Chapter 117: The Alpha who should have been there

Cassian walked through the parting crowd, so tall that he could see everything from where he was. He had discarded his royal robe somewhere along running straight here the moment he’d left the castle and had sniffed trouble.

Today was the biggest market day of the year.

And places with gathered people usually brought two things — peace, or trouble.

Looks like today’s own was the latter.

As he walked through them, he could already count over five hundred people gathered around. Their scent reeked of extreme violence, and he caught a few of them with their claws still out, dripping with blood.

And heavens help them, that he was just overthinking it and that blood didn’t belong to a certain person, or else he was going to turn Eclipse Crown Pack into a land full of corpses and not even Malachi himself would be able to stop him.

The moment he came close enough to see what was really going on, his heart almost stopped.

The large crowd and the smell of violence in the air had brought his wolf to the surface, but the moment his eyes fell on the broken, battered woman covered in blood lying helplessly on the floor, her chest unnaturally still, claws shot out involuntarily from his nails, extending to almost five-inch length.

"With all due respect, brother," Selene’s voice whispered next to him, "I think it’s best if you drew in your claws,"

She was standing somewhere around him, blended in with a crowd.

Her brown eyes danced inside her cloak with idle curiosity, and she watched him twitch one finger as he forced some self-control back to himself. Because the moment he started, he wouldn’t stop till every single person here was dead.

And Della needed him more right now.

He’d only taken a step forward when someone stepped forward from the crowd, holding a piece of jewellery in his hand.

Cassian’s eyes shifted toward him.

Orson seemed to gather more courage from the hundreds surrounding him. He pointed at Della, "That woman took my diamond. We caught her with it. She is a Rotblood and a thief. She should—"

Cassian crossed the distance between them. Orson barely had time to inhale before Cassian’s hand closed around his throat, and the merchant’s feet left the ground.

"She should what?"

Orson’s face drained of colour, "Alpha, I—"

Cassian only took one more look at him, then he left his instinct take over for a moment. His hand shot out, and he threw him away like he’d just thrown a ball, and the man and his diamond flew across the marketplace like a discarded piece of cloth, crashing through one wooden stall, then another.

Shelves splintered beneath him before his body finally disappeared beneath a mountain of scattered fabrics and overturned baskets.

Cassian looked at the wreckage for barely a second, and then his attention returned to Della.

In that second he’d help the man, he’d seen more than enough. He already knew there was no way people would gather to beat someone like Della for a good reason, and there was something he’d caught in Orson’s eyes when he had glanced at Della.

There was something hungry behind his rage, and Cassian had felt his wolf go still and become intensely watchful.

And Cassian had always learnt to trust his instinct.

Then his attention returned to Della.

Annelise blinked once and found herself standing away from her dying friend. She was somewhere down the road, away from the bursting crowd, and Cassian was standing next to her.

He was holding Della with astonishing care, trying not to let the fact that her body was cold get to him.

"She has a dying pulse," Cassian groaned, his arms trembling.

Annelise never thought that in her lifetime she’d witness a time when a Supreme Alpha would break. She didn’t even realise it was possible till this very moment when she saw Cassian look down at Della’s eyes, one arm cradling her to his chest while the other was pressed to her lips, blood from his torn arms going into her mouth and down her throat.

And what looked like tears pooled in his silver eyes, making his eyes resemble a rising moon behind a large glistening body of water.

"You can save her, right?" His voice cracked.

"She’s losing too much blood."

"Then stop it!"

"I need somewhere quiet. Somewhere I can examine her properly."

Cassian immediately turned, carrying Della closer against his chest, "Where?"

"The healing wing."

"No." His answer came instantly. "Too far."

Anne stared at him.

He was right.

Della didn’t have time.

"Then we need a room. Now."

Cassian looked around before his gaze landed on a nearby building, "That one."

He didn’t wait for permission. She didn’t even ask for permission from the residents of the house.

He carried Della inside.

Annelise followed, already tearing through her clothes for anything she could use. Her fingers shook as she knelt beside Della and began checking her injuries one after another.

And from somewhere beyond them, hidden beneath the shadow of an adjoining building, another pair of eyes watched.

Malachi stood completely still.

He hadn’t moved when the crowd parted. Hadn’t stepped forward when Cassian appeared. He simply remained where he was, partially concealed beneath the building’s overhanging roof, his gaze fixed on the scene unfolding before him.

He had seen everything.

The blood staining the marketplace.

Malachi’s eyes followed the Supreme Alpha as he carried Della away, his movements strangely careful despite the violence still hanging thickly in the air.

He watched Cassian stop.

Watched him lower his head toward Della.

Watched the way his hand moved to her face.

Then Cassian disappeared through the doorway with Annelise following closely behind.

Malachi’s gaze remained on that entrance.

Behind him, the marketplace had fallen almost completely silent.

Not a single person dared resume their trading.

One stall had been completely destroyed. Another was overturned, its contents scattered across the ground.

His gaze moved over them all, then his eyes settled on Orson. The merchant was still buried beneath the remains of the stalls Cassian had thrown him through.

Malachi stared at him for several seconds, then his attention returned to the doorway, and his fingers slowly curled into fists.