Chapter 286: Pack Hierarchy
"Hi," I said awkwardly, as I was greeted by Flora and Aster’s wet shiny eyes. In the vast expanse of the white bedsheets, Atlas seemed too small and breakable.
A sense of foreboding crept up upon me; did something go awry in the rescue?
"Is there anything I can help you with?"
After all, Arthur must have called me to come over for some reason or another.
"I just felt the need to thank you in person. If you weren’t there..." Arthur sucked in a breath and quickly shook his head, as though by doing so he could banish the horrifying thought of his son’s death. "No, no, you’ve already done so much for us."
"There’s no need for such effusive thanks," I said, a tad bit self-conscious. "Saving him was the right thing to do." Even if I was in for a world of scolding after. "I hope Atlas makes a full recovery. Do you need anything else from me?"
Whether I could deliver upon it was another story, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask.
"Truthfully..." Arthur’s eyes darted to the other people in the infirmary. Only when he was sure they weren’t eavesdropping that he continue to speak in a lowered voice, "Our family owes you a life debt now."
Now I understood why he had to call me over. It would be foolish to announce something like this to everyone with ears, especially because his fellow pack members don’t approve of me.
"I don’t..." I began, wondering how I could turn him down. "There’s really no need for this. I did what anyone should have done."
"But they didn’t," Flora cut in, reaching out to clutch at my hands with almost fervent desperation. "All of them... all the warriors on duty didn’t care enough to search for Atlas. Only you did. If you hadn’t arrived in time, my poor boy would be..." Flora’s voice choked up into a sob, and once again tears welled up in her eyes.
Arthur was similarly emotional. "We owe you our lives."
"Yes, Miss Harper." Aster tugged at the side of my shirt. "Thank you for saving my brother. I know I call him annoying sometimes, but I don’t actually want him to die. Also, now he can’t get out of paying me back. "
That was so unexpected that I couldn’t help but laugh. It broke the heavy atmosphere in the group.
"Aster, how could you say that? What is a debt among family members?" Flora scolded, but there wasn’t much heat in it.
Now that the mood has lightened, there was one thing I had to clarify.
"Flora, when you said that all the warriors on duty didn’t care enough to search for Atlas? What... did you mean?"
"Exactly what I said," Flora sniffled, gripping my hands so hard that I could feel her fingernails digging crescents into my skin. "Those men... they didn’t care enough to look for him. After you and Beta Milo stumbled upon me, I went to search for help from the other guards. They told me to stop bothering them with tall tales, that it was more likely that Atlas ran away for fun."
"How could that possibly be?" I demanded. It was unheard of for pack members to turn away fellow pack members who needed help, let alone from an external threat that was harming their pups.
Husband and wife exchanged a wary glance before Flora began to explain.
"Those men detected the scents of Beta Milo and you on me, so they refused to bother with my words." She smiled bitterly. "They assumed I was making trouble. In their eyes, I was consorting with the traitors."
"That’s..." My mouth fell open, as my mind tried to wrap itself around such a nonsensical thought. How could their hatred of Darach and I overshadow their duty to their fellow pack members?
Between this and the missing patrol guards, Thunderstrike was in trouble.
Arthur continued from where his wife left off.
"We... we’re not high on the pack hierarchy. I’m just one of the foot soldiers, and Flora here is on laundry duty," he said, an embarrassed flush crawling up the back of his neck. Flora nodded. "So I guess the guards didn’t think it was worth listening to our words. I know the pack might not be too happy to see you here, but for what it’s worth, I am very grateful that you arrived in Thunderstrike."
Arthur bowed his head, and Flora followed suit.
"If you need anything from my husband and I, please, just ask," Flora said earnestly. "I know, we can’t offer you a lot, but you’re always welcome for a visit to our home."
"Thank you," I said, humbled by their sincerity.
"There’s one more thing I need to share with you," Arthur said quietly. "Charlie Harper, you must be careful. Thunderstrike is not a safe place even for pack members, let alone for someone like you. I overheard the guards talking about how they were planning to go on strike to protest against Alpha Darach’s rule. "
"A strike? Are they insane?" This meant that the missing patrol was probably just the start.
"Possibly." Arthur shrugged, a miserable expression on his face.
"If you ask me, this problem worsens because Alpha Darach is too kind. If he had simply banished or killed his father and sister, there wouldn’t be so much resistance to his rule," Flora said with a sad shake of her head. "But because they are alive, their supporters think there’s still a chance for things to return to how they were before."
"But if he kills them now, he would just make martyrs of them both," I pointed out with a heavy sigh.
It was too late to cross that particular bridge now. Darach’s one misstep had made his life so much more difficult than things had to be.
If I knew things would come to this, I should have advocated for Alpha Thorton and Dahlia to be exiled from Thunderstrike in front of the oracles, consequences be damned.
But there was no point in crying over spilled milk. I could only move forward from here, by letting Darach know what I’ve learned.
I bade goodbye to the little family, but before I could leave the infirmary, I saw an awfully familiar face.
Speak of the devil.
Dahlia Elrod was standing right in front of me!
