Chapter 18
Blake's POV
Chloe froze when she heard my question. I frowned with concern when I saw the hint of worry in her eyes. It took her a while to emerge from her thoughts and she shook her head.
"Don’t you want to go back?" I softly asked her. From Chloe's look, I knew that she had something to say.
But she only sighed. "I... I don't know. I need time to think about it,” Chloe replied, sounding very conflicted.
Chloe got up and left the room after that. Her small and exhausted figure looked as if she was carrying a heavy burden.
From Chloe's expression, I could guess that she wanted to return to the Red Moon Pack. But because of all the painful and horrible memories given to her by her family and pack, she hesitated. I pursed my lips as a cold aura surrounded me. I have to consider Chloe's thoughts and feelings and rethink about the decisions that I made. .
Truth be told, I had wanted to ruin the entire Red Moon Pack from the moment I saved her. I felt no guilt toward them. After all, every member of that pack had hurt my mate. Their successor even plotted to kill her.
Still, I knew that they were family to Chloe, she was still somehow attached to them. That was the reason I had to refrain from hurting them. Not only that, because of this reason, I even had to show respect to them.
Chloe's expression just now proved that my decision was right. If anything happened to the Red Moon Pack, she would never get over it.
Right now, my main concern was Chloe. She was too kind—no matter how much people have hurt her, she would forgive them once they showed her even an ounce of kindness. If I brought her back to the Red Moon Pack, I didn't know what might happen.
In the evening, I was about to leave my study once I was done wrapping up some matters of the pack when the door suddenly opened from the outside.
Arthur stumbled in with a tired expression and slumped against the couch pitifully.
I poured him a glass of water and joked, "Did you get tortured by Carrie again?"
"Her stamina is endless!" He sat up straight and started scolding me, "Your sister is scary! Because of
her, I couldn't focus on work. Do rein her in when you have the time!"
"She's all grown up now.” I smiled at him, implying that I had no control over my sister anymore. Arthur let out a long sigh and slumped against the couch again. He looked really worn out.
"Do you dislike her so much?" I questioned.
"No, I don't. But she keeps clinging to me. I..." He had a deep frown on his face and appeared to be troubled by something.
"The entire pack could tell that Carrie likes you. I don't think you're oblivious to that,” I said with a serious face. To be honest, I felt horrible knowing that someone disliked my sister.
Arthur's expression froze. He explained flatly, "Carrie is not an adult yet. When she’s fully grown up, she will find her mate."
As if he was trying to avoid the discussion, he steered the conversation away. "Oh, by the way, I dropped by to tell you that I'll follow you to the Red Moon Pack. I'd like to see for myself the exotic poisons they possess.”
"Whatever," I answered absentmindedly while looking at the invitation card on my table. I was still figuring out how to deal with the Red Moon Pack.
Without warning, he approached me from behind and rested his arm on my shoulder. “I'm curious about something. Answer me."
"What?"
"Normally, you would never accept invitations from any pack. What's making you go against the norm? Aren't you worried that they would give you trouble after learning your name and remembering your face?"
"They don't have the guts to do that," I sneered and moved sideways to avoid contact with his arm. Then, I took a seat in my chair.
All along, as the Lycan King of the Silver Pack, I had avoided meeting with the Alphas of other packs with my real identity. I knew that each of them had an ulterior motive. There were only two reasons they would see me. Firstly, they might want my support—borrowing my reputation and utilizing my power to strengthen their pack. The second reason would be fear—they wanted to kill me out of fear.
Regardless of their motives, I had no interest in meeting them. Of course, that did not mean I had no courage to participate in their games. If people wanted to court death by facing off with me or my pack, I would not mind sending them to their deaths.
"You're quite confident, aren't you?" Arthur said aloud and added, "You do have the right to be confident because of your capability. But you haven't answered my question: what made you decide to go to the Red Moon Pack?"
I narrowed my eyes and asked, "Do you remember why I sneaked into the Red Moon Pack?"
"Are you telling me that you've found the person behind the mass poisoning of our pack?" Arthur immediately tensed up.
"I don't know their exact identity for now. But one thing is for sure—they will definitely show up at the succession ceremony.”
"Why?"
I snickered. "That person gave non-lethal poison to our pack. All clues pointed to the Red Moon Pack. Guess what they were trying to do?"
Arthur came to a realization. "I got it! They want to shift the blame to Alpha Dean and capitalize on our power to annihilate the Red Moon Pack. They plan to sit back and reap the benefits! So Chloe said that the poison was not from their pack,” he said with a loud voice.
I nodded. "But we did not attack the Red Moon Pack after all. I assume that the perpetrator would take the opportunity to make a move at the ceremony."
"What kind of vendetta do they have to the point that they want to rid of Red Moon?" Arthur stroked his chin.
“Well, Alpha Dean is a cold and heartless person who does not know what is right and what is wrong. The daughter he treasure is like an evil spawn. With the way how they conduct things, I wouldn't be surprise if they gravely offended someone,” I answered as a cold glint flashed in my eyes.
"We will find out the truth once we are there,” I added.
“True.” Arthur raised a brow at me. "But are you attending the ceremony because you're worried about the Red Moon Pack? Don't forget that they poisoned you.”
I scoffed. "Did you seriously think I care about their lives?"
"So, all for Chloe, right? You can't just sit back and watch her pack be annihilated. " He had a sly smile on his face.
This time, I chose not to reply. There was no need to explain.
Arthur let out a long sigh. "Indeed, the power of love is the strongest force!”
That earned a glare from me, a warning for him to behave.
He pouted. “So, will you bring her along?”
"If she wants to," I replied.
"Aren't you worried that her wretched family would hurt her again?”
I was silent. Obviously, that had been a concern all along, but...
"If nothing happens to Chloe during the ceremony, my presence would merely be an extra security for Alpha Dean. However, if anything happens to her..." I laughed icily.
" would be there to see them to their deaths,"
Arthur gave me a scared look and shook his head. "Do you have to be that cruel? Don't say I never warned you. Given what you know about Chloe, do you think she'd choose you over the Red Moon Pack if you became their enemy?"
Heard that, I clenched my fist as my heart sank.