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[Webnovel ©Lynnifer Ice]
(Content Warning: This chapter contains strong language)
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"It's a secret,~" the witch doctor winked as he finished suturing the chest wound.
"A secret? Then tell me why the gamma didn't die when I ran a blade through his heart?" Arcadio eagerly asked.
"That's because he doesn't have a heart. He's lucky you didn't puncture a lung, though," the witch doctor hissed, his snake tongue slithering out this time.
"Impossible," Arcadio refuted, "No living being can survive without a heart. That's scientifically impossible!"
"Ever heard of evolution, Alpha Arcadio?" The witch doctor looked bored as he began to pull out a pestle and mortar to grind some medicinal herbs. "His body obviously evolved in his mother's womb and adapted to work without a heart. Honestly, how dumb can you be that you can't figure out that simple logic?"
"Did you just call me 'dumb'...?" The alpha blinked, staring at the witch doctor.
"You have ears, do you not?" The witch doctor chuckled, knowing the alpha wouldn't dare to try anything. After all, he was the only doctor in the area since he had seen to it himself that all the werewolf doctors in the surrounding area went extinct. "By the way, the lad will need a new shirt. You are planning to provide one, are you not?"
"Why the hell should I? This gamma doesn't even-...," Arcadio tried to argue before he was cut off.
"If you want to continue receiving my services, Alpha... Then you WILL clothe him. Otherwise, the next time you need a doctor, I'll be permanently unavailable. Do I make myself clear?" The witch doctor hissed, nearly slamming the mortar onto the alpha's desk. He met the alpha's gaze, waiting for an answer.
"One of these days, you'll come to regret threatening me...," Arcadio gritted, "I'll clothe him AFTER I finish interrogating him. I want answers, and speaking of answers... TELL ME WHAT SPECIES HE IS!" Arcadio began to seethe, unintentionally tightening his grip on the gamma.
"Oh, here we go again," the witch doctor rolled his eyes before reaching into his basket and pulling out a thermos. He ignored the alpha's protests as he unscrewed the top and poured the hot water directly into the mortar before carefully mixing the contents with the pestle. Then he picked up the mortar and came closer to the two in the chair. "Now, loosen your grip before you leave more bruises and help me open his mouth. He needs to drink this."
"Not until you answer me," Arcadio refused stubbornly.
"I gave you an answer, you stupid mutt! It's not my problem if you don't like the answer. Now, open his damn mouth before I clobber you and leave without finishing my job!"
"How dare you-!" Arcadio growled, about to stand up and give the witch doctor a piece of his mind, but halted when he began producing his scales and tail with a threatening hiss. Arcadio immediately shut his mouth, avoiding the witch doctor's heavy glare. Besides his late parents and sister, the witch doctor was the only other living being that could intimidate the alpha. Arcadio sighed before tilting the gamma's head at the correct angle, naturally opening his mouth.
The witch doctor didn't say another word but instead proceeded with the gamma's treatment. It took more than an hour to finish his work, but he leaned back against the alpha's desk when he was finally done. He crossed his arms over his chest as he watched the Azariah's wounds continuously shrink until they became nonexistent. He nodded in approval before taking the still unconscious gamma out of the alpha's arms.
"What are you doing?" Arcadio rose to his feet, visibly confused.
"Stop trying to play twenty questions and grab the long white cloth in my basket," the witch doctor vaguely answered, eyeing his basket. Arcadio pressed his lips together in a thin line but did as he was told, handing the surprisingly stretchy material to him. "Thank you," the witch doctor added on before wrapping the cloth continuously around the gamma's chest until it was adequately bound once again, "There, all done. You can have him back now; he should wake up soon." The witch doctor passed the gamma back to the alpha expectantly.
"Name your payment," Arcadio said, taking the gamma back in one arm before plopping him down on the chair again.
"No need for that today."
"...-but you always-...," Arcadio's eyes widened.
