Alpha Lorenzo

Chapter 31

LORENZO

My heart started to hammer against my chest and I cursed under my breath, watching my sister delve into the cavern. She disappeared into the musty darkness for a few minutes, eventually reappearing, pulling a limp blood soaked body across the floor, her face glum.

"Who the hell is that?" Caspian muttered next to me, panic evident in his voice, his hands beginning to shake.

"Please don't be," I whispered to myself, repeating the words over and over again, bouncing up and down subtly in angst, praying that the woman that Martina was dragging over to us would be either alive, or someone we had no connection with.

"She's heavy," muttered Martina as she reached us, dropping the hand of the woman she was pulling, leaving a blood trail across the grass all the way to the cavern. It meant that if the witches were to re-visit, they would know that the body had been taken.

Kneeling down next to the pale older woman, I pressed my fingers to her neck, feeling for a pulse, but coming up empty.

Her body was freezing, indicating that she had been dead for a little while, the majority of the blood dry and crumbly, her eyes closed and almost peaceful looking.

"Do you know her?" Caspian asked and I shook my head.

"No, but Mia might," I muttered, pinching the bridge of my nose, cursing to myself.

If this deceased woman was Mia's Mother, I really had no idea how I was going to tell her that we had found her Mother dead. The thought of Mia breaking down in front of me caused my heart to shatter.

"Nobody mention this to Mia," I ordered, Caspian and Martina both nodding, looking sheepish. My sister's eyes tried to avoid the corpse, the smell strong and pungent, burning our nostrils. "I don't want to tell her until I am certain that this is her Mother."

"What do we do with the body in the meantime?" asked Martina, and I sighed, chewing on the inside of my cheek, contemplating. I didn't want the body to start to decompose until we had successfully identified the woman.

"Search her, and then place her back into the cavern, Martina," I said, huffing. "It's cold in there so hopefully it will preserve her body for a little longer."

"I'll get asking the other men if they've found or seen anything, and then we'll head back," Caspian stated, shifting into his wolf, turning to me to give me a nod as I turned to also shift.

"Caspian!" I called after him as he began to disappear into the trees. "Keep an eye on Martina. She's not trustworthy yet."

I heard my sister scoff as I shifted into my large wolf. I padded through the forest, the thought of seeing my mate spurring me on, eager to hold her and forget all of the stress of today.

Would Mia be upset with me if she found out I hadn't told her about the lady? I didn't want her to think I was keeping things from her, but I knew that if she did know, she wouldn't sleep for the next however long, anxious and uneasy until she was able to see the lady for herself and confirm whether it was her Mother or not.

The fact that Martina had reappeared was also stressing me out, but I knew how to handle her and I didn't feel bad about shooing her away if she messed with Mia or I again.

I wouldn't have her anywhere near my mate. She was useful to keep around for now since she was the only one who could step foot onto the premises of the cavern, but I would be an idiot to trust her.

I eventually reached the pack, shifting and pulling on some spare clothes hidden in the bushes. Although nakedness wasn't a big thing for us wolves, having to see each other nude all the time, I was sure that Mia wouldn't appreciate me strolling around with everything on show for other females to see.