Ramsey
I woke up in the dead of the night to chaos.
Not just that, to loud shouting and frantic knocking on my door. I jerked away, reaching for the bedside table lamp and turning it on. Lyla was awake, too. She looked confused.
I came down from the bed and immediately reached for my discarded pyjama bottom, slipping it on before turning to Lyla. "Get dressed and stay alert."
She nodded, already, reaching for her clothes too. I waited until she was dressed before I crossed to the door and yanked it open. Lenny stood on the other side, looking distressed and dishevelled. He was still in his sleeping clothes.
"We're under attack," Lenny said immediately.
I stepped into the hallway, pushing the door mostly closed to shield Lyla from hearing what Lenny was saying. That was when I noticed the dark, wet blood stains splashed across Lenny's shirt and hands. They still looked fresh.
"What the hell happened?" I demanded in a low tone. Lax was already snarling at the scent of blood and danger.
"There's been an attack," Lenny repeated. "They attacked the guards at the gate's entrance. It's Feral,s, and it was a coordinated attack. They took out the entire guards stationed at the first and second gates. They destroyed everything in their path, up until the last ga ,te before reaching the pack itself. A guard managed to sound the alarm just in time."
Ice slid down my spine. "What's the casualty report like?"
"More than a hundred guards. All dead."
For a moment, the world seemed to still be around me. One hundred dead. One hundred guards were wiped out in a single night. My entire body went ri; LaxLax was burning with fury within me. This should be the highest attack we've ever suffered from Ferals.
They didn't plan coordinated attacks like this to wipe out such several guards.
Unless…
My mind suddenly flitted to Caius's warning about Nathan, and I froze. What if Nathan had somehow weaponized Ferals? What if, during those four years in the dungeon, he'd been laying the groundwork for exactly this type of assault?
Thinking of it, the first tm, Lyla ever got attacked by Ferals, it was Nathan who had rescued her, and, in his words, he had fought off the Ferals before they injured Lyla further. Why hadn't they attacked him?
How about Lenny? What if – the thought chilled me to my bone – what if Lenny's dishevelled appearance and blood-spattered clothes weren't from fighting off attackers but from something far more sinister?
"Where were you when the attack began? I asked, careful to keep my voice neutral so I wouldn't sound suspicious.
"In my house, of course," Lenny answered quickly. "The alarm woke me. I grabbed whatever warrior I could find in the chaos and headed for the gates. We…we were too late for most of them."
I nodded slowly. "Gather the remaining Gammas in the situation room and gather our security experts, too. We're going to assess the damage and track those responsible."
Lenny nodded, his expression hardening. "Already on it."
As Lenny turned to go, I remembered something.
"Where is Gamma Caius?"
It was strange that he wasn't the one coming to report to me what had happened.
Lenny turned to me, furrowing his brows. "Yeah, that's true. He should be here. Did he try to reach out to you?"
I shook my head, watching Lenny closely. "Find him. I want him to be there,e too."
Lenny nodded, but not before I saw a flicker of something – annoyance? Concern? – passed over Lenny's face before he nodded. "Right away."
As Lenny finally left, I went back into the bedroom and saw Lyla sitting by the edge of the bed. She was already dressed,d and her face was pale but determined.
"Hey baby…" I tried to smile.
"I heard everything, Ramsey. Is it Nathan?"
"Most likely," I shrugged, walking to my closet and rummaging through it for proper clothes. "Ferals don't mount coordinated attacks unless someone's pulling their strings."
"You mean a Trinax? Ferals are always coordinated, Ramsey. When I was first attacked, there were seven Ferals with a Trinax hanging in a tree. Nathan cannot just weaponize Ferals. He's not capable of controlling them. You saw how the ones we're trying to tame are."
"You're taking his side again, Lyla!" I threw over my shoulders, "You always do this."
"I'm trying to be logical. You have a lot of hate for Nathan, and it might be clouding your judgement. No,w more than anything, you need to…"
"My hate for Nathan is clouding my judgement?" I scoff,ed turning to face her. "Are you fucking serious, Lyla? I have tried to reach out severally, to make pe,ace all because he's your fr,iend and I wouldn't want to make bad decisions. I needed to be sure that he knew what he was doing, all for your sake. Can't you see that I've been able to hold out this far because of you?"
"I do!" she sighed, running a hand through her hair. "And I really appreciate every,thing but you have to begin to look at Nathan's tactics rather than working based on suspicions. Nathan is fond of making people fear him by creating an illusion in their hearts about the kind of person he is. I know Nathan…"
I paused, what she was saying was interesting me.
"What are you talking about?"
"All of these happening may not even be tied ,to him but if you believe that he's the one behind all of this, it would make you chase shadows while he continues to do his thing underground. Stop taking his bait."
"Then what am I supposed to do?" I said with clenched teeth. "When he told me to my face that he wants to be the first to declare the war and then multiple explosions later? And s,uddenly Feral attacks? We've never lost up to a hundred soldiers before – at the same time. Lyla… the Nathan you grew up with, the Nathan you kissed, the one you allowed to…"
I trailed off when I saw the hurt expression on her face. I didn't mean to go that far.
"I'm sorry!" I murmured. "I didn't mean to say it like that."
She was already turning away. "I'll just go back to bed or something. Let's not talk about this anymore."
She moved back to the bedroom and quietly laid on the bed, settling the covers over her shoulder. I watched her for a few, seconds contemplating if I should cancel going to the situation room or staying back. In the end, Lenny's mindlink filtered into my mind.
"We're all here and waiting for you, Alpha."
I walked to her side of the bed. Her eyes were tig,htly shut and tears were streaming down her eyes. I knelt beside her for a few seconds, feeling helpless.
"I'm sorry, babe. That was so childish and petty of me."
"You don't hear me throwing your indiscretions or bringing up your ex whenever we have a slight argument. I don't want to hear it, Ramsey. They're waiting for you. Go already."
"Not when you're like this. I'm sorry. Just accept my apology and…"
"Accepted!" she sat up, giving me a chilly glare. "Are you satisfied? Now go… please…"
"Lyla…"
She hissed and came down from the bed, brushing past me as she stalked to the door, shutting it with a bang.
Sighing, I walked to the door. When I stepped into the hallway, it was empty. I looked in the direction of Lyla's bedroom and wondered if I should g,o meet her but then, Lenny sent me another mindlink to remind me they were all waiting for me.
Deciding to deal with my personal issues later, I continued towards the entrance. As I roundedthe corner, to take the stairs, a hand grabbed me. Startled, I turned to attack but was shocked when I saw the frail hands of an old man.
He was; hisbling, his eyes looked haunted.
"Alpha Ramsey…" a tear rolled down his cheeks. "My son is dead."
"Gamma Darius?" I held him tightly. "What are you talking about? I saw Caius a few hours ago. He sent in a report about two hours ago. What do you mean?"
"They sent someone to the house earlier,r and he hid me. I watched them take my boy before my own eyes. I'm sure they're looking for me now. You have to hide me. Caius…" he paused and opened the coverall he had on. "He gave me a lot of things to give to you. Keep me safe and from the knowledge of everyone, and I'll tell you everything he told me. But first, the attack tonight was a distraction…"
He was talking so fast, so I was finding it hard to keep up.
"Caius was coming to find you, to tell you something important this morning. He stumbled on a secret,t and he was attacked even before he left the house. To make it sound believable, they arranged an attack and blamed it on Ferals. I heard them telling Caius everything before they killed him."
"Do you know who they are?"
Gamma Darius paused for a minute. "I heard their voice. They're people closer to you than you'd ever know. But I need to be sure that you will keep me safe before I say a word."