Chapter 31
“Report to me about the Mood Creature.” Declan looked at every single one of his council as their meeting started.
His council consisted of his Beta, his Main Guard, the Intelligence team led by Vivienne, and the former Alphas that had given their authority to Declan to lead their lands.
It was an intimidating room for anyone. But everyone inside that room felt uneasy about their Alpha’s mood. Since he got inside the room, it felt colder, thick and sizzling with tension. As if one wrong answer would make Declan burst.
Everyone knew he came from the Rocky Mountains Pack. But they knew nothing of the details why he stayed there longer than he’s ever stayed in one pock
After every negotiation, he always got back to their pack. Not wanting to leave his people alone. Except now,
They knew there was another operation happening in the South, an operation to inform and unite the parks in the South, pioneered by Alpha Jasper. So when the Council knew Declan was coming back, they thought it had been a success, as per usual. But his sour mood wasn’t exactly confirming anything to them.
“Alpha,” one of them finally had the courage to speak up when all of them tiptoed against the crippling presence exuding from Declan.
We have scoured through every nook and crevice of the North and found no such person. We also travelled through the nearest island just to make sure these claims were real” Gino, one of the former Alphas from the North that was now one of his lead soldiers, informed.
“The same as the East, Alpha. No such reports were heard about such er
creature e that Alpha from the East, stated.
Even in
the Vampires:
es were looking for. Ryan, a much older former
in his age.
he admitted that Declan was far stronger than any Alpha he knew
It’s the reason why he trusted him.
“What about the West and South?” Declan turned to his Main Guard. Jecome shook his head.
“The same thing. Alpha. The one we captured from the West has not spoken a word about it yet. We’ve continued his torture, but he said he’d
rather die than face the wrath of their king”
Declan clasped his hands together, his face cold and stoic. A single twitch in his jaw was all that changed in his serious demeanour since he got out from the infirmary.
“He had the same words from that vampire we captured more than a year ago. Their king must be so brutal and ruthless for one of them to kill the other when he tried telling us about the reason for all these attacks.“Yuan said, making the others nod.
“If we had anticipated it, we could have known more about this Blood Creature they were trying to find. The only information we have about that is their claims that that creature is going to be their weapon against the world to be able to dominate. Vivienne commented, which everyone else couldn’t help but agree with.
Declan turned towards her. “No further research or history about this creature!
She shook her head. “No. We have no other source but those suicidal vampires that killed themselves just so they couldn’t tell us anything. But I‘ keep on digging”
She tried asking Julio one time about it. But when the vampire evaded her question, she knew she could lose her protection if ever she pushed it. The vile creature was surely as scared as the others of their king
As long as she was. safe, along with her possessions, she was fine with it. For now. She wasn’t stupid to not think she would be in harm’s way if they wouldn’t win against those bloodsuckers. She just needs time.
The entire meeting room fell silent as Declan didn’t speak. He was frustrated that after two years of knowing about their plan, they were led to nothing. All they knew was that the Vampires were not just trying to conquer lands, but also trying to find someone.
Acreature so strong that it could overpower anyone. Even the strongest Alpha. And if they claim this creature to be their weapon to dominate the entire land, this Blood Creature is more powerful than the king of the Vampires himself.
Declan still didn’t know why the Vampires target Alphas, though. And knowing about this Blood Creature might make them understand why.
“Continue searching for any leads regarding that creature. We have to be the first one to hid it before they do. If they plan to use that creature to defeat us, then we will also use that creature to defeat them?
He turned to Ryan. “Inform me when Alpha Vlad is awake. We need to ask him questions when he encountered those vampires who tried to kill them. The former Alphia mulded.
“Dismissed”
The rest of the Council immediately stood up and went their ways separately. They were all busy as the Black Ridges Pack became the the werewolf community over the past years. Now that the South has become affiliated to then they now need to move further ahead,
g center of all
10:14 AM c
Chapter 31
“What are you thinking?” Yuan asked when the both of them were left alone by the others. The room became empty with their silence.
Yuan waited for everyone to go, even waited for Vivienne to keep on moving out when he noticed how she stalled, before he spoke.
He knew Declan’s head wasn’t all in the meeting. The Alpha might be unreadable to most people, but not to him,
“Is this still about Lauren?”
“Will I be able to protect them!”
Yuan was almost taken aback by how vulnerable he suddenly sounded.
He stared at his best friend, seeing Declan as the friend he had and not the formidable Alpha everyone perceives him to be.
He leaned on the table in front of him. “You are doing your best, Deck. We are all doing our best to protect each other.”
“And what if she’d know what I did? What’s going to happen to us!” Declan met his eyes, and for once, Yuan saw the fear in them.
He hadn’t seen it for years, and he didn’t know whether to be happy that he still was normal for having that or afraid that the strongest man he knew was now afraid and he might get paralyzed.
Yuan looked away and sighed.“She will understand. Declan—‘
“You didn’t see her when she had the attack. It’s like the tragedy happened last night with the way she trembled against me. She’s reliving all that again in her head. And I wasn’t able to stop it this time. I wasn’t able to protect her”
“I heard.” Yuan said lowly, hearing Lauren’s screams despite being inside the car behind them.
He’s heard about her panic attacks before. He could only imagine what that night brought to Lauren. Even merely hearing about the havoc that the vampires did to Blue Mountains Pack could cause anyone’s insides to turn upside down with how brutal that attack was. She was the lone survivor Inside the packhouse during that night.
“Did
d Dahlia see?” He asked, worried about the little girl.
Declan shook his head and combed a hand on his now disheveled hair. “She was thankfully given some pill to make her sleep so she could rest. I couldn’t imagine how she’d react if she saw her mother like that.”
Silence surrounded them again. Yuan could practically feel how heavy Declan’s mood was in the air.
He heaved a deep sigh. “Lauren is stronger and wiser than we give her credit for. It has been our common mistake since we were teens. We always underestimate her. She will understand why you never went after her after she signed those divorce papers. She will understand why you weren’t there in her lowest. She will understand why you had to leave even after seeing her giving birth alone in a cave.”
Decian just clenched his fists on the table, hearing and seeing her cries when he found her alone in the Western woods, giving birth to their twins four years ago.
He tried taking hold of his head again, but the panicked state of Lauren right in front of his eyes as if she was losing her mind occupied his head. She was watching the air, and yet seeing fragments of memories instead of the real things around her.
“If I was only with her through all these years. If only I went to her that night. If only I helped her recover, she would have been healed by all these hurts now. She always asked for me whenever she was scared. She always calmed down with my touches. But now, she’s appalled by iny presence.”
Declan blamed himself. He couldn’t help it. Not when he knew he could have helped her through her darkest moments when he knew exactly where she went to just after a month after she left Black Ridges.
Lauren would definitely hate him once she knew that he chose not to get to her when she was left all alone as she gave birth to their children in the
woods.
