Jayden's POV
Mason immediately went straight to plop down behind his desk with an exhausted look on his face as we entered his office.
"What happened??" I asked him after taking a seat in front of his desk along with Raph while Sebastian and his mate Anna took the vacant couch.
"Honestly, we have no idea." He frustratingly sighed out. "One moment we were just having a normal day like always, then next thing we knew was that rogues suddenly swarmed out of the woods. Catching us all by surprise."
"Don't you have around the clock patrols near the edges of your territory??" Raph pointed out which only made an indistinguishable expression form on the Alpha's face.
"We did." Telling us in a low, grim tone, he didn't need to continue for us to get what had happened to his pack's patrols.
"We.." He stopped before releasing a defeated sigh. "So many wolves, Jay. So many of our wolves died."
I didn't respond to what he had said and in turn just went to look towards my brother who also had a similar expression on his face as Mason's.
"Forty two of our ninety five warriors were killed. Forty two if we're not accounting the additional twenty eight civilian pack members that were also killed during the attack."
"That makes seventy all in all. That is if they don't find anymore of our dead." My brother Sebastian went to added after his mate Anna gave us the statistics.
And upon hearing it, let me tell you all that a very heavy feeling grew in my chest. But I pushed the feeling back. Now wanting any of them to notice even if it felt so heavy that I even found it a bit hard to breath when I thought of all the lives Silver Moon had lost today.
Mason was deathly silent. And that was understandable.
Being the Alpha, he possesses the main role of protecting his pack alongside Sebastian and Anna being as they're the Beta pair.
And now, having to suffer of knowing the amount of losses that they had today, would ultimately make them feel that they have failed.
They would feel that they have failed to uphold their promise of protecting their pack. And nobody else could feel as worse as the Silver Moon Alpha himself.
"I know that what I'm about to ask of you three is going to be hard." I spoke out. Catching their attention as they went to listen. "But for now, I need you all to push pass your grief for now and tell me how it all exactly played out."
"Mason." I then turned to him. "I won't pretend to know exactly how you feel right now cause, I really don't. And honestly, I can't fathom how I'd feel myself if I was in your shoes."
"But if I was, I'd want nothing more than to do what I have to and get the justice that my pack would deserve. To get those who are responsible and make them pay."
Soaking up what I had said, a determined look slowly took over Mason's features as well as Sebastian's and Anna's. And even though one could still notice that look of grief in their eyes, it doesn't change the fact that they were also looking for the justice that Silver Moon rightfully deserved.
"Well for starters, I for one think that what happened was very well thought out." Anna soon spoke up her opinion as the rest of us listened. "I took the liberty of finding out what happened to our patrol after the attack."
"And you found their bodies." And grimly as she did, Anna slowly nodded at her brother's statement.
"But it's actually where I found them that might tell us something." She then added which I could tell immediately caught our interest.
Feeling our questioning gazes, she got up and walked towards a wall where a map of the whole of Silver Moon's large territory could be seen as well as the neighboring lands around it.
Anna stared at it for a moment when she suddenly went to point at something on the map before turning back to us.
"Right here." She said.
"The southwestern portion of the pack." Mason pointed out.
"Not exactly. Look closer." I told him.
Sebastian and him did as I said and soon enough, a look of realization slowly formed on their faces.
Their minds working up the new information that the female vampire had given them. But from what I can tell, I think I already have an idea of just how the taking of my brother-inlaw's pack was suppose to take place.
"That's well beyond the southwestern border of our pack. And well beyond their patrol paths."
"Given, a few miles maybe??" Raphael cut himself in after my brother's words. He got up from sitting on his seat which was across from mine before going to stand beside his sister who was still in front of the map.
"What time were you guys attacked??" I asked.
"About a few minutes passed nine thirty. Sebastian and I were training most of our pack warriors. Well, we were on our thirty minute break when the rogues and... their friends suddenly came." Mason went to explain to me.
"Friends?? What are you saying??" I asked. "You know what, we'll all take this one at a time. You said that you and your warriors were taking a thirty minute break when they attacked. How long have you guys been training for in the morning??"
