Book 2 Chapter 36

Caleb’s Point of View

Alpha Clint’s words stunned me. How could Axle not be his son? The man was softly sobbing in my office chair with his head in his hands. Daphne I could see was shocked as well and still standing by the door. I swiftly went behind my desk and pulled out my Brandy and three tumblers, pouring us each a glass. I then grabbed the tissues and nudged Clint’s arm with them. He gladly accepted my offer and when he was done wiping his face, I handed him the glass of Brandy.

“Now that you are a bit calmer Clint, I am going to need a deeper explanation. I have met Axle before, and the man that is here appears to be him.” In truth it had been a little while since I had seen Axle, but overall, his looks have not changed much since then.

“I noticed the change shortly after Axle took the reigns as Alpha of our pack. At first, he was my son, dutiful in his leadership, proud of our pack and strong. Then he and Corey along with another warrior went away for a weekend camping trip, they had all been good friends since they were pups.” Clint takes a deep breath, fresh tears forming in his eyes. “The boys came back a day late, saying that they were attacked by a group of rogues. Axle, and Corey both stated that their friend had been killed, and that they had narrowly escaped.”

“Did Axle and Corey look as if they had been injured?” This time Daphne was addressing Clint. “Axle did have some wounds on him, and Corey had a few scratches, but nothing that appeared life threatening. I questioned both boys extensively about the attack, and then formed a few hunting parties to catch the rogues responsible. None of my warriors could catch any scents that were unfamiliar. They did locate a spot where it looked as if the boys had been attacked, but we could still find no traces of rogues and we never recovered our fallen warrior.” Clint heaved, obviously deeply affected by not being able to recover his fallen pack member.

“I know that we heal fast, but I would think that after an attack that claimed a life, they would have significant wounds.” Daphne pointed out.

“I knew in my gut that something was off. Axle was never raised to leave a warrior behind. Corey and he tried to convince me that there were a lot of rogues, and that our warrior sacrificed himself so that they could get away. Although it is believable that our warrior would do so, I still cannot stomach the fact that Axle did not recover the warrior’s body. To us that is disrespectful, and the parents have not been able to properly grieve. I sent both of the boys to our pack hospital when they returned.” Clint paused as if he was done explaining.