Ranon was awakened by Faris’s frantic call for help through the mind link. Also, a request to keep it quiet and not wake up Lana.
No stress for her.
As quietly as possible, he slithered away from his mate; like the panther, he moved with finesse and ease.
Once he was outside their chamber he sprinted away towards their Alpha’s chamber. Snarls and grunts echoed ominously as he neared. Five of the warriors were trying to pin him down along with Faris while healer Fownso stood at a side shaking with fear. He held a vial with a shimmering purple liquid in it.
"Open his mouth, damnit," Faris was shouting to one of his warriors while he was trying to pin his arm down.
Siroos was snapping at them like a rabid wolf.
Ranon assessed the situation pretty quickly and grabbed the vial from Fownso. He jumped and landed on Siroos’s chest.
The Alpha was dangerously growling, his wolf was on the surface and seemed to be in a feral state.
His eyes had completely crimsoned and it was a different red from that of the dragon or his calm wolf. It was indicating he wasn’t himself. A very feral state he was stuck in.
Something had happened to it which they would figure out later. For now, they had to shove this down his throat to sedate him.
Pulling his jaw open while Siroos tried to bite away his fingers. Ranon gestured to Faris.
"Fine! Always make me a sacrificial lamb," Faris muttered and grabbed the upper part of Siroos’s jaw while two warriors tried to keep his head stable.
Once the mouth opened, Ranon pulled the cork with his teeth and thrust the contents of the vial down Siroos’s throat and clamped his jaw shut.
Faris pinched his nose so he would inhale through his open mouth and would have to engulf the liquid.
The dose was strong, the strongest one Fownso had, as soon as he engulfed it and it hit his bloodstream, the strength began to leave Siroos’s body. The murderous glare in his eyes dimmed and his body began to relax, going lax under his warriors.
His eyes drooped and soon closed, the ferocity of him had left everyone drained. The room had the finest warriors of their pack, the ones with the most physical strength.
Faris let out a deep sigh and slumped on the ground. Spreading his arms, he faced the ceiling.
"If the dragon had surfaced, all of us would be charcoaled meat by now. Be thankful for the good deeds you guys have done," Faris breathed out, shaking his head. He wondered why only Siroos’s wolf was present and no other spirits tried to surface. Seemed like his wolf was targeted.
"What the fuck just happened? Will anyone explain?" Ranon demanded, standing up and moving away from his unconscious Alpha. He couldn’t believe he had just put his Alpha under, forcefully. He could easily lose his head for this offence.
From the looks of it, all the other warriors were as clueless as he was. Faris picked himself up from the floor.
"What has just transpired in this room stays between us, or I will gut all of you like fish. Are we clear?"
Faris rose to his full height, raking a lazy hand into his messed-up hair and threatening all the gathered warriors. They nodded their heads in affirmation as he gestured for them to file out along with Healer Fownso.
Once they were gone, Faris turned and said to Ranon.
"Help me put him on his mattress." They both picked him up with much difficulty and hauled him onto his bedding.
"I broke my hand while punching him," Faris confessed while explaining what had happened.
Ranon’s jaw tightened in anger and rage.
"We can’t trust anyone, it has to be the Elders who set her free. They are behind this disaster."
Faris shook his head in disbelief and lamented, throwing a pained glance in the direction of his unconscious brother.
"He pushed SIL, I can’t get her pained face out of my mind. She was so broken. They had just started to get along and this is going to rip them apart."
Ranon’s jaw clenched so tight that it was painful to look at.
"This is messed up. We can’t even trust your mother. She could be very much behind this." Ranon sighed and sat himself down on the floor with one arm on his raised leg.
"I know, stay with him. I need to go check up on SIL and then I am going to skin Kela alive and extract the truth from her." Faris left the chamber, closing the door behind him. His feet rapidly moved as he made his way towards Cassandra’s chamber.
He paused outside, collecting his thoughts and then knocked.
Tara came to open the door with her lips flattened as Faris asked with deep concern.
"How is she doing?"
"Not good, Faris. To see your mate being intimate with someone else brings the worst kind of pain. Physical and emotional. She is curled up, not moving or responding," Tara told him with a long exhale which revealed how saddened she was with this turn of event.
"Should I speak with her?" Faris asked for her advice on the matter.
"I don’t think she will speak to anyone for now. It’s better to seek answers from that Kela bitch. I will stay with Nissa and will guard her with my life."
"I trust you, Tara. Be vigilant, we can’t trust Elders, I can bet my balls that they are the ones involved."
Faris was about to move away when Ames’s frantic voice came through the mind link.
’Elders are here along with Vera Haylia. They want me to release Kela, hurry to the western passageway with the lower roof.’
"Fuck!" Faris rushed away, no way was he going to let them save that serpent this time. Thinking back he was confident now that the snake that had bitten Cassandra was her too under a disguise.
As he neared the place he could hear Ames standing his ground while a few of the Elders hounded him.
"I have been ordered to hold her," Ames repeated for the tenth time.
"Under what allegations, we saw Alpha leave the meeting with us to seek her out and declare that he was going to mate with her to produce an heir," Elder Ghala spoke, putting authority into his voice and confirming Faris’s fears.