Chapter 457 - Fated To The Alpha (Complete Fated Series collection)

Eziah

I slowly come to, my mind foggy and my body feeling as though it's been hit by a truck. The sound of voices wash over me, angry and frustrated tones swirling together.

“...don’t even know where to begin! We have to find them!” I hear my mother arguing with someone.

“The entire city is on lockdown. We’ve covered every inch, and still nothing!” Kyan growls angrily. "They aren't in the city! If they were, my men would have found them! I even have the human authorities out looking for them.”

Struggling to sit up, my vision blurs momentarily. The familiar luxury of Kyan's penthouse apartment in the casino he owns surrounds me. Through bleary eyes, I catch Kyan pacing, Dominic with a stern look, Jonah leaning against the wall, and Rose looking distraught. All three of my parents stand in a tense cluster.

“What happened?!” I croak out, my throat dry.

Rose rushes to my side, handing me a glass of water. “Easy there Eziah. A lot has transpired.”

I drink deeply, the cold water soothing my dry throat. “Where’s Temperance?!”

“They've been taken by Satish and Vince. They took Lucas and Casey too,” Rose murmurs, her eyes glistening.

"Marabella?!" I ask looking around.

"Alive, but unconscious. She hasn't woken, and we…." Dominic trails off looking at Kyan who has a haunted look on his face, I look at Jonah, his face holding the same worry.

"We what?!" I ask, waiting for an answer. My mother sighs heavily despite never aging, this entire ordeal seems to have added years with the lines of worry evident on her face. Her eyes are hollow, and the gold light in them seems to have dimmed.

"We don't know what state she'll be in. Kaif brought her back with black magic and used the shadows."

"Marabella is the shadows!" I remind her, the shadows can't hurt her.

"Exactly what I've said!" Kyan snarls angrily, glaring at Kat.

"Yes, but people don't always return the same Kyan, you know this. You need to be prepared for the worst in case...." Kyan glares at his father.

"She won't be rabid! And even if she is, any of you dares touch her..." He doesn't finish, instead he calms some when Jonah wraps an arm around across his chest pulling backward. "Calm down, she'll be fine!" I just managed to hear him whisper to Kyan. Kyan doesn't calm down any, but also doesn't fight Jonah after his next words.

"Corina is in the next room, we don't want to wake her. She is traumatized enough. Settle down!" Jonah warns him once again.

My heart plummets. A surge of rage builds within me. "So, what's the plan?!"

“We can't rush into this, not after what Satish did. We don’t even know what he is!" Kyan states as he diverts his attention to me and away from his father.

“What do you mean ‘what he is’?!” I question, my gaze darting between them.

Jonah steps forward, meeting my eyes. “Satish isn’t just a werewolf, Eziah. He has powers—God-given powers and strength or something. Marabella couldn't stop him."

My gaze drifts to Rose, who had previous encounters with Satish. Meeting my eyes, she nods, confirming Jonah's claim.

"He's more than we thought. Some kind of hybrid or mutation, perhaps?" she says, looking over at Casen who stares glaring at the muted TV when my mother's phone bings indicating a message.

"Andrei and Sage are on their way to the city, his men have been out scouting too. He's also ringing the other packs to be on the lookout. They're aiding in the search." my mother adds.

A sense of foreboding washes over me, but before I can process the information, Dominic's challenging voice pierces the air, addressing Kyan.

"What did you discover from Mnemosyne in the Underworld?" Dominic inquires looking at his son.

Kyan hesitates, a shadow of discomfort crossing his features. "Reaper wolves were created by Hades. That they can't be killed. I know you thought you got rid of most of them in the city."

Dominic's disbelief is palpable. "I did kill them. I watched Lorelei and Dior get buried with my own eyes." he warns Kyan, the edge in his tone was jarring. I know Dominic has a history with the reaper wolves, yet even after these years it doesn't seem to have lessened, but then again, I doubt I will get over what they did to Temperance.

Kyan's voice lowers, and there's a gravity to it, I've never heard before. "You didn't. Only the were-bears can truly kill them…." Kyan looks at me and sighs.

"In Hades' memories, he created the were-bears to kill them after he observed them unburying themself after being killed and putting themselves back together. He tried everything to kill them, but he couldn't… I'm sorry Dad, but chances are they're still alive."

"Were-bears?!" my father Mateo blurts out, bewildered. The room is filled with echoing murmurs of confusion. Everyone's gaze shifts to my mother.

She sighs, an old weariness evident in her eyes. "I've always said they weren't my issue. But yes, even I am shocked to learn they were one of his creations."

Before anyone can react, Dominic, overwhelmed with denial, storms out the door, slamming it behind him. The echoing sound magnifies the tension in the room.

"Do you want me to go?" Jonah asks, looking at Kyan.

"No, let him calm down. He knows obviously he didn't get them all, he's always known, but I think it touched a nerve to learn those responsible for mom might still be alive."

I clear my throat, trying to redirect the conversation to something more constructive. "We need to devise a plan. If Satish has them, they're in grave danger."

Kyan runs a hand through his hair, his face lined with stress. "We can't rush this. Not after what Satish demonstrated. We don't even fully grasp what he is."

"What do you mean?" The question slips out, my heart rate increasing.

"But where does this leave us?!" The weight of our predicament settles heavily on my shoulders.

"Leaves us back to trying to figure out what he is and why he took them." My father Ezra states, looking around at everyone.

"I'm waiting on one of our men, he went to check the human archives and our werewolf council archives for anything and everything we can find on them." Jonah says and Kyan nods.

"So we know nothing until then," my father sighs.

“Not true, we know some things. Well, I know I killed his son, unknowingly,” Casen admits.

“And I... I killed his girlfriend and my one-minute mate?” My father, Mateo, adds, his voice thick with worry as he glances at my mother.

Kyan seems lost in thought. "My father killed his mother. But if she's a Reaper Wolf, then she could still be alive."

“And Vince owes him money, which ties my father's pack to them,” Rose adds.

“Great!” I say sarcastically, “So all three of our families are linked to this monster, making it even harder to predict his next move and slimming our chances of getting them back alive!”

"No," Kyan says firmly, shaking his head. "He wants something. Revenge would’ve been swift. Why take them when he could have killed them?!”

Before anyone can ponder on that, a knock echoes throughout the room.

“That'll be one of my men,” Kyan says, moving to answer the door. “Hopefully, he has found something useful on the Reaper Wolves and Satish.”

As the door opens, I can only hope that whatever we find will lead us to Temperance and the others. Because we're running out of time and I can't seem to feel her like she is knocked out.