Chapter 100 I’ve got you now.
Enzo moved Doris behind him and tried to position her out of sight without making it seem obvious. She
noticed a bit of his own panic seep through his gaze. This all happened because of her. If she hadn’t
come on this trip, she couldn’t have been kidnapped and Enzo wouldn’t have been in trouble with his
own people for letting William stay. Always her fault, wasn’t it? “Don’t think you need to be a hero for me
today, Doris. You being here is enough and I know how to handle them when they’re like this. Don’t worry
for me, promise?.” Enzo whispered. Doris didn’t get a chance to respond before he turned to face the
arriving carriages with the rest of the villagers. As it was, none of them wanted to leave Enzo’s side. They
cared too much about their kind leader and Doris was glad of that at least. He was a great man to be
loyal to. She almost thought the same of William before he left. But now wasn’t a time to dwell on that,
she should have known better. At the front of the crowd was a man with grey and black hair that was tied
back in a bun on his head. He looked a bit older than Enzo and a bit shorter too. Was this the man that
Doris had heard in his office earlier? It had to be. “Enzo, you look like you’re ready for a fight.” The man
said with a bit of false kindness. He flashed his sharp teeth at his leader and Doris instantly placed the
voice to who she thought it was “I suppose it’s a good thing I am. I didn’t expect a large portion of my
pack to show up in the middle of the night.” Enzo placed his hands behind his back calmly and kept a
light air to his words. “What brings you all here tonight? Our next full moon party isn’t for another week.”
The man looked through the crowd with a sharpness that felt like a blade across her skin when his sight
stopped on her before continuing on. He hadn’t seen her at Life Pharmacy, that was a small relief on its
own but it wasn’t enough to convince her it would all be fine. “I heard you had a few interesting visitors in
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtyour village recently. It’s been said that you’re keeping the prince here nice and safe. That couldn’t be
true, could it? Our leader would never let that happen.” “He was here, he left a while ago.” Enzo said
easily. “He came through for a chat and asked to wait out a storm. I didn’t see the harm in it, I allowed it.”
“How could you let our enemies sleep among us? How could you offer them safety and protection when
they’ve killed so many of our people just trying to live? Don’t our lives mean anything to you?” “The
prince wished no harm on me or my villagers, he came for peace and I chose to hear him out as your
leader since your lives are my top priority.” Enzo said with an edge to his voice. Doris tried to stay
blended in the crowd but she swore she felt eyes on her. “I know you don’t agree with my take at
leadership, but it doesn’t excuse unnecessary violence to anyone. Even the prince.” “No harm? I heard
how many of our rogues he killed looking for some girl. How is that peaceful?” The man roared. gol you
now.
“He was trying to protect someone he cared about that was taken by rogues who refused to listen. They
tried to torture her for no reason and almost killed her because of it. If any of you had your wife or child
taken, you would do the same.” Enzo said. “All I hear is you excusing him killing our wolves! A true
leader would want revenge, not let him sweet talk his way in their favor! Why was he here, Enzo? To get
information out of you?” “He wanted to unite the rogues back with the kingdom.” Enzo said. The man
laughed bitterly. “That’s rich. You believe a prince who has one of the worst reputations?” “He didn’t give
me a reason not to.” Enzo smoothed out the arms of his coat. “Are we done here? The prince is long
gone from here and you can check every cabin if you insist but it is quite late. My people don’t like to
miss out on their sleep for ridicules matters.”
Someone stepped out of the crowd and spoke in the man’s ear, Doris felt her insides freeze over when
she recognized him. It was the guard that caught William kissing her in the halls. He was looking right at
her and she knew there was no chance that he didn’t see her.
The man turned his gaze on her as well and Doris wished she could disappear. Enzo must have noticed
because he moved a bit in front of her but the damage had already been done. They knew who she was.
“You still protect them over your own people. Did you send her to spy on us, Enzo?” The man asked with
his voice seeped in betrayal. Doris wondered if William was right, perhaps she shouldn’t have stayed
despite her best intentions. 1 “She has nothing to do with their politics, she was sold to the palace at a
young age and has come here for freedom herself.” “Don’t lie!” The man roared again. Enzo looked
unbothered. “She was seen at Life Pharmacy just hours ago with a man! Was it the prince you let in with
her? Why Enzo? They’re not part of your pack, we are! We deserve your loyalty!” Enzo said nothing for a
moment. “You have my loyalty, but I don’t appreciate liars. It seems I’m not the only one who has spoken
with someone from the palace. I have on good word that you’ve taken bribes from one of the royal
members to hunt down the prince. Why would you take their orders over mine? You’re working directly
with someone from the palace while I have only given them an ear for their offers.” The man swallowed
and glanced at the uneasy faces behind him. Clearly they didn’t know about the bribe, was he pocketing
it all for himself? Doris silently hoped it set off a bit of untrustworthiness for him as much as he did for
Enzo. “Why don’t we settle this like men, Enzo? Wolf to wolf.” He said with his chest puffed out. Doris
would have laughed if he didn’t look absolutely deranged. 1 Enzo laughed for her. “And what? Fight to
the death for leadership? You know you would never win.” The man snarled. “Fight me, you coward!” He
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmshouted with his fists clenched. Enzo sighed and removed his nice coat to hand to someone nearby. “I
hope you told your family you weren’t coming home, I would hate to be the one to explain your own bad
choices to them.” He glanced at everyone around them. “No one else is to be involved or risk instant
death. This is our match, everyone else back up and stay out of the way!” Doris quickly backed away
with the rest of the crowd and watched as Enzo transformed into his magnificent wolf. The man
transformed a minute later into a brown wolf that looked more than a little deadly. Enzo snapped his jaws
at the other wolf before he led him off into the bushes to be dealt with privately. A match to the death?
That was the last thing she expected Enzo to say. Doris lost sight of them instantly, but she heard their
cries and bites start up a few moments later. The rest of the crowd went to follow them but Doris stayed
behind by the fire with her arms crossed over her chest. She didn’t want to see what happened, she
could only pray to the moon goddess that Enzo would be fine. He deserved to be fine. He was stronger
and faster than most wolves, that’s why he was the leader of the rogues. She could only wait for it to be
settled so she could leave—1 A hand closed over her mouth and dragged her back behind the cabins
towards the waiting carriages as she tried to kick and hit the man. Doris struggled more violently and
went to change into her wolf, but felt a needle stab in the side of her neck before she could allow
Cordelia to take over. “Don’t worry.” The voice said. She stumbled forward a little and fell right back into
their arms when her world shifted all at once, fear crept into her bones when she saw flickers of darkness
at the edge of her vision. The ground looked as if it was about to open up and swallow her whole but her
head felt as if it was about to roll off her shoulders. “I’ve got you now.” Doris was barely able to move her
head to see a masked man lift her into one of the rogues carriages. She saw nothing more the second
the door closed behind them. 2