Chapter 223: Darach Elrod’s Suffering II
Everyone jolted in surprise at the sudden burst of violence. They could see a mighty bruise on one side of his face, and his glasses were askew, the frames twisted out of alignment from the force of the blow.
Darach then spat out blood. The cluster of red, even as an image pulled from memory, still seemed as vibrant as ever, aided by the red moon in the sky.
Alpha Burke raised an eyebrow at Alpha Thorton. "You were saying?"
"Shut up!" He yelled in a bluster, his face turning red with indignation at everyone catching him in a lie. "It was just in the heat of the moment! I have never laid a hand on my son before this!"
Then, Darach spoke.
’Father, I see you’ve upgraded your blows again.’
The audience hissed; there was no mistaking the meaning of his words. Alpha Thorton had struck his son more than once― from the resigned way Darach had reacted to the violence, it seemed to happen with depressing regularity.
To make matters worse for Alpha Thorton, the audience got to listen to his callous reply not a mere second later.
’I have to in order to deal with a useless son like you, I thought ignoring you would be a good enough punishment, but you can’t even do something as simple as escorting your future brother-in-law and his mate correctly. You’re not even worth a human chauffeur.’
Alpha Burke tutted loudly, while Milo had a stony glare on his face as he stared at Alpha Thorton. They had all but witnessed the cruelty of Alpha Thoron — and his daughter — but it was truly something else to watch the rest of the North American packs witness the same things they have known for years.
For so long, Alpha Thorton and Thunderstrike had been viewed as a respectable pack, just beneath the ranks of Shadowpelt before its fall. Some had even thought that Thunderstrike would be the one to replace Shadowpelt’s original position as the ruling werewolf pack in this part of the world.
Yet, there was no leader without its people, and it was more than difficult to gather support from those who had witnessed Thunderstrike’s cruelty.
I snorted under my breath, silently rejoicing in the frantic way Dahlia’s face scrunched up and how Alpha Thorton had turned purple as his words were retorted one by one. There was no bond, but one look at Damon and Blaise and I could tell that they were absolutely gleeful― their faces couldn’t hide even a modicum of joy.
"Verbal abuse in addition to physical abuse... to think you have the nerve to be upset at Damon for hurting your son when you seem to do the job just fine," Alpha Burke said, his lips curling in sadistic delight. "Why, are you upset he got to beat up Darach before you did?"
That was the sentence Alpha Thorton had been waiting for, unfortunately.
"But he did, didn’t he?" Alpha Thorton said. "How Darach has been treated in Thunderstrike does not erase the fact that Alpha Damon Valentine had been nothing but unnecessarily vicious to my son. Everything Darach has gone through in Thunderstrike is to prepare him to become the leader he needs to be in the future. Meanwhile, what is the suffering he experienced in Fangborne for, if not just to suffer?"
Alpha Thorton threw us a heated gaze, anger boiling behind his eyes. Yet, it was more than clear that this anger didn’t originate from the injustice he felt over his son’s mistreatment at the hands of Damon. Rather, it was because we had somehow managed to pin the blame on him, and now, he had to spill this pail of blood back on our hands.
He seethed, teeth gritted as he spat out his next words, his saliva all but flying everywhere. "Who’s to say that he hasn’t been kidnapped after all, and left to rot in Fangborne? He hadn’t received proper treatment the last time he was there; there’s no reason to believe that it would be any different."
The oracles remained wordless, but one stepped forward, waving her hand over the bowl of moonwater. The images blurred as though someone had pressed the fast-forward button. It eventually stopped again. This time, we were back in Fangborne’s infirmary. The others present might not recognize the location but I did.
’There’s a high possibility that Darach might not shift as easily as before if he ever shifts again,’ Nicole’s voice echoed through the clearing. At the same time, I felt a small buzz in my pocket. ’The bond he has with his wolf is nearly severed.’
"Harper," Blaise whispered, drawing my attention.
Alpha Thorton and Alpha Burke had launched into yet another argument. It was rather amusing to watch how Alpha Burke had wordlessly volunteered to act as Damon’s lawyer, all because he wanted nothing more than to see Alpha Thorton’s face dragged across the mud.
Blaise made a beckoning motion with his fingers and I hurried over, sliding back to him and Damon.
"What is it?" I asked, keeping my eyes on Alpha Burke and Alpha Thorton still.
"It’s Nicole," Damon answered instead. "She left Blaise a message. Apparently, she tried to reach you too, but you didn’t reply."
My eyebrows rose. That must be what the buzz in my pocket was about. Sure enough, when I pulled out the phone Damon had given me, Nicole’s name was displayed right on the lock screen. She had sent the message no more than a minute ago, but the content of her message was urgent.
I took in a shaky breath, my fingers trembling as I stared at the phone. The words were written in black and white, the color of the screen tinted red due to the light the blood moon cast. However, all that mattered were those three words she sent.
"Seriously?" I asked, turning to look from the phone screen to them.
Damon’s expression was grim. He nodded once, firm as ever. Blaise turned his phone over to me so that I could look; she sent her the exact same message.
"There’s no need for her to lie. Nicole wouldn’t have notified us unless she was sure," Damon said. "Darach Elrod is finally awake."
