Slater
"What kind of monstrosity?" Kael asked.
"Brace yourselves, guys," I took in a deep breath. "Ravenshore have been getting girls pregnant and selling their babies to humans. Our boys, all the missing boys from Ravenshore, are sold to the human world."
There was a bit of silence as both boys regarded . They didn’t look surprised.
"Well...?" I drawled, looking at both of them.
"That’s no news," Rhett was the first person to speak, at least not to . I’ve long suspected that. I an, don’t you see the strange things that happen here a lot of tis? If they’re not asking boys and girls to run around the school naked, they’re spiking their drinks and watching them sleep with each other."
"And you didn’t say a word?" Kael asked slowly. "Why?"
"Because it’s none of my business," Rhett shrugged. "My father has no business with whatever Vale and the rest of the board mbers are running, so I don’t really care. Plus, how does it concern, Charis?"
I pulled out a bound docunt containing photographs and lab project docunts and handed it to both of them.
"What you’re looking at is evidence of an operation called Project Renew. They’re trying to create a triple hybrid from the strongest supernatural creatures: Lycans, werewolves, were-foxes, faes and vampires. They’re trying to cross all their reproductive genetics and see what kind of offspring it produces. But for that, they would need a werewolf—specifically a werewolf with a Shadewolf—to carry the pregnancy to term."
"But Charis is not a Shadewolf, we know that much," Kael suddenly said. He hasn’t said a word since I started speaking.
"If she’s truly a Direwolf, it’s worse. There’s a DNA found in shadwolves that can help bind all the genetics of those supernatural creatures ntioned earlier, and we also know Direwolves are upgrades of Shadewolves, so whatever is in a Shadewolf tis two would be in a Direwolf tis two."
"Fuck! Are you saying they took Charis because of that?" Rhett asked.
"I don’t know," I sighed. "I’m just dealing with the worst-case scenarios. Charis is not dead, and I am sure of that. We need to figure out where she is and who she’s with."
While we were still talking, Kael’s phone rang. He looked at the phone for a minute and ended it before turning back to us.
"So, I want all hands on deck..."
"Count out!" Kael didn’t allow to finish.
"Of course, the self-entitled prick!" Rhett hissed.
"Why, Kael? I an, don’t you miss Charis as much as we..."
"You should be trying to keep her far away from here. This is exactly why..." he started saying, but trailed off.
"This is exactly what, Kael?" I pressed. "C’mon, talk to us, man. We won’t know unless you tell us."
He looked at for a minute and shook his head. "I can’t do this, guys. I liked the bond we shared as friends, and perhaps I was looking forward to growing our friendship until Charis ca along. I’m sorry, but I can’t continue doing this. I have no intention of sharing a woman with either of you..."
"Is that why you went ahead to..." Rhett started saying.
"Shut up!" Kael turned to him with a loud growl. "I’ve put up with your insults and antics for the longest ti, and I’m doing it because I don’t want to hurt you more, Rhett. You know nothing about the decision I made. You have no idea how much I’ve suffered..."
"I don’t care, Kael," Rhett retorted, rising to his full height as he walked towards Kael. "Charis is our mate, whether you want to believe it or not. Secondly, you fucked up, man. No matter what decisions you thought you were making, you shouldn’t have thrown her under the bus."
Kael took a step away from Rhett and turned to face .
"I will try to find out where Charis is and let you know. After that, I want nothing to do with this friendship or the bond that we shared. I’m going to reject Charis on my own today and have her mark erased. No matter what, don’t let her co back to Ravenshore."
"You’re speaking as if you know sothing? What do you know? Just tell us..."
"It’s complicated, Slater. Please don’t force to tell you, because I don’t want to lie about it. And please, can both of you just let be? After I make so findings about Charis, I’ll reach out to Slater to share what I know. That should be the last ti we should talk to each other."
"So, you’re just going to throw everything away because of your ego? Do you know what will happen to her if you reject her? Don’t you think of anyone but yourself?" Rhett was screaming now, but he might as well be talking to a wall because Kael already brushed past and was heading back to the pack house.
After he left, Rhett collapsed back on the garden bench, gasping for breath. "I hate him. I hate him so much."
"Relax, Rhett. It’s not the end of the world. You know how Kael is. He’ll co around later, don’t worry, you’ll see."
Rhett’s eyes filled up with tears. "I don’t want to stop being friends with Kael and you. Mate bond aside, you’re both my brothers, and I don’t want to die on bad terms with Kael. Please..."
"Then you could blackmail him into it..." A brilliant idea was forming in my head as I stared at Rhett. "You know how Kael is such a softie to you, how about you tweak the truth a little bit or still, I could help you tweak it and who knows..."
"Why didn’t I think of that?" Rhett’s lips curved with a smile. "How about I fake my death now?"
***
A mont later, Kael was running back towards the garden, his eyes were wild with fear. When he reached us, he looked from to Rhett, who was lying down on the garden bench with a hand across his forehead.
"What happened to him? An ambulance would be here shortly," Kael said in one breath as he rushed towards Rhett.
"After you left, he started bawling about dying and stuff like that. You know how Rhett is, and he suddenly collapsed. I managed to put him on the bench, and he ca to consciousness a while later."
Kael went over to Rhett and touched his brow. "How do you feel?" he asked.
"None of your fucking business," Rhett hissed and gave Kael his back.
Kael turned back to . "What’s wrong with him? Hasn’t he been taking his dications and his checkups?"
"You can see how he is," I shrugged. "He’s barely alive, Kael, and he doesn’t have a lot of ti left. Not to ntion Charis..."
"He doesn’t have a lot of ti left," Kael interrupted . "What is that supposed to an? Didn’t he start to get better after the surgery?"
"Well, he has less than six months left to leave, plus he has started cutting himself again. Won’t take his dications, won’t even..."
"That’s enough!" Kael raised his hand. "Fine... you don’t have to lie about him dying tomorrow. I’ll stick around until then. When does school resu?"
I scratched my head awkwardly, realising that Kael had seen through our BS.
"You won’t take off her mark again, it would co in handy," I said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Fine!" Kael sighed. "But I an it, guys. After we find Charis, we’re ending this. I do not want to beco your friend. I’m also leaving the Academy. School is not cut out for , but until we find Charis."
I nodded, indicating to Rhett, who had sat up now. "School resus in three days. Do you need us to co back here so we can all show up at school together?"
"Never!" Kael shook his head vehently. I can find my way to school. I’ll start digging into what I can find about Charis and will let you know. Rhett!" he called out to Rhett and turned to him. "I’ve told you, gambling with your health to get what you want is foolish. Take care of yourself."
"A kettle calling a pot black," Rhett wrinkled his nose. "But I will in any case. I’m looking forward to eting Charis again. Shouldn’t I look my best?"
Kael glared at him before turning to one last ti. "I have to hurry now. My father wants to see ."
We both nodded at him and watched as he sprinted down the garden path until he disappeared from view. When I turned to Rhett, he had a contemplative look on his face.
"What’s on your mind?" I asked, and then I sat next to him.
"Didn’t Kael just sound like so detective? I an, he just promised he’d look into Charis’s matter. Aren’t you concerned that he sounded confident he would get sothing?"
That was when it dawned on that everything Rhett had said was the truth.
Who exactly was Kael?
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