Xavier POV
"Are you sure?" I asked, my gaze widening with shock.
Gamma Theo nodded and ca to where I was, he had a phone in his hand. He leaned towards and played a recording from the CCTV caras outside the borders. True to his word, as Jared erged, the strange rogues flocked after him. They seed like a thousand or more but they followed behind him in an orderly manner.
I pressed the heels of my palms against my temples, trying to stave off the headache that was threatening to split my skull. Could Selene really be part of sothing darker? I hated myself for even entertaining the thought, but Jared’s words had planted a seed I couldn’t easily shake.
"Just keep watch for now," I said eventually, feeling stressed. "At least until I understand what’s going on. Also, get so pack Healers, Lucius is injured."
A while later,
Across the room, Lucius stirred, his breathing shallow but steady as one of our pack healers, Daria, worked on patching him up. His face was bruised, his shirt soaked with blood, but he was alive—barely. Jared had left him like this, broken and bleeding as if he were just another pawn in so twisted ga.
"Stay with , Lucius," I muttered under my breath, clenching my fists. I needed him to survive. Not just for his sake, but because I needed answers. He’d been part of sothing, part of whatever had brought Jared to my doorstep. And if I was going to make sense of this ss, I needed to know what he knew.
The door creaked open slightly, and Daria glanced up from where she knelt beside Lucius. "Alpha," she said softly, her tone professional but tinged with worry. "He’s stable for now, but the internal injuries are serious. He needs ti to heal."
I nodded, my jaw tightening as I forced myself to breathe evenly. Ti. It felt like the one thing we didn’t have.
"Do whatever it takes," I ordered, my voice low and clipped. "I need him to recover, Daria. And I need him to talk."
Daria gave a quick nod, her hands already moving to tend to another wound on Lucius’s side. I watched her work in silence for a mont, my mind still churning with questions. Jared’s words haunted .
We need to stop her. Selene will usher in the dark age.
It didn’t make sense. Selene had always been good, pure. I had seen her heart, her fierce loyalty to this pack, to our family. But the truth was that I didn’t fully understand her power. Ever since Kragen had appeared, since the strange events surrounding her had started, I had been left in the dark more than I cared to admit.
I couldn’t help but think back to the night Kragen had shown up in our lives. There had always been sothing about him that set my instincts on edge, but Selene had trusted him. And that trust had led to a bond I didn’t fully comprehend, one that seed to transcend what I could offer her as her mate.
Was that where the danger lay? Was Kragen using her for sothing I couldn’t see?
The sharp clatter of a tray being knocked over jolted out of my thoughts. Daria muttered a curse under her breath as she picked up the scattered supplies, her hands shaking slightly. Even she was affected by the tension in the air. Everyone was. Greyhound was on edge, and I could feel it reverberating through the pack link, the undercurrent of fear that no one dared speak aloud.
I pushed myself out of my chair and crossed the room to the window, staring out into the night. The moon hung high in the sky, casting its pale light over the territory. I had always found comfort in the night, in the stillness of it. But now, even the shadows felt like they were closing in like they were hiding sothing I wasn’t ready to face.
The door to my office creaked open again, and this ti, it wasn’t Daria or one of the healers. The scent that hit was familiar, a mix of earth and pine, but there was sothing else—sothing bitter, like smoke.
I turned just as Kurtis stepped into the room, his expression grim. He took one look at Lucius, sprawled on the ground and being tended to, and his face tightened with shock.
"What the hell happened here?" Kurtis growled, his eyes flicking between and the scene before him.
I ran a hand through my hair, feeling the exhaustion weighing down my every word. "Jared," I muttered, my voice barely above a growl. "Alpha Jared of the Blue Moon Pack ca to deliver a ssage—and a warning."
Kurtis’s eyes narrowed, his jaw clenching. "A warning? You an he did this?" His gaze shifted to Lucius, who groaned softly, still unconscious. There was anger in Kurtis’s eyes, the kind of rage that only cos from seeing one of your own hurt.
"He wants to join his alliance," I explained, trying to keep the frustration from seeping into my voice. "He claims there’s a darkness coming, and that Selene and Kragen are at the heart of it."
Kurtis stared at for a mont, his brow furrowing. "Selene? That doesn’t make sense. Why would he think—?"
I cut him off with a shake of my head. "I don’t know. But he believes it. He says she’s the key to so dark age, that Kragen’s been manipulating her."
Kurtis’s eyes darkened, and I could see the conflict playing out across his face. Like , he had always trusted Selene. She was our Luna, our leader. But now, doubt had been planted, and it was growing fast.
"What are you thinking?" Kurtis asked, his voice low.
"I don’t know," I admitted, my frustration bubbling to the surface. "Jared makes it sound like we’re on the edge of sothing catastrophic. But I don’t know if I can trust him. He’s using fear to push into this alliance, and I don’t like it."
Kurtis crossed his arms, his eyes drifting back to Lucius. "What about him? Did Jared say why he did this?"
I shook my head. "No. But Lucius knows sothing. Jared didn’t kill him for a reason. He wants to figure out what that is."
Silence fell between us, heavy and tense. Kurtis shifted uneasily, his gaze lingering on Lucius. "And Selene? What does she know?"
The question hung in the air like a lead weight, and I felt a pang of guilt twist in my gut. I didn’t have an answer, and that was the worst part. I didn’t know what Selene knew, or how deep her connection with Kragen went. I wanted to believe she was still the sa woman I had loved and protected, but the more Jared’s words echoed in my head, the more I realized how little I truly understood.
"I need to talk to her," I said, my voice tight. "But I don’t know how much I can tell her."
Kurtis raised an eyebrow, his expression hardening. "You’re going to keep this from her?"
I exhaled slowly, frustration building inside . "I don’t know. If Jared’s right, if there’s any truth to what he’s saying, then telling her could make things worse. I need to figure out what’s going on before I confront her."
Kurtis didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t argue. "And Kragen?"
The re ntion of his na made my blood boil. "I don’t trust him. I never have."
Before Kurtis could respond, Lucius stirred his voice barely a whisper. "X-Xavier..."
Both of us rushed to his side, kneeling next to him as Daria hovered behind us. Lucius’s eyes fluttered open, and he winced in pain, his voice strained and weak.
"Lucius," I said, keeping my voice steady. "Can you hear ?"
He nodded weakly, his gaze flickering between and Kurtis. "I-I tried to stop them..."
My heart clenched. "Who? Who did this?"
Lucius’s breathing hitched, and for a mont, I thought he might pass out again. But then he managed to speak, his words coming out in broken gasps. "Jared... He... he’s planning sothing. He w-wants control. Control over everything."
I exchanged a glance with Kurtis, dread pooling in my stomach. "Control over what?"
Lucius coughed, blood flecking his lips. "Over Selene. Over... her power. H-He said... she’s the key. The key to it all."
My heart pounded in my chest as the pieces started to co together. Jared wasn’t just after an alliance—he wanted control of whatever power Selene held. And Kragen... Kragen had been positioning himself to take that power for himself.
"What else did Jared say?" Kurtis asked, his voice tight.
Lucius’s eyes fluttered shut, his strength fading fast. "He said... he said they’re coming. That we... we don’t have much ti."
And with that, Lucius passed out again, leaving Kurtis and in stunned silence.
Before I could even process what he had said, the door to my office swung open, and I turned to see Kurtis, his face pale and drawn as he took in the scene before him. His eyes widened as he spotted Lucius sprawled on the ground, bloodied and broken.
"What the hell happened here?" Kurtis demanded, his voice a mix of shock and anger.
I stood there, my heart pounding, knowing that the storm we had been trying to avoid was already upon us.
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