Chapter 0224

“I assume you wished to speak with me.” His tone was icy.

“I believe Gabriel is dead.”

He froze. His crimson eyes lifted from the documents to meet mine. That shade still unsettled me, though it no longer shocked me each time I saw him. Isabella had mentioned that Alexander always attributed it to his Alpha status. I’d encountered enough Alphas to know crimson eyes were rare. In fact, I’d never seen another Wolf with them.

“I was in the training hall. A terrible pain spiraled through my heart. As if my life was being drained away.”

He leaned back in his chair, giving me a knowing look. “That’s the pain of losing a sibling. It’s what Isabella and I felt when Julian severed our bond. But you’re here, so you didn’t kill him?”

“No. Like I said, I was training.”

“I hope he suffered for what he did to Sebastian’s children and Isabella.”

“You mean Julian’s children?”

“Sebastian raised them. You should have told him. Perhaps it would have helped… though I doubt it now. I think he’s beyond reason.”

“Words won’t help him, Alexander. We both know that. Be grateful he isn’t a Lycan.”

He didn’t need to ask for clarification. He understood perfectly.

“Are you making Theodore your Beta?” I pressed.

His lips pressed into a thin line, jaw tightening. “I should. But no.”

“You can’t wait for that drunk to get his act together!”

“Athena wants you to be my Beta.”

“What? I can’t do that. I’m not a Wolf.”

“That’s what I told her. But she pointed out that Obsidian Howl is hardly just a Wolf pack anymore. She is a Lycan. A female Alpha who now serves as my Luna. My sons, heirs to the Wolf pack, are also Lycans. Plus, we have two additional Lycans living among us.” He snorted. “She’s right. Things are changing.”

“I’m her guard.”

“Exactly what a Beta is meant to do. I know we don’t always see eye to eye, Zachary. Perhaps that’s a good thing.”

I raised a brow at him.

“Just consider it.”

He asked if I had spoken to Isabella.

“At first, I thought the pain was connected to her. I feared something had happened. But she’s in the kitchen, eating ice cream.”

“Ah, no need to say more.” He nodded knowingly. Isabella had told me Alexander essentially raised her and her twin brother through their teenage years. He took them in as his own when he became Alpha. No doubt she gave him a hard time during puberty. Both probably did. I was glad I missed that.

Becoming Alpha young had mostly worked in Alexander’s favor. He definitely knew how to pressure people into helping him. I wondered if he had managed to get someone on the outside to kill my brother. I didn’t care if he had. I just wanted to know who so I could thank them.

“Who do you think killed him?” Gabriel had evaded capture for years. He always stayed one step ahead of us. Now, suddenly, he was dead. I didn’t buy it. It sounded like someone else was hunting him.

He shrugged. “Does it matter if he’s dead?”

“It shouldn’t. But I prefer to know who.”