68: A FEEBLE TRUST

A FEEBLE TRUST

"What would you do if he pledged his loyalty to you? With such power in your hands, what will you do?" Cane asked her point blank.

"What can I do with such power?" Iris asked him back. "If you think I want to take back this pack, I can assure you that's not in my mind. I don't even know what to do with my life, let alone with a whole pack."

Cane didn't give any response to her statement and Iris found it hard to have a conversation with him whenever he had a conversation with himself in his mind.

"May I know what you will do with two packs in your hands?" Iris asked gingerly. Something about him intrigued her, she wanted to know more about him.

Cane didn't make all the people in the Blue Moon pack slaves like her father did. To be honest, from what Hanna told her, people in the Blue Moon pack actually liked him more as their alpha even though he only stepped up to the position just a bit over four months back.

One could imagine what kind of misery that they had to go through in Alpha Gerald's reign, despite them being the members of the Blue Moon pack itself.

Cane only punished those who were at fault, the privileged families who abused their power and the wicked people, including those warriors, who refused to bow down to him.

Iris waited for Cane to answer her, but he didn't say a word, in the end, she changed her question. "What do you want me to do with the former warriors of the Blue Moon pack? Do you want me to accept their loyalty?" Iris looked at him warmly. "At the end of the day, they belong to you even if they pledged their loyalty to me now."

Cane held her eyes. He was standing next to the bed with his arms folded in front of his chest and from where Iris was sitting down on the bed, he looked so huge and terrifyingly cold.

"I have told you I have no desire for power." Iris shrugged her shoulders. "But, I want something in return."

Cane's jaw ticked when he heard this. Of course, she would want something in return. She would look for benefit, just like her father. It had become a habit of him to not think of alpha Gerald and his children in a good light.

However, Cane immediately realized how wrong that way of thinking was.

"What do you want?" He asked in a gruff tone.

Iris averted her eyes for a moment before she spoke again. "I don't want to get hurt anymore. I don't want to be in pain."

Cane could understand that, but wasn't that a plain and naïve request? Didn't she realize what all of this was about at all? Should he explain to her more in detail?

He hated it whenever he had to talk with someone that needed a lengthy explanation to understand.

However, Iris' request was as simple as that.

"I want your protection and your word."

Cane narrowed his eyes. Everything he had to face was always complicated, so it was hard for him to believe that her request was so innocent.

"I don't want to be hit, I don't want to be whipped, I don't want to be hurt again. If you can protect me from being in pain, I will help you with whatever you need me to do," Iris said earnestly, she was genuine with her words.

"Is it true?" Cane finally spoke again.

"What?" Iris tilted her head, confused about what he was talking about.

"Why did you do that for my people?"

Ah. Iris realized that they had changed the topic now.

"Why won't I when I can help?" Iris asked him back. "I would help if I could."

"By getting whipped as punishment?"

"If I can save even one life by getting whipped, I think it's worth it."

That was a brave answer, but he didn't think that he would hear it from someone spawned by Alpha Gerald. "It is still hard to believe that an evil person like Alpha Gerald has a daughter like you."

Iris chuckled lightly. "Probably I took after my mother. People said my mother was a good woman. Unfortunately, I don't remember her much, because she died when I was just a year old."

"Is your mother luna Nera?"

"Yes, do you know her?" Iris was surprised, she looked excited to hear his reply.

"Not really. I was only an ignorant boy when she was still alive," Cane replied lightly, he sat down on the edge of the bed. "I heard she was a good luna. She fed the poor and people loved her."

"Yes, that's what I heard too." Iris was a little bit disappointed that Cane didn't know much about her mother and heard the same thing as what people always told her. "I know this is meaningless, but I apologize for what my father and brother had done to you and your people."

"Do you want me to forgive your father?"

Iris immediately shook her head. "No. Of course not. I feel bad because there is nothing much that I can do."

"Stop it there," Cane grunted. He didn't want to have such an emotional conversation with her or talk about what had happened. This had gone too far from his original intentions. This young woman managed to distract him. "How can I trust you with sole control over the former warriors of the Blue Moon pack in your hands?"

Iris held his eyes for a long moment before she replied to that. "Just like how you trusted that the food I sent was not poisoned. You trusted me when you didn't know me for years, but why can't you trust me now?"

Cane was surprised that he couldn't refute that. It was a rare occasion that someone managed to outspeak him.

