Lethal✔️

Chapter 37

Cain frowned. "You think Thane let the rogue go?"

I pick up a rock from off of the ground, and use it to sharpen my sword. "You don't think it's possible?"

Cain mulls it over. "He wouldn't do that. He knows  we would have no choice but to declare war on him if he did that."

"He would do anything for Onyx," I point out. "We could have declared war that night, and he knew there was a chance we would. I don't put it past him to release the rogue if she asked."

Considering my words, Cain and I continue to venture through the territory, but we find nothing. "I can't declare war on him without knowing for sure if he released the rogue or not. A hunch is not proof," He says. "We should give him the benefit of the doubt."

I scoff. "What, like he gave us the benefit of the doubt when he accused us of kidnapping his idiot mate?"

Cain rolls his eyes. "You don't think she's an idiot, Ares. You just feel betrayed."

"No, I'm pretty confident she's a moron."

Cain laughs, but doesn't press the argument further. He may not be Onyx's biggest fan, but I could see he had a soft spot for her.

"Cain, it snowed last night," I suddenly realize.
Cain furrows his eyebrows, looking around at the white forrest. "Obviously," He says slowly, like I'm an idiot.

"Tracks. There should be tracks in the snow. There hasn't been any more snowfall since last night, the prints should be fresh," I point out.

Realization flashes through his eyes. "Ares, you're a genius."

I scoff. Obviously.

We go back to where the body was found, and examine the ground. Most of the prints are footprints, but there are paw markings in the snow, although some of them have been walked over.
The paw prints go into the woods, and Cain tells Axel and Mark, a tracker, to come with us as we follow the prints.

"There was two wolves," The tracker states, hunching over the ground, examining the tracks closely. We have the paw prints, which we know are the killer's because Phillip was killed by a wolf. But we have footprints right next to the paw prints. I'd guess that one was in wolf form, the other in human. The tracks are side by side, like they were walking together. They may be mates, purely based on the proximity alone."

I frown, turning to Cain. "If it was the rogue, he would have been alone, not with someone else."

Cain nods. "I don't think it's him."

"Then how did he get so close to the border undetected?" I ask.

None of them have an answer. "The pack link," Axel suddenly says.

"What's that?" Cain asks as we continue to follow the tracks.

"Phillip didn't use the pack link to let anyone know there was a rogue," Axel explains. "It's one of the first things you're told as a guard on patrol. As soon as you see an unknown wolf, let everyone know where you are and that there's an unidentified wolf."

We consider his words. He's right about that. When I was the Red Crescent Gamma on patrol duty, it was imperative that we always communicated when there was a rogue so other pack members could come quickly to help out.

"He could have been caught off guard?" I suggested. "Attacked before he could let us know?"

Cain shakes his head. "He was a strong wolf. He would have been able to hear or see a wolf before it attacked, especially since there was two of them."