-Richard Morgan! Wake up!
With a low moan, Rick opened his eyes and blinked against the glare. His head throbbed. He looked at Jackie's annoyed countenance with resigned regret, before facing a very serious Michael.
-What happened? Say at least once that I don't have problems like a good brother. - He pleaded in a terrible and frustrated lament. - You're a good brother, aren't you?
He frowned, remembering the night before. He generally wasn't in the habit of drinking too much. Only he had gone too far with the wine. Memories came back in a flash. Mayra's complaints. -There, my good God! The gipsy had complained for hours when she learned of their marriage. Jackie's sermons. - May they pity him. Rays. Cassie was no longer a child. Jackie hadn't noticed the damn detail? Jackie's recriminations for choosing a sorceress mate. - To hell your hypocrisy, my brother. Do you think I didn't notice your way with Faith? Guess. She's not just half sorceress.
In a bad-tempered grunt, he turned to the side. The bed was empty. The cool sheets where your wife should be sleeping.
-Cassie? - He muttered, bewildered.
- Let me tell you the news. Nobody saw her. - Jackie commented dryly. – And you know the best? The village is in chaos. It appears that a certain staff has also disappeared.
-Curse! – Richard Morgan exploded fully awake. If that fool had decided to do something foolish, he would kill her. He sat up in bed, pulling back the covers.
The memories... came back in maddening vertigo in his memory. Captivity at the hands of sorcerers. The unexpected discovery of the arrival of an heir...
Oh good God! He was naked. He had gotten drunk. He couldn't remember the details after Jackie had decided to complain about his behaviour. The startled eyes fell on the sheet leaving him stunned.
It was blood. A lot of blood. Jackie's curse upon noticing the detail roused him from his sudden daze. Compassion. The unfortunate drunkenness... I couldn't believe it! The legendary reputation of an experienced lover surely deserted him. He had first thought Cassie was an experienced woman. With all the recent bad luck, to say the least, he had hurt his wife in his mad passion. What had he done, sir? The girl would have run away after he behaved like an animal.
-It's not just the damned witch! - Michael exploded furiously. No one had seen Faith either since daybreak. It was past lunchtime. - Faith! No one has seen her or knows about her.
Jackie grunted in disgust.
-Nobody?!-He asked with irony. - Or you? Maybe she finally came to her senses and decided that...
Richard eyed Jackie with obvious contempt.
- Or did you decide to show your sister that I...
Michael cursed on the edge of patience.
-Shut up! By God, Mike. - The appeal was loaded with hurt and resentment. - Faith is a witch! I don't remember seeing such dislike of the detail towards her. Richard Morgan stood up, fumbling for his clothes in the height of irritation.
His head was still throbbing with the excellent Gypsy wine. A sweet, inviting taste in his throat made his insides churn. He couldn't have been that irresponsible. The girl was a new wolf. She should have listened to Vladimir's warnings. A young wolf needed to satisfy basic needs.
Cassie, like every new wolf, had been unfriendly to the change in feeding. To make matters worse, he had reproachfully tasted his wife's blood. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. How much of her blood had he drunk so that the parched Vein Disease afflicted the girl?
"God!?" Mike shook his head spitefully. - The girl is a mestizo. She's still a damned sorceress, Morgan. You are the alpha of the pack. Do you expect wolves to accept a natural enemy as their female? For years wolves and sorcerers were and are natural enemies.
Rick Morgan shook his head in amazement.
-Faith is a sorceress. She grew up among us.
The scornful laugh rose in the tension-laden air.
-Faith is Will's natural daughter. She does not have the gift of magic in her blood. Not like this girl Don't compare the situation. She's very different from this…this…Cassie doesn't even have the blood of our people. - Richard was impatient to have to hear that, ignoring their hostile looks of Jackie. - In short, she is...
-A mestizo! - Rick Morgan yelled already completely out of patience. If the wife had run away from the village he was wasting valuable time there discussing beliefs and traditions. - Our people you cherish so much... We don't even have females in our pack anymore. Our women are deprived of the gift of creation. The last child born alive was Adam.
-It doesn't justify you...
-But of course, it justifies it. - Rick yelled with double anger. - I'm the alpha. For generations of mestizos, they were intended as mates to pack leaders. I won't settle for a human if I have a wolf and...
-And are you coming to talk to me about traditions? Michael stood openmouthed, gesturing helplessly in the air with his hands. - The girl is simply unreliable. See you, my brother. It's sorcery. You are obsessed with this girl. We don't know anything about her. From here? Who are her parents?
Richard Morgan shook his head angrily as he arched his brow and glared at his brother.
-Cassie was taken in by our clan. - The answer came fast and sharp. -She should have been raised between us and not on a damn Armada ship. Worse than that. She should have been handed over to my custody until her blood ran out and she was old enough to be mated. William had gone wrong in letting the damned Council decide that a mestizo be raised in the care of an omega. Just an omega! She should have been kept between us. She was delivered to the omega when she belonged to me.
Jackie sighed uncomfortably. They were arguing and no one knew about the girls. If she knew Cassie well, Faith had decided to accompany her to delay her new escape. She didn't like to think of her little sister being adored as the wife of her party friend.
Thank you for the courtesy of your precious advice, great alpha. -He managed to retort with contempt. - She doesn't belong to you.
Rick Morgan's gaze sternly shifted from his brother-in-law to his brother.
- You didn't do anything, Jackie. - Richard Morgan managed to retort with sarcasm. – You didn't look for me or Mike. He grew up among us and still chose to abandon his people following piracy.
-And will you explain to me that wolves never abandon theirs? - Jackie returned the sarcasm. - My sister is simply...
-Curse! Cassie is no longer a child. "RichardMorgan surpassed any common sense in that matter. -Her sister is a woman. Irresponsible and without the slightest sense of self-protection like most I know. Or maybe worse. She is a mestizo. She should have fed like any of us. She is missing again somewhere on this island. - Rick sighed with dismay and concern.
-She Disappeared because of her people. – Jackie accused taking a deep breath. – Because of her… Honestly, mon Amie. What did you expect after Mayra's scene here?
Richard held back his irritation as he smoothed his hair, adjusting the sword across his body.
-As I recall, I owe you the courtesy. - he replied implacably. - I would have explained the situation to her.
-I do not believe this! - Michael declared. – You're going to keep this one as a wife...
-You bet I will. - Rick Morgan cut it fast as a flash. Grumbling, he fetched the water from the pitcher and washed his face from tense expressions. That she was okay. - You can choose to take the lead of the wolves. I'm going to look for my wife!
Padraic stared at him in disbelief. Abandon the position as alpha? Richard Morgan could just go crazy. Philip Morgan was the worst choice for leadership. There was already the wolves' dissatisfaction with the punishment meted out to the omega. Maybe with luck, the girl would give up on keeping the marriage after Mayra's insults and all the humiliation. If the providence of fate proved promising, they might not find it. There was a war. Deaths happened.
-I'll help you look for the girl. – Richard grudgingly agreed. - But listen to what I say. This conversation is not over yet.
Rick arched his inquisitive eyebrows.
-As far as I'm concerned, this conversation ends here! He declared rudely, taking the heavy pair of pistols, and shrugged. - You can take over the wolves. You'll find I'm not as malleable as Michael. - For a moment the two face each other with hostility.
Rick was shaking with rage. Stubborn girl. Why did he get the impression she was trying to destroy that Staff on her own?
- Michael was wrong about Christina. He took too long to bring her to us. This is not the same mistake I intend to make.