Chapter 145

ACHILLES.

I sit back on the chair, my eyes wide with horror. The three of them are the only ones left in their village now. There must have been a couple of thousand people in there who lived peacefully. And now they’re just down to three.

The first instinct that I feel is self-blame. If only I had been more active and more observant before this thing even blew off, I would have been able to save so many lives. But now the battle is looming over us. If I don’t do something about it now, it’s only going to get worse. Henry already saw that there were other people from different villages in there.

Tristan is really trying to take over.

“I will arrange a mission to go to the mountain,” I say, looking at Carlos. “We have to do it soon—”

“I don’t think that would be possible, Alpha King,” Henry says. “The place is heavily guarded now. And there would be too many monsters in there. Mutants made from ordinary people. You can’t just kill them. They were people.”

He’s right, as much as I don’t want to say it. The people there may be mutants now, but what if they could still be turned back into people?

“We need to consult Aristea for a possible cure,” Carlos tells me through mind-link. “We can search the labs that Kiernan left here. I’m pretty certain we would be able to find something.”

“We will,” I reply to him before turning back to Henry. “I understand, and I think you are correct. We will still arrange a small party to go there and I will join them myself. We would try to keep the citizens as safe as possible, and we would get to the bottom of it.”

“Thank you,” Ruth says. “The other villages would be pillaged, emptied out because of this. I admit that we doubted you, Alpha King. We were scared of coming here given our past and what we had done to Claudia. We are relieved that you are taking care of her and you are doing your best to save the land.”

“We thought about going to Alpha Tristan first, given that he did say he would challenge you,” Henry puts in, looking embarrassed. “We thought we could ask him for help. But we are glad that we chose you.”

I almost want to laugh in their faces.

Carlos and I exchange glances, and I can’t help it. A dark, bitter laugh escapes me, baffling everyone else in the room except for the guards and Tristan.

“What’s going on?” Ruth asks, suddenly indignant. “We are being very serious about this and I don’t—”

“We are being serious too, but this feels like a joke and you need to admit it,” I say. “Tristan? You wanted to ask for help from Tristan? He is the one who started this.”

The room suddenly becomes quiet. Too quiet. It’s as though all the noise and anything that could make it has been sucked out of the room. I just look at them with a calm expression, letting them navigate their own feelings about this.

I don’t know how the other two couldn’t know, despite the news spreading every single day due to what happened back in the Black Dawn Pack. Maybe they just lived in such a secluded place that no source of news could ever reach them. Still, I don’t blame them for not knowing. I don’t even blame them for not wanting to believe.

To my surprise, however, Nana is the only one who doesn’t seem disturbed by this news.

In fact, she’s looking down at her hands with a strange look on her face. The look of guilt and remorse. That makes me think she did something related to all of this, related to Tristan. Maybe that is the reason why the Moon Goddess told me about her. The first one who knew what Claudia was. Did she help Tristan in any way?

“I can’t believe it,” Ruth whispers to herself. “But at the same time, I don’t find it surprising.”

“That’s good, because what we need to do now is tell more people, spread the knowledge and stop them from getting taken,” I say. “You two will have a big role in that. Carlos? I need you to take them both. Give him all the information you have, and he will help you spread the news.”

Both Ruth and Henry rise to their feet when Carlos stands up. They bow to me, and I can see the tears in Ruth’s eyes.

“We are so sorry for ever doubting you,” she and Henry both say.

My heart stops for a moment. I have to say that I appreciate the apology, but at the same time, I know that it’s my job. I have failed to protect so many people and I would never let that happen again.

“You don’t need to say sorry,” I say, and I mean it. “I am grateful for your help and trust. Now we need to work together to put an end to all of this.”

They bow again. Henry asks, “What about Nana?”

“I have something to talk to her about,” I whisper, and with that, even though they look uncertain, they all leave.

Now Nana and I are the only ones here.

She’s not even looking me in the eye. I can tell for sure now that she knows something I don’t. Something that she wants to keep hidden from me. But it’s not going to remain hidden for long because I will know. One way or another.

I face her, pouring her a cup of tea. I hand it to her even though she doesn’t look like she wants to take it. I know I can play things the sly way and worm my way into what she knows, but she doesn’t seem to be the person who will fall for that. Instead, I decide to keep it sharp and direct.

“I know that you know something about Tristan,” I say. “It’s written all over your face. The guilt. What did you do? Did you conspire with him?”

Her eyes go wide. “That’s quite an accusation, Alpha King.”

“Merely an observation, perhaps an assumption based on what I saw,” I say calmly. “What do you know?”

Nana stays quiet for a long while, taking a nervous sip of the tea before setting it back down. She swallows and it almost seems like she’s got something stuck in her throat. But in the end, she looks down on her lap and says, “I… I was the one who encouraged my grandson Max to approach Tristan and join his group. Of course, he didn’t join in the end because of Claudia. I thought that she ruined his plans when he just went home with her and declared that he wanted her to lead with him. I thought he was making a mistake, even though I knew right away that Claudia was a Siren Wolf. All the signs I know were there. And when Max died, I...”

“Blamed Claudia, I know,” I supply, still remembering that night and taking note of her comments about Claudia. “But that’s not it, isn’t it? You know something else.”

She shakes her head, “I really don’t know what you mean.”

“You do. I can tell.” I keep my voice even. “How were you able to tell that Claudia was a Siren Wolf? No one knew. Not even her parents. Not even her closest friends.”

“This is sounding more and more delusional.” Nana shifts in her seat uncomfortably. “I knew because I saw her powers. I lived long enough to know it when I see it.”

I lean closer. “Where did you see it first?”

“Nowhere!” she screams at me, but tears are running down her cheeks. “I have never seen it before!”

I get to my feet, towering over her. “But you have. You just told me—”

“YES!” Nana roars at last. “I have seen it before. I have witnessed all of it before. I loved it, in a friend. My dear friend Tabitha….”