"Who is this man?" Damian asked.
The guards dragged the man forward for all the members to see while seated. Even with the close distance they had brought him to them, they still stood up from their seats to get a better view.
"His name is Allerio." One of the guards made him stand before the members.
Darling's eyes glowed, and she got closer to touch his face. "I saw this man."
Her hand kept going all over him, looking at the Council members, and waiting for one of them to say something about him.
Raguel had taken her seat. It seemed that the meeting was going to continue after all. But then, if Allerio was taken as a suspect, there was no reason for them to bring him to the hall, especially when a meeting was going on, unless...
"Why have you brought him here?" Her voice had lost some strength.
"We found something in him that belongs to you!"
What could that be? Her hands were almost on the verge of shaking. What if it was something that could tell about the crazy time she had with him.... The time she had called for relief?
"We found your necklace with him!"
Her necklace? She curled her fingers, cleaning up the sweat.
As she was the alpha, things concerning her were taken to be of high profile. Why would a common pack member have her necklace?
"He should tell us where he found Alpha Raguel's necklace!" Some of the members yelled.
It was already a serious issue.
Emily slowly opened her eyes. The pack healer was yet to take her out of the hall, and their voice had made her wake up after drifting to sleep out of weakness mixed with frustration.
"Allerio?" Her weak eyes gained some strength, and she raised her back from the stretcher.
"Do you know that man?" Logan asked her.
He hadn't given her a drug because he felt a test was necessary before any treatment. He touched her hand, and noticed that her body temperature had gone down, and was soon approaching the normal range.
"Do you know him?" Euphoria knelt down, her mouth close to Emily's ears.
"I... I don't know him...." Emily shook her head.
Raguel's plan had surfaced in her mind, and it was hard to know if her knowing Allerio could spoil things for her.
The leader of the set of guards brought the necklace to Raguel. Everyone confirmed that it was truly hers. A special necklace that could only be worn by her.
"What should we do?"
Allerio had not answered the first question the council members had asked.
"Hmmm...." Raguel sighed.
Her brain was using all of its strength to think, and a question that came to her mind was, how come he had carried her necklace? An answer that could be worth considering was the fact that she had pulled off her clothes, but had he picked up the necklace, and intended to hide it?
It was strange.
"Alpha?"
She hadn't said anything for more than two minutes, and all the members had fixed their eyes on her.
"Hmmm.... Take him to one of the cells, I will discuss his case after now."
What? The members resumed their low murmuring. Their brows were raised as they watched Raguel preparing to leave the hall.
"Wait!" Darling called out. "This man was present in the mate test ceremony!"
The hall went quiet, and Darling's words felt like a bomb exploding to Raguel's ears.
"Are you sure about that?" Priscilla asked.
"Ye... yes."
Raguel bit her lip.
The next instance, the hall returned to its usual mood. Who was supposed to care about a man attending the mate test ceremony if he needed to find a mate?
"Darling, I want to have a conversation with you..." Raguel was walking to the inner room of the hall, and signaled for Darling to come with her.
Everyone narrowed their eyes on them. Were they going to have a secret meeting? Perhaps questions needed to be asked.
"I should come with you?" Darling was reluctant.
She touched Allerio's jaw, pinching him slightly. "This man...."
She gave them some thought without a reason.
"Yes, come with me."
In the inner room, there were two office chairs, and a table, and Darling had to sit as though she was having an interview.
"Where did you see Alle... that man?"
Darling moved her head backward a little, and tried to look directly into her pupils. "Is there something you are hiding?"
She stiffened. If Darling could read her, then it meant that her acting skills weren't top notch.
"Where did you meet him?" She ignored Darling's question.
"At the ceremony."
"What about it?"
"It seems you know something, dear Alpha?"
Raguel shot her eyes for some seconds, taking deep breaths. She was losing a stand to cover up for Emily.
"Could you go ahead and tell me what exactly he was doing at the ceremony?" Her voice was slightly raised.
"I had seen him carrying the lady who had run out of the ceremony on a horse, what do you have to say about that?"
Raguel did not speak, she was simply looking at Darling as if in a silent communication. After a few seconds, Darling tried to avoid her gaze.
The voice of the other Council members started to get loud enough for them to hear.
"You might have to confide in me." Darling gnashed her teeth. "I know I've seen her with you.... But I chose not to speak about that for the other members to hear."
"You've seen her because you live close to me."
Darling nodded.
The voices from the main hall became louder, and fear dawned on Raguel that Allerio might be questioned without her being present to cover up.
"We should strike up a deal," Darling said.
"After now. I have to see what's going on." She left her seat, and had gotten close to the door.
Darling remained seated, and Raguel had to turn back.
"I want you to trust me, and then I can trust you." Darling finally left the seat to hold Raguel's hand. "You need to forget about Charles."
"We should join them, now is not the time for all these."
Back in the main hall, quietness resumed its place at the members' sight of Raguel, but their eyes were trying to pry open her mind to know the thoughts she had in mind. Why had she gone to talk to Darling in secret? Some of them wanted to ask, but didn't dare to.
"Take him to one of the cells." Raguel addressed the guards.
The guards had gone close to the door when Priscilla stopped them.
"I feel this man has a kind of relationship with this lady."
Raguel almost banged the table with her hands. It wasn't good that Priscilla recognized Allerio and Emily as friends.
That same moment, Emily stood up from the stretcher as strength surged in her.
"Is that Katie?" She was walking towards the window.
"Where are you going?" Logan tried to make her get back on the stretcher.
The Council members all stood up as though something strange had just happened, or maybe it was actually strange. How did a sick lady that looked like a dead person gain strength in a few minutes? And why was she going to the window?