Blood of The Beast: Revelations

Shadows

Scylla:

    "You said there were no other shadows left. That you had them all in your pack and that they were being monitored. Where the hell did these come from?" I demanded. Ripley is looking at my kids in horror. She can't believe what just happened. How close her daughter had been to death. The attack came out of nowhere. There aren't any loose ends. I made sure of it, but it doesn't change the fact that they were sent here. 

    "We have to calm down," Reggie tried. 

    "Rip," I snapped my fingers in her face. "Rip say something. My daughter just died because of this and if it wasn't for my son, she would still be dead," 

    "I'm sorry," she finally whispered. She glanced over at her two sons and her daughter. "I don't know what to tell you. There aren't supposed to be anymore. The legend ended with me and my pack. If these things bend with the shadows I can assure you that they aren't like us. I'd be able to see it or feel it. As their king, I know what's where," 

    "They moved like her," Naloc, my son pointed at Riley. 

    "What else can you tell us?" Ezra asked. 

    "They were solid. Not like her at all," Astra finally spoke. "I think they manipulated the shadows, moved them. They didn't become them. I was able to pull one out of the darkness," 

    "Really?" Ezra asked. "From the shadows?" 

    "Yes," Astra nodded. 

    "Do you remember anything else? A-scent, a feeling. Like I've taught you?" I asked. 

    "There's nothing. They were void inside. Like them," she lifted the bottom of her skinny jeans to reveal the bite from on the jackals back in hound mountain. Astra is very in tune with the auras around people. It's nearly impossible for anyone to sneak up on her. Just like Alastair. "But they had faces. They looked almost human," 

    "Jackals can't turn back into their human state," Alastair shook his head. "I've called in my sire and your brother," he addressed me. "Glory is bringing him to the packhouse later. This wasn't the only attack. For now, I want to ask all of you to come to stay with us. If these things are pretending to be shadows they might strike here to make sure they aren't exposed to be something else," 

    "We just ended the last war," Rip sighed looking over at Ezra. "We've given too much to this for this s**t to start all over again," 

    "I'm not going to let that happen," I tried to reassure her. "They caught us by surprise. It won't happen again. I want all of us to stay put. No out of state or country trips. We're on defense now. Another attack and we'll get them. I have two of those things in my cellar, shadow wolf. I'd like for your mate to interrogate them. If we do it, we'll rip them apart for they did to our pups," 

    "That's for damn sure," she nodded looking back at Reggie. 

    "Let us pack a few things and inform the others. You think you have enough room for us all?" he asked me. 

    "Yeah, we expanded after the fires. Bigger rooms more breathing space. I can fit more than half my rogues and vampires in there. We should have no problem with you guys," 

    "Thank you," Rip bowed. 

    The way Ezra is staring at my daughter is making me want to rip her f*****g eyeballs out. There's suspicion in the way her eyes follow my kid's movements. She's always given me a bad vibe. Generally, she's behaving. She's always with Rip and after Rip told me what happened to them when the former King outed the supernatural world, I get it. I'd be a little lifeless myself. She's dangerous. More than Ripley cares to admit, but there hasn't been anything too incriminating to get rid of her. At least, not since Naloc's fifth birthday. 

    "You have that look," Alastair commented when we all got in the car. 

    "Look?" I asked taking his hand. I glanced back to see Astra sitting behind the driver's seat. She pressed her forehead against the back of the seat. "How are you doing?" I asked her. "Hungry?" 

    "Yeah," she slightly turned her head to peek at me. "I didn't know hunger could ever be like this," 

    "Only at first. Once you find that balance. It gets easier," I promised. "Right now, let's get you something to eat and some blood. I want you to try and get some rest," 

    "Okay," she nodded looking down at her feet again. 

    Naloc scooted a little closer to her but didn't reach for her this time. It was stupid of me to think that I would ever be able to hide this ugly part of what we are from them. I've never known real fear until last night. Her heart stopped and had it not been for my son, I would have lost her completely. The ache in my chest is brand new and it's not going to fade any time soon. I don't want to smother her but I know that that's exactly what I'm going to do.

    "You called?" Agathos is the first to arrive. Astra is his favorite grandkid so it wasn't a surprise when she rushed towards him and wrapped her arms around him.

    "Papa," she cried. He embraced her tenderly, as he always does. He took in our expressions. 

    "What's happened?" he demanded.

    "Astra, why don't you go up to your room? We have to talk to papa. When we're done we'll go up," Alastair suggests. 

    "I missed you, papa," she whispered into his chest before turning away. I motioned Naloc to follow. He did without hesitation.

    Agathos didn't say a word as we walked towards my study. It wasn't long before Lilith and my dad showed up with Devina and Brandon. 

    "You look like you're about to kill someone," my dad broke the silence. 

    "We were attacked yesterday, by morning," I informed them. They looked at one another. 

    "Who?" Brandon asked.

    "We don't know yet," Alaistar answered. "The message was from someone who calls herself the true queen of the wolves. They're like shadows. Not like Rip but close enough to mimic," 

    "Mimic a shadow?" Brandon asked. "That's not good," 

    "Astra died last night," I continued.

    "What?" they all practically shouted.

