The Alpha's Forbidden Omega

Fear

Chapter Seventeen

Faelen’s POV

As I walked, I couldn’t help but replay the encounter with Caleb in my head. Caleb hadn’t seemed angry or suspicious, but that didn’t mean I could trust him.

He was still Hunter’s right-hand man, and I couldn’t forget that. The letter weighed on my mind, and I knew I had to figure out a way to make the information to Alpha Zodd.

But how?

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts as I made my way to the kitchens. I resolved that I may have to allow myself get a little distracted by Caleb, by his apparent kindness. And perhaps also turn Hunter’s cruelty into an advantage.

I made my way back to the head maid, hoping she had not asked of me while I was gone. Fortunately, there wasn’t any sign she did, so it was a good sign.

The head maid just handed out remaining tasks for the afternoon to us there, then told us we had one hour to rest before starting lunch preparations.

I nodded absentmindedly, barely listening to her words as I thought of how to get to Alpha Zodd. When she dismissed us, I quickly headed to the servants’ quarters.

As soon as I reached my room, I collapsed onto the bed, letting out a long breath. My mind was racing, going over everything I’d read in that letter.

Border activities. Something important enough to cause tension with a neighboring pack, yet I hadn’t heard a single whisper about it. It had to be a secret. There was no other explanation for it.

We always shared our meals with the male servants, and they were usually chatty about their tasks, especially during meals. They loved to boast about the work they handled around the estate.

If there were something going on at the borders, someone would’ve mentioned it by now. But there’d been nothing… no talk, no gossip. It made me uneasy, knowing that something big was happening and no one was talking about it.

I thought about asking one of the male servants, maybe catching one of them alone and trying to bring it up casually. But as soon as the idea crossed my mind, I pushed it away.

It was too dangerous. I didn’t know who I could trust with that, and if I asked the wrong person, it would raise all sorts of suspicions on me.

If Hunter found out that the servant he hated most was asking questions about something he’d tried to keep so secretive, I didn’t even want to think about what he’d do to me.

No, I couldn’t risk asking around.

I stared up at the ceiling, feeling the frustration build inside me. I knew I was so close to something important, but I didn’t know what to do next.

I couldn’t just sit on this information, but I couldn’t act on it without putting myself in danger also. My thoughts kept circling back to the same questions, the same dead ends.

Was there anyone I could trust? Anyone I could talk to without being scared of being betrayed? The answer seemed to be no. This place, especially the servant quarters, was a nest of vipers, and I was on my own.

But I couldn’t give up. I couldn’t just do nothing. I had to find a way to use the information I got. The whole essence of my mission depended on it. I’d been sent here to gather intelligence, and I wasn’t going to fail, no matter how impossible it seemed.

I closed my eyes, trying to calm the storm inside my head. I had to be smart about this. I couldn’t afford mistakes. I thought maybe there was another way to find out more, something I hadn’t thought of yet.

Maybe I just needed to be patient, to wait for the right opportunity. But time was ticking. Eventually, Hunter would return, and the window of opportunity might close. I just had to hope that when the moment came, I’d be ready.

For now, I had to push these thoughts aside and focus on something else. Lunch preparations were coming up, and I needed to keep my head down, to act like everything was normal.

I’d waited for weeks to get my hand on something, and the letter I’d found had finally opened a door. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was the same letter one of the maids take.

I had not heard about that anymore and so forgotten about it when I realized there was no way of getting my hands on it. Thankfully, I had found one myself now.

As I lay on the bed, the pieces of a plan started to fall into place in my mind. I had spent enough time here to get familiar with the layout of the pack’s territory, especially the areas around the estate.

The southern border wasn’t far from the servants’ quarters, just a short distance into the woods. It was close enough that if I were fast, I could slip away, find out what was going on, and be back before anyone noticed I was gone.

I knew it was a completely bad idea, but the more I thought about it, the more the idea took hold in my head. I knew it was risky… stupidly risky, even, but it was the only way to get the full information and the temptation was too strong to ignore.

The letter I’d found had to be something Hunter wanted to keep hidden. And if I could find out what it was, it would be exactly the kind of information Alpha Zodd was after.

I tried to push the idea away, to remind myself of the danger, but it was no use. I’d made up my mind already, what more was left when for me to makes plans on how to carry it out.

I got up from the bed, feeling nervous about what I was about to do. There was still time before lunch preparations started… plenty of time to slip away and come back without anyone noticing.

I hurried to the small hall where we usually ate and checked the time. I had forty minutes left, more than enough to make the trip.

Taking a deep breath, I headed out of the quarters, making sure no one saw me leave. I walked calmly until I was out of sight, then suddenly broke into a run, heading toward the woods.

The trees closed in around me as I pushed forward, my heart pounding with the thrill of what I was doing. The path to the border wasn’t difficult to find.

As I got closer, I slowed down, moving carefully so as not to make any noise. The last thing I needed was to be caught there in the woods before I even knew what I was looking for.

As I crept closer towards the border, a sound reached my ears… a low, rumbling sound, like the sound of machinery somewhere there in the woods. My heart skipped a beat. That had to be it. Whatever was happening, it was just ahead.

I moved quietly through the trees until I found a spot where I could see without being spotted. Hiding behind a large oak tree, I peered and caught sight of them… men working with machines just around the border, right where the letter had hinted.

They were drilling into the ground, digging up something. I watched them for a moment, trying to figure out what they were digging up, but it was hard to tell from where I was.

Still, it was enough. I’d found something important, something Hunter clearly didn’t want anyone to know about. Whatever they were digging for, it was happening right on the edge of Steeprock territory, close enough to their land to cause trouble.

And now I had proof of it.

I tried to see if I could edge closer, trying to keep as quiet as possible while avoiding the crunch of leaves beneath my feet. Every step brought me nearer to the source of the sound of men working… the rumbling of machines, the clinking of metal on stone.

As I found a spot I felt was close enough to see without still being sighed easily from where they were, I crouched low behind a thick bush, peering through the leaves.

The men were hard at work, their backs bent with the effort as they dug into the earth, pulling up handfuls of something that glittered in the sunlight. My breath caught in my throat as I realized what it was… gold.

They were digging for gold.

I had to blink several times, not trusting my eyes. But there was no mistaking it. Piles of dirt had were drilled through, revealing small pieces of the precious metal. My mind raced with the thought of what this meant.

Hunter had these men digging for gold right at the edge of another pack’s territory. If word of this got out, it could lead to a war… not just between the Howle Wulf pack and their neighbors, but potentially drawing in other packs as well.

Like mine.

No wonder Hunter was keeping this operation a secret. This was it. This was the information I needed, something concrete that could give my pack an advantage.

My thoughts spun in me as I considered the possibilities, the ways this could play out. If Alpha Zodd knew about this, knowing who he was, he would use it to undermine Hunter, or even try to broker a deal with the neighboring packs.

The power that came with controlling such resources was huge, and I had stumbled right into the middle of it. I couldn’t afford to waste time. I needed to get out of here and back to the estate before anyone noticed I was gone.

But just as I began to retreat back, I heard footsteps… a low crunch of boots on the forest floor. My heart jumped into my throat as I realized someone was coming, someone close enough.

Fear took over me immediately, but I tried to forced it down, looking around desperately for a place to hide. There was no time to think, only to act.

I ducked behind the nearest tree, pressing my back against the rough bark, holding my breath. The footsteps grew louder and even closer, until I could hear the faint murmur of voices just above me.