"It's scheduled at six thirty in the morning till nine thirty. Then a half hour break before continuing till twelve noon." Sebastian answered. Slightly scrunching his face at me before asking, "Are you trying to tell us that they planned to attack while we were on our break??"
"It's possible." I said sitting up straighter as my mind worked. "From what I can come up with and from what you all told me, it's very likely that whoever attacked you planned to do it while you were on your break after a very extensive training session."
"You said that most of your warriors attended your training right??" I clarified to which Mason immediately answered by nodding his head. "Well attacking just when you were on your break would somewhat ensure that you and your warriors would be tired or exhausted."
"They killed your patrol early within the day and secretly brought their bodies well outside of your pack territory to lessen the chances of them being discovered." I started to say. "Slowly, things went into place. Some of them went to wait around the main areas where pack members are while the majority of their forces quietly surrounded you all in your training grounds. They watched. They waited. And finally, they struck when you least expected."
"Why couldn't they just attack at night then?? We'd all be asleep." Mason went to asked.
"It'd still be a better option to attack at a time when the majority of an enemy's fighting force are all in one general area. Take them all out, and they'd have a better chance at taking down the whole pack when there are lesser warriors left to defend it." I explained before breathing out a sigh.
"That's what I'd do if it were my plan." I added.
The four of them silently thought over my explanation to them for a moment, but then Mason still had an unsure look on his face. And I soon found out his reason since he then spoke out.
"It's very likely that they played out their attack as you had explained to us just now but, I don't think taking down Silver Moon was their intention. I think what they wanted to do was just to deliver a very solid blow. To cripple the pack and bring us into a very weak state like we are currently in now."
This made me a bit confused since I really didn't get the reason behind what he had suggested.
"Why would they settle for crippling the pack other than just choosing to just taking it down?? What'd be the reason behind that play?? I don't get it." Raph went to ask the same question that I had in mind.
"I don't know what their reason could be but what I do know is that whoever planned to attack had the strength and power to wipe Silver Moon clean if they wanted to." He responded with such sureness in his voice. "Cause other than the large number of vampires and wolves, they had two different supernatural with them. Remember the friends that I told you a while ago that these rogues brought with them??"
I gingerly nodded. Thinking that maybe it was about time that we talked about it.
"I have no idea what they were. One of them was build like a fucking tank. Like a literal giant with bulging muscles. Like his own makeshift armor, he wore what I could only hope we're animal bones as well as animal skin." He explained. "And to top that all off, his head was covered by a freaking animal skull that he wore as well as the strong stench of death that radiated from him."
"Are you saying that he wasn't a shifter at all??" Raph skeptically asked.
"Yes. I'm pretty sure." The alpha answered. "But he was damn well stronger than one. He's the reason why dad got hurt. And that's with four of our warriors helping him try to take that bastard down."
"And this other supernatural??" I spoke up before the alpha went to turn back towards me. "You said that there were two different supernaturals in the attack other than vampires and wolves."
"Yeah. With regards to this other one, he was a shifter. At first I thought he was a werewolf and imagine my shock when during the fight he shifted into something that looked a lot like you in your half-shifted form."
"You said that you first thought he was a werewolf. What made you think otherwise??" I asked.
"Well as far as I know, no werewolf has ever had the ability to control another being with just a mere look into his eyes." That statement of his immediately drew out more of my attention.
"Are you sure that that's what you saw him do??" I questioned. Waiting for an answer since it could very well help in identifying what the supernatural was.
"Yeah. I saw him giving one look at a couple of our warriors and they immediately started attacking their own pack members." He replied and with his answer, I only confirmed my suspicion.
By the expression on Raph's face, I could tell that he was thinking the very same thing as well.
"Don't tell me that you guys have an idea of what he is. I can see it on your faces." My brother pointed out while he and his mate Anna gave us questioning looks.
"Well that's because we know exactly what he is. I don't know about the big, tanky, skull-wearing guy that Mason described to us first but we're pretty sure that the other supernatural's a skinwalker."
"Okay, what in the Goddess' name is a skinwalker then??" Asked a clearly confused Anna. Though Sebastian and Mason looked just as lost and confused as her.
