Chapter 51: Unanswered question
Xavier's group had regrouped after their failed attempt to catch the vampire.
"He escaped," Edward said, a low growl sounding from his throat.
"Why would they have photos of your sisters?" Red asked Sage sharply. "Are you guys some kind of spies?" she asked again, impatient and not allowing Sage to answer.
"Red!" Xavier barked with a commanding voice, shutting Red up. He knew it might seem like he was covering up for Sage, but the others didn’t understand. Sage was the hybrid, but none of them knew, not even his brother. "Sage is not a spy for the vampires, and neither are her cousins. I don’t want anyone questioning her identity."
Sage's eyes had already welled up with tears that she tried so hard to contain. Red’s tone was harsh, but she also didn’t want it to seem like Xavier was siding with her over his pack members.
"It’s not a matter of questioning her identity; we just want to be sure if we can trust them," Valarie said, annoyed at how Xavier had spoken to Red. Now she understood why the issue with Xavier and Sage was bothering Red a lot. She wanted to say something about the way he spoke to them when it had something to do with Sage, but she stopped herself from doing so.
"If Sage is a spy, I would take responsibility for anything she does," Xavier said, placing his hands on Sage's back as he sensed her unease.
The air was heavy around them, and someone needed to step up and brighten the mood of everyone. Ian knew if he didn’t, no one would. "Well, our work here is done. Let’s head back to the pack and find a solution to the hybrid and vampire issues."
It was already getting dark. They had spent a lot of time outside, but at least they were able to cancel out a great threat.
****
The vampire that escaped the clutches of the werewolves had finally reached the base of the twin mountains. He arrived at the front of the first castle. He had the option of going through the gate of the first mountain or going around the mountain, but he was already exhausted and would love to be in the 5th castle as soon as possible. Going around the mountain was another journey that would take half an hour in his current state.
The speed boosters had expired a long time ago, and he had used his normal speed to get here and wasn’t functioning at his best right now.
He decided to go through the first castle despite not having any identification to show that he was a part of it. If anything, his current outfit even looked suspicious. The only thing he could do was take off his mask before going in.
At the gate entrance, there were some guards stationed there. They could see a man approaching them with his hands in the air. He was dressed like a soldier, but not like a soldier from their castle. They pointed the spears in their hands at him.
When he finally reached the guards, he stopped moving.
"Who are you?" one of the guards asked. He had on black armor, but it had a gold lining around the edge of each piece just like the other soldiers. "Identify yourself now," the soldier spoke loudly, with drops of spit leaving his mouth.
"I mean no harm," Morales replied with his hands still up in the air.
"Yeah, no kidding," one of the soldiers laughed. "As if one man could cause any harm."
"I am Morales, a soldier of the last castle. I just want to take a short route through the mountain back to my castle," Morales could count a total of six soldiers stationed at the gate. Three were on top, above the gate, while the other three were below just outside the closed gate.
"You would need permission from our lord before you can do that," the soldier said.
Morales slapped himself mentally. How long would it take to speak to the lord and get permission to go through? There was no such thing as seeking permission to go through another castle to the next. These soldiers just wanted to have fun with him.
If not for the disunity between the five brothers and how much the fifth castle was ridiculed, these soldiers were not up to his level to disrespect him. They were just guards, the lowest rank a soldier could be, and he was a captain. He’d rather go around the mountain than seek permission from their lord.
"Ah, that won’t be necessary. I’ll just go around," Morales said, about to turn around.
One of the vampires jumped down from the gate’s top and landed in front of Morales. "I don’t think so," the vampire said before hitting Morales hard on the back of his neck. Next was a blackout.
The soldiers tied his hands behind him and took him up to the cells where they kept prisoners while the first guard went to make a report to his leader concerning the fifth castle leader.
"We caught one of Soren’s soldiers trying to come into our castle. As we speak, he is being taken to one of the cells," the soldier reported.
The soldier was aware of how their lord was suspicious of Soren’s activities. They had questioned Soren and even his son Zayn, but both had said nothing was going on. Maybe one of the soldiers wouldn’t be so tight-lipped.
"You can leave," the leader replied, facing the soldier. He had an eyepatch on his eye and looked a bit old, with his grey hair.
As the soldier left, the leader moved into the castle to meet with Lord Baltimore, the eldest son of Mortimer. He would be pleased to finally get information on what his sly brother Soren was up to in that castle.
****
Everyone was gathered in the sitting room of the alpha’s house. The only ones absent were Clara and Jane. The paper that they got from the vampire was laid out on the table in the middle of the room.
They had briefed Mitchell about what happened that day. As the wife to the late alpha, she had to know. “Why would the vampire have the pictures of Sage’s sisters with him?” Mitchell asked, her fingers placed underneath her chin.
“It shouldn’t be a surprise. Their mother was a witch, so maybe she worked with Soren,” Valarie stated.
“How would you feel if you were told your mother was working with Soren?” Ian asked. He knew how bad witches hated Soren, and those who worked with him didn’t really have a choice. Valarie glanced at him angrily for asking such a question because she knew how bitter she would be if she ever found out that her mother was one of Soren's puppets.
“It doesn’t matter how I feel if the truth is being told,” Valarie snapped.
“Guys, chill. We know it’s not possible for the girls to be working for the vampire. One of the twins is in a coma because of what a vampire did to them. Their mother was killed by a vampire,” Xavier said trying to get his team to see reasons with him. Although that was not something they had confirmed yet, he had met with Penny at the Dark Knight pack who said she knew the twins’ mother and that they were friends.
“Then how do we explain this?” Red asked, picking the paper up and shaking it violently. It was obvious that the issue with the unanswered question wasn't the only thing bugging her.
“They are probably still looking for the girls, but I don’t know why they would,” Xavier said. He was sure the twins weren’t the target of the vampires. Rather, it was a way of finding the hybrid. If they knew that Sage was related to the two girls, then it would make sense if they were searching for the girls.
“What’s wrong, Xavier?” Red asked, her voice hinting at dissatisfaction. “Are you also going to overlook this issue?” she said. The last issue he overlooked was that with the demons that came out at night that he did not see as urgent. Everyone could hear the mockery in Red’s voice, but they kept their mouths shut just waiting to see how Xavier would react.
“Red,” Mitchell called, throwing her a warning glare. Things weren’t easy for Xavier, and she wasn’t going to let a girl be one of his worries. She understood how Red was feeling. She could tell right from the time they all found out that Xavier had found his mate.
Maybe if she hastened the rituals to mark Xavier as alpha, they would all listen to him without question. Mitchell looked to Sage, 'Your appearance would bring a lot of trouble for us to handle. I just hope you learn how to control your power before anything serious happens.'
****
In a dry land where the sky was red and the soil matched the colors of the sky, a creature stood stiff, its figure almost covered in red dust. It stood like that for days, but it wasn’t the only figure in that position. Others were scattered in different positions, but still in the same area. Those who could still move their bodies stood watching the red sky that was torn above them. In between the tear was a black hole, where some of these strange-looking creatures would leave their bodies and go through the torn sky in their ethereal form.
A black, wispy creature sunk down from within the torn sky and landed directly into one of the stiff bodies. The creature, covered in dust, stood up straight, stretching its bones that had been stiffened.
“Ahh!” it groaned. “Good thing I had enough energy to come back,” it huffed, black smoke pouring out its nostrils before receding back in.