27. Secret Mission
twenty-seven
Secret Mission
*ROYAN*
S hayan and I made it to a small town close to the eastern border. It’s not too far from the castle, just half a day, but it’s said to be a village with lots of problems; a werebear problem, it seems. Aylin was the one to send us here. One of her contacts claims that there is someone around this village who tries to recruit people for the cult.
It’s a place predominantly inhabited by humans, very unusual for the kingdom. Normally, humans live in their own realm or they live with the wolves in a pack – generally when they are mates. It’s rare that there is a village with mostly humans. It makes them weaker and prone to attacks.
Plus, they are probably easier to manipulate. I want to believe that the inhabitants of the kingdom are better than falling for any tricks, but I know that in desperate moments people make desperate decisions.
“Remember, once we are there, we can’t communicate openly. Werewolves have good ears, and while it’s mostly humans, there are also some werewolves,” I explain, probably for the third time today.
General Shayan looks at me with amusement. “I understood it the first time, but thank you for repeating it.”
I feel my face heat up at his words. It’s fucking rare that I blush, but this guy… he is truly the perfect match for Tynan! “I will be able to mind link Beta Quinn while we are here,” I hurry to say to diffuse my embarrassment.
Shayan nods. “We should probably leave the horses a bit further from town and walk the rest of the way by foot.”
I easily agree with him, having had a similar thought already. We make sure to leave our horses at a safe place, and provide them with food and water for the night. Hopefully, it won’t freeze too soon. Then, we take the small forest path to the village. “It’s weird that it isn’t a pack,” Shayan ponders.
“It indeed is. It originally wasn’t like that. They were a normal pack with humans living alongside them, but then a rogue attack happened. We tried to support them, but they didn’t want any help.”
“Why?” Shayan frowns. “That doesn’t make sense.”
I furrow my brows at his words. He is right, it doesn’t make sense, yet I never tried to find out why these people here were acting the way they were. As I’m not sure what to answer, I remain quiet and lead Shayan towards the entrance of the village. I toss him a glance and he nods his understanding. His expression changes slightly, turning more grim and earnest. I try to follow his example to look similarly serious. It seems to work because, when we enter the village, a few humans look at us shortly, just to look away immediately.
Shayan owns it because he confidently approaches a group of people with a death-glare on his face. A young man looks up and scurries away, while the others swallow. “How can we help?” one of them stutters.
“My buddy and I need a drink,” Shayan huffs.
“The tavern,” the man blurts out. “It’s… down the road. You can’t miss it.”
Shayan nods shortly and pushes past them, making one of them stumble slightly. I follow him close by, impressed by the show he puts on. I feel bad for the villagers, but we are going to make it up to them later when we have actually found the threat here.
With Shayan leading the way, we make it to the tavern, and Shayan marches into it confidently. Without greeting anyone, we both plop down at an empty table, ignoring the stares we receive from the other guests. “Something to drink,” Shayan orders.
“Make it strong,” I add.
The waiter, a rugged looking man, approaches us after a while, putting two shot glasses with liquor in front of us. Shayan takes a sip from it before smashing the glass against the wall. The waiter winces slightly when he glares at him. “Stronger,” he huffs.
I’m impressed, to say the least. I didn’t know he had it in him to act like that. I find myself relaxing into my role, too. All the while I thought I’d need to have his back, because he is the human, but he easily outperforms me.
The waiter brings us something new to drink, and this time we both accept it with a grumble. It’s then that I see a tattoo on the man’s wrist… an eye. This can’t be a coincidence! The man just tosses us a gaze. “Are you traveling alone?”
“Yes,” I huff. “Does it matter?”
“No,” the man mutters, openly weighing me up. This is finally where I can shine. As a gamma, I’m naturally strong. Shayan looks strong too, but he is a human. “Just… werewolves normally travel with a pack.”
“I don’t need a pack,” I growl.
“I’m sure the king would help if you asked,” he says, and I can detect a sly tone in his voice. He is testing us.
“The king,” Shayan snorts. “I have not cared for a king for years.”
“Where was the king when my family was killed?” I say before smacking Shayan’s shoulder. “This one was the only one to pass by and give me a job, a lousy human.”
“There is no place for men like us in this world,” Shayan grumbles.
“Are you looking for a job?” the waiter asks. It’s then that I notice that he is not intimidated by us. He is probably just playing his role too. Interesting. Maybe this is one of the guys Aylin mentioned- or at least he could be connected to them.
“Why?” Shayan snorts. “Do you have one to offer to us?”
“Maybe,” he says with a smirk.
“And why should I trust you?” Shayan huffs. “Wolves have robbed me of my arm. Who says you are going to be better?”
“How could you tell I’m a wolf?” the man demands to know.
Shayan looks him dead in the eye. “Do you think I would survive here if I couldn’t tell apart one stinky shifter from the other?”
“What do you want?” I ask him with a frown. “Or are you just here to insult us?”
“There is a delivery,” he says, tilting his head. “Make sure it arrives safely, no questions asked, and I might have a job for you.”
“Payment in advance,” I say.
The man takes some gold coins out of his pocket and puts them on the table before he looks at us. “If you fail, she will have your second arm,” he narrows his eyes to a glare, having them glint a dangerous red, something I haven’t seen before. “And, I will have your head.”
She? Who is he talking about?
Shayan doesn’t even flinch while I take the coins. “Where is the package? Where shall it be delivered to?”
The man smirks. “Wait for me to close the tavern at midnight.”
We nod and watch him shuffling away. Shayan tosses me a short glance but doesn’t say anything. Eventually, the both of us leave, not wanting to attract too much attention and decide to wait outside. In the darkness of the night, I use the opportunity to mind link Beta Quinn.
