163: HE LOOKED SO LONELY

HE LOOKED SO LONELY

The grains had been sent over to the Howling Wolf pack four days before Cane and the others had arrived. Jace was responsible for the distribution and had allocated half of it to the Blue Moon pack as well.

During the absence of the Alpha and the Luna, it was the Beta who had handled everything, thus Cane would only need to follow up with everything.

However, a few hours before Cane's party arrived, he got a decree from the King, summoning Cane and Iris for the ceremony and also Ethan for his punishment, because he had attacked a member of the royal family.

Jace was not aware of what had happened, but from what he heard from the messenger, he knew it was a great offense.

"What the fuck was he thinking?!" Jace roared in anger after he got the detailed report from Will.

Currently, they were in the Alpha's study room, but Ethan was not there, he had gone somewhere once they entered the borders of the pack.

"Well, I can't really blame him, that bastard of a Crown Prince could really be a testament to your patience." Will frowned when he remembered how Alan had provoked Ethan. He knew how to stab him with his nasty words.

Meanwhile, outside, the temperature had dropped drastically and the weather had turned cold, still it hadn't snowed yet.

With the grains that they got from the black market, they could go through this winter, but if the King became extremely petty, he could find fault with Cane for buying something from the black market.

People didn't talk about the black market openly, it was a public secret and a hush- hush topic, where the royal family could be hypocritical about it.

They could punish anyone for going there while at the same time ignoring the fact that they usually indulged in the same dirty trade.

"This is a serious matter," Jace said grimly. "What are you going to do about it, Alpha?"

Yet, before the conversation could continue, someone entered the room without permission. The door suddenly burst open and Aria strode inside with a huge grin on her lips. Her eyes lit up to see Cane.

"You have returned!" Aria rushed toward Cane like an arrow. She raised her beautiful dress, so she wouldn't step on it when she ran.

On the other hand, Jace and Will grimaced to see her. It was a habit of Aria to enter the room without knocking or asking for permission first, she really acted as a mistress of the pack, the Luna even.

On any other day, they could ignore her behavior, but when they were in the middle of an important discussion like now, it was annoying to be interrupted like this.

"Aria, I think you need to leave for now, we are in the middle of a discussion," Jace said, but she simply walked past him and approached Cane.

"I really missed you!" Aria said. She was about to throw herself into his arms when Cane held her by the shoulder to stop her from coming closer to him.

"Leave," he said shortly, his voice firm. "We are in the middle of an important discussion."

The smile on Aria's face immediately faded away. She bit her lip, as if she was going to cry. She wanted to retort, but she could feel there was something wrong with the atmosphere here.

She didn't know about the decree from the palace involving Ethan, thus she didn't have any idea about what they were discussing right now, but she knew one thing for sure; she couldn't piss Cane off at this moment, because all her efforts would go in the drain if he avoided her again like before.

"I understood, I am sorry," she muttered, her eyes hooded when she backed away. She felt her heart stifle for how callous Cane was. Though he had never been particularly warm toward her, she thought after years of being together, she could change that.

Cane let go of her shoulder. It could be said that he was very lenient of her. If it was someone else, they wouldn't be able to leave unscathed without facing consequences for barging into his study.

But still, Aria didn't see it that way. She only saw rejection and this made her heart harden.

"What are you going to do now?" Jace continued the conversation once Aria closed the door behind her. They acted like there was no interruption.

"I will go see Mason first," Cane replied.

"What are you going to see him for?" Will couldn't comprehend this, so couldn't Jace.

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Near the fireplace, Iris was chatting with Hanna, sitting on a comfortable rug while warming their bodies with a glass of hot chocolate each.

"This lizard is so cute!" Hanna cradled the little creature in her hands, as it curled its body comfortably. "It will make it easier to light up the fire!" She was so excited.

The fire in the fireplace was also lit up by this little fellow.0

Iris didn't tell her that the lizard actually came from a magic stone. Cane didn't allow her to tell anyone about this, therefore, she told Hanna that she found it.

"This little thing is so cute," Hanna gushed. "Can I show it to my friend? I will get us another serving of hot chocolate each!" She saw Iris' glass was already empty.

"Okay."

Hanna then hastily walked out of the room, with a tray of two glasses in one hand and the lizard in the other.

"Friend?" Iris muttered to herself, her face became gloomy when she heard that word.

It was so easy for Hanna to find a friend, while she only had her. But then, she couldn't say they were friends either. The status difference between them was there and Hanna would never call Iris her friend, no matter how close they were.

Feeling dejected, Iris walked toward the window and saw a familiar figure there. He looked so lonely. "Ethan? What is he doing there?"

Iris took her cloak and when Hanna returned, she couldn't find her anywhere. She was gone.

"Where is she?" Hanna couldn't help frowning.

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