"We don't know a whole lot about them. We're still new to this as well but skinwalkers can be classified as a shifter like Mason said. Though I think they can also be classified as a witch or a caster since they're said to be the witches of the southwestern portion of the US." I went to explained to them.
"And how exactly do you know about these...skinwalkers??"
"Since Cole and Brody came face to face with one." Raph answered my brother's question. "That bastard took control of Brody and nearly made him kill Cole. Good thing Lucas and Xavier got there in time with Chase and their other friend to save him."
"And right now, we're keeping him in Bloodrose. Locked up inside of a cell with a blindfold covering his eyes to prevent any more incidents." I then added to his statement when a thought suddenly came to mind.
"So now we know that a skinwalker's working with the rogue group that attacked your pack. And luckily, right now Raph and I might know someone who might be able to shed some light on just what the other supernatural that we could possibly be facing right now."
Mason, along with my brother and his mate looked a bit curious as to who I was talking about. But along with curiosity, there was also an underlying sense of weariness in their eyes.
"Don't worry. He's someone we can all trust." I assured them. And after a moment of reluctance, they ultimately agreed. "I'll give him a call later then. Now we have to discuss another thing."
"Who's behind this attack."
"Exactly." I replied. Turning towards Mason who now had a look of deep though on his features along with Sebastian.
"I'm not really sure about the rest of you but... I just can't be the only one thinking about it right??"
"You mean Jason." I stated. Looking at my brother who went to nod in response.
"Well our packs have spent years trying to catch him since the day that we defeated Marcus but we haven't seen or heard a peep from him since then."
"And now you think that he's back and is trying something to get back at all of us." Mason went to clarify with my brother who gave him a nod in reply.
"It's possible." Raph then spoke up while in deep thought as his sister started to walked back to her beloved's side.
"A good number of Marcus's vampires and wolves went to join Bloodrose in the following years after he died right?? I bet the majority of what was left of Marcus's armies would've went with Jason seeing as he was a high ranking commander beside Carlos. I won't even be surprised if both of them are leading them now."
I could very well hear the reason in her voice. Raph and her were former members of Marcus's army so it'd be safe to say that they would at least know the mindset of his forces.
"Well saying that Jason is responsible for the attack, how did they get help from a skinwalker and... That thing wearing an animal skull as a mask." Mason went to ask with a hint of frustration cause of the possible danger that Silver Moon could very well still be in. "You told us about this Nemeton that's attracting different kinds of supernaturals towards the town. So what's stopping Jason from recruiting whatever the nemeton attracts next against us?? Not only us but, possibly all of the packs as well. Both in your rogue group and the pack wolves under the werewolf capital."
"We'll find that out soon enough. As well as finding out the truth of who's responsible for what happened." I said. "I know that there's a chance that this IS Jason's doing but we can't just shake off the possibility that there could be someone else leading all of this. And maybe that someone's the one that's convincing different supernaturals in joining them."
Just then, the doors to Mason's office bursted open. Immediately making everyone in the room tense up from the possibility that something might have happened.
A sob was then heard as my niece suddenly ran in. Heading right for her parents who at the moment looked panicked at the thought that something might have happened that had caused their daughter such distress.
"Mom!! Dad!!" She cried as she went to envelope them both in a tight hug. "When Jenna called and told me what happened I... I-I didn't know what to feel. She told me the pack was suddenly attacked and that she didn't see either of you afterwards. I didn't want to think it but I really thought that something might have happened to the both of you. I..I-I'm..."
"Shh shh sweetheart it's okay." Sebastian soothingly said in hope to comfort his daughter while he gently rubbed her back.
"We're here. We're okay baby." Anna gently said as she caressed her cheek. Wiping away the stray tears before giving Bella a living smile.
"I'm just so glad that you're both safe." She then went back to burying herself in the warmth of her parent's arms before reluctantly pulling away as her head turned towards our direction.
"Uncle Jay. Uncle Raph." It was only then did she notice us there as I went to give her a small smile before she turned towards the direction of Mason.
Her eyes widened slightly and at that moment, she seemed to have realized that's she'd just unintentionally entered her alpha's office without his permission.
