Profound Devotion

Chapter 45

August 15th
Cassius

"Caryn."

The chirping of the birds within the trees died to a wallowing whisper, the once racing breeze now dispersing and leaving the branches as still as the dead.

Even though she was on the bottom of my list of members I was concerned about, my beast still reached for her bond and resecured our link to one another.

Her smile that filled me with discomfort widened as she stood from the stone bench at the base of the statue and wiped her pants free of dust and debris.

"Cass."

A growl slipped through my lips before I could even register what she had said.

"I asked you repeatedly not to call me that." Coming from her, it only made my discomfort fester. "Is this everyone? I thought there would be more." I brushed past Caryn as she attempted a warm greeting, her arms awaiting my embrace as if we ever had that type of relationship. Instead, I singled out Reese who also seemed to be scanning the area with his eyes.

"There is one more group. They said they would be here." He nervously tapped his fingers against his folded arms, visibly relaxing when another, well-built figure ducked out from behind one of the few structurally sound huts near the center of the village.

"My apologies, Alpha." He stopped before me, offering a bow of his head just as Reese had done. "I needed to make sure it was really you before exposing the rest of our defenses."

Haman was one of our great warriors, and one of the few stationed on lookout near our Eastern border the night of the attack. His younger brother, Ewin, was close behind with a bow of his own and very few words of greeting.

"Wait, so you sent us out here as what? Bait?" Caryn scoffed, smacking Haman's arm with the back of her hand.

He huffed and created a wide birth between them. "It was better off you than us. How would you expect to protect anyone with your limited training capabilities?" Ewin nodded over his shoulder, his hand fiddling with the silver dagger holstered in his leather belt.

"Enough." I was running on very little sleep, and their bickering was only antagonizing my brutal headache. "Is this all of you? There are no others who managed to evade detection?" Though it was more than I expected, I was hoping to be surprised.

"Almost. Marran should be returning from the Southern border tomorrow afternoon."

"The border? Why?" My two warriors shared a stern glance.

"After the attack, we thought it be best to keep tabs on them as they are our largest and closest enemy." Haman began.

"We have each taken turns switching off a week-long schedule." Ewin picked up where his brother left off. "We would survey their actions, make note of anything of concern, and make the day-and-a-half long trek back to switch positions."

"And? What have you made note of?" If that dastardly Alpha was planning anything more after he fled from his attack on Mona, they would have caught onto it by now. Maybe this was just the information we needed to prepare ourselves.

"So far, we have made note of large trucks hauling boxes of materials from their Eastern border through human territory, though these deliveries are made at night and have very little incriminating information on the containers. They have also increased their training recently, from two hours daily to nearly double stopping just before four. Their member numbers have also increased, though, judging by the deeper, harsh tones of their accents, I believe they are immigrating from one of the Island territories."