The Wannabe Warrior
Chapter 35

Madison POV

Alpha and Zane were in the office when I came to Knocking.

Entering, Zane jumped up from his seat and pulled me into his arms, a long k**s that would have got heated if it was for where we were and the gentle cough to remind us that our k**s went on longer than expected.

‘Alpha, I have placed about fifteen cameras around the mine sights. It took longer than expected, due to rogues arriving every five minutes, six each time. Could they be doing a walk all this way from the caves, or are we missing something here? I did not see any leave, only enter.’ I said, baffled by the behaviour.

‘That does seem a little far to patrol, but then we have a large perimeter that we do, it is not unreasonable for them to have a certain area as a patrol area. Let us have a look at the diorama and see.’

We locked the door to Alpha’s office, and entered the inner one.

Alpha lights up the overhead screen and we look at it. Zane has his arm on my lower back, drawing circles, sending tingles up my back and distracting me from my perusal of the area.

The walk from the caves to the mine site would be about four and half hours, and could be seen as a reasonable perimeter to walk, but it still did not make sense. The last cave collapsed a few years ago. Unless they dug it out, that one is useless. No other buildings or caves are between the two.

‘Can I suggest we send some out to the mines and do a walk back to the cave, being mindful that rogues are in that area. Maybe walk it a little further out. I want to know what is between the caves and the mines. Could they have built something out there?’ I asked, still looking at the screen.

Alpha blows the screen up showing the area from the mines to the caves only, and nothing is noted as being around there.

‘Alpha, other than the Advisor, who has been out there in recent years, looks like an area rarely frequented?’ I asked as I got closer to the screen. As if that would give me ideas.

Zane pulls me to his back and rests his head on my shoulder, as he looks at the screen, his breath is tickling my neck and I am having trouble not giggling and squirming.

I eventually give up and pull myself out of his arms and head to the coffee pot.

‘Coffee?’

I get two nods as they keep brainstorming ideas on what is happening.

‘Look, until you get someone out there to check it out, we will not know. I can sit here and think all day long? How about we send out our warriors? I need to stay here tomorrow and check the cameras that have been set, and also make another batch of sleeping potion for the darts.’ I spoke softly as I poured the coffee.

‘Sounds as good a plan as any. Let’s do that. Will get Graham in here and talk about it.’

‘Oh, and Alpha, when we returned, ten Dark River Pack members were sitting on the grass before the packhouse. They watched us arrive and nodded to us when we passed them by and then got up and went into the barracks. Any idea what that is about?’

‘Ten Dark River Pack members followed you to the river. As we expected, they were hunting for where you left the river. Zane, here, used your blow darts and put them to sleep. They now have a nice room in the dungeons, where they will stay for the duration. I am not going to attempt to get information from them, with torture, as I doubt we would get any truth. Zane is going to chat with them but we don’t expect much from them. The other ten may have thought they had followed you and with your return they should return soon too.’

‘Any other surprises?’

‘Yes, Northern pack members have asked to be sent to the barracks and join the Dark River Pack team for patrols.’ Alpha said as he took the coffee from me.

‘There are a lot of traitors living here. Do we have enough cells for them all?’

‘Oh, yes, we will slowly gather them and put them in separate cells. We can put quite a few men in each cell, though for now we have them in separate cells. There are many cells and torture chambers down there. The area is about the same size as the ground floor area of the packhouse. We can’t just grab them all at once, we need to be sneaky and grab them one at a time, preferably while they are out on the field, so it looks like they may have had a mishap out there rather than here, we don’t want the advisor to get wind of it, and if we grab them all at once, our hand will be exposed.’ Alpha replies.

‘I need to know what is going on at the caves and mine site, any news from Gerome? Has he updated information since the cameras were set up in the cave? I really do need to get out there and finish that job. The advisor has had twelve years to get to where it is now. I believe, the advisor thought, he would have an easy take of the Blue River Pack. Once, Luna and Beta’s wife died. I guess he did not reckon on Alpha Daniel to be so strong willed and live through it. I know most will die when they lose their mate, and I feel that dad has lost his mate at the same time and, in the same way, the two of them got a new closer bond, and together they gave each other the strength to go on. With that failure, he started on a bigger plan, and I think it would have worked with all those traitors working against you.’

Alpha just grunted, a reminder of what he could have lost if I had not planted the seed.

‘I am going to seek out Gerome, and then some food and bed. Catch you later, Alpha.’ I walked out the door, not waiting to see if Zane would follow.