"Alpha, I'm sorry that I.."
"You have no reason to apologize Bella. I understand." He said. Giving her an assuring smile.
"I think we're just about done with our talk for now." I proceeded to announce to which they agreed.
"I've already asked someone to prepare the rooms that you'll all be using in your stay here." Mason went to inform me.
"Thanks. For now I think I'll go and see how you're parents are doing." I replied while Sebastian and Anna were busy quietly talking with their daughter.
"Raph. Can you go see if our warriors found something?? Report back to me if they did." Nodding his head, he slowly walked out of the room after giving his sister one last glance.
I was about to head out myself when my niece stopped me before saying, "Uncle Jay. Lucas is waiting outside of the packhouse. I wasn't really in a stable state of mind when I found out what happened here. He was the one that drove me home."
Giving her a small smile, I nodded my head and left to go and find my son before going on to meet with my mate who was with her parents.
Walking out the front door of the packhouse, I immediately looked around for him and saw that he was standing a few feet away from an area that I really didn't want him to see.
He was in a state of a stunned silence when I got to where he was. His eyes looking over the lifeless bodies in front of him with disbelief as I reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder. Making him take a quick glance at me as if only noticing that I was there before looking back at the grim sight.
"I don't understand why anyone would ever want this." He quietly said to me.
"There are still a lot of things that you'll need to accept Lucas. And one of those, is knowing that there is someone out there that's willing to do whatever it take to get what he wants. Even at the expense of others." He didn't answer after I spoke, but I knew that he heard me.
And as much as I didn't want to expose him to the gruesome reality that we're living in, I knew that I couldn't always protect my children from it forever. "Let's go see your grandparents. Your mom's with them right now."
Gently ruffling his hair, he nodded his head before turning away from the scene as if he didn't need to be told twice.
"Are they okay??" He asked. Following my stride as we walked side by side towards the pack clinic.
"Your grandfather got hurt in the attack but you know him. He's strong so I know that he's gonna be okay." I assured him as we we about to pass by a cabin that had its front door kicked in.
But what could really be noticed was not the door or anything else that could be seen. But the smell.
The stench of blood came from inside. And I didn't need to ask myself why cause three of Silver Moon's pack members soon walked out. Two of them carrying a body cover by a blanket. And the other, the one whose eyes looked dull and soulless as they held nothing but pain, grief and helplessness, tightly held against him a small bloody bundle as he followed.
My son's eyes lingered on the lifeless infant as the passed to which I immediately went to usher him on forward by placing a hand around his shoulder without a word.
"Do you know who planned the attack??" He soon asked me in a mere whisper as we neared the clinic a few meters away.
"Lucas, we're going to help them. But don't you dare plan on involving yourself in this." I warned. Knowing that my son was really asking me what I was planning to do in reaction to what happened.
"But dad." He didn't continue as he went to look at me pleadingly. Making me sigh out before stopping to face him.
"We have our suspicion but we're not sure yet. That's all I'm going to tell you Lucas cause like I said. I don't want you involving yourself in this. And that goes the same for your brother, sister, cousins, and friends. It's too dangerous and you all have already put yourselves in too much recently with the problem regarding your friend Francis." I said. Looking at him directly in his eyes to make sure that he knows that I'm being serious. "Am I understood??"
He held on my gaze for a brief moment before finally turning away slowly as he gave me a nod along with a quiet, "Yeah."
"Good. And I trust that you won't break your word this time." I said sternly. Not missing him slightly flinching at what I said which almost immediately made me feel some amount of regret.
"Look." I breathed out. "I just don't want any more of the ones that I care about to be in danger. Especially you, your brother, and your sister. I hope I understand what I'm trying to do. None of you are ready to face these kinds of dangers yet."
"I understand dad." He said. Giving me a small smile though I knew that it was a bit forced.
"C'mon. Let's head in." I said. Gesturing towards the pack clinic. "Your mom still doesn't know that you're here yet."
Nodding his head, we both continued on and heading inside without another word.
Chase's POV
After Lucas left with Bella and the whole ordeal with that spoiled asshole Maxwell and his equally annoying friends, we went on with our school day though it was a bit hard since I was worried about Bella through most of it.
