Chapter 248 - 0248

Kaelen POV

It took me two full days to finally corner Elder Augustus.

Two days of tracking his movements, waiting for the right opportunity, and piecing together every scrap of information my intelligence network could provide.

He was careful, almost annoyingly so, never staying in one place for more than a few hours and always making sure he wasn’t being followed.

I had to be just as careful. Attacking a High Council Elder without solid proof was an act of treason in itself, and with everything else going on, the last thing I needed was to give the Council another reason to come after me.

That was why I’d been spending less and less time at the estate, even though I knew Lorelei wasn’t happy about it.

At least, that was the excuse I kept telling myself.

The truth was, I couldn’t bring myself to face her sometimes. Seeing the heartbreak in her eyes and remembering how she’d sleepily whispered about how lonely she felt hurt too much.

Every time I left the estate, I told myself I was doing it to protect her, but that didn’t make it any easier to walk away knowing how much she needed me there.

Still, I couldn’t afford to let my feelings distract me. Augustus had been careful, but everyone made mistakes eventually. And when he finally slipped up, I was ready to take advantage of it.

The warehouse was located on the far eastern edge of the capital, hidden beneath the ruins of an old textile factory that had been abandoned for decades. It was the kind of place people had long forgotten about, with no one bothering to venture anywhere near it anymore. The entrance was concealed behind a partially collapsed wall and a mess of overgrown vines, with a narrow stone staircase leading deep underground. It was secluded enough that anyone brought here could disappear without anyone noticing.

The moon was already high in the sky by the time our car stopped about half a mile from the location.

We hadn’t wanted to risk driving any closer and alerting anyone who might be keeping watch, so Darius and I stepped out and shifted into our wolf forms as soon as the car came to a stop.

Without wasting any time, we took off toward the hidden entrance, moving through the dense wilderness as quietly as we could.

The cold night air rushed through my fur as my paws hit the damp earth, and I kept my senses sharp, searching for any other threat.

Darius ran beside me, his massive gray wolf blending into the shadows of the trees. We didn’t need to communicate or slow down to keep pace with each other.

After all these years, we knew how the other moved, and we fell into the same rhythm we’d relied on countless times before.

By the time we reached the ruins, we shifted back into our human forms and made our way toward the hidden entrance. Darius got there first and shoved the door open, making the rusty hinges creak loudly as we stepped inside and started down the narrow stone staircase.

The deeper we went, the colder the air became. The smell of damp earth and blood grew stronger with every step, and the flickering torches along the walls barely did anything to brighten the dark passage. Their flames cast moving shadows across the stone as we continued down, our footsteps echoing through the silence.

We didn’t stop until we reached the main chamber, where my eyes immediately landed on the man chained to a heavy iron chair.

Elder Augustus.

Silver chains were wrapped tightly around his wrists and ankles, and I could already see the burns they’d left on his skin.

His clothes, which had probably cost more than most people earned in a month, were now torn and stained with blood. His gray hair was a mess, and the fresh cut on his lower lip was still bleeding, with a trail of blood running down his chin while a black blindfold covered his eyes.

One of my men was standing beside him with his fist raised, clearly preparing to hit him again. But the moment he heard us approaching, he stopped and quickly lowered his hand.

"Boss," both guards greeted, bowing their heads.

I barely acknowledged them. That title was only used during operations like this, when things got messy and there was no room for anyone outside my inner circle to know what was happening.

My attention was on Augustus, who let out a pained groan as he struggled to lift his head. It fell forward again before he finally managed to raise it, his breathing uneven beneath the blindfold.

I studied him for a moment. Despite the silver burns, the blood, and whatever my men had already put him through, the old bastard was still holding on.

I almost had to admire that.

He might have been old, but he was still a High Council Elder, and I hadn’t expected him to give in so easily.

"Boss," Augustus repeated the moment he heard the guards. His ears twitched as he tried to make out our presence, and he sniffed the air before letting out a raspy laugh that quickly turned into a coughing fit. Fresh blood trickled down his chin, but he didn’t seem bothered by it in the slightest.

"Alpha Kaelen," he said, his hoarse voice carrying a mocking tone. "I know it’s you. You don’t have to hide."

My brows lifted slightly at his audacity. Even chained to a chair and barely able to keep his head up, the old man still had the nerve to act like he was in control.

"Who says I’m hiding?" I asked coldly.

I stepped closer, stopping right in front of him. "If I were hiding, I would’ve bothered masking my scent."

Without waiting for a response, I reached for his blindfold and ripped it off.

Augustus blinked several times, clearly struggling to adjust to the torchlight. His eyes looked hollow, but the moment they finally settled on me, that bloodstained smile returned.

"There you are," he murmured, the corners of his lips curling upward. "I was wondering when you’d finally come for me."