The Paranormal Side

Chapter 22

**(Katie's POV)**

When we stepped out of Zach's car at the werewolves camp, I expected to find all the Lupinotuum rushing around and preparing. Instead we were greeted with empty grounds, the gigantic house looming over us eerily.

"Where is everyone?" Taylor whispered, clutching Zach's hand. She was nervous, and I couldn't blame her.

Zach pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her hairline. "They're at the training field."

"Do we just go in?" Taylor asked, staring at the house warily. I answered her question by walking towards the front door.

"Okay, then," she breathed, and I heard the sound of her and Zach's footsteps behind me. The front door was cracked open, and I made my way up to Liam's office, making sure Zach and Taylor were following me. Liam's door was open, and the mess Brian had made when he lost control of his anger had been cleared away. The painting I myself had knocked down was gone.

He stood at the windows, a wall of muscle with his back to us. His shoulders were tense, the muscles in his back that were in clear view through his t-shirt taut. He was worried. Nervous. A general before a war.

Slowly, I made my way into the middle of the room, leaving Zach and Taylor in the doorway. I heard Liam's intake of breath, he was catching my scent, and then he turned, visibly forcing his shoulders to relax and his face to melt into one of ease. I narrowed my eyes at him. His pretense of normalcy wasn't needed, we were all on edge, and for good reason. Perhaps the act of bravado was to keep his pack from worrying?

Liam's gaze landed on me for a moment, the lines around his eyes tightening, and I wondered if he saw Brian when he looked at me. If he thought of me as the cause for all of this.

If he wanted me dead.

His eyes trailed over to Zach, and then to Taylor, who stood behind Zach, clutching his arm. When she realized the Alpha was looking at her, she dropped her hands from Zach's biceps and pushed her way in front of us, holding her head high in a fake attempt at bravado. Her hands shook lightly at her sides.

Liam's mouth quirked up in amusement, but he quickly schooled his features back into a calm mask. He raised an eyebrow at me. "This is the human that is to stay with the cub?" He inquired, spitting out the word cub like it was a curse.

I nodded. He moved across the room to his desk, his movements liquid. Not human. Animalistic. Each step strategically placed. He pulled a key from a ring set hidden under his shirt and unlocked a drawer hidden to us from our positions. From it, he pulled a small velvet pouch and a thin dagger. He held them delicately, if that was even possibly with this ball of muscle, and shut the drawer.

"What's that?" Zach asked, unconsciously reaching out for Taylor to put her behind him. He shot me a confused glance.

Liam looked only at Taylor. "The silver dagger is from back in the 1500s, so please, use it wisely. In this pouch is the poison to Lupinotuum, wolfsbane. I had it ground down to a fine powder. Only high amounts or injected directly to the heart could kill a werewolf, but this would surely slow one down. This is just for precaution." The last sentence was aimed for me, I'm sure. So that I don't make a scene that he's giving my friend poison to use against my boyfriend.

Taylor throws me a careful glance, wondering if I'll lash out if she accepts these weapons. I give her an almost imperceptible nod, the most I can do, and she takes the dagger and pouch. Liam's mouth quirks up for half a second, then he's all business.

"He'll be chained up, and he won't get free. But it's a full moon, and Brian hasn't been known to be the most controlled cub. Whatever he says, do not unchain him. Under no circumstances," Liam ordered, the power in his voice making Taylor look down at her shoes. I stiffen when I here Brian is in chains. It kills me to know he's tied up. I roll my shoulders back, trying to relieve some of the tension there.