The Alpha's Fated Outcast: Rise Of The Moonsinger. Chapter 402: Visions of the past

Lyla

The mont my eyelids shut, the kitchen around faded away, and I found myself standing with Nyris.

Since her death, I could no longer communicate as effectively as I did when she was here, so each ti she had important information to pass to , I went to her instead.

And since I cannot shift because of the babies, too, this was a better solution.

Nyris's world was filled with swirling mists and the soft glow of moonlight that seed to co from everywhere and nowhere at once.

"What's wrong?" I asked her as she stood before

'Danger is coming Lyla,' Nyris said. 'Multiple supernatural signatures are moving with coordinated purpose. They're not random attackers, this is a planned assault.'

"How many?" I asked, hoping my racing heart won't jump out of my chest.

'At least seven, possibly more. The sa corrupted scent we detected at the cri scene, but stronger now. More focused.'

"The sa creatures that killed those people?"

'Yes. And they're specifically targeting this location. This isn't a coincidence, Lyla. Soone told them exactly where to find us.'

If these creatures were the sa ones responsible for the killings, and if they were now targeting our temporary safe house, it ant soone had betrayed our location.

Soone who knew exactly where we were staying.

"How long do we have?" I asked.

'A few minutes at most, though the attack on this house won't happen right away. They would try to attack humans at a social gathering and put more fear in the hearts of the people to cause confusion in the hearts of the human and make them put their trust in these individuals rather than in their governnt."

"Can you identify what they are at least?"

Nyris's form flickered with agitation. "That's what disturbs most. The supernatural signature is Lycan, along with other random supernatural creatures, but it has been twisted sohow. Like soone took werewolf essence and perverted it with sothing else, sothing that shouldn't exist in our realm."

"Sothing from the Dark One's magic?"

"Possibly, but this feels different. Older. More primal. Whatever created these things has been planning this for a very long ti."

"What do we do?"

"Alert the others imdiately. Kyren and the Hollow Kin mbers are powerful enough to handle these creatures, but they need to know what's coming. The elent of surprise is the only advantage these attackers have; take that away, and they beco manageable."

"Will they be able to protect anyone from dying?" I asked.

"They'll be at more advantage if they try to evacuate the people before these attacks begin. These creatures want to beco visible to humans for the first ti. Before now, they were operating in the dark. Now they know you're here. These creatures were specifically created to breach supernatural defences. The wards will slow them down, not stop them."

I felt my consciousness returning slowly "Nyris, is there anything else I need to know?"

"Be very careful who you trust, Lyla."

I opened my eyes, returning to where Ramsey, Kyren, and Elias were still standing in the kitchen. They all had concerned expressions as they stared at .

"Hey, are you alright?" Ramsey asked , and he was already by my side.

"There's going to be an attack soon," I said breathlessly. "Seven or more creatures with the sa corrupted supernatural signature from the cri scene. They'll be at a social gathering with lots of humans."

"Your wolf told you this?" he asked.

I nodded. "She says they know that we live here but will not attack for now."

Kyren turned to Elias imdiately. "Ergency protocol seven. Contact the other council mbers imdiately and have them establish a protective periter around the property. After that, send out a scout team imdiately. Three squads. One to the edge of the human border. The second to any social gathering being held now and the third to Delia."

"Delia?" Elias blinked. "The siren. I thought we're not minding her for now."

"We need to. Lyla has a hunch that she's behind this, and we cannot afford to leave any stone unturned. Ask our Shadow Beacons to position themselves to assist in situations where everything becos overwhelming."

"What about the local human authorities?" Elias asked, already moving, "Shouldn't we contact them?"

Elias nodded and headed toward the door, but Kyren called him back.

"One more thing, activate the enhanced detection arrays around the property. I want to know imdiately if any additional threats approach, and I want real-ti tracking on anything that moves within a half-mile radius."

"Understood," Elias said, and disappeared from the kitchen.

"Thank you so much, Lyla… this information is what we need now to prove to the humans that we're not behind this attack," Kyren said. "I'll be off now to monitor things for myself, but I'll be within the house. Best get rested, we might need you, maybe…"

He didn't even wait for to reply before he walked out of the kitchen.

"C'mon, baby, let's get you to the bedroom," Ramsey said quietly.

He led quickly through the house and back to our bedroom, closing the door behind us and activating what I assud were additional protective asures.

"I want you to rest," he said firmly, guiding toward the bed. "Let Kyren and the others handle this threat. You've done your part by giving us the warning."

"I wish I could help fight—"

"You're pregnant with twins," he interrupted. "Your job right now is to stay safe and protect our children. Let us handle the creatures."

The exhaustion from communing with Nyris was already getting to , and it didn't help that my pregnant body was demanding rest.

"Fine," I said, settling onto the bed. "But if things go badly, you co get imdiately. Don't try to be heroic if you need backup."

"I promise," Ramsey said, pressing a kiss to my forehead. "Just rest. This will all be over soon."

As soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep.

But instead of the peaceful rest I'd hoped for, I found myself drawn into a dream that felt more like a mory.

I was back at the warehouse where Xander had taken when I was 19, when he wanted to bind myself to him via the blood oath, but this ti I wasn't experiencing it directly. Instead, my spirit seed to be following myself and Xander as we entered the building, like watching a movie of my own past.

I observed as dream-Lyla looked around at the multitude of people gathered in the warehouse's main area, dozens of humans, all drawn by Xander's promises of power and transformation.

"Who are these people?" Dream-Lyla asked Xander, though I couldn't rember this scene, but it felt familiar.

"Humans who want to beco us," Lyla," Xander replied with a cold smile. "They'll do anything for power, even when they don't understand what they're truly asking for. These people believe I'm offering them supernatural abilities, but what I'm really giving them is servitude."

I watched as my past self followed Xander through the crowd toward the back of the warehouse, where the ritual space had been prepared. But as we approached the area where the standing stones waited under the Gemini moon, I noticed sothing that hadn't been there during my experience.

This ti, instead of Xander and being alone at the ritual site, the standing stones were surrounded by three figures in dark hooded robes. They stood in a perfect triangle around the largest stone platform, their faces completely hidden in shadow.

Last ti, Ferals and Trinax had been hiding in the bushes, waiting for us. Suddenly, the scene shifted, and Xander was no longer there.

Instead, dream-Lyla was lying on the platform of the largest standing stone, but now the three hooded figures lood over her like priests preparing a sacrifice.

This wasn't how it happened. I was sure of it.

There were no hooded figures when Xander brought here. Moreover, I felt connected to the whole scene, as if I were being placed on the stone, yet not at the sa ti. One of the hooded figures looked up, and I could feel its eyes on .

I wanted to speak, to ask it so questions. How was it able to see ? The others didn't seem to have noticed my presence.

One of the figures spoke with a distorted voice.

"We'll take back what is ours," the figure said, raising its arms toward the Gemini moon above. "The bloodline must be restored. Now open up and let us take what truly belongs to us."

The hooded figure used a knife and slashed its wrist, spraying Dream-Lyla's body with blood. She began to writhe. Although she wasn't screaming or saying anything, I could tell she was in pain.

The hooded figure suddenly lunged toward dream-Lyla with speed, its hands reaching for her throat. She opened her mouth to scream, and I felt myself screaming along with her as the terror of the mont overwheld my sleeping mind.