The Wolf King (The Wolf Kings #1) (MLM)

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO.

                Jack didn't see Tiberius for the following two days. Isaac and Mira had been shocked to hear that he had spoken to Violet, and more than once, too, since they hadn't known about Jack stumbling into her when William had been chasing after him. Isaac had insisted on telling Tiberius right then, but Mira, to everyone's surprise, had argued against it.

"I actually think it's a good idea to keep this hidden for now," she murmured. "Tiberius was already ready to tear the castle apart when a random witch threatened Jack. Now Violet Hailwind herself talked to him. He won't hear anything else."

And though Jack didn't want to agree, he did. He hadn't wanted to keep anymore secrets from Tiberius, but if he wasn't going to listen, then there was no choice. Besides, it wasn't like Tiberius seemed eager to talk to him anyway. The last Jack had seen of him, he'd looked really angry with him, breathing shallowly and avoiding even looking at him. Jack had tried touching his shoulder only for Tiberius to flinch away from him and snap at him to stay away.

"Don't come near me again," he'd growled, his voice rough and each of his muscles clenched as he kept his back to Jack before storming away.

Maybe Jack didn't feel too bad about hiding things from Tiberius, after all. Maybe he was more hurt than he was willing to admit. Nonetheless, he did what he always did when he was feeling a rush of emotions that he had no clue what to do with; he buried himself in his work. So he and the others spent the next two days scouring the library for any information they could find on the Werewolf Stone, but like the Moonstone Beacon, there was nothing about it in any of the books.

The most Jack could find was a four-line stanza that read as follows;

The boy with moonstones in his hair

Did find the soul he sought,

As the wolf with moonlight's brightest fur

Led him to moonlight's brightest spot.

He jotted it down in his notepad, but since he couldn't understand it and Isaac shrugged it off as an obscure children's song, it was just another dead end.

Jack started to worry that Tiberius would somehow sense he was hiding something from him and search him out, but to his dismay, Tiberius had all but vanished.

He wasn't at meals the next two mornings, he wasn't in the library or the gardens, and when Jack had given in and asked a servant, the stammering boy told him he'd been locked down in his room.

"You mean locked up?"

"No," the servant had squeaked, and run off.

Mira, who had clung to his arm, hummed. "It is that time again."

"Blasted, is it?" Everett said. "With everything that's been going on, I've lost track of time."

"Time for what?" Jack asked, looking between them.

"Don't you worry about that!" Everett snapped very suddenly. "You just stay away from Tiberius's room, understand? What's going on does not concern you!"

Jack stared. Then smiled. "Okay." And without another word, he ran in the direction of Tiberius's room.

"Jack, no!" Everett caught his sleeve almost at once. Damn elves.

"Why can't I go see Tiberius?"

"Because . . . because he's angry with you, remember? He doesn't want to see you."