Shan hadn't regained consciousness either after lying overnight at Luke's house. Leon himself was recovering, he was injured quite badly and needed to rest. Meanwhile, Luke tended to them without stopping for a minute. The middle-aged man continued to rant endlessly.
"You're a clear Alpha no doubt, years of service with King Adelmo. But, how foolish to attack a palace with thousands of enemies without any plan at all."
Leon just listened without giving any response.
"How can you be that short-minded? You guys have really lost your minds." Luke was still nagging Leon himself because Shan was too busy lying down and closing his eyes. Perhaps it was Luke's nagging that kept his in that position.
"Now look, did you guys get the girl? No! There's even more to be freed!"
"Luke stop nagging, I might die from your nagging," said Leon who was getting bored.
"Yeah, just die!"
Doesn't he seem heartless? Really Luke.
When Leon and Shan left Luke's house in the city, Luke had actually seen them running in the middle of the forest. Luke knew where they were going, and he knew what they were looking for.
Before returning to the palace, Mat stopped by Luke's house. Perhaps his intention was to bring Luke along or just have some fun with the middle-aged man. Unfortunately, Luke had already known about Mat's arrival, so he left and secured himself, who was old enough to fight.
Luke also saw Gretta who was brought by Mat and his men, and she was not in a good condition. The wounds on her face were still healing and the blood stains on her clothes were very obvious. Gretta had also lost consciousness at that time.
Therefore, when he saw that Leon and Shan could come so quickly, Luke was sure that they wanted to get Gretta back. He had thought that Leon had a plan before actually attacking the palace, so Luke followed them with the intention of helping from a distance. Unfortunately, Luke was the one who took care of everything.
Shan had a serious injury. As was Colin's habit, she always played her spear on her co-stars. Colin's spearhead is usually always the end of someone's life. If Leon was previously hit, now it was Shan who became her victim.
Shan's wound is not in the chest but the left abdomen, stabbed quite deeply and will require a long healing process. Leon alone who has relatively fast cell regeneration needs a long time, let alone Shan.
"Is he really still unconscious or just sleeping?" asked Luke after changing the bandage on Shan's wound.
Luke, although he was very fussy and his words were always cruel, but his compassion was always balanced with the sharpness of his mouth. He was still patiently treating Shan who was clearly not his job either.
Leon caught a glimpse of Luke who looked so intently at Shan's calm face.
"Why don't we just kill him, i am tired of taking care of him."
Leon's previously bright face turned dark instantly. He had just intended to thank and praise Luke, but was attacked with his sharp words.
"I can hear you, Luke," Shan chided. He had regained his senses and was complaining slightly about the wound in his stomach. "It's cruel to want to kill someone who's dying!" he continued.
Instead of responding, Luke punched Shan's chest in annoyance. Venting his fatigue, perhaps.
"Instead of thanking you, you're babbling!" Luke said irritably.
Seeing that Shan's condition had improved and had regained consciousness, Leon was finally relieved. Shan wasn't the one he was emotionally attached to, but he was always by his side. Leon wouldn't let himself lose him again because of his stupidity.
Luke took a position opposite Leon and Shan was beside him. "We must quickly formulate a plan to get Gretta back."
"I just realized and-,"
"No." Leon cut Shan off, he looked at Luke. "The mission isn't Gretta, it's Rhys," he continued.
"I won't sacrifice anything again because of Rhys, the focus of the hunt should be Rhys this time."
"Then Gretta?" asked Shan.
Leon was silent for a moment. "Rhys won't do anything to her, he wants me to be able to get what he wants. And, he can't do anything to Gretta before he can get what he wants from me."
"How can you guarantee that your words are true?"
"I think Leon is right." This time it was Luke who interrupted Shan. "If he really wanted to kill Gretta, he wouldn't have needed her brought to the palace. Mat could have done it without involving Rhys."
"One thing I'm wondering is, why didn't that thought start before Kaliam brutally attacked?" Luke started his rant again.
Shan understood that, but as for the 'getting what he wants' part, Shan didn't understand what that meant.
"But how to catch Rhys with that many troops, plus there's Gretta who he can make a threat to us." Shan asked again.
"Gretta?" asked Luke scratching his head. "Don't worry too much about her, that girl could be more powerful than you, even than me."
Shan frowned, Leon didn't give any response, but in his heart he agreed with Luke's words. Inside Leon, he could feel that Gretta was not just a werewolf who had spent time with humans. But there was a big reason behind it.
Sometimes, things like this made Shan upset and confused, Leon and Luke could understand each other's heads and Shan was left stunned and not understanding.
*
As they settled down to rest and figure out how to carry out their plan, Leon sat looking up at the ceiling. Luke had gone to his room, which had been occupied by Gretta for the past few days. Shan was still lying on the sofa near Leon.
The sound of crickets and the night breeze kept Leon company while the other two were fast asleep. With the house on the edge of the cliff and in the middle of the forest, sometimes the sound of wild boars was also quite disturbing and broke Leon's concentration.
Leon recalled Rhys' words several times when they were in battle. 'Amethyst', why did Rhys want to have that stone so badly? And why was only Leon ever told by King Adelmo where he kept the stone?
What exactly did Leon not know from Elisabeth, Gretta, and now Rhys? There was too much he knew for the one thing he happened to know.
"Who am I and who are they?" muttered Leon, closing his eyes.