I sag into one of the seats at the back of the stage with a sigh as Mom, Uncle Alex, Ryna, Gino, Tony, and the Crescent warriors come up to the stage.
“Cassia is still being guarded?” I ask Uncle Alex.
“Yes, they’re taking her back to the house,” he says.
I stretch as I try to fight exhaustion. “I need to go and organize the conference room, then I’m going to talk to Catherine,” I tell them as I stand, a yawn escaping me.
“Athena, no. You’re exhausted. It’s been a long 24 hours, and you need rest,” Mom pleads with me, trying to get me to sit back down.
“I need to do this, Mom. I need to know how she got here and if she’s working with anyone,” I tell her as I start to walk to the side door.
“Don’t worry, Mrs Argos. We won’t leave her side,” Leah says, as the Crescent warriors follow me.
“Alpha Athena!” someone calls out, and I turn to find Alpha Pollux walking over.
“You don’t have to call me Alpha yet, Alpha Pollux. But I appreciate what you said today,” I say as I bow my head with respect.
“You’re already Alpha in my eyes,” he says with a smile and bows his head to me. “I was wondering if I could speak to you privately?” He asks, as he waves somebody over.
“I’m sorry, Alpha. But anything that needs to be discussed with our Alpha must be discussed in front of us,” Leah says.
“Please excuse my warriors. They’re overprotective right now,” I say, giving Leah a stern look.
“I mean no disrespect, Alpha,” Leah says, bowing her head to him.
“You’re protective of your Alpha. An excellent quality for a warrior,” Alpha Pollux says with a smile. “Please let me introduce you to my twin brother and Beta, Castor,” he says, and Beta Castor bows his head to me.
“What can I help you with?” I ask them.
They look at each other, then back to me, and without saying a word, they close their eyes, then re-open them, and I gasp when I’m met with eyes of the chosen. “You’re both…” I stutter, not knowing what to say.
“It would seem we are chosen, like you,” Beta Castor says.
“Does anyone outside of your pack know?” I ask, worried about their safety.
“Only the people in this room,” Alpha Pollux states.
“Which pack are you from?” Uncle Alex asks, coming down from the stage.
“We’re a small pack not far from here, the Silver-Moon pack,” Alpha Pollux says.
“Of course,” Uncle Alex says. “How’s your father doing?”
“He passed a few months back,” Beta Castor tells us.
“I’m very sorry for your loss,” I tell them.
“Thank you. We’d like to learn more about the chosen,” Alpha Pollux says.
“Of course. The best people to speak to are Alpha Peter and Luna Rachel from the Moonstone pack, and Elder Laskaris. I was just on my way to organize the conference room, so I can introduce you if you like?” I ask.
“That would be great,” they answer at the same time.
“We’ll go and get our guest ready for you, Alpha,” Ryna says, and I nod in approval.
I motion for the Alpha and Beta to follow me, and I take them to Elder Laskaris, who is already talking to Alpha Peter.
“Gentleman,” I greet them. “I’d like to introduce to Alpha Pollux, and Beta Castor from the Silver-Moon pack.”
“Nice to meet you,” Alpha Peter says, shaking their hands.
“We’ve meet. Good to see you again,” Elder Laskaris says, shaking their hands as well.
“They need to speak with you about the chosen,” I tell them. “Is Luna Rachel available?” I ask Alpha Peter.
“Yeah, of course. I’ll mind-link her and ask her to join us,” he says.
“We’d like to talk to you, too,” I hear someone say from behind me, and I turn to find a small group of about ten people waiting from the different packs.
“Oh, of course,” I say. “If you could all please follow me, I’ll take you to the conference room.”
I lead them inside the pack house and to the conference room next to Damon’s old office. When they’re all seated, I organize for the Omega, Sarah, to get them all coffee.
“Please take as much time as you need, and please feel free to find me later if any of you have questions for me or need to talk to me,” I tell them with a smile and then close the door and head back outside.
‘*Harry, can you and Rich please send anyone wanting to talk to Elder Laskaris to conference room one? I will be unavailable for a while,*’ I mind-link them.
‘*Of course, Alpha*,’ Harry links back.
*‘I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to being called Alpha*,’ Enyo says.
‘*Tell me about it*.’
I walk down the stairs into the bunker under the pack house, and then into the room that holds the cells where Catherine is being held.
Ryna and Uncle Alex hear me come in and move to the side so that I can see Catherine, who is sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, her hands handcuffed behind her in silver cuffs. She looks absolutely miserable; her face is stained with tears, and she looks like she hasn’t slept.
