Chapter 45

He waved Lyle over, and Amaris followed behind him. Marco turned back to his computer monitor but scooted his chair to one side so that Lyle could take a look. It was video footage from a camera. The footage was grainy, black and white, and was from a camera mounted high up but you were still able to see that the man on the screen was Adam. He appeared to be waiting for someone. After a few seconds, a dark colored car pulled up and rolled down the window. It was a woman at the wheel. Adam bent down and kissed her. They spoke for a few minutes. The conversation became an argument, and the woman sped off without any warning. Marco rewound the video and played it again, but slowed it down at the part where the woman’s face was the most visible. He froze the screen and asked Lyle “Do you know her?” As he brought up an enlargement of her face. Amaris gasped and put her hand over her mouth. Anna and her parents had now come over to see what they were looking at. Anna spoke first, pointing to the screen. “Hey I saw that woman in the office of our school arguing with the school secretary. She had a lot of guys with her. Bodyguard looking types. That was the day of the attack on Mari.” Turning to Amaris, “These aren’t the same people who chased you and killed Heather and Mrs. Bass, are they?” Anna had fear in her eyes. She too had been good friends with Heather, and although with all this craziness that had been going on, no one had time to grieve, she still felt the loss of her friend. “Yes, those are the same people. It was her that ordered those men after me. Those were the same men that killed them. They would have killed anyone who got in their way. That was why I ran into the woods when everyone else ran to the school for safety.” Amaris looked as if she could cry, but had no tears left, just terror. Both Anna on one side of her and Lyle on the other put their arms around her at the same time. It was awkward, but it still made her feel better. Anna’s mother reached over Anna and stroked Amaris’ hair. Marco who was all business and not one for affectionate displays piped up. “Does anyone know who she is?” Lyle released Amaris and turned back to the screen. “Yes, I do. I have met her four years ago shortly after I took over the pack. Her name is Sveta Greynost. She is the daughter of the King.” Everyone except Amaris stood in shock with their mouths open. Amaris looked from one to another and then turned back to Lyle. “Who is she and who is the king? Is there such a thing as werewolf royalty?”

Lyle sat down in the chair next to him and put his head in his hands. “Yes we have royalty of a sort. They are a pack hundreds of miles from here. They are powerful and vicious. Every wolf, man or woman trains to fight. They all are enlisted as warriors at some time. But what makes them really vicious is that they have destoyed or taken over every pack that they have encountered. Their reach had not yet extended out this far, but my father and yours,” He nods to Amaris. “Both agreed that it was only a matter of time before their eyes turned to the mountain. We have the second largest population of wolves. Second only to them.” “Then why are they after me?” Amaris says. Everyone was looking at her with the same knowing expression. “Amaris, you are supposed to be the one that unites all the packs. If they control you, they control all the wolf packs.” Anna’s father says resting a hand on her shoulder. He left it there in a fatherly gesture of support.

“So they believe in all these stories too? This is ridiculous. So Adam is working with them? Why?” Amaris turns to Lyle again looking for answers. Lyle shrugs his shoulders. “Up until a few days ago I thought that I could trust my brother. Hell I left him in charge. He was happy to run things and goto all the meetings. Which is where I assume he met Sveta. I never liked all the meetings and up until this moment I guess I never saw that what my father said about going to all the meetings and getting to know all the other pack leaders being the key to keeping the peace. My brother has always wanted power and until I stepped aside and had him take over in my place he would have had no chance for any higher rank other than leader of the guards. Once Amaris reached the age of ascension, she would take over and Adam would be pushed out. Adam is not Sveta’s type. My guess is she is just using him to get to Amaris. Once she has what she wants, she will kill him.” Lyle shakes his head and looks down. “That must be why he wanted Amaris to mate with him instead of me. He has twisted the prophecy and fed that to the pack to get them to help him get the power that he craves.”

Lyle seemed angry now. “Marco, have you ever picked up on any of the plans that they have other than the pack meeting? We need to know their next move.” Marco shakes his head. “See if you can find out anything. Adam is smart. Check everyone’s email accounts, and any other communication that you can intercept.” Lyle walked past everyone and to the door to the cabin. “Stay here all of you. I will be gone only a few hours. I do have a few trusted contacts at a couple of the other mountain packs. I will see if they have heard anything.” Lyle opened the door and walked out.