Melting Mercury

Chapter 24

Malakai

"Where are the children?"

"The children have been relocated to local packhouses and to safe houses" Leo nodded.

"Border patrol?"

"Tight as ever, there's been no word of anyone getting in and out"

"The alphas?"

"Stationed at their respective orphanages, waiting for the rebellion to attack. We're prepared for the worst my king"

"Great, keep your mind link and phone line open just in case" 

Leo nodded and left my office, Harlow walking in simultaneously with a plate in her hand. I raised an eyebrow "That for me?"

She scoffed "Of course not" She got settled in the chair across from me and began to eat from her plate "Why weren't you at breakfast?" She asked muffled, her cheeks full of food.

"Too much to do" I answered vaguely. Unfortunately, she didn't take this as a response and snatched the map I was holding out of my hands.

She examined it for a few minutes as she chewed then she swallowed slowly. "What am I looking at?"

"The red circles mark all the orphanages in every pack in America" I explained.

"Planning on adopting another?" She asked jokingly as she stuffed some scrambled in her mouth.

I sighed "No actually, this is part of the next move of the Rebellion". This made her sit up straighter.

"Oh they're staging another breakout, oh that's genius" She muttered "Taking the human kids without parents is such a great move" She complimented, nodding her head slowly. The compassion in her eyes as she looked at the paper almost made me not tell her the truth.

Almost.

"Actually, there's been threats that they're planning to burn down an orphanage," I said not bothering sugar-coating it "I had to have all of the kids evacuated at one am in the morning to get them to safety."

She began to laugh "If that's a joke it's not funny" She shook her head, biting into a muffin.

"It's not meant to be."

The colour drained off her face as she dropped the muffin back into her plate and looked at me, her eyes searching for lies. When she found none her demeanour did a complete one-eighty.

Disbelief filled her eyes as she put her plate to the side and grabbed the paper with both hands. Her eyes darted all around it frantically as she whispered quickly underneath her breath. "Willow wouldn't do this she's mad but not a monster." Is the only thing I managed to catch.

"Malaki..." She muttered as her eyes began to widen. "Malakai you missed one!" Panic wrapped in her voice. She got to her feet and started pointing at a random spot on the map. 

"Harlow we've ticked off all the registered orphanages in the country, if it exists it's there," I told her slowly, trying to calm her down.

"No, but this one isn't registered!" She shoved the map in my face "It was created just after the..." She cleared her throat "Many human kids had just lost their parents so they took the lot of us and dumped us in an abandoned building, just out of bounds in no man's land and...they left us there to rot" She whispered the last part.

Us?

I squinted at the area she was pointing at. It was about an hour drive from here, fifteen minutes if I ran. I glanced at the clock and my blood froze over at the time. Seven forty-nine. I wouldn't make it.

"Well, what are you still doing here?" Harlow asked trying to pull me up from my seat "Go get those children!" She told me, struggling to move me. When she saw me not cooperating she stopped. "Malakai why aren't you moving?" She asked hollowly.

"Harlow, the rebellion promised to have the orphanage burnt to the ground by eight. If I go now I'll still be too late" I explained softly, trying not to set her off.

It didn't work.

Tears filled her amber eyes "And you're not even going to try?" She croaked "Those are children" Her voice cracking at the end. "I know they're human and you don't give a fuck about our lives but they're just kids."

"It's not like it's my people going to kill them, Harlow."

I regretted it, immediately after I had said it. Her glassy eyes widened in shock and her plump bottom lip quivered before she bit down on it and looked away. "Typical" She spat under her breath before storming out of the room. 

She's upset because I told her the truth?

I huffed and grabbed a piece of toast from her abandoned plate, taking a bite out of the now cold bread. The sound of me chewing it filled the empty room, my gut feeling with an unfamiliar feeling.

Guilt.

I'd soon lost my appetite, and it didn't need a fool to realise why. I tossed the piece of toast back into the plate and stood up, stretching a bit before I came to a conclusion. I glanced at the clock once more to see I had eight minutes left.

I'm going to have to run extra fast today.

When I'd arrived at the location Harlow had shown me it became apparent that what she'd said was true. My heart dropped to my stomach as the sound of burnt cheap wood filled my nostrils and the air around me as I shifted back into my human form.

True to their word the building that was once standing here was now a pile of rubble and ash. The only indication that anyone was here was the footsteps around the area the faint sound of a car miles away from here. Normally I'd track it down and confront the criminals but today I had to check something first.

It confused me the more that I looked around as I couldn't smell any burnt flesh or rather any signs that children were here besides their scent in the air. There were no bodies anywhere to be seen and there certainly no children around.

Until a scent hit me like a ton of bricks.

Blood.

A metallic scent smacked me in the face and I immediately ran to where it was coming from the strongest. But when I'd found it I wish I hadn't. A child, couldn't be older than the age of five hung from a tree by her neck.

Stab wounds riddled all over her body.

She did not die by the fire, she was found and murdered. I used my claws to remove the rope that was tying her to the tree. Then caught her in my arms before she hit the ground. Her body was cold, too cold to have been done recently.

Her head rolled over to the side and it was then I saw the flash of white in her mouth. I slightly parted her lips to see sharp underage canines, clear as day. The truth hit me hard. All the children at the orphanage were taken back to the rebellion camp..but this girl was left for dead.

Because she was a werewolf.