Chapter 68: Unfriendly Pack Members
I understood that traveling in such a large group could be observed as a sign of aggression, especially if we got too close to another werewolf pack’s borders. Most border patrols would flag this suspicious activity, even if we didn’t actually physically cross those borders and into their land.
However, the way Zeke phrased it made it sound way more complicated than that.
Zeke sighed. True enough, he said, "It’s complicated." He pursed his lips and turned away. "You may wish to check with Lucien when he comes back. I don’t think I am the most suitable person to explain this to you."
No matter how much I prodded at him after, Zeke was unwilling to tell me more about the Bloodmoon Pack.
The more unwilling he was, the more suspicious I got. After all, what I had gathered was that Lucien led the Bloodmoon Pack to attack the Shadowclaw Pack.
I wasn’t sure if they looted anything, but they certainly didn’t wipe out the pack, judging by the way Lucien, Ralph, and Zeke had phrased their words. That meant that they weren’t trying to take over Shadowclaw.
Perhaps I was too full of myself, but a part of me wondered if Lucien attacked Shadowclaw just to find me. He already knew that I was there, considering how he had snuck into my bedroom that night, leaving his necklace behind.
However, there was just something I couldn’t shake from my mind. I could still remember the attack as though it just happened seconds ago. Lucien had no qualms about killing the wolves on his side once they posed a threat to my safety. He had snapped that other wolf’s neck without hesitation.
As the Alpha, that seemed needlessly ruthless, especially when he could’ve just commanded the wolf to stand down.
"But I just wanted to ask―"
"No," Zeke said, his voice firm with no room for argument. I pouted, which Zeke merely deadpanned at. "Your puppy eyes won’t work on me. Wait for Lucien. This is his mess to clean up."
In the end, a warrior entered the tent and called him away. He had no choice but to leave me alone.
"Stay put," Zeke said. "Don’t wander out too far, even if you’re stretching your legs. You might accidentally enter another pack’s territory."
"I am not planning on causing trouble for Lucien," I affirmed.
Once he had my assurance, he turned and left, leaving me alone in the tent.
Unfortunately, that was also hours ago. Through the thin fabric of the tent, I could see the daylight outside turning into a rose gold shade. I peeped out, and sure enough, the sun was already setting.
My stomach growled in hunger. Other than a few snacks that I managed to find in the tent, there wasn’t much food available that I could eat to replenish my strength. Zeke hadn’t returned just yet― he most likely thought that he would be able to come back soon, and didn’t leave any food as a result.
I tried my best to ignore it, but the churning sensation proved to be all too distracting. Biting my lip, I decided to leave the tent in search of something to eat.
The tent that I was in was in the furthest corner of the camp. Once I stepped out, however, I could more or less see the outline of the campsite. The row of tents stretched further than I could see while standing on ground level. However, every tent was strategically positioned to form a clear marker of where the boundary was. So long as I kept to this boundary, I would be within safe grounds.
The evening breeze carried the aroma of freshly roasted meat through the air and towards me. I sniffed, my eyes widening at the scent. On an empty stomach, smelling such a delicious scent was torturous.
But where there was a smell, there was food. I quickly followed it, and sure enough, I soon spotted a trail of smoke that led me to a firepit.
Two women stood by the fire, slowly turning the spit over the flames. The animal carcass was slowly cooked until its skin was crispy and golden brown, and the aroma that wafted from it sent my stomach into a rumbling fit.
I swallowed, raising my hand to my mouth to make sure my saliva didn’t leak past the corner of my lips. Quickly, I made my way forward.
"Excuse me," I said, calling out to the two women.
They turned when they heard my voice, but the scrunch of their eyebrows told me quickly that they weren’t pleased about being disturbed.
"Is it all right for me to get a small portion of that meat? I―"
"Who let this freak out?" one of the women said with a sneer.
I blinked, slightly taken aback. "Excuse me?"
Her friend laughed. "This prisoner of war that Lucien found is surely interesting. Did she really just ask us for food?"
"I think the question is, Georgia," the first woman said with a chuckle of cruel amusement, "why isn’t she chained somewhere?"
"Beats me," the second woman — Georgia — said. They continued to converse as though I wasn’t standing just right there. "But wait till Sienna finds out about this. She will flip shit."
Irritation flared through me. For a second, I completely forgot about the ravaging hunger that twisted in my stomach.
"I can hear you, you know?" I said. "And I am not a prisoner of war―"
"What is taking you girls so long?" a third voice said from behind me. Instantly, the two girls who manned the rotisserie spit straightened, their eyes lighting up.
"Sienna!" they called out in unison.
"We were almost finished," Georgia said. She then glared at me with distaste. "But there’s someone here who thought she would be given a share."
"Who?" Sienna asked.
I turned around to look at the woman speaking, just in time to come eye to eye with a woman with fire-red hair, and equally bright flames of anger burning behind her eyes.