Did it go well? He asks me immediately.
I think so. We managed to get in contact with one of them. I think all of them, whoever is connected to the cult might have a tattoo. It’s just a feeling, though. I pause. Shayan and I need to do a job for him to gain his trust .
Alright, be careful, Royan.
I will. Just… we might not make it to the horses in time. If I don’t link you until tomorrow morning, make sure to get them.
Don’t worry , he reassures me. I will send two of our warriors incognito to get them. You just focus on the task ahead and stay focused. How is General Shayan coping?
It’s like he’s never done anything else , I say.
Good, I trust you! Make sure to stay safe, and if something goes wrong, link me!
I will, Beta , I promise.
Shayan and I wait for hours until the waiter, or rather, owner, closes the bar. We wait for him to send out his last guests before we approach him. He just hands us a small bag and then takes out a sheet of paper. “I hope one of you can read a map.”
“We both can,” I say.
“Here.” He hands me the paper. “Make sure the package gets delivered. Don’t get caught!”
With that, he goes back inside, closing the door firmly behind him. Shayan and I walk out of the village before peeking at the paper he handed us. “That’s…” I gape. “No-man's land!”
“Why are there so many uninhabited lands around your kingdom?” Shayan asks. “It seems like there is no-man's land everywhere.”
“It’s due to the landscape, to the nature of this place. It’s just not easy to inhabit, and it’s also safer not to share a border.” I frown while I check the map. “I knew this village was close to the eastern border, but I didn’t know they constantly cross it.”
“I doubt they do,” Shayan sneers. “Or they wouldn’t send us to do it. It’s probably dangerous.”
“Or a test.”
“That too.” Shayan looks at the little bag before opening it. When I go to stop him, he shrugs. “They never said we couldn’t look.” He pauses. “It’s spices and money. You are right, it’s a test. Let’s make sure to pass!”
The upside of being part of the royal guards is that we know the territory very well, even those surrounding areas. We are careful with entering no-man's land. There are parts that are relatively safe, like the strip of land that is between us and the Everlasting Desert, where Princess Azadeh came from. Then, there is the rough North with the snowy mountains, which hardly anyone passes through due to the rough nature of the area. It was where the dragons used to live. But the no-man's land here, at the eastern border… that’s leading into a vast area of empty land.
If we were to pass it, we’d reach The Luminous Fields, the mysterious home of the Fae. They are peculiar and like to stay to themselves. We barely have any contact aside from some very rare political meetings.
This no-man's land is said to be inhabited by rogue werebears. The king tries hard to unite the shifters and have them join the kingdom or at least help them build their own little independent packs. With the fox shifters and deer shifters he succeeded, but the werebears wanted to keep to themselves.
“I don’t know anything about these lands,” Shayan mutters. “Aside from The Luminous Fields laying behind them. Tell me what to expect.”
“I’m not sure,” I admit. “Some werebear sleuths are supposed to be here.”
Shayan nods. “How come they are your enemies?”
“They aren’t, not really,” I say. “They are less organized and a younger society, if you will. The problems started recently, and the king is suspecting their leader to be up to something.”
“Like an alpha could, he can lead a whole pack to its doom?” Shayan wants to know.
I nod while leading him through the forest. Soon we’ll pass through it and then will be faced with empty lands.
“Tell me more about the other shifters,” he says.
“They are small in population,” I explain. “There are a few fox packs, united under one leader. They live further towards the west of the lands. The fox shifters are their own little group. They accept and respect King Gillean, but keep their autonomy.”
“They don’t fall under his reign?”
“No, they are allies and have their own leader,” I explain.
“And the king accepts that?”
“The king is wiser than his father was,” I proclaim. “So, instead of killing everyone who strives for independence, he would rather offer them peace treaties and protection, in exchange for their loyalty.”
Shayan nods. “And the dragons?”
“If they truly still exist, they’d be their own kingdom,” I explain. “They originally were located in the Northern Mountains - the Silent Mountain. They never were one with the other shifters.” I pause. “And, then there is a very small pack of deer shifters in the south. Similar to the wolves and dragons, they built their own independent kingdom but have an alliance with us. They are very peace-loving and nurturing.”
“What about the cats?” Shayan’s lips tug into a smile. “Simin was obsessed with them when she and Azadeh were younger.”
“Werecats,” I chuckle. “There is a pride close to The Luminous Fields. They have their own lands, and are reigned by a queen.”
“It’s very fascinating,” Shayan says. “So, what’s the deal about the werebears? How to handle them?”
“They are strong and overall have good senses, but their eyes are weak. And they are not as agile as wolves,” I tell him. “We need to make sure to be quiet and move now at night.” I push past the last trees and a huge vast snow desert is revealed to us. In the distance, we can see another forest and a small hill. That’s our destination. “The darkness of the night will hopefully cover us,” I mutter silently.
Silence lingers around us as we carefully make it through the snowy path ahead of us. Fortunately, we don’t need to walk through the thick snow. It’s weird, as last time I was here I don’t remember there being an actual path; it indicates that people are coming and going from here. Shayan is right. I also doubt that the humans of the small village would walk through here, their terrified gazes still lingering in my mind.
I’m starting to believe that the cult has their grip tight around them.
A little grumble startles me, and I grab Shayan’s arm to hold him back. Peering through the darkness, I allow my wolf to come forward, my body freezing at what I’m seeing.
Shayan tosses me a glance, and I put my finger on my lips, carefully leading him forward. His eyes widen when he finally sees what I see.
There is a cave close-by, and a huge group of werebears, thirty, maybe forty, are currently laying spread out and sleeping. To reach our destination, we need to walk through them. Just our luck.
May the goddess be with us.