    "Her lightning abilities were activated too soon after the stress of her fight with those things. It was too strong for her. Had it not been for Naloc, she'd be gone," my voice broke at the end. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly before continuing. "I need to find out what these things are and how I can kill them. Astra said they had nothing. They're void inside like jackals," 

    "That's not entirely impossible," Brandon was the first to answer. The concern in his eyes is enough to tell me that he's going to take this seriously. 

    "We've encountered some new types of shifters in the outlander," Lilith agreed. "We wanted to be sure of what we found before we told everyone else," 

    "Experiments?" Alastair asked. 

    "No," Devina shook her head. "They're born from the shadows of the darkest parts of the old world. Not Shadow Wolves but definitely close enough to mimic one,"

    "So far we've only encountered them in the ruins. They're beautiful, like us. As Astra noted, there's nothing in them. Soulless. Maybe we didn't notice them bend the shadows because it was too dark," Lilith added. "You said you caught two?" 

    "Yeah, Reg is on his way," Alastair let them know. 

    "Perfect. He's the only one that would be able to keep his composure. You or the girl would rip them apart before we could get anything useful out of them. His methods are very well known. Psychological, I hear," Agathos nodded. 

    "Yeah," I sat down behind my desk. I'm anxious. While I'm familiar with the feeling, I'm no longer fully accustomed to it. It was nothing more than a distant memory. Now it's returned and I need it gone.

    "You need to relax. Astra is alive," my dad tried.

    "She wasn't. There should never have been a f*****g situation where her death was a probability and she f*****g died. She was completely dead. For three and a half minutes there was nothing. Her condition was a little advanced but I was monitoring her closely. She had three more weeks before I had to sedate her. I'm going to kill all of them. I don't care what the f**k they are or who. They're all going to die," 

    "I have to agree," Brandon nodded. 

    "So do I," Alastair agreed. 

    "Not all of them are responsible. We have to get to the source," my dad tried to reason. 

    "We will and when I kill that b***h I'm going to wipe them all out. Aren't you listening? Soulless," 

    "You're the one who's acting soulless right now. You know exactly what orders are when they come from the alpha. You say jump and it's engraved in them others to ask how high," 

    "I don't care. They all die. I'm not going to have a bunch of soulless creatures walking around potentially threatening us or any other creature. These shadows are all dead. No room for discussion," 

    "We have another problem," Felipe and Glory finally arrived. "I have a request from the alliance of wolves," 

    "What?" I asked when he lifted a letter. He handed it to me. 

    "It's a challenge," he announced.

    "Afraid of a little competition?" Agathos smacked Felipe on the shoulder.

    "No, and it's not for me. It's for the Rogue King. The new kid thinks he can handle Odin's Alpha battle wolf," he laughed. 

    "How old is this kid?" I laughed. 

    "He's nineteen maybe?" he shrugged. "Remember the Lycan rogues we found in England? He's the son of the Alpha male you slammed on the concrete face first. Kid's been raiding some of the packs looking for his mom," 

    "His mom? What's the story there?" I asked putting the paper down. The kid can write one hell of a challenging letter. He's smart. I give him that. 

    "I don't know. I've heard rumors that she's a wolf, not his kind. Maybe one of ours," 

    "Okay," I looked over at Alastair who simply nodded. 

    "I'll do the thing," Alastair winked at me. 

    "I think keeping Astra close to you would be good. She's a lot more attached to you than she is me. Her hunger and instincts are closer to yours than mine," 

    "I was thinking the same thing. Naloc wants to talk to you. I'll inform Astra," he excused himself. 

    "You need to calm down," Felipe stopped me. "I know that s**t is eating you up inside but she's alive and we have s**t to do again. Get your head in the game. We're going to need it," 

    Everyone excused themselves. I told them I was going to wait for Rip and Reggie. Naloc joined me after a few minutes. He's always been straight forward. He never asks for anything unless he's completely sure that it's what he wants. So, the fact that he's sitting here and the way he's looking at me with anger in his eyes tells me he's going to ask me something important. 

    "Mom, I want to make a request of you. If that's alright," he started. 

    "You know I'd never deny you anything if it's within my power to give, Naloc," 

    "It should be," he sighed. "But if you refuse. I'll understand. You are my mother above all the other things you have to be," 

    "What is it?" I smiled at him. 

    "I don't ever want to feel the way I did when Astra was dying. I can't handle that," he shook his head. There are tears in his eyes. I got up and went around my desk to sit with him. "I want you to train me," 

    "Naloc-" 

    "Mom, I know," he cut me off. "I know everything you had to go through to get where you are. I need to be stronger. I'm your son. Your heir and this is something that we were going to face one day anyway," 

    "Naloc, I wasn't to say no. You're right. I just want to tell you that because you are my son, it doesn't mean I'm going to take it easy on you. You're so accustomed to getting your way. You've lived pain-free up until now and the key to your training is to overcome that pain. We'll start in the morning. Get some rest, you're going to need it," 

    "Thank you," he bowed before he stormed out of my study with a grin on his face. 

    "No one is going to understand," Alastair walked in after. "We've babied him," 

    "We have," I smiled at him. "I wanted him to choose. I would never force this on him the way it was forced on me. I was kind of hoping it would never come to it," 

    "He'll be fine. He's our son. I'm sure there are things you wish were done differently in your training. Maybe grant him the courtesy," his hand-cuffed my cheek before he placed a kiss on my lips. "I'll find the boy's mother. Try not to go on a killing spree while I'm out," 

    "No promises," I smirked.