He Will Be Mine

Chapter 69: The Secrets of Onyx

*** Kane's POV ***

I am still reading in the archives room when Elder Stirling returns from wherever he went to do his own research. Much to my relief, the man who comes back to me seems much sharper and better composed than the one who left me, although he does seem tired. It makes me wonder how much time has passed since I first started digging through all these records.

When I pull my phone out of my pocket to glance at the time, my eyes nearly bulge out of my head. It's been almost seven hours, and I have three missed texts from Aly plus a call from Andrea.

"Oh wow," I mutter in disbelief. "I guess I've been in here awhile. Do you mind if I step out to check in with Andrea and the pack?"

"Sure, sure. Go on," Elder Stirling responds agreeably. "Just meet me back in my office when you return, unless you'd prefer to take a break for today and reconnect tomorrow?"

Part of me wants to take him up on that offer. It has been a long day, and I'm sure Aly has left by now. I think our dinner plans are scrapped at this point because it's so late, but even so, I'm hungry and will need to get something to eat soon. Yet the greater part of me worries that if I leave Elder Stirling for the night, he might not be as focused tomorrow when I come back, and I might miss out on whatever he is prepared to share with me right now.

It's as if he can read my mind because when I open my mouth to speak, he adds, "If you're worried about my state of mind, don't. I'm sharp as a tack, just as I always have been. That before was an act. You caught me off guard with your talk of Tyler's wolf, and I had to take some time and make some decisions about what to tell you. You seemed to interpret that as elderly senility, and I chose to lean into that to buy me the time I needed. But I've made my choice now. If you would like to rest and get something to eat, take the night. I'll still be here tomorrow, and it may even be better if I have the night to better compose what I need to tell you."

I don't know how to react to that. It is reassuring that his mind is not slipping the way I'd feared, but whatever would have made him feel like all that was necessary must be something profound. That it has something to do with Tyler's wolf has my curiosity and impatience at an all-time high. Nevertheless, a tired and hungry wolf is never a good combination, so it would probably be best to wait.

After a moment to consider it, finally I answer, "Yes, I think I would prefer to call it a night. We do have a lot to talk about, and I am getting hungry."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow, Alpha Kane," he dismisses me before turning and heading back to the door.

He stops and waits for me to follow, then turns and locks the door behind me as I make my way back down to the main level.

To my surprise, Aly is still down there. When she sees me coming, she quickly closes the books she had been working from and returns them to the cart near her table. Then she jogs over to meet me at the door.

"Finally! I'm starving. I was beginning to think you had decided to move in or something," she complains in mock outrage.

I link my arm with hers, chuckling at her theatrics. "No, but I did get kind of sucked into the records I was reading. The farther back I went, the more interesting it seemed to get, at least for me. It was a bit surreal reading first-hand accounts of decisions and proceedings I had only ever heard about well after the fact, all told to me as part of history. But up there in that room it's like all that history comes to life."

"That does sound pretty interesting, but also kind of nerdy too," she teases me, turning her face up to give me a sly look. "Though I do hope you managed to find some useful stuff in all that. I'm a lot more interested in history that helps me in the present."