Chapter 261 News from the highway

Chapter 261: Chapter 261 News from the highway

_Pierre’s POV_

Ezekiel’s father stopped right in front of us. The proud, unyielding Alpha King of the South was gone. In his place stood a man with wild eyes and trembling hands, his suit wrinkled and dirty from wherever he was coming from.

"Where is he?" the old Alpha gasped out, his voice cracking as he looked at Alaric, then at me. "Where is my son? Is he alive?!"

Gideon stepped forward, keeping his hands raised in a calming gesture. "He is still in the operating room, Alpha. The surgeons are doing everything they can to stop the internal bleeding."

Ezekiel’s father stumbled back against the wall, clutching his chest. He let out a ragged, painful breath, staring at the closed red doors of the surgery wing.

"I just talked to him..." the old man whispered, his tears coming out slowly. "He came home yesterday. We hugged. I told him I was proud of him... I told him he could be who he wanted to be... and now..."

He looked up, his bloodshot eyes locking onto me. He did not yell, did not throw accusations. He just looked at me with pure, crushing grief.

"Alpha Pierre," Ezekiel’s father said, his voice barely a breath. "Save him. Please, you have to help them save my boy."

I couldn’t speak, a tight knot choked my throat, making it impossible to breathe. I just gave him a single, stiff nod.

And thinking back, how do I possibly save Ezekiel when I wasn’t even a doctor?

Alaric stepped up beside me, his hand placed on my shoulder. His aura was hard to control, I could tell.

"Kasper," Alaric barked out, his voice slicing through the silence arund us. "Tell me you have something on the truck."

Gabriel pulled up a phone, his fingers moving fast across the screen. "The truck was a heavy-duty commercial model with stolen plates. Traffic cameras caught it fleeing north right after the crash. But that isn’t the most important part, Alpha."

He tapped the screen and turned the tablet around so Alaric and I could both see it.

"Ezekiel’s phone was crushed in the wreck, but I managed to recover his cloud records," Gabriel said, pointing his finger at a string of text logs. "Twenty minutes before the crash, Ezekiel received a priority text from Rowena’s personal burner line."

My head snapped up instantly. "What did the text say?"

"It told him to come to the central hospital immediately," Gabriel replied. "And it specifically told him to ask for Kyle."

Alaric’s jaw clenched so hard a vein bulged against his neck. "Where is Rowena right now? Have you located her signal?"

"That’s the problem," Gabriel said, his face growing pale. "Rowena’s phone signal vanished fifteen minutes ago. Her last ping wasn’t at the Ashthorne estate, and it wasn’t at the packhouse. It was right here, inside this hospital."

Alaric turned on his heel as he glared down the empty hallway.

“Kyle is the spy from Drake.” I said, my gaze fixed on the ground. “Ezekiel said that before the crash.”

“And you didn’t tell us?!” Alaric yelled.

“Kasper knew, It just slipped my mind.” I sighed. I contemplated telling him the most important part. Her pregnancy. But I shook my head and decided to let Rowena tell him herself.

"Gideon," Alaric called out in panic. "Put this entire hospital on total lockdown. Block every exit, pull every security feed, and bring me Kyle right now. Find Rowena!”

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_Kyle’s POV_

The fun house was located three miles off the main highway, hidden behind a line of trees. It was a spacious, two story cabin with reinforced doors and medical equipment installed on the ground floor.

I set two luggage bags down in the foyer and turned to lock the front door behind us, sliding the iron bolt into place.

Rowena was standing near the center of the living room, looking around at the walls. She had her hands wrapped around her elbows, her posture rigid as she shivered slightly.

"It is very quiet here, Kyle," Rowena said, turning her head to look at me. Her skin was unnaturally pale, and her eyes looked sunken from the poison working inside her system.

"That is why I bought it," I replied with a gentle smile, walking over to the small kitchen counter. "No council politics, no guards, and no unwanted interruptions. You can rest here safely while I prepare your next treatment."

I opened a small black medical case resting on the counter. Inside lay three glass vials and a fresh syringe.

Rowena walked over slowly, resting her hands against the edge of the table. "How long will I have to stay here? Alaric is expecting me to return to the packhouse once his meetings with the elders are finished."

I picked up the syringe, unstopping the needle with a click. I drew the liquid up into the tube, holding it up to the light filtering through the window.

"Alaric will be very busy for the next few days, Rowena," I said, turning around to face her. "Between his upcoming wedding with Lady Brielle and the sudden tragic news from the highway, he will not have time to look for you."

Rowena frowned, her eyebrows pulling together in deep confusion. "What news from the highway? What are you talking about?"

I walked toward her, keeping my movements slow, relaxed, and reassuring.

"Nothing for you to worry about," I murmured gently, reaching out to touch her arm. "Just take a seat on the sofa. This final shot will settle your fever and help you sleep."

Rowena looked down at the needle in my hand, then looked back up into my eyes. For the first time since we stepped into the house, a sudden spark of instinctive suspicion flickered in her gaze. She took a slow step backward, pulling her arm away from my reach.

"Kyle," Rowena said, her voice dropping into a firm tone. "What news from the highway?"