A silent buzz inside of my pocket suddenly pulled me out of my thoughts while I Xavier and I sat inside of our last class of the day.
'Hey. Is your class done yet?? I'm kinda bored.😖'
I unwittingly smiled when I read Lydia's message. Carefully taking a quick glance towards our teacher, I hid my phone under my table. Smiling while I typed in my reply.
'And that's my problem because??? Am I your personal entertainer or something??🙄'
'Yes. You accepted the role the moment you accepted my number so...entertain me peasant. I command you💅'
Rolling my eyes, I heard our teacher still discussing in front of the class so the coast was still clear as I started typing my reply carefully.
'Okay, well I didn't know that there were negotiations. Sorry to disappoint you your majesty but I'm still in class. Some of us just aren't that lucky to be homeschooled.'
'Well it's not like you can't hide your phone while texting right?? Hmm...' Was her reply after just a few seconds and I could literally feel the teasing smile that was probably in her face right now.
'Hahaha I can't really argue with you now can I?? But I thought you were going to read a book?? '
'Oh you know me. Can't a girl change her mind??'
'Well yeah but it's either that or you just missed me already😌.'
'Eww🤢 Me?? Miss you?? Please... We've only met twice in person and I still barely even know you Romeo so hold your horses😝' I was about to reply when I suddenly received another quick message from her.
'But it's cute that you're trying your hardest to flirt with me and all. "A" for effort. lol😂'
While I was quietly snickering to myself, I heard the teacher clearing his throat loudly which immediately made me try and hide my phone by holding it under the table. Away from his sights.
"Eyes in front. There's only a few minutes till the bell rings but that doesn't mean that any of you should start ignoring today's lesson." He said just as my phone buzzed once more.
Thinking that it was Lydia teasing me some more, I waited for the teacher to look away before quickly clicking the reply button and typing my reply without reading what she texted me last.
'It ain't flirting but just saying the truth. You miss talking with me even if we just talked a while ago😌'
Now I know what you're all thinking. I'm acting a bit too confident with myself but within the couple of days of talking with her, we've come to joke around and tease each other like this. And that fact alone made me feel happy that we can be at ease with each other.
Seconds passed and I became curious as to what she sent me last. If I could guess, it's probably in the lines of Entertain me peasant again.
Unlocking my phone, I immediately noticed something different about our conversation.
'Hey Chase. Hope you don't mind but I just wanted to tell you that I wanna see my brother later. Is it alright if I catch a ride with you guys??'
My eyes felt like they were about to fall out of their sockets after reading the text. I could literally feel myself stiffening out when I read Kate's name at the conversation box that I've sent my reply too.
Feeling worried that Kate might misunderstand, I started typing a message to her. Explaining that I made a mistake and didn't mean to send her that message. But before I could hit send, her reply suddenly popped up.
'Woah. I think you just sent me the wrong message hahah'
With that, I felt a bit relieved that she knew that I made a mistake and just opted to teasing and laughing at me about it.
'Sorry about that. Really didn't mean to😅'
'Aww. And here I was thinking that you were actually trying to hit on me. Honestly, when I read the message I was liking the confidence loverboy. But I think that you need to work on your small talks. Lmao😂'
'Ha ha. Laugh it up will you.' I replied. Chuckling, I slowly shook my head as I felt myself relax before I received another message.
'Already am. No need to tell me🤣😂🤣'
'ANYWAYS!!! We'll meet up with the others at the parking lot before heading back to our pack.' I replied. Hitting send before looking back to the teacher so he wouldn't notice that I wasn't listening at his class.
Soon enough though, I received a other reply.
'Trying to change the subject ey?? Lol. Kk, see you guys there.'
'I wasn't trying to change anything.' I typed. Scoffing softly with a small smile on my face before she replied.
'Sure you weren't🤥'
Shaking my head, there was about five minutes left on the clock before dismissal and I was about to put my phone back into my pocket and started packing up my things when I remembered that I haven't replied to Lydia's last text.
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Second chap and really hope it was good.
Feel free to comment guys.
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