498: CANE'S CRAFTINESS

CANE'S CRAFTINESS

Koda must have learned about the death of alpha Dristan and now he was making a fuss, demanding an explanation about the whole mess, after all, it was the death of the alpha from his pack. Someone must take responsibility of it. 

If the Howling Wolf pack, by any mean, involved in the death of alpha Dristan, it could cause discord between them, no matter what cooperation between them, it would turn into a bloody war between the two packs. 

Howling Wolf pack was not in a good position right now, they couldn't afford another battle at this moment, knowing that, Koda was being very hostile and rude, all the polite pretense he showed during their cooperation in the Riverside pack and in the palace was dropped. 

"My alpha is dead! It will be a pack problem! I want to know, who responsible for this!" Koda roared. 

That was the first sentence that Iris heard when she entered the war room, where Koda blew his top on Ethan, the gamma looked like he was going to lose his temper too. Ever since the incident in the palace, the gamma could control his temper better, though it was not good to provoke him too far. 

And right now, Ethan seemed on his wits end to be the receiving end of Koda's bullcrap. 

Iris immediately approached him and put her hand on his arm, which surprised Ethan, but he looked slightly loosened up to see she was there. He was too deep in his plan to claw Koda's mouth apart in his mind to notice her presence. 

"What is going on here?" Iris asked, though she knew what happened roughly, but she was not sure whether Koda knew the death of the king or not and what about lady Cyan? "Where is Jace?" she tilted her head toward Ethan. 

"Jace is on the way here, he is with Lou, they are talking about something." The fact that Ethan didn't disclose what Jace and Lou were talking about, Iris assumed it was something that Koda shouldn't know.

"Iris! It's a good thing you are here, as the luna of the pack, I demand your responsibility and explanation about what happened to my alpha!" Koda said angrily, he was being disrespectful when he addressed Iris without her title. 

"She is the luna of the pack, watch your mouth! Her station is above you!" Ethan barked back. His body was trembling, he was on the verge to make his imagination to end this old man's life came true, but Iris held his arm, to prevent him complicated the situation even further. 

"Why are you so angry, sir Koda? We just got attacked by the royal warriors, it is not wise for you to seek trouble by losing your temper." Iris tried to make her voice even, while thinking what she should do with this situation. 

What Cane would do if he was here? What kind of plan he had to turn the table around?

Iris tried, she really tried so hard to think like him, but she couldn't. She was not as cunning and calculative as him yet, she couldn't see a way out of this situation. More so, her head throbbed even more when she tried to think a little bit harder of the solution. How Cane's mind worked? She wondered…

"My alpha is dead!" He emphasized this. "Don't you think it's a great trouble for me and my pack?!" 

Iris tightened her grip on Ethan's arm when she felt he was about to bark back again. Having spent her time with him for months, she knew whatever came out of his mouth right now would only escalate the situation to nowhere without solution. 

"Hundred of warrior from the Howling Wolf pack are dead too, sir Koda, if you have not yet noticed that and my alpha is not in good condition right now." Iris straightened her back, if worst came to worst, she only needed to unleash Ethan and the gamma would take care of him. After all, there was no way, she could get involved in the altercation with this old man. "I am sorry for your loss, but it doesn't mean we survive the attack unscathed too. Countless warrior from the Howling Wolf pack is dead."

"They are nothing compare to an alpha!" Koda roared. He really overstepped his boundaries, by saying something like that. Just because the fallen warriors were not from his pack and he felt care less about them, it didn't mean, it was something you could say no matter what kind of situation you were in. 

"And your alpha is nothing compared to those fallen warriors!" Iris snapped back, her blue eyes were ablaze with anger, she emphasized every word she said. 

And probably because Koda didn't expect this runt to shout back at him, he was slightly taken aback and speechless. 

Right at that time, someone else entered the room and a shock gasp escaped Iris and Ethan's lips upon seeing the person. 

"Al- alpha? C- Cane?" Ethan stammered, he dreaded the thought it was Lu, who came to the picture. He was going to approach him when he saw his black eyes. "Cane? Is that you? Are you, okay?" He asked under his breath, only to be sure it was really him. 

Now, the gamma was going to cry to see his callous eyes and cold demeanor when he didn't regard his question at all. He had never been this happy to be ignored by Cane. 

It was not because he came to deal with Koda, since this old man was only a nuisance, but there were a lot of things he needed to report to the alpha and even more a lot of decision to make. 

However, Iris had different thought from Ethan, as she approached Cane. "Are you, okay?" She could see how pale he was, but it was him. Probably, he was only sleeping for three hours at most, since she cuddled him to sleep. 

"I am fine," Cane said softly, he rested his arm around her waist and kissed her forehead to smoothen the crease between her brows, only then he shifted his attention toward Koda. 

Now, Iris and Ethan waited for what kind of plan Cane would concoct to get them out of this dire situation. 

"Alpha Cane, I am happy to see you here," Koda tried to make a small talk with Cane, but the alpha didn't have time for that. 

"Alpha Dristan is dead," Cane stated the obvious. 

"Yes and I am here to demand an explanation and responsibility for whoever the person, who had killed him!" Koda was enraged, but Cane's reply shut him up.

"The king ordered lady Cyan to kill him with dark magic."1

There was a moment of silence fell inside the room. "What?"

"Isn't it very obvious? With the king's royal guards attacked my pack and the two alphas, who possessed the only mines in this realm were in vulnerable state, do you think the king will not salivate the opportunity to get his hand on the two packs?" Cane was not telling a lie, but he wouldn't say the full truth. He would only say something that would benefit him from this whole situation. 

"What?" Koda staggered back. 

Meanwhile, Iris and Ethan glanced at each other, they were clueless about what kind of game Cane was playing right now. The alpha looked so calm, as if he had everything under his control and had thought about this carefully. 

"But… but, where is the king now?" 

Jace had not yet disclosed this matter yet, because this information was too shocking and he must tread carefully, he needed Cane's order about how to reveal the death of the king. 

"He is dead." Cane stared deep into Koda's eyes when he spoke his next words. "Lady Cyan killed him." 

Lady Cyan didn't directly kill king Aeon, but because of whatever spell she put on the king, rendered Aeon unable to move and feel anything when the monsters attacked them, which led him to meet with his demise. 

"There is no way that happened… but… how?" Koda was utterly speechless. His mind went numb, he couldn't think of anything for a moment, and Cane filled it with a purpose. 

"I have mentioned this before." Cane drew circle mindlessly on Iris's waist when he spoke languidly. "Lady Cyan is a dark witch, she used dark magic to move the warrior. If you don't believe it, you can check the dead royal warrior in the mountain, after all, dark magic left traces."

Koda's mind was running so wild. "What? What should we do now? What should I do now? The king is dead, alpha Dristan is dead!" He was in panic, as he was at loss and Cane let the news sunk in first before he spoke again. 

"You know what to do and there is no time for delay," Cane said in convincing tone, as if Koda should be smart enough to figure this out. 

Not only Koda, who felt the tension and frustration, but Iris and Ethan were also curious what Cane was going to say. 

"What do you mean? What should I do?"

There was this small smile on the corner of Cane's lips. "Your great grandson is the crown prince and his status has been acceded by the king. With the death of the king, your great grandson will need all the power the Red Claw have to support his claim to the throne. You should be his regent until he comes to age."

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