“Please, Athena. I don’t want to die,” she sobs.
“That’s Alpha to you, rogue,” Tony growls at her.
Catherine’s eyes widen in fear. “I’m sorry, Alpha. I meant no disrespect,” she says quickly. “But I’m not a rogue,” she tells Tony.
“You were banished from Moonstone. How are you not a rogue?”
“When I was banished, my father was waiting for me outside of the territory. He took me to where he’d been staying, and a couple of days later, Nick Teresi came and found us.”
“What did he want?” I ask.
“We thought he was there to kill us. But he was there to recruit us.”
“Recruit you for what?”
“A rogue pack.”
‘*I’ll be right back, Alpha. Harry needs me, he says it’s urgent*.’ Uncle Alex mind-links and leaves the room.
“Is there an Alpha?” Ryna asks Catherine.
“I’ve never met him, but he runs it more like a military outfit than a pack. There’s a Beta, Leo. He’s the one who led the attack last night.”
“You can’t be both a rogue and in a pack. So how is it a rogue pack if you aren’t rogues?” Ryna asks.
“Well, I guess we are still rogues… I’m not even sure it’s a real pack…”
“Stop talking in circles. We want answers,” Tony growls at her.
“They’re getting help from witches.”
“I knew it,” Tony says.
“When you join the pack, you have to take a tonic. It kind of works like a pack link when you’re accepted by an Alpha into a pack,” she explains.
“Are you able to mind-link like a pack?” I ask. Catherine nods. “What about your smell? Because you smell like a rogue, but not at the same time.”
“They spray us down with another tonic. It’s supposed to cover our scent.”
I grab a chair from the corner of the room and sit in front of Catherine, with my elbows on my knees and my hands clasped. “We’ve heard rumours that the rogue pack is working with werewolves and hunters. Is there anything you can tell us about that?”
She lets out a small growl, and Tony growls back at her, making her jump. “Sorry,” Catherine apologizes. “I don’t know about hunters, but they’re working with werewolves alright. From what I understand, they’ve been involved for a while. They were even here last night.”
“Liar. There were no werewolves in the attack last night,” Ryna says.
“Oh, but they were,” she says. “Whoever the witches are that are working with the pack are powerful. They can change werewolves to look like lycans,” she explains.
The room falls silent as the gravity of what she said sets in.
“My Goddess…” Ryna whispers a few minutes later.
“You mean… They physically shift into lycans?” I ask.
“What?” Uncle Alex says as he walks back into the room.
“They’re working with witches,” I tell him. “But I’m not sure I believe this.”
“It’s true, I swear. I’ve seen them in both werewolf and lycan forms. If it wasn’t for the tonic covering our scent, you’d be able to smell them. The tonic they spray us with covers our species. Maybe that’s why we still smell a bit like a rogue.”
“Alpha, can I talk to you for a minute?” Uncle Alex asks.
I look over Catherine as I try to work out if she’s telling the truth or not, then I stand and follow Uncle Alex out of the room.
“Do you think she’s telling the truth?” He whispers.
“I don’t know what to believe anymore.” I sigh as I rub my temples. “What did Harry want?”
“Felix came back. He needs to talk to you.”
“Now?” I ask. “I’m kind of busy.”
“You need to hear this.”
I sigh in frustration but follow Uncle Alex out of the bunker and he takes me to Harry and Felix.
“Alpha, it’s good to see you again,” Felix says as he bows his head.
“You too, Felix. How can I help you?”
“I went back to the pack last night after Alpha Costas was killed. It was pretty chaotic over there, but it meant I could look around more,” he explains.
“Did you find anything?” I ask.
“Well, I remembered there’s this old building just outside of our territory, and it’s the only place that made sense for all of those strange cars to be going to, so I went to check it out. It’s heavily guarded, but not by the pack.”
“Were they lycan?” Uncle Alex asks.
“Yeah.”
“And you’re sure they weren’t pack members?”
“I’m sure. I thought they were rogues at first, but their scents are off.”
“Shit.”
“What?” Harry asks.
‘*The rogue pack. They’re working with witches*,’ I tell him through mind-link.
“Shit,” Harry repeats.
“There’s more,” Felix says. “I heard muffled screaming, as if someone was being tortured.”
“Could you get a look inside at all?” Harry asks.
“No. There were too many guards.”
“What kind of building is it?” I ask.
