Chapter 287: Episode 287.

Three days later:

The snow was deeper on the northern side of the forest.

The warriors had been searching for hours, following the route the Blackfens had taken weeks earlier. They had found little beyond old tracks, broken branches and patches of disturbed snow.

Xanden had divided the men into smaller groups before they entered the forest. Each group had been given a section to investigate, with instructions to report anything unusual.

They were not to engage anyone without informing him first. So far, none of them had found anything.

One of the warriors stopped beside a cluster of trees.

"Wait."

The two men behind him turned.

He crouched, brushing some snow away from the ground. There was something beneath it. A piece of wood.

He cleared more snow, revealing a long, rough plank partially buried beneath the white surface.

"Come here."

The others approached.

"Do you recognise this?" one asked.

He looked around, studying the surrounding snow frozen trees. There were no obvious tracks. The snowfall had covered almost everything.

Then he noticed something else.

A section of the ground was slightly uneven, as though something had been deliberately covered.

He stood.

"Get the others."

Within minutes, the small group had gathered around the spot.

They began clearing the snow carefully, using their hands and the flat sides of their weapons.

The first thing they uncovered was another wooden plank. Then another, that formed a railing.

They continued digging.

A few minutes later, the shape of a wooden structure became visible.

It was a cage.

A man stepped back, staring at it. "Who would leave something like this out here?"

The warrior who had first discovered the wood moved closer. "There’s someone inside."

Everyone went still.

He dropped to his knees, with his claws out, and began clearing the snow from one side of the cage.

"Help me."

The others immediately joined him.

They worked faster now, removing the snow covering the wooden bars. The structure was partially buried, and some of the weight above it had pressed the roof down.

One of the men tried to lift a plank.

"Careful. The whole thing could collapse."

They cleared more snow, exposing enough of the cage to see inside. Then someone stopped moving.

"Moon Goddess..."

A figure lay curled on the frozen floor.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

The woman was barely recognisable.

Her clothes were torn and stiff with ice. Her hair was tangled, scattered across the floor. One arm was tucked beneath her body, while the other lay awkwardly beside her.

Her skin was pale.

There were dark patches across her exposed shoulder, and her fingers were swollen, discoloured and almost black at the tips.

She wasn’t moving.

"Is she..."

The warrior closest to the opening leaned forward.

"Lady Blackfen?" His voice came out uncertain.

He knew her.

They all did.

Some of the warriors had trained alongside her during earlier visits. Others remembered her from gatherings at the castle.

She had never been someone who went unnoticed. She was an Alpha’s daughter. Proud, unplesant to deal with, sharp-tongued and difficult to intimidate.

Seeing her lying inside a wooden cage in the middle of a frozen forest was almost impossible to comprehend.

One of the men dropped to his knees. He leaned closer. "Lady Adele?"

There was no response.

He reached through the opening, stopping just before touching her. "Lady Adele, can you hear me?"

One noticed. "She’s not moving."

"Get her out."

"We need to open the cage first."

They examined the wooden bars. Some had been secured tightly, while others were covered in thick layers of ice.

A warrior brought his axe forward.

"Wait. Don’t strike the bars. We don’t know how weak the structure is."

He examined the opening again. There was barely enough room for someone to reach inside.

"Break the side. Carefully."

They worked together, removing the wooden planks one at a time. The moment there was enough space, the first warrior crawled closer.

He reached for Adele’s shoulder, then stopped.

Her skin looked terrible.

The area around the shoulder was swollen, with a dark purple bruise spreading across it. The surrounding flesh was red and irritated, and there were patches where the skin had broken.

He swallowed. He touched the side of her neck. For one terrible second, he felt nothing. Then, he felt a faint pulse.

His head lifted. "She’s alive!"

The others moved immediately. "She’s alive?"

"Yes, but barely."

He checked again, pressing two fingers against her neck. Her pulse was weak. So weak that he had to concentrate with his wolf to feel it.

He leaned closer to her face.

There was a faint movement against his cheek. She was breathing. Barely.

They carefully removed the remaining pieces of wood, and together, they pulled the supression chain off her wrist.

Two warriors entered the opening, making enough room to reach her without pulling at her injured shoulder.

"Don’t lift her like that," one warned. "Look at her arm."

Her body was stiff from the cold, and she barely reacted when one of them tried to adjust her position.

"She needs a healer." One of them said, taking note of the supression chain.

"Send someone back to the castle!"

One of the warriors immediately turned and ran.

"Tell Xanden we found someone out where he asked. Tell him who it is. Tell him to send the healers and a carriage. Quickly!"

The man shifted, and disappeared between the trees. The others returned their attention to Adele.

They needed to get her out of the cage, but they couldn’t afford to move her carelessly.

"On my count. Support her back and legs. Keep her shoulder still."

They positioned themselves around her.

"One..." They carefully lifted her.

Her head fell backwards.

Her lips were dark, almost purple. Her cheeks were pale, and her eyelashes were covered with tiny crystals of ice.

They carried her away from the broken cage and laid her on a thick cloak. One of the men removed his own outer garment and placed it over her.

"Get more blankets."

Another warrior hurried to gather dry branches.

They needed warmth, shelter and a healer. They couldn’t simply expose her to a fire or attempt to warm her too quickly. Her condition was far beyond what they could handle themselves.

The warrior who had first discovered her knelt beside her. He looked at her face again. "Lady Adele..."

His voice broke slightly.

Though rude, she had been so full of life. Now, she looked as though she had already been taken from them.

He reached for her hand.

It was cold. He immediately withdrew his fingers, afraid of causing further damage.

They looked towards the cage.

The snow covering it was thick. The wood had been buried beneath layers of ice and frozen earth.

This hadn’t happened yesterday. She had been here for a long time. Weeks, perhaps.

Adele’s chest rose faintly beneath the blankets. Then fell.

The warrior beside her leaned closer, watching carefully. "Keep breathing, my lady."

He didn’t know if she could hear him. He didn’t know if she would survive the journey back.

"Help is coming. You’re going home."

Adele didn’t move.

Her fingers remained curled against her palm, stiff and discoloured. Her breathing was so shallow that every pause made the men around her look down carefully.

One of them placed another blanket over her legs. "She’s been without food and water for too long."

"We don’t know what else she’s suffered."

The warrior looked at the bruising across her shoulder. He wondered who did this, and how it happened.

Whoever did this would face the cruelest and slowest death when taken to Alpha Blackfen. They could only hope Alpha Blackfen would show mercy to whoever had done this to his daughter.