Starting Afresh for A Secured Victory.

Starting Afresh for A Secured Victory.
Chapter 167: Starting Afresh for A Secured Victory.

Elias chuckled softly as he thought further about the possibility, totally unaware of the young boy, now awake and staring at him with disgust evident in his eyes.

The boy scoffed, “What’s so funny?”

Elias turned, slightly surprised, then he smirked. “Your pathetic race is actually the key after all.”

He walked to a table on the side and picked up a syringe filled with thick black liquid, in an old dusty box.

“If I can't change humans to werewolves, even when your kind possesses the ability to use both forms. Your blood still fights both serums, it slows your healing and weakens you, which is good,” he turned to the boy. "Then what if I turn a human using the werewolf DNA and the serum into a werewolf and then a crawler while in that state.”

The boy's eyes widened, "What nonsense are they teaching you humans nowadays. Do you hear yourself? Trying to change a human to…a.. werewolf crawler thing?”

Elias frowned, "You have a lot to say for someone who is going to die soon.”

The boy shrugged, "We werewolves die at the hands of you humans, it's nothing new. But I am certain we are going to win, so soak in your overconfidence for a while, your victory is many years away.”

“No,” Elias said softly. “I’m close.”

He set the syringe down and looked back at the photos of Lena. "After this, I only need to get my hand on the half breed and then I can control all races and remain at the top."
The boy stared at Elias with a pitiful yet disgusted look on his face as he said to himself. ‘It is sad to see how a man's delusions makes him mad.’ He shook his head and crossed his arms.

Elias suddenly turned to the door and called out, “Marques!”

The hulking rogue leader appeared almost instantly, still wiping blood from his claws.

“Change of plans,” Elias said. “Stop capturing humans for now and let the rogues be. Send teams to the small packs and trade roads, anywhere they’re alone. Bring me twenty healthy adult wolves. No children yet and ask if anyone found Yelena too.”

Marques grinned, “And the one in the cage?”

Elias glanced at the boy, “Send him to the Silver Cresentmoon pack to gather information and make sure he returns or you send your men to kill him if he tries something funny.”

The rogue laughed and dragged the chain. The young werewolf fought, snarling and clawing at his face but Marques was stronger. They disappeared through the door leaving Elias alone with the unconscious girl.

After a while, the heavy door creaked open again after nearly an hour Marques left. Jonah stepped inside, his boot leaving faint wet prints on the floor.

Elias did not look right away, he was sitting at his table, holding a two thin glass vial between two fingers. The liquid inside was a deep crimson, and the other was blood. He tilted both slowly, watching how they absorbed the light in the room.

Jonah clears his throat, “Marques said you needed information about Yelena.”

"And why did it take until he mentioned it for you to report it.”

Johan shrugged, "Not my business, I wouldn't want to tell my boss about his girlfriend when he's on edge.”

Elias glanced at him from the corner of his eyes, then he sighed. “Speak."

Johan walked over to his side and sat on the open space on the table. "The last thing one of my scouts confirmed was that she made contact with Lena,” he said, reaching over the table to pick up a syringe, but Elias swatted his hands away and handed him a pipette.

He chuckled and raised the instrument to his eyes. “She was spotted near the border of Cain's territory three weeks ago, before making her way in. She was alone too. Then her body mysteriously turned up at her former home with her throat slit open."

Elias set the vault.down carefully. His expression did not change, but the glow in his eyes went dim. “Why would she approach Lena directly? Yelena knows better than to go in thee alone.”

Jonah shrugged, "She's one of the gifted humans we know, so it would be easy for her to defend herself and get out of there without being noticed.” He smiled. "Maybe she wanted to take Lena into surrendering herself, given her personality," he paused and handed the instrument back to Elias. “She probably killed herself out of spite."

Elias scoffed, "Yelena would never do such a thing. If she did kill herself it was because she was tired of everything, and she….." he trailed off, his gaze instinctively shifting to the faded photograph on the wall, of a white haired woman. “It doesn't matter now, she's gone and we need to finish all this before the next winter season.”

He turned fully to Jonah. “How long will it take to scrap the old Crawler serums and produce the new batch I’m working on?”

Jonah crossed his arms, “Months," he looked at the vials. “It took seven last time, maybe nine, ten. We’d need fresh subjects, new equipment, and time to test stability. The labs are already stretched thin keeping the current stocks alive.”

Elias nodded slowly. “No problem. We have enough time.”

He pointed to the rows of sealed crates along the far wall, each marked with faded numbers and warning symbols. Inside were the remaining vials of first- and second-generation Crawler serum.

“Destroy all the first-generation stock, every last drop. Burn it if you have to and leave no traces.”

Jonah raised a brow. “And the second-generation?”

“Use them on the humans who already reverted back, the broken ones in the cages underground. Dose them again and let the serum take what’s left of their minds. Then send them out toward Cain’s pack. Let them wander the borders, attack supply lines, make noise.” he picked up a syringe. "That way we can keep Cain and his human allies busy while we work."

Jonah studied Elias for a moment. “Is this your way of buying time,” he said as he got up and made his way towards the crates.

“Yes,” Elias responded. “The new hybrids will be ready when it matters. Until then, let Cain chase the useless decoys.”

Jonah gave a slight nod, “I’ll start the orders tonight. The reverted humans will be moving by dawn.”

“Good.” Elias turned back to the crimson vial on the table. He lifted it again, watching the liquid turn dark. “Tell the engineers to prepare more restraints. We’ll need them soon.”