To think about it again, Iris didn't have any goal for herself. She was not power hungry, her intention was not malicious either. Moreover, she definitely was not as wicked as her father or else, Hanna wouldn't stick around with her and readily sacrifice herself for her.

Such devotion was not something that you could find easily. Seeing that young servant, reminded Cane of Jace, Ethan, Amee, Aria and the blind faith that his people had in him during those dark times.

On the other hand, seeing how Cane couldn't retort her, Iris pushed her luck a little bit. She knew that Cane was not a bad person. He had a rough life, but it didn't turn him into someone cruel like her father, not even close.

"I am your luna now." Iris saw Cane frowning a little bit at that statement. He was not fond of being reminded of that. "You marked me and you can feel it too that the bond started to grow. I have no reason to hurt you and now that I am your mate, I have no reason to betray you."

Mate.

The word was like a dagger stabbed in his chest.

"I had a mate and she died in your father's hands." The word felt so distasteful in his mouth. All the rage that he had buried at the back of his head came to the surface.

"I know." Iris lowered her head, she was ashamed and didn't know what to say. She was afraid to say a word and aggravate Cane even more.

There was a long moment of silence that stretched out between them, while Iris hung her head so low. She felt guilty for something that she didn't do, while Cane didn't know why he had this sudden outburst.

It had been a while since his emotions got the better of him.

Cane then tapped Iris' leg to get her attention. "Redmond will be here tomorrow."

Iris understood what it meant. She still couldn't walk too far, thus instead, they would bring Redmond here to make him pledge his loyalty to Iris, just like what he wanted. This was the best outcome that Cane could get out of that warrior.

And when Cane was about to stand up, Iris immediately stopped him by grabbing his sleeve, which made him frown. She retracted her hand immediately. She forgot that he hated to be touched.

"I am sorry," she muttered. "I want to show you something once I am a little bit better. Will you go on a walk with me then?"

Cane tilted his head, he couldn't figure out what she wanted him to see, but then there was no harm in agreeing to that request.

"Okay."

And with that, Cane stood up again and walked out of the room, to let her get the rest she needed.

However, before Cane could walk out of the door, he turned around and saw Iris was still looking at him, so he spoke calmly.

"Thank you for what you have done. I really appreciate it." He then added. "I will not let you get hurt, but I will kill you myself if you betray me."

Iris was slightly taken aback by the harsh words that he packed in his last statement, but Cane didn't wait for her response and strode out of the room.

From her understanding, he trusted her. Even though it was still so feeble, she would hold onto it. After all, she didn't have any reason to betray him.

The next day, Hanna was told to prepare Iris and bring her to the library.

"You are still sick, why does the alpha want you to go to the library?" Hanna braided her hair after she helped Iris to put on her dress.0

Iris had not yet told her about her conversation with the alpha the day before, but she would tell her later when she was sure about what would happen, ultimately, she had no one to confide in, except for Hanna.

"I will let you know later," Iris said, smiling at Hanna through the mirror.

Hanna nodded and happily dressed her up. She escorted her to the library and retreated once she helped her to sit down on the chair.

This was the first time for Iris to be out of her bedroom and meet other people after the incident.

True to what Hanna had told her, people respected her more and the guards didn't throw her contemptuous looks anymore. They lowered their heads to greet her willingly. Though they didn't say much, she couldn't actually feel the hostility from them anymore.

This was an outcome she had never dared to think about.

"We will have to wait for Ethan, he is bringing Redmond with him." Jace informed Iris, though he didn't need to do that.

The beta was not particularly mean to her when she was a slave, but he didn't treat her like an important figure after she was marked by Cane and declared as the luna either.

However, right now, he seemed to have softened his heart toward her.

Iris sat next to Cane and one thing she noticed was that the huge wooden table in the middle of the library had been replaced with four round tables, each with four chairs.

Iris was not sure what the reason for the change of the furniture was, but if it was about what she thought, it would be amusing. How could he catch on to what happened with only a small gesture of hers that night when she showed him the books on lycans?

Iris glanced at Cane, but he said nothing to her once she entered the library and stayed just as quiet as his usual self.

And not long after that, Ethan came into the room with a man and four guards in his tow. Because this was during a monster hunt, Redmond was not given Rottingbane, which meant he could shift into his beast and could be a danger for them here.

"I brought Redmond with me, the leader of the former warriors of the Blue Moon pack," Ethan said in his usual cheerful voice. The gamma found Iris and he smiled warmly. His eyes were full of mirth.

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