赤裸裸的滑稽故事

“What?” Caleb asked, knitting his brows in confusion. “No, no, he didn’t… I was here when you tried to negotiate that. You got into an argument; my father refused the deal.”

“Your daddy said no when we offered to trade in silver and iron weapons,” Jonas said. “But he reached out and agreed to design it for us, so long as we didn’t make the weapons for yours or any other pack.”

Caleb stared at Jonas. He didn’t understand what he was saying.

“Honestly, we were happy to agree,” Jonas continued. “We made only a few dozen of those, but it never sat right with us.”

He stood up and looked out his window to the canyon surrounding them. Silver and iron deposits were scattered all across the canyon walls.

“We chose this mountain so that it could bend and break us. Exposing our weaknesses like a raw nerve until we have scarred over and risen from the blood and the dirt. To stand again on our own two feet.”

He let out a deep sigh.

“Using her flesh to create weapons that cheapen the battle of another. That makes it easier for them to kill their enemy. It was wrong. Your daddy helped me understand that.”

Caleb sat dumbfounded. He had no idea that Cain had continued the negotiations, that he had designed their tunnel.

“But outside of this pack, Cain was the only one that knew where that entrance was,” Jonas said, turning back to face Caleb. “So, how did these rogues get that information?”

Caleb didn’t respond. Axel took a deep breath. Holding back wasn’t getting them anywhere.

“Jonas,” Axel said. “Something is going on. Some of the lesser packs have vanished. Some have been outright murdered.”

“What the hell you talking about, pup?” Jonas asked, sitting down beside Axel.

“There were at least two that joined together, dressing like rogues they attacked Summer.”

“What?!” Jonas shouted. “You mean just before the full moon?”

Axel nodded.

“Who? How do you know?”_.

“Whiteridge and Shadowcrest,” Axel said. “We have bits and pieces of evidence that helped us figure it out.”

“Why would they?” Jonas asked. “Those ain’t even war packs.”

“We don’t know, but they aren’t the only ones missing, and we suspect that Autumn might have played a part in it.”

“Son of a– of course they do,” Jonas sighed, sitting back in his chair.

“Alice…” Caleb whispered.

“What?” Axel turned quickly to face Caleb.

Caleb shook his head as though he had finally realized something important.

“Months ago, during the exchange, we had a problem with a hack in our systems. We found the bug, and we cleared it out. We tracked the files that were looked through, but they were mostly design files.

“They seemed harmless. But I’m guessing that one of those design files was the tunnel my father made. That’s how they learned about it. They stole the files and gave them to Autumn.”

“Why?” Jonas asked.

“I assume they wanted your wolves, or maybe they were hoping to get rid of them. But it seems, in the event of capture, the least they could do is sow discord,” Caleb sighed.

“You’re saying Alice did this?” Axel asked, visibly shaken.

“I’m saying she planted the bug that gained access to the system. A wolf from Autumn was doing the actual file collecting,” Caleb replied.

“What the fuck you boys talking about!” Jonas shouted. “You tellin’ me packs are disappearing, then you talk about bugs and someone named Alice?”

“We need his help, Caleb,” Axel said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Go ahead,” Caleb sighed, leaning back in his chair.

“Jonas, we have already confirmed seven packs have either been killed or have abandoned their territories….”

Axel told Jonas all that they had learned up to this point. Starting with the attack on Summer and the missing packs. Going back to the falsified reports.

“Fuck…” Jonas sighed. “It’s bad enough you all pull this crap on each other. So now you get the rest of us involved?”

“It’s not us, Jonas,” Axel said. “We only started looking at the outer packs because it was clear something was going on.”

“No, pup. That’s why you started looking at us,” Jonas said, turning to face Caleb. “But Summer here, he’s had eyes on us lesser beings for a while now. Haven’t you?”

“I won’t apologize for ensuring the safety of my people. Part of that is assessing any potential threats,” Caleb replied.

“But, only since you started suspecting Autumn, right?” Axel said.

Caleb didn’t respond. Jonas chuckled.

