Chapter 67: 64

Chapter 63

Drake and Aries went over to her side to handle the pup.

And both of them had a bewildered look on their faces.

This was unheard of.

A mere pup had attempted to harm a mature werewolf?

"Where did you find him?" Caitlin was baffled. She found it hard to believe that a small child was capable of doing this…

What's his intention?

Amber took off her articles, and hung them over the mangrove's root system.

She smelled like the swamp.

"He never tried to leave. I think he was observing us from a distance." To be honest, Amber felt so guilty. She never intended to hurt the pup in the first place. He was way too young, and likely to be operating under someone else's control.

He may be malnourished… but he was fierce.

She gave him a chance to surrender, but the pup just yelled at her, saying he didn't need her mercy. The levels of aggression that he showed her had made her realize that he was a rogue.

He was already uncontrollable at his current age, and the poison… where did he get it?

Pepper grabbed her arm. "The pup has passed out. Did you use silver on him?"

Everybody turned to Amber expectantly. Could she really do that?

"I hit his nape. He kept struggling."

Relief washed over their faces in an instant.

Administering silver on pups is considered cruel—no matter what they're being punished for.

The act is viewed as 'inhumane'.

"Did you fall into the swamp?" This time, it was Salt who asked. "Didn't you tell us to keep away from the inlet?"

Amber averted her gaze, ashamed. "It couldn't be helped…"

"Was it by choice? Or did he push you?"

"I… fell."

Salt snorted. "Seriously?"

"I offer no excuses. I had to catch him before he could hurt the others…"

"And how do you feel right now? Was your intuition correct? Are the bodies of water dangerous?"

It was only then that they started to pay attention to the physical signs.

The way Amber's chest rises and falls desperately…

"Shortness of breath," Amber admitted. She was sure that she was able to dodge the pup's hand when he was about to prick her. "The swamps… should be okay." Actually, that's where she caught the young rogue. He appears to be very accustomed to the directions and features of this forest as well.

To the point that he could use the location to his advantage.

Salt stared at her intently. "Do you mind taking a break here? You look like you could use some rest."

Amber shook her head. "We must leave," she muttered, "as soon as possible." She didn't want to hold the entire team back.

Besides, she's just out of breath. It's nothing serious.

She threw the unconscious pup a curious glance.

Why is he here?

Where is his family?

She could have sworn that she detected two different scents earlier.

Perhaps, that was just her imagination.

The other scent wasn't that of a wolf anyway…

Caitlin nodded at her two members before she decided to speak. "I second Amber's suggestion. We should leave the forest as soon as we can."

Aries hummed in agreement. "This could be a bait."

"But… who would bait us?" A small frown fell upon Pepper's face. "This is the first time that we've come here. How could they anticipate our arrival?"

'I don't know…' Amber was disappointed in herself.

How she wished she could answer that…

"What do we do with this pup?"

Now, the answer to that question needs to be thought over.

Drake began to search for items around the pup's body. "First off… he's a threat." Then, he threw several weapons on the ground. "He's even got a dagger in his possession."

"We need to make a rational decision here."

"Should we let him go, and hope that he won't do this to others again? Or… should we kill him because his death means lesser problems to us, werewolves?"

Pepper felt her heart constrict. "But he's a werewolf, too… like us."

"The moment he chose to inflict harm on Amber was already a hint in itself. A rogue is a rogue," Drake emphasized the last word with contempt.

"How do we cast our vote?"

Amber's blood ran cold. "That's… ruthless. Can't we just take him with us?"

"What?"

"Do you hear yourself?"

"That's ridiculous…"

"Why would we bring a rogue along with us? Once we're seen with him, people might think that he's associated with our group. Do you know what that means? The Talgarian people will be wary of us."

Pepper bit her lower lip. She couldn't think of anything to defend her friend.

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Caitlin's squad was correct.

Looking after a rogue would certainly tarnish River Severn's reputation. They… can't be seen with such unruly creatures.

And if her Dad hears of this, it's going to be a long, long lecturing.

"Why do you want to spare his life, Amber?" Caitlin suddenly asked. "If we think it's reasonable, then we'll do what you want."

"Caitlin," Drake protested.

Why do they need to hesitate at times like this?

Amber looked at the pup's body. "I have… questions."

"And after that, what's next?"

She looked Caitlin in the eye with a sad smile. "We then decide if he deserves a second chance at life."

"You're too soft, Amber. This child could have killed you if you weren't competent enough. You're just giving him another chance to commit that sin."

"Even if I agree to your ideas…" she trailed off. "How do you plan to do away with him? Silver poisoning?"

Talking about death may be easy, but once you're on the act itself… the idea of killing another creature would mess you up in various ways.

The Lancers fell quiet after that.

Using silver on a child is certainly out of the question.

Then, how?

"Tough question, right?" Amber climbed up the tree to secure her duffel bag. She threw on a simple t-shirt before she jumped down with a light 'thump'. "I'll give him a piggyback. I'm running in this form."

"What…? You can just tie him on your wolf's back…"

Amber shook her head. "He tried to harm me. My wolf won't go easy on him."

Salt finally talked after a long internal debate with himself. "Let's leave him, Amber."

She just stared at him, confused.

"Why?" she whispered softly.

"We've got no business with him. Like everyone said, he's just a pup. If we can't hold ourselves against an amateur, then we're not deserving enough to represent the pack. He's young. He still has years ahead of him, and it's up to him if he's going to change."

Amber couldn't refute that.

"Let's untie him. We'll be in our full speed, so there's no need to worry that this pup will catch up to us. In the rare event that he did so, we wouldn't be lenient for the second time," Aries said seriously. He was actually agreeing to Salt's idea. "This is his second chance."

Amber tightened her jaw. "But…"

Pepper went to console her. "It's okay. It's not a bad deal, right? This young wolf gets to live. We could pretend that this encounter never happened at all. Let's not overthink about his intentions for now, okay?"

Even though it was really a mystery… how a child could slice a huge alligator in half.

Cleanly.

And almost similar to that of precision laser.

The Lancers went on their way, following that minor mishap. Though it didn't feel right to leave a pup in the middle of nowhere exposed to many types of danger, identifying their priorities was vital.

Of course, all of them are still confused. They want to know the young boy's motive as well.

Was he a dweller of this forest?

Did he feel threatened by their sudden intrusion, so he did those things to scare them away?

Amber and Salt switched positions. Aries is now running with her in front, and he finds it amazing that her toes barely make any sound as she runs in full speed.

Is she that light?

Not only that…

She has no problem with keeping up with him, too.

Fortunately, they didn't run into any more troubles on their way out of the forest. Caitlin's squad realized that their current formation was the best one. Amber has a good directional sense, and every route that they take is spot-on.

As if she had already been here before.

Meanwhile…

Amber feels gutted for some reason.

It's not like she's sensing danger within a kilometer radius, but…

She feels like she did something wrong.

"Some good water, finally," Pepper sighed beside her.

They're now sitting by the lake while waiting for the boys to come back, carrying food with their mouths.

Caitlin cleared her throat. "Can I join you, guys?"

Pepper beamed at her. "Sure!"

"Amber…?"

Amber snapped out of her thoughts, and smiled gently. "You can sit down anywhere."

"Thank you…"

"It looks peaceful here," Pepper commented.

"The ambiance is different from that mangrove forest." Caitlin was nodding to herself.

"Do you think he has woken up by now? That pup…"

"I bet he's pissed… losing to Amber like that."

Caitlin and Pepper shared a good laugh.

Little did they know, the pup they were talking about was already dead.

Embracing the same fate those alligators had suffered.

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