“It’s an old barn, but there were renovations done to it about ten years ago when Alpha Costas wanted to expand the territory. I think it was going to be a second pack house, so there were rooms added, bathrooms, things like that, and a basement.”
‘There’s no way Alpha Niko would have let Costas extend his territory,’ Enyo says.
I think for a moment, trying to piece everything together. “I think we need to check this barn out,” I say.
“Why? What do you think is going on?” Harry asks.
“Felix, what side of the territory is the barn near?” I ask.
“The west side, not far from the Shadow River.”
“That’s the direction we were following them last night before we lost their scent, and I bet you anything that’s the direction they came from that day on the road when they tried to get to Luna Cassia.”
“We should ask Catherine,” Uncle Alex says.
“Thank you for your help, Felix,” I say, and extend my hand to him.
He takes it and shakes it. “Anytime, Alpha.”
Uncle Alex and I return to the bunker to continue questioning Catherine.
“Removes her cuffs,” I tell Ryna as I sit back in front of Catherine.
“Seriously?” He asks, and I nod.
Ryna undoes the silver cuffs, and Catherine rubs her wrists as she eyes me suspiciously.
“Why did you attack last night?” I ask.
“We were on standby in case anything happened last night. Nick was sent in to question you. They wanted to know why you called him last month and what you knew. They thought it had something to do with Doctor Shields, that maybe he talked. But then our Alpha told us you are the chosen Alpha, and the pack was sent in to kill you.”
“Chosen Alpha? What’s a chosen Alpha?” I ask, confused.
“Isn’t that why they’re calling you Alpha? Because you’re the chosen one to lead them?”
“We’re calling her Alpha because she killed Alpha Damon last night and killed Alpha Costas when he challenged her. She’s now our pack Alpha,” Uncle Alex explains.
“You don’t know…” Catherine says, surprised.
“Know what?” Tony growls.
“I don’t know everything… And now I don’t think I should say anything…”
“Catherine, despite everything that has happened between us, I’m not your enemy.”
She glares at me with tears brimming in her eyes. “Because of you, my father was banished from our pack. I was banished.”
“No, you and your father need to take responsibility for your own actions. Your father was kicked from Moonstone for actions that happened long before I came along.”
Catherine wipes the tears from her face and looks around the room at the others. “She killed your Alpha. What makes you think you can trust her? She could kill you all.”
“We chose her as our leader long before she killed our Alpha. Our Alpha was scum and needed to die,” Ryna says.
Catherine slumps back in her seat with a sigh. “All I know is that there is a chosen Alpha that is supposed to lead the pack of the chosen. That they’re extremely dangerous and could wipe us all out.”
“And your Alpha thinks that this chosen Alpha is Athena?” Tony asks.
“That’s what he told us last night.”
“How can I be the chosen Alpha when I’m a Gamma? This doesn’t make any sense,” I say out loud.
“It’s to do with the prophecy, but that’s all I know.” Catherine says.
“It could be another reason behind the attacks on the packs,” Uncle Alex says. “If they think there’s a chosen Alpha, they could have been trying to get rid of you, not just all chosen.”
“Catherine, were you staying on Alpha Costa’s land?” I ask, remembering what Felix told us.
She nods. “There’s an old barn that was converted into a pack house.”
I look at Uncle Alex. “We definitely have to check this place out.”
“I agree.” He says.
“What are you going to do with me?” Catherine asks.
“We should kill you for what you tried to do last night,” Tony growls.
“Please. Just let me go. I don’t want any part of this anymore.”
“Why should we trust you?” Uncle Alex asks.
“I know you can’t trust me. But please. Let me get my father out, and we’ll leave. You will never hear from us again. I swear,” she says as she cries.
“He’s here as well?” I ask.
“Yes. We both got dragged into this. We had no idea what we were signing up for when we agreed to join Nick.”
“I’ll let you go on one condition.”
“Alpha, no!” Tony says, but I put my hand up to stop him.
“I will let you go if you get us to the barn safely. I will even help you get your father to safety.”
“Deal,” Catherine says, and I hold my hand out for her to shake on it. She eyes it for a moment, then carefully takes my hand.
I then stand and walk out of the room, and Uncle Alex, Ryna, and Tony follow me out, locking the door behind them.
“Are you sure about this?” Uncle Alex asks.
“I need to break the stigma around the chosen. We’re feared because of some prophecy we don’t even know or understand. If I let her go, I show them that I’m not the monster they think I am.”