Erika's POV
Derek walked over and sat down in the chair Steven had been sitting in last night, then he said slowly, "So tell me what you know. What have you done for our enemy?”
"Yes," Hugh nodded and continued, "Richard forced me to monitor your pack after he found out I had an extraordinary view. I have been keeping an eye on the borders of your pack ever since Richard became the new Alpha. I saw Erika and Orsen meeting and reported it to Richard. It was my fault. I was severely punished after Erika was saved by you. Because it was my job to watch you. I was imprisoned in an underground ice house for two weeks and have just been released."
"Who poisoned Erika?" Derek asked.
"Richard ordered me to inform Ann and Ralph whenever I saw Erika appear in the forest. They were the ones who poisoned Erika."
"Who are they?"
"I don't know them. Richard didn't tell me where they came from."
"They don't belong to your pack, do they?"
"No. They didn’t come back to the pack after they poisoned Erika." Hugh shook his head.
"Did you see James last night?"
"Yes, I saw James meeting Erika and two other men last night, but I hadn't reported it to Richard because he was out last night and didn't get back until this morning. I hadn't had time to see him yet. So I went to the forest and planned to report it to him the next morning. I never thought he'd try to kill me while I was alone in the woods watching. He was so nasty."
Derek and I exchanged surprised looks.
"So Richard doesn't know we met James, does he?" Derek asked.
"No," Hugh said without hesitation.
Good. That way James was in no danger. After all, he was the Gamma of the Fly Rock Pack and we could use his help. With him as Gamma, we could prevent a war with their pack after we killed Richard. Now that James was safe, we would have no qualms about killing Richard once we found out who was providing rare poisons for Richard.
I turned and my eyes met Derek's. I knew immediately that he was thinking the same as me.
"Does Richard go out every night?" Derek continued.
"No. Sometimes he goes out. Sometimes he doesn't. He's cautious and nobody knows when he'll go out," Hugh replied.
"OK. I see," Derek said as he pressed his chin. Richard was a cautious and suspicious type. He didn't treat the members of his pack well, so he didn't trust them either. What we would do was draw his pack leaders to our side and weaken Richard.
"Derek, just let me know if you need me to do anything," Hugh got up from bed and said.
"You can watch Richard every night and let me know if he goes out. Follow him and we'll find out exactly what he's doing. Killing Richard is our common goal. After he is killed, you can go back to your former pack or stay in my pack. It's your choice," Derek ordered.
Hugh got up from bed with a surprised look on his face and bared his neck.
"Yes, Derek,” he said gratefully.
Then we left the room.
We came back to the pack house where Carl was waiting. He was in charge of the pack's affairs because Gerald and Kent were in the forest. Derek had asked them to come back now that James was out of danger.
We had breakfast with Carl. After breakfast we went to the meeting room and waited for Gerald and Kent to return. Angel had gone to the forest to take them back. Over the past few days, she had undergone rigorous physical training to unlock the potential of her gift. Now, not only could she move at great speed on her own, but she could also pull people along with her on the move. It only took her ten minutes to go into the forest and come back with Gerald and Kent.
But I was surprised when I saw Angel. It seemed that she had lost a lot of weight. With the big dark circles under her eyes, it looked like she hadn't slept for three days. When she greeted me with a smile, the dark circles on her face became even more pronounced.
I looked at her pitifully. What had Derek ordered her to do? Before I had time to ask her what had happened to her, she had left the meeting room.
I turned to look at Derek and pursed my lips.
Is this her punishment? I mind-linked Derek. I remembered what Derek had said. He said he was going to punish Angel in an unusual way.
That's part of the punishment. Derek mind-linked me.
What? Is there more? Don't you think it's too much? I mind-linked him. Did he mean it was only part of the punishment? What was he thinking? Why was he so hard on Angel?
You'll find out later. Derek mind-linked me and patted me on the shoulder. I turned my head with my arms crossed, refusing to look at him.
Derek cleared his throat. The meeting began.
Kent and Gerald stayed in the forest all night. That way Derek allowed them to talk first and leave early.
Kent reported to Derek the information they got from James.
Richard knew that Hugh had been caught by us and he wouldn't do anything about it. In addition, the Lumiere Pack is going to offer my pack a large number of weapons.
I frowned at the information.
Richard didn't even give a damn when his own pack members vanished into thin air. Even for an alpha, he was cruel and heartless. I sneered. What he didn't know was that the pack member he had abandoned would speed up his death.
And the Lumiere Pack was confusing. Was it going to cooperate with the Fly Rock Pack?
“Gerald, Kent, Extend the search to the borders. Find Ann and Ralph. You two go back now and catch up on some sleep. We’ll talk about the Lumiere Pack this afternoon.”
Kent and Gerald soon left. The rest of us continued the meeting.
Suddenly Derek's phone rang.
I glanced at the screen. It was Francis. Derek answered the phone and walked to the curtain.
I leaned back in my chair and took a sip of coffee. Being too busy these days, I would take a nap whenever I had the chance.
The moment I closed my eyes, Carl mind-linked me as he sneaked a look at Derek.
Luna, I need to tell you something.
I opened my eyes at his words and looked at him doubtfully.
Go ahead. I mind-linked him. What was it that he wanted to tell me while keeping it from Derek?