"Getting to work on such a unique specimen twice in one day is payment enough," the witch doctor smiled to himself, packing up his materials back into his basket. "Do reach out if his condition changes, but he should fully recover without any problems. That is assuming.....you don't try to kill him again."
Before Arcadio could refute, the snake slithered out of his office, slamming the door shut behind him. Arcadio sighed in frustration, his attention turning back to the unconscious gamma. He bent down and grabbed his chin between his forefinger and thumb, turning his head from side to side. Just before he could let go, his office door slammed open. Before Arcadio could turn his head, a vicious punch to his cheek knocked him backward.
"YOU ASSHOLE!" The intruder shouted, fists raised to strike again.
"What the fuck was that for, Rowyn?!" Arcadio snarled, quick to bounce back and take a swing at his best friend. Although, Rowyn was quick to dodge.
"Don't play pretend with me!" Rowyn yelled as he took another swing at Arcadio, managing to punch his left shoulder when he tried to swerve out of the way.
"I don't know what you're talking about!!!" Arcadio bellowed before taking a swinging kick and landing it against Rowyn's right side.
"BULLSHIT!!!" Rowyn roared back, pouncing on Arcadio until he had him pinned against his desk. "You expect me to believe you had no idea when I was told you were torturing someone for information?!"
"What's wrong with-," Arcadio tried to ask, trying to push Rowyn off him but stopped when he noticed his best friend was biting back unshed tears. Rowyn was more than visibly upset and Arcadio was about to find out exactly why.
"You PROMISED! You fucking promised her you wouldn't do this anymore! Don't you remember giving your word to Arlena on her deathbed that you would stop torturing others?! Why would you break your promise to your sister like that?!?! Answer me, Arcadio! WHY," Rowyn fumed as he gripped Arcadio's shoulders as tightly as he could. "She meant as much to me as she did to you. The three of us were best friends, completely inseparable... You knew how much she hated you hurting others just for the sake of the clan or her. She MADE you promise, but you-!"
"I'm sorry, Rowyn. I... I wasn't thinking straight. I just saw him as a threat and acted without think-..."
Rowyn cut Arcadio off with a sharp slap across his right cheek. He glared at Arcadio before letting him go with a shove, taking a step back, still visibly fuming. Arcadio rubbed his injured cheek, looking down at the floor before meeting his best friend's gaze.
"I probably deserved that...," Arcadio sighed.
"You're damn right you did, dickhead Alpha," Rowyn spat, clenching his fists and debating whether to attack again.
"You address me as Alpha yet still strike me. You're damn lucky I value our friendship over anything else. Although," Arcadio straightened himself before closing the door that Rowyn had left open, "I am thankful that you attacked me in private and not in public. I don't need anyone in the clan thinking another alpha is challenging me for the position of Alpha of the pack. Look, Rowyn, I really am sorry..."
"Don't tell me you're sorry. Tell HER and your sister that you're sorry," Rowyn growled, pointing a figure back at the unconscious Azariah in the chair behind him.
"Her?" Arcadio knitted his brows together, "That's a HIM."
"Do you have eyes?" Rowyn asked, arching his left brow, "That's clearly a SHE. Do you not see SHE has BREASTS and a Pu-!"
"Don't you dare say the P-word," Arcadio glared at him.
"A kitty then," Rowyn frowned.
"HE is transgender, Rowyn. Don't address him as a she," Arcadio crossed his arms over his chest.
"Oh," Rowyn blinked, turning around toward the unconscious gamma. "So, he smells like a gamma... What's her name?"
"HE!" Arcadio corrected as he smacked Rowyn in the back of the head, "-and his name is Remy."
"Remy...," Rowyn let the name roll off his tongue, inspecting Remy's face closer, "Well, he's awfully cute. He also smells like-..."
"He smells artificial," Arcadio finished.
"How rude can you be?" Rowyn stood back up, turning around to Arcadio. "I was going to say that he smells like ME, a hybrid. You didn't really manage to forget your best friend is half-human, too, did you?"
- End of Chapter Thirteen -