Alfa entered his office, and sure enough, eight of his guards were waiting for him.
They bowed low as he entered and took his seat. There were so many questions running through his mind.
"Do any of you know why I called on this meeting?" He roared.
Silence.
He couldn't even hear them breathe.
"Well, since none of you know, I'll explain myself," he continued, leaning closer.
"The human prisoner!" He looked at each of the guards and saw them go white. "I had instructed you all to take care of her. Did you take care of her?"
Their mouths remained shut, but their heartbeat did the talking. Their hearts beat like drums in their chest, which told Alfa that they all were guilty of neglect.
"Brendon, you are in charge of the prison and prisoners, am I right?"
An older guard shivered. "Ye...yes, alfa," he stuttered, eyes boring holes on the ground.
No one dared to look Alfa directly in his eyes, as that would mean challenging him. That's the last thing he wanted.
"I had given you specific instructions that as long as she stayed, she should be treated well, didn't I?"
"Yes, alfa."
"Then why does she look like a corpse?" Alfa's voice remained calm. His people knew that the calm voice meant a storm was brewing deep inside the alfa's heart. None wanted to be there when that storm was unleashed.
Brendon opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
After observing his reaction for some time, Alfa finally said, "Should I take it that you deliberately disobeyed me?"
"Alfa... I'm sorry, but I wasn't there... "
"What the hell do you mean you weren't there?" Alfa was now standing and walking toward them, at a slow pace.
"What do you mean you weren't there?"
The only sound that came was Brendon's heart trying to escape its prison. The cage that harbored it.
The Alfa's intense glare was killing him. Brendon knew he had broken a direct order of his alfa. That meant he undermined his authority. That meant severe punishment.
He was shaking like a leaf in a storm. Alfa Flowerew is always kind and loving towards his pack and people. He is a just and loyal alfa who would do anything to protect his people.
But for people who didn't follow his orders, he could turn into a deadly weapon.
Alfa Kane was ruthless. Brendon would be dead by now if this had been alfa Kane. He was the type of alfa who would kill first, ask questions later.
Alfa Flowerew, though opposite of him, was still his son. He could get pretty violent when it came to.
He didn't mind explaining twice what he wanted, if you didn't understand the first time, but he always wanted his orders to be followed out as he wanted.
"Since Brendon here is still thinking, how about the rest of you? I had instructed all of you to keep the human safe! What part of that didn't you understand?"
Every guard cowered in fear, their heart rate telling their story.
"Alfa... " One courageous guard, barely twenty, stepped forward.
"Yes, Owen," Alfa said, his voice still calm.
"We... we were told you wanted her dead..."
"Told by who?"
Owen swallowed a lump in his throat, his eyes darting quickly toward Brendon, then back again.
This little exchange, though happening within a split of a second, was observed by his alfa.
"Owen, you can tell me. You don't need your superiors' orders for that," Alfa said, but something in his gut told him that Brendon told gave him that order.
"B... Brendon," he choked out.
"What? His lying, alfa. It wasn't me!" Brendon said quickly.
"But your heart says otherwise." Alfa said as he walked towards the older man, his eyes glowing, signaling to him that his wolf was at the surface.
"I... I... I..."
"Save it. All I want now is the truth. Why?"
'Alfa, the Luna is taking the humans to the clinic. What should I do?' Ronald's mindlink came through.
'Stay there and wait for me. This is taking a while.'
'Yes, Alfa.'
"I'm asking you something, Brendon. I'm giving you a chance to explain yourself. I will not give you this opportunity again," Alfa said, his face inches away from Brendon.
The old man started crying. "He threatened me, Alfa. He said that if the human lives, my family won't see another day.... please, forgive me."
"Might I know who's 'he' who's threat meant more to you than your alfa's direct order?"
"I never saw him, alfa, just spoke with him through the phone."
Alfa Flowerew started laughing. Everyone standing there looked at him, then at each other. They were thinking the same thing, has the alfa lost it?
"So you're saying someone whose face you didn't even see was more scary for you than your alfa? You could have told me, or Ronald, or even Trevor. Hell, you could have told anyone who could have told me, but you decided to go against my orders, and you tried to kill the human. Brilliant. Just brilliant," Alfa said after he calmed down enough to get words through his mouth.
"He would have killed them if I tried!" Brendon said, his words barely audible.
"Honestly speaking, I want to kill you right here, right now. But this matter needs to be attended by my Luna as well. You will be dealt with accordingly." Alfa turned to see the rest of them. "And all of you will witness what happens to people who go against my orders. Bring him to the prison."
Saying that, Alfa exited his office, followed by the rest of them, two of which dragged a crying man out towards the prison.
As Alfa walked towards the prison, his mind raced. Who was this mysterious caller who put so much fear into his guards heart that he went behind his back and starved Rebecca?
He had always asked for the reports of all his prisoners, and never once did any guard say anything. The fact that Brendon was the one giving him the reports was the reason.
He hadn't visited the prison himself in such a long time due to all the work that required his attention. That was his biggest mistake.
His trust in his pack members was unbreakable, and this might have been the reason he never even suspected that someone could do this to him.
His father was the most feared alfa of all times, and now he understood why no one dared to go behind his back.
Now, his only hope was that Rebecca survives, or his relationship with Arya will suffer.
"If anyone tries to feed him or give him water, he will also join him in there," Alfa said, as one guard locked the cell.
"Alfa, what happened?" Ronald asked as he saw Brendon getting thrown in and locked.
"I'll explain on the way to the clinic. I have to make sure Aria is alright."