“Pup, that boy has been sendin’ scouts and those little robots since damn near the day his daddy died.”

Caleb growled.

“You gonna call me a liar?” Jonas asked, his eyebrow raised.

Axel glared at Caleb. He shook his head with an angry scoff.

“More lies,” Axel said quietly.

“My father wasn’t vigilant enough,” Caleb said, looking at Axel. “And it got him killed. I wasn’t going to make that mistake.”

“And these packs would have been well within their rights to consider your actions a threat!” Axel growled.

“I always made sure surveillance was done from an appropriate distance.”

“That’s what he calls technicalities,” Jonas smiled. “He keeps his scouts and robots just outside the borderline.”

Axel took a deep breath. He stood from his chair and paced the room. Finally, he turned back to Jonas.

“I’m sorry, Jonas, truly,” he said.

“It’s not your place to apologize, pup.”

“No, but I doubt he will.”

Jonas laughed a hearty laugh.

“I wouldn’t accept it from him anyway.”

Axel smiled. Then a thought occurred to him.

“Wait, Caleb, if you’ve had eyes on all the packs, how did you not already know about the missing ones? What about those we haven’t checked?”

“I… haven’t kept up the surveillance lately,” he replied.

“I did notice a lack of targets for our archers,” Jonas said.

“Why?” Axel asked. “When did you stop?”

“I’ve had other priorities,” Caleb said, looking away.

“When did you stop surveillance?”

“Seems like… maybe just after the Blood Moon,” Jonas offered. “I believe that was the last time we saw your little robots.”

Axel narrowed his eyes at Caleb.

“So… your ‘other priorities’… you mean….”

“Yes,” Caleb replied with an irritated sigh and refused to look at him.

“Wow,” Axel said, genuinely surprised.

“What?” Jonas asked. “What am I missing?”

“Nothing,” Axel said, “I just never expected the Alpha of Summer to be too distracted by a girl to be able to do his job.”

Jonas looked at Caleb, who now had a soft red flush over his ears. He suddenly remembered the announcement from Axel’s ceremony, the woman at his side.

“Oh… right… the hot young thing in the blue dress,” Jonas smiled.

Both Axel and Caleb turned with a warning growl and aggressive look.

Jonas put his hands up with a laugh.

“Apologies, no disrespect intended. She’s a beautiful girl. And if I remember correctly, a powerful warrior as well.”

“She is,” Caleb said, a soft smile almost visible on his lips.

“And your sister….” Jonas added, turning to Axel.

“Yes,” Axel growled.

Jonas laughed again.

“A beautiful woman, powerful in her own right and from good stock,” Jonas smiled. “Seems the Goddess truly does favor you, Summer.”

Caleb gave a gentle nod. He knew how blessed he was.

“Can we please stop talking about my sister and get back to why we are here?” Axel grumbled.

Jonas and Caleb both nodded.

“Good,” Axel continued, “we need to discuss the next steps. We need to know the current status of all the packs. Jonas, maybe you could–”

“Whoa, pup… slow down,” Jonas interrupted. “I ain’t agreed to help.”

“What?” Axel asked, shocked.

“Of course,” Caleb said with a knowing smile.

In every dealing Caleb had had with the lesser alphas, none of them did anything for free.

“What is it you want, Jonas?”

Jonas smiled.

“Yea, Summer, I have wants, things my pack needs. But before we can even negotiate, you need to prove your worth.”

“What does that mean?” Axel asked.

“The way I see it, if Broken Crag agrees to help, we announce the side we’ve chosen in the coming war,” Jonas said.

“Wait, we aren’t–” Axel cried out.

“You’re right,” Caleb said, ignoring Axel. “If you help us, Autumn will see you as an enemy.”

Jonas nodded.

“I can’t make that decision for my wolves,” Jonas said. “Broken Crag has a system for this kind of thing. So, if you want my wolves, if you want them to go to war for you, you gotta take them.”

Caleb clenched his jaw.

“What the hell does that mean?” Axel asked.

“It means,” Caleb sighed. “Jonas and I will fight. In silver and iron.”