Thor returns to the room after he has gotten rid of Anders. As he walks back towards my bed, I see the pleasant face he had on before he left has been replaced with an angry one. His human green eyes had turned red, blazing with anger.
"Care to tell me why, Eric?..." He asks as he comes to stand in front of my bed.
"I remember I told you more than once not to leave the pack without taking one or two men along with you..."
"I know. I just..."
"You just deliberately disobeyed me!" He growls, angrily knocking the lamp on my bedside table off, shattering it into pieces "I am your Alpha, yet you deliberately disobey a direct order from me!"
Henrik is the first to stand and quietly leave the room. Then Bear leaves after him... One after the other they leave till we're alone with each other. I guess they don't want to be a witness to what is about to go down.
We've been friends since the cradle. We've roasted and insulted each other so many times but we've never had a serious argument between us, nor have we ever swung a blow at each other, except maybe while we were training or play-fighting. That is why I'm dumbfounded when he goes all Alpha on me.
"Thor I'm..." I want to say something but merely looking at how emotional he is right then, my words fail me
"You could have died you numbskull! He shouts, not caring how loud his voice has become. Do you understand that, Eric!? YOU COULD HAVE DIED!" He says emphatically through clenched teeth before storming out of the room, slamming the door hard behind him.
"Fucking hell!" I swear under my breath when his words and the pain visible in his facial expression sink deep inside of me.
He was right. I could have died. Putting myself in his shoes. If he was the one on the sick bed and I was faced with the possibility of him dying, I would have been scared of losing him and what life would be like without him in it and I would have been furious myself if what happened to him was as a result of his carelessness.
I sit up in bed intending to stand and go look for him so I can apologize but immediately fall back in. I've been unconscious for two weeks. My legs have gone to sleep and are currently too weak to support my body. I'm trying to stand up again when Ella walks back into the room.
"Are you planning to go somewhere?" She asks with concern, watching as I support myself with the bedside table.
"Yeah. I need to go find Thor..."
"You won't be able to see him now, he already drove out of the mansion. I think he wants to cool down." She says and I reluctantly sit back in the bed
"He was scared, you know. We were all scared. The mansion had been in a somber state ever since what happened to you. The General couldn't sleep for days. He refused to leave your side because he was afraid you would die if he took his eyes off you even for a moment. He stayed by your side until you started showing signs of healing, that was when he finally agreed to sleep and ate something."
"I'm sorry for making you all worry," I say. "Where are the rest of the team? I need to apologize to everyone."
"Bear and Timothy are outside the room, guiding the door. While the others drove out with him."
"Guiding the door? Why? For what?"
"Nothing much. The General just said we should keep you company so you won't get bored."
I chuckle
"Keep me company or prevent me from leaving the room?"
"Kinda..." She admits with a shrug and smile
"Okay, I'll wait until he returns then... I didn't miss Thor's trial or did I? It was scheduled for two weeks." I ask after a while
"Nah, you didn't, thankfully. It's in three days. Today is the 28th. It's happening on the last day of the month, the 31st. The Council already brought a notice to that effect, you woke up just in time." She says, flashing me a smile of relief.
"A lot has happened while you were unconscious." She continued saying
"Oh!... A lot like what?" I ask with a frown, already praying in my mind it wouldn't be something bad
"You don't have to frown like that because it's not bad news." She says grinning from ear to ear, making me breathe a sigh of relief again.
"Okay, now will you say it already and stop wasting time," I say in exasperation when I realize she's deliberately wasting time.
"Okay, okay, relax... So it just so happened that after the rogues' attack, Malik wrote a petition which was signed by all the members of the patrol teams to probe into the reasons why the elders have refused to carry out the inauguration ceremony of their new Alpha."
"Oh..." I exclaim since that wasn't what I was expecting to hear. "They really did that?" I say with surprise
"Yeah. We won them over and even had them fighting for the General. Can you believe that?" She asks in excitement
"Wao... This is good news indeed. So what was the Elders' defense? What about the Council's response? How about Evelyn? Tell me, what was her reaction like?" I also ask excitedly
"The Elders have no defense. The General was grateful to the patrol teams but reminded them that he already disbanded the executives. The inauguration will be held when he appoints new executives.
The Council Elders however responded that they're aware the General hasn't been sworn it. That they are only waiting until after his trial. If he's found innocent of all the charges brought against him then he will be inaugurated a week after alongside his Luna. Isn't that wonderful?"
I smile happily
"Yes, it is indeed. God! I'm relieved. So what about Evelyn? Did she show her face yet?
"No, she didn't but her lawyer did. He said something about suing the General for disposing of the old Alpha and his Beta's bodies like garbage without proper burials for them."
"What?" I exclaim with a chuckle." Just how stupid can they be? How can they make accusations without evidence?"
"Yes, how can they do that? Although I've not met Evelyn before, I don't want to believe she's stupid. She wouldn't have come this far if she was a stupid person, you know."
"You're right about that but what's your point?"
"My point or should I say my fear is, I think Evelyn has something big they plan to use as evidence against the General, or don't you think so?"
"Hmm... You're absolutely right about that but what evidence can they be holding that can be bigger than the one we have in our custody?... They accused Thor of killing his father who we all know is very much alive. So what other evidence do you think can exceed the one we have?"
"Hmm..." She says with her head tilted aside wonderingly. "There's indeed no evidence that can be bigger than the one we have. But I can't wait to find out about the ace they think they have up their sleeve."
"Whatever ace they have will only end up making them look more foolish so I'm not bothered by it."
"Yeah... Oh, I almost forgot, a package arrived for you from Council Yard. It has the name Neal written on it as the sender."
"That's the name of the warden. Did you open it? What's inside?"
"No, I didn't open it. I'm sorry. Let me go get it for you." She says and gets up.
"Wait. Did you remember to check on Ash while I was unconscious ?"
"Oh!..." She exclaims, freezing in place. She doesn't need to give me a reply before I know she didn't remember to check on her. The guilty expression she has on her face says it all.
"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" She says rapidly. "I'm so sorry! Everything that happened with you coupled with the work around here totally made me forget. I'm so sorry. My poor Luna! How could I have forgotten after we promised to always check on her? How could I?..."
"She's pregnant Ella..." I say cutting off her rambling
"Wait, what? She's pregnant!? But how..."
"Who's pregnant?..." Thor asks as he walks back into the room.