Chapter 253: Apples
"Charlie Elijah! Come quick!" Another pack member all but screamed out. "There’s another fire from the south side!"
"I know," Elijah threw back, cursing under his breath. "Damn it, where’s Kaine?"
"Scouting, sir," the warrior said. "He left with his team just two hours ago to survey the east. We’ve already sent word, but―"
"They won’t get back in time," Elijah muttered under his breath. "Shit. Prepare your team, James. We need to go."
"Yes sir!" James dashed off immediately after, his finger pressed against his temple, no doubt arranging a team to set out.
Elijah did the same, his eyebrows set into a furrow as he sped towards the main doors. "Come on..." he mumbled under his breath. "Where the hell are they?"
"Is there no one available in the south?" I asked, worried. I didn’t know where else to go or what else to do but to follow Elijah like a duckling following its mother.
"There was when I received the report," Elijah said. "But there’s no one responding now. Fuck."
I sucked in a cold gasp of air, chewing nervously on my bottom lip. Hardly had I ever heard Elijah cussing out such colorful profanities without a care. But with Damon and Blaise both off in the north and Kaine away from the pack, Elijah was the only leader left.
Soon enough, even he would be away from the packhouse.
"I need to head to the south to check the situation there," Elijah said, stopping suddenly. I nearly knocked right against his back if it weren’t for my quick reflexes. "Can you hold the fort down here?"
"Here?" I repeated, my eyes widening. "Alone?"
"I wouldn’t ask this of you too if the situation wasn’t this dire," Elijah said while attempting a smile, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. "Just... stay with Nicole or something and make sure nothing happens in the central area. If there’s anything, get Nicole or anyone else to contact us. I doubt the Alpha and Beta brought their phones, but even if they did, the signal might be weak this far away from a human town."
What else was I supposed to do other than nod?
I could only watch as Elijah left with his team of men, bolting straight for the southern borders. There was nothing else I could do other than stand and watch until Elijah’s figure became nothing more than a speck in the distance, then nothing at all.
The moment he was gone, everything went quiet.
I sighed as I headed straight to the kitchen. If things went as they should, then the wolves would’ve brought the fresh produce right here. Jeeves was in charge of taking inventory, but with him on leave today, it might have to be delayed until tomorrow when he gets back. Either that, or I had just found a good pastime to keep my mind off of overthinking and worrying.
Thankfully, the staff members who helped to bring the crates of food stock down to the kitchens weren’t stupid enough to risk their lives just to get a dig at me. The items arrived safely and fairly untouched, and I swiftly picked up the clipboard that they had left on the kitchen counter. On it were the delivery details, along with more information on when the next batch would be sent.
Without Blaise and Damon around, the kitchen was fairly quiet. Before I knew it, night had fallen.
The light flickered above my head right as lightning struck outside, followed by the groan of thunder. Rain soon fell, and from the windows, it seemed like it wasn’t a mere light shower.
Placing the clipboard back then, I hurried over to close the windows, moving down the entire row to make sure everything was tightly clipped in place. Some idiot had decided to place the sachets of flour near the windows, and if I had been any slower, it would’ve been soaked through.
There was another crack of thunder as the light went out, buzzing for a few seconds before it lit up again. I quickly secured the last window latch― it had gotten oddly cold due to the storm outside. At least that meant that whatever leftover fire there was, it would be quickly put out by this weather.
"What are you up to again?"
A familiar voice caused me to turn back, coming eye-to-eye with Kyle. My hand had instinctively reached for my back pocket where I kept the weapon Damon had given me previously― the experiences I had gone through without it were enough lessons for me to learn. I needed to keep it on me as often as possible.
Seeing that it was just Kyle, I returned my hand to my side. There was no need for violence with him― yet.
"Someone needs to take stock of the inventory since Jeeves isn’t around," I said, keeping my eyes trained on him. "What are you doing here?"
"For food, what else?" Kyle spat. He walked over to the crates, picking up an apple before cleaning it on the sleeve of his shirt. Without looking twice, he bit into the fruit, the crunch resonating through the kitchen.
As he was chewing, however, he suddenly stopped short and stared at the apple in horror.
"You didn’t poison this, did you―"
"Oh, come on!" I cried out, throwing my hands up in the air. "What’s it with you, honestly? Do you think that I honestly have nothing better to do than to waste my time here poisoning you all one by one? If I really was a hunter, I would’ve killed you so long ago for being such a pain in the ass!"
Kyle’s lips parted, ready to argue back, but suddenly, his eyes widened. The apple in his hand dropped to his feet, rolling a short distance as his body remained rooted, as though he had been petrified. Then, his face started turning a little blue― even under the flickering kitchen light, the change in the color of his lips was more than obvious.
"Kyle?" I asked, taking a step forward. He remained unblinking, but when I took another step closer, I could see his iris shaking slightly in fear. "Shit, are the apples actually poisoned?"
"No."
I sharply turned, this time, immediately reaching for the weapon I kept with me.
"Just this one."
