Page 52

AEGIS'S FIRST PERSON P.O.V

"Alpha Aegis And Beta Noah will be presenting to us today."

The King sat at the head of the table as usual. Beta Jaxon sat to his right. General Terel across from him. The remaining cuncil members filled the seats like shadows watching me breathe. All except the Vampire.

Noah wasn’t beside me.

I cleared my throat. “I’ll be presenting alone. Beta Noah had to return to our pack early this morning. There was an emergency that demanded his presence.”

General Terel nodded and the King smirked.

Zach and Emery placed the flash drive on the screen console, uploaded the presentation on the large screen in front of us and i started.

“We were finally able to decrypt the contents of the drive yesterday night. It holds records of all ritual killings. It also shows that the packs attacked weren’t picked at random.

” I pointed to the first slide. “They're all Alphas. All strong bloodlines. And all their deaths… seemed to ba a part of an experiment.”

Someone shifted in their seat.

“They weren’t just killed,” I continued, voice steadying. “They were harvested. Their blood was used for the experiments and rituals. The records say the blood had to be powerful—Alpha blood. But not just that…”

I hesitated and swiped to the next slide showing the pictures of the dead Alpha's Bodies.

The King’s gaze on me was too sharp. And I met it.

“For the experiments to be successful, they also needed blood from someone close to the Alpha. A family member or direct tie. Which would explain how for each of the Alphas that were killed, someone in their family mysteriously died or disappeared soon after them.”

I swiped to another slide, displaying similar dead bodies of the victims.

General Terel leaned forward. “Like a son?”

“Yes. Or a sibling. Someone with similar strength.” I tapped again. “But Late Alpha Elijah’s pack… was the only one wiped out completely. Three survivors. All were on an assignment abroad. Noah. Zach. Emery.”

Terel raised an eyebrow. “Your Beta, Delta, and Gamma.”

I nodded.

He narrowed his eyes. “So where are you from, Aegis?”

I kept my hands folded. “I’m Former Alpha Brianna’s daughter. Noah, Emery, and Zach found a home in her pack. They earned their ranks through years of loyalty.”

The air shifted. The King spoke, finally.

“There was another attack last night.”

Everyone stilled.

He looked up, voice cold. “Alpha Stephan Williams of the Whitebork Pack was attacked. He was very obviously targeted. He barely survived but was able to fight them off.”

I blinked. “He survived?”

“No one has ever survived the attack before,” Jaxon said quietly.

The King nodded. “Which is why we’ll be stopping at his pack before heading to the Coven.”

I swallowed. “What did he see?”

“That’s what we’ll find out.”

Jaxon stood. “Sire, What about the Council Summoning?”

“We’ll return before then,” the King said. “Alpha Aegis and I leave tonight.”

The room emptied in silence leaving us. We already had our plans in motion but my heart was somewhere else. The guys took down the presentation and handed me the drive.

They each took seats around me as I dialed Brianna.

“What was the emergency?”

“Solice.”

I stiffened. “What about him?”

“He’s been sniffing around. I told you he’s here on some bogus assignment from his Alpha. One we couldn’t legally refuse. But he's apparently being terrifying and questioning the pack members.”

Noah’s voice chimed in. “And last but not the least, I got back this morning to find him trying to enter the main packhouse.”

I clenched my jaw. “Don’t let him. Lie. Lock the entrances if you have to. I don't care but that man better not step foot in my room."

“Already done,” Brianna muttered.

I sighed. “Keep your eyes on him. If he tries again, report to me immediately.”

“Give the phone to Noah,” I added.

He picked up fast. “Aegis?”

His voice was soft. I smiled.

“You good?”

“Yeah. Got in safely. What about the meeting?”

I sighed. “Another Alpha was attacked yesterday.”

“What?” He sounded shaken. “Is he dead?”

“He fought them off.”

“WHAT? That’s… insane.” He paused. “How?”

“We’re going to find out tonight.”

It was silent for a bit and I was about to cut the call when he spoke again. This time his voice sounded very nervous.

“Aegis… when this is over. When you’re back…”

His voice lowered.

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you. It’s been… weighing on me.”

I frowned. “Say it now.”

“No. It’ll be better when you’re here.”

I laughed. “Noah, Are you stuttering?”

“I’m not—! I just—bye, Aegis.”

He hung up.

I stared at the screen. Noah never stutters.

Back in my room, I packed in silence.

Zach and Emery were helping and also packing their stuffs too. Tossing gear into bags. Polishing weapons. Talking strategy. We were having fun. Zach threw a shoe at Emery and he cussed him out.

Emery suddenly paused. “So this whole thing…with kill the Alpha, and someone close to him.”

“Someone strong like him,” I confirmed.

He frowned. “They didn’t do that in our pack. With Alpha Elijah.”

I looked up.

Zach nodded in agreement. “Yeah. They did kill Cece… but she was still a child. She wasn’t the strongest closer to Elijah.”

I stopped moving as it all clicked.

“Cece wasn’t the strongest,” Emery repeated. “She wasn’t his son. Not his brother. Not even a Beta. Just…”

The realization slammed into me like a punch to the gut.

Noah.

“No…”

My breath caught. Emery and Zach had similar looks of horror on their faces.

“He’s—he’s the closest in strength. They missed him.”

“They probably didn’t know,” Zach muttered.

“But they might now,” I whispered.

And then, like thunder inside me, it hit hard.

“Fuck.”