Chapter 87
Glen and Veronica were kept in a severely guarded house that they temporally used as a prison cell.
When Daran and Janet walked in, a doctor was examining Veronica’s condition. She was awake already but looked very tired and wan.
“How is she, doctor?” Janet asked.
“If she swallowed the whole pill, she would be dead by now. The good news is that half of that pill isn’t enough to kill her. But the bad news is that it damaged her throat, permanently.”
Everyone rounded their eyes in shock.
“Are you saying that she can’t talk again? That she lost her voice?” Glen asked urgently.
The doctor sighed, “I am afraid so.”
Glen held Veronica’s hand at a loss. The couple looked at each other with tears gleaming in their eyes.
Jared stepped out of the crowd, “Glen.”
Glen quickly cast a glance at him and then looked down. There was a shameful look on his face.
“Alpha Jared…” he said in a quivering voice, “I don’t know what to say…I am sorry…for everything…”
“You should be.”
Jared crossed his arms, looking grim and serious.
“Us Silver Claw men are all very proud of how dedicated we are to our partners. But that is no excuse for you to betray your own men! Alpha Daran was right about one thing: You can’t make up for what you did with a simple apology. You have to take responsibility.”
Glen’s shoulders slumped.
He looked down–hearted.
“You can kill me and toss my body to the wildness to feed the wild animals. I am fine with that,” he said in a defeated tone. “But please set Veronica free. It was my idea to take the Rogue King’s offer. Not hers.”
Tears rushed down Veronica’s face.
She shook her head hastily, trying to say something in tears. But her throat was destroyed. She could only make a few muffled sounds that nobody could make sense of.
“Or maybe there is an alternative way,” Janet said.
She walked up to Veronica and placed her hand on top of Veronica’s, “You were trying to save your loved ones. I get it. Now you can do the same thing by giving us information about the Rogue King.”
Veronica looked at her.
Suspicion flickered across her eyes.
“With such information, we will conquer the Rogue King and rescue your family out of his hands. I can’t promise that you won’t be punished after that. But at least in the meantime, you get to spend more time with Glen.”
Jared echoed, “Janet is right. So what do you say, Glen? Do you prefer to be executed tomorrow? Or enjoy some quality time with her while correcting your own mistake?”
Glen looked hesitated.
Then he turned to look at Veronica.
“I love you, Veronica, no matter what,” he said in a low voice. “This is your decision to make.”
Veronica cried in silence. Shakily, she planted a kiss on Glen’s lips.
Then she turned to face the crowd and made a hand gesture, asking for something to
write with.
“Get her a piece of paper and pen!” Janet cried.
A soldier rushed over and handed Veronica a pad and a pen.
Then she started writing.
Rogue King. Man.
She underlined the word “man.”
“You believe that the Rogue King is a man. We get it,” Daran said deeply. “Anything else? Have you heard about the Great Canyon?”
Veronica nodded.
She drew a pair of high mountains with steep cliffs and a gap in between. She marked the gap as Great Canyon.
And then from the Great Canyon, she drew a road winding off to the North.
At the end of this road, she drew a large city and a castle in the middle.
She wrote down three words beside that city:
The Grace Ruin.
“The Grace Ruin?”
Janet looked closely at her hand–drawn map, “Is it the rogue’s headquarters? Where
does the Rogue King live?”
Veronica nodded.
She pointed at that winding road to the North and then wrote down Only Way next to
it.
Daran and Janet exchanged a look of apprehension.
“No wonder those fled rogues were all gathered by the Great Canyon,” Janet said in a low voice. “Because that is their only way back to their homeland, the Grace Ruin.”
“Grace Ruin is not their homeland.”
“Grace Ruin is not their nomeland,”
Daran shook his head with a dark face.
“I have heard about this place. It was once called the Graceland, a beautiful and fertile highland. Until the rogues took it and turned the whole city into ruins.”
“So what do we do know?” Steven asked cagerly, “Shall we take our best men and go snatch the city back from that son of a bitch?”
Janet frowned with worry.
She wasn’t hot on the idea of sending the army out so soon.
Their soldiers were still tired from the latest battle. They needed time to catch their breath.
And most importantly, they still knew too little about the Rogue King.
She had a feeling that they would fall right into his trap again if they acted too recklessly.
She was thinking about how to voice out her concerns when Daran spoke up.
“Let’s hold our horses here.”
Daran said deeply while glancing around the room.
“We have chased the rogues away, which is great. But I have a feeling that he will come back very
Books Chapters Are Daily Updated Join & Stay Updated For All Books Updates… soon. Let them come to us this time. And we will take the chance to learn more about them. Until then, I don’t want to send any more men deep into the Rogue King’s territory. It is too dangerous.”
Janet let out a small sigh of relief and smiled.
This was exactly what she thought.
It was amazing how Daran and she could connect to each other so naturally.
She couldn’t even do this with Casper.
The others didn’t have a question about this. So they all left and went back to their own business.
Jared stopped Janet by the door before she left.
“Hey Janet, I was wondering if I could ask you out for dinner tonight?” he smiled.
Janet was caught off guard by his proposal. And Daran was walking right behind Janet. He heard what Jared said and his face darkened instantly.
“Where to?”
Daran said in an ironic tone.
“Shall I remind you that the whole city was burned to the ground? And there was not a single open restaurant.”
Jared fixed his gaze on Janet, ignoring Daran’s irony.
“Well, I was thinking of a picnic on the mountaintop?” Jared smiled, “We can enjoy the skylight and the beautiful night view. It will be romantic, don’t you think?”
The word “romantic” clearly struck Daran’s nerve.
He let out a cold snort.
Janet hesitated and gave a quick glance at Daran.
“Why are you looking at me?” Daran said icily, “Asking for my approval?”
Janet felt a flare of anger.
“You are right. I don’t need your approval,” she said defiantly. “Alpha Jared, it would be my honor. See you tonight.”
“Awesome!” Jared beamed.
Daran walked past them and left the room with a slam of the door.
Janet marched out behind him, puffing out her chest.
She was so tired of Daran’s juvenile behavior.
If he really cared about her and wanted her back, he should act like it. At least he should find ways to impress her, like Jared did.
Or maybe he didn’t care that much about her at all.
Maybe he was just interested in her body.
What a dick.
Janet went back to her own tent and started preparing for tonight’s date.
Probably because she was just trying to annoy Daran, she wanted to look good for the date.
Yet sadly, she packed only combat uniforms and sportswear. There weren’t enough options for clothing.
Janet sat down in front of the mirror and let her hair down. She started to work on a delicate braid. It was the least she could do.
She was struggling with her hair when she heard somebody coming into her tent. She saw through the mirror that it was Daran again.
“You are really trying for this date.”
He walked up to her back, staring darkly at her through the mirror.
“Why shouldn’t I?”
Janet sneered in a provoking manner.
“As you can see, Jared and I like each other a lot. If things go well tonight, we might actually-”
She didn’t get to finish.
Because Daran had spun her around forcefully and caught her lips