing but the occasional guard coming by with food or water that turned her stomach.
At least she was right, she thought to herself as she rocked with her knees up to her chest. She was right and he hadn’t killed Graeme. If he had, she wouldn’t feel empty like this. If he had, he would have been back to take her with him.
"This will pass," she whispered, attempting to reassure herself when the temperature in the cell became stifling and she was sweating, soaking through the clothes that she was wearing until her own stench became nearly unbearable. "This will pass."
But the only thing passing was the guards. The only thing passing was her stools in the corner of the cell, and no one was coming to clean. No one was offering her clothes. No one was coming to check on her. She wondered if even her mother had given up on her.
"Violet," the voice of that one male who had wrapped himself around her heart long ago came, and she didn’t believe it at first. Why would he come here after what she had done? Perhaps she was starting to hallucinate, too.
"Graeme?" she asked, her voice raspy and thin.
"We can’t keep people in these conditions. What the f—," he cursed to himself upon entering the cell. Maggie came walking in behind him and brought an arm up to cover her nose.
"Cody?" Graeme called out into the hallway with the sonorous Alpha voice that was impossible to miss.
He glanced back at the female in the corner of the cell who looked awful. She was running a fever. He could tell even from this distance. She was trembling and sweating, her eyelids heavy and eyes dark and haunted. But he refused to even touch her to check her temperate after what she had accused him of.
"Yes, Alpha?" the young male guard appeared at the doorway and grimaced, covering his nose as Maggie had.
"Take her to medical," he gestured toward Violet.
"You... you want me to..." Cody trailed off, horrified at the thought of having to carry her when she smelled that bad.
"Is this your first time guarding prisoners in the dungeon?" Graeme asked, impatient at Cody’s obvious disgust of the situation here. "How can you react that way when you are part of the reason she is in this condition. Did no one think to check on her? Did no one think to clean up this cell?"
"I... I, yes. It is my first time," he stuttered, dropping his eyes submissively.
"Grab a blanket and carry her to medical. She will need treatment immediately. Stand guard outside her room in case she gets anymore wild ideas," he added.
Graeme and Maggie watched as the guard carried her out. After making eye contact with him the first time, Violet didn’t look at Graeme after that. She could feel the palpable anger of his presence alone, and while it made her feel safe to have him close by, she didn’t want to see that heartbreaking disapproval in his eyes.
"You do not have a stomach for treating prisoners poorly," Maggie observed.
"I guess not," he grunted as they followed the dark hallway that snaked back through the underground of the pack house.
"Your father was the same way," she smiled.
"Was he?" His eyebrows pinched together as he glanced back to where she was walking a step behind him. He was going to have to get used to that. No one would walk beside him anymore—at least not until August returned and she could accompany him. They were the pack leaders, and that was symbolized in everything the pack members did.
"Oh yes," Maggie replied, her eyes gleaming as she recalled the two who had led this pack before. "He made sure prisoners were treated properly. And he never had too many of them. They were only kept if it was absolutely necessary, which was not common of course. Relations were always very good here—within the pack and with other packs. Even prisoners who were here only stayed for a short period of time. He had a way of righting any attitudes within the pack that needed adjusting."
"I can see him being like that," he replied quietly, a muscle in his jaw feathering as he recalled the Alpha his father once was. Everyone respected him. He and his mother had very few problems with anyone, which was another reason why their deaths were such a surprise.
"You remind me so much of him," Maggie said fondly.
"I couldn’t tell anything about Violet by seeing her so briefly, so I suppose I will be paying her another visit at a later time," he said, changing the subject before they could reminiscence anymore about it.
It made him uncomfortable being compared to his father. Derek Hallowell’s wonderful reputation was a good standard to strive for, but already Graeme was far less than what his father was.
"Yes, it may take some time to discern whether she was affected by her mate," Maggie agreed. "But if she has received any abilities from him, they will only increase in strength as she does. We will need to keep a close watch."
