Lucas' POV
As we were in a fucking heated conversation, Torrent walked towards me cautiously and poked his nose at my body. I guessed he wanted to know if I was still alive or not.
I tapped his nose. He moved back a few steps and snorted, looking guilty and hurt.
Then, I heard the sound of hooves.
"Is that Alpha Lucas!"
"It's him! That's his horse!"
"He's lying in a puddle of water!"
"Is he dead?"
"I told you to pick up your speed! Now he's dead. How are we going to tell Miss Louisa about it?"
"Wait a moment, he isn't dead. He's still moving... He's standing up! He's still alive!"
I recognized that was the voice of Louisa's new personal guards, whom I had paid to protect her.
A bunch of fucking morons. Seven elongated dwarves.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" I asked.
"Alpha, Miss Louisa sent us here. She said she didn't think you should ride alone."
"I've told you. She's a keeper," my wolf said.
"Fuck off, Finn," I said in my mind.
"What's your name again? Mice or something?" I asked the head guard.
"It's Mick, Alpha."
"Mick. Make yourself useful and help me to get up my damn horse. My arm's fucking broken," I said.
"Sir, I suggest that you ride with me. It seems there's something wrong with your horse's leg."
I bent down to check out Torrent's legs. I can see a thin cut on both of his forelegs.
Fuck. He was asking me for help when he poked me and I tapped his nose.
Fucking mute animals. I wish I could communicate with them as that fucking she-wolf does.
I stroked the back of Torrent's ears and said, "Don't worry, old pal. I won't fucking kill you."
Torrent snorted in fear.
I looked around.
"Alpha, do you need anything?" Mick asked.
"Do you have a fucking torch or something on you?"
"Yes, Alpha," Mick handed me a lighter.
I rolled the spark wheel down a few times and got the fire on.
I looked up and saw the street lamp was broken. It seemed someone had thrown a stone at it and broken the bulb.
Then, I looked down and saw it.
A heel rope drenched in the ditch.
It was the heel rope that tripped Torrent.
I pointed at it and said to the guards, "Go pick it up for me."
One of them jumped into the ditch, picked it up, and handed it to me.
Fuck. They're good at fetching things.
I took a glance at the rope and saw a strange knot at the end.
"It's a sailor's knot, Alpha," one of the guards said. "I used to work on a boat. We have a special knot to secure the goods on board."
"Are you sure about it, Lynel?"
"Yes. But I'm not suggesting that I have anything to do with this rope, though."
I grabbed the rope in my hand and threw the lighter back to Mick.
"Let's head back to the camp now," I said and turned to Lynel. "I need you to tell me more about the fucking knot on our way back."
Louisa's POV
When I walked into the Luna Tent, I saw Darren talking to Colt.
"Hey, look who's back!" Colt said with a broad smile on his face. "How was the ball?"
His smile suddenly changed into terror as soon as he saw my eyes.
"Zowie guacamole! Why is there so much blood on your clothes? And your eyes! They're tarnished! What happened to your beautiful blue eyes?!" Colt looked terrified.
"Shhh." I placed a finger on his lips and placed Will on the bed.
To my relief, he didn't wake up. I carefully removed Snow from his arm and replaced her with a small cushion.
"Louisa, what happened to you? Are you hurt?" Darren struggled to get up.
I quickly stopped him.
"Don't move, Darren. The stitches will open." I said and put Snow on the table, taking out some potion and bandages to clean her wound.
"I'm not hurt. Don't worry. I fell from a window, but now I'm fully recovered." I said.
Colt approached me and said awkwardly, "Louisa, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that you're not pretty anymore. I'm just surprised... Your eyes are amazing, you know..."
I looked at Colt and said, "Don't worry about it, Colt. I'm fine."
"OK, since you're back, I can go talk to Alex now. He wants to show me his tools and we'll compare our tools. Wow, that sounds a lot better in my mind." Colt mumbled and walked out of the tent.
Snow woke up from the pain and shivered. I took her up in my arms and said, "I'm sorry, Snow. It's all my fault."
"It's so painful! I'm going to die!" she hissed.
"No, you aren't going to die, Snow. I've sealed your wound and you can sleep with Will on the bed." I said.
"But what if he rolls over and crushes me?!" Snow asked nervously. "I have to sleep on his head!"
Ah. That's why Mr. Weasel enjoys sleeping on my face. I thought to myself.
I placed Snow on Will's pillow. She curled up in a ball on top of his head.
"Some bad people are coming to the camp. I heard it today at the ball... Very bad people..." she said.
"Who are they?" I asked. "Who said that?"
"I don't remember. People look the same to me. I can't tell who's who. I was dancing with Will and I heard someone talking about coming to the camp tonight..." Then, Snow's eyes were closed, and fell asleep.
"What happened, Louisa?" Darren asked me.
"Snow said some bad people are coming to the camp tonight. I don't know what she means. This afternoon, when we were at the cottage, I saw Mr. Weasel and his children. They were talking about some bad people coming from the sea..."
"Agier sea?" Darren frowned and said. "No one lives beyond the Agier Sea except the druids."
"The druids?"
While I was talking to Darren, I heard the sound of footsteps from the entrance.
Lucas lifted the curtain and walked into the tent with a rope in his hands. He was covered in blood and dirt, followed by one of my new personal guards, Lynel.
When Darren saw the rope in Lucas' hands, he immediately withdrew a bit.
"Master..." He whispered and struggled to get up.
Lucas walked up to him and slapped him across his cheek.
"You fucking piece of shit!" He shouted and lashed Darren with the rope. "Do you know about this?!"
I grabbed Lucas' arm and said, "Are you out of your mind? He hasn't recovered from the operation yet! Stop hurting him!"
"Back off, woman! It's none of your fucking business. Stay out of this!" Lucas grabbed Darren and pulled him out of the tent.
I was trying to stop him but was roughly pushed away.
I fell hard to the ground but was caught by Lynel.
"Stay in this fucking tent. Don't go anywhere. After I'm done with him, it's your turn!" Lucas gave me a dark look and dragged Darren away.