THE BEGINNING:CHAPTER LI:ACCUSING FINGER

"An attack?",
Camonda queried in shock after he heard theAlpha's son report the news, without hesitation, to the all the district heads of clan that were in attendance of the meeting held in their usual meeting place at the old Cathedral which was called upon by Sermond himself to discuss about the two appalling incidents that his son told him about particularly the recent attack on a victim by the mysterious assailant they had decided to come together to figure out who was behind the attack on the innocent lives who, based on what Leonardo's side of the story which he told everyone, sustained injuries most likely caused by a werewolf according to Leonardo's opinions of the terrifying and excruciating deep wounds of what he saw on the victim's body and it left no doubt that there were injuries suffered from a painful claw marks.
Leonardo's confidence in confronting the omegas regarding this issue was dwindling by the time his father could barely stop the three omegas from murmuring amongst themselves whilst seated in front of the Alpha who was also seated on his usual seat a bit high above the heads of the three men sitting down facing him as well as the shoulder length of a few betas cloaked in black tuxedo and black shoes, standing behind them in circles including Pennant who found himself standing next to Camonda in between two other betas like himself.
"Yes, that's what happened",
"And you would have us believe that the attack was caused by a werewolf? ",
"I guess so judging by the fatal injuries",
"We can't jump into conclusions just yet without solid proof",
Martins remarked
"That's why my father called for this meeting"
"It's absurd that a lone rampaging werewolf would be attacking innocent people without me knowing about it Besides, the so called school we are talking about is part of my district territory, kiddo",
"Don't get me wrong but I am trying to find out what's really going on as well ",
"Take my advice, kid. Telling us your speculations and personal opinion isn't the best way to do that",
Benson said adjusting himself on his seat as the shape of his body casteda deeper shadow on the wall as a result of the lustre candlelights emanating from one end of the underground hideout though five flaming torches brightly illumined the entire vault enough for Leonardo to see the blunt faces of the omegas he was struggling hard to convince of his discovery. Part of him wished that Jason could be one standing next to him as an eyewitness in other to help him convinced the clan of his discovery but he knew that was impossible since Jason was human and his father had set up this meeting for his own sake to see how well his successor could deal with a technical matter that may negatively affect the clan and its plans for the future.
He soon perceived that the district leader were finding it difficult to believe his words and wasn't sure of what to do to express his viewpoint with more lucidity.
"Are you saying that I making this up? We all heard about the two incidents from the news and ....",
"What you are telling us wasn't reported on television",
Antagonistic Camonda rejoined.
"That's because the severity of the two victim's were kept under wraps, hidden away from the public intently done not to cause unnecessary panic in the city",
"But you are, Leonardo",
"Me?",
"Yes, you are with that lying tongue of yours",
"I'm not lying but telling you all the goddamn truth",
"Doesn't look like that to me",
"Do you think I would waste my father's time just to come here and listen to you doubting the truth?",
Leonardo asked in sheer irritation.
"We absolutely don't know what your intentions were when you first mentioned this to him but we need clarifications that a werewolf is involved in this case",
"He's right. We can't be hasty on this without lucid proof. Who knows if the Lyoana clan is behind this?",
Benson rejoined in support of Camonda's response which seemed pleasing to the all seated including Sermond who had been keeping quiet the entire time his son was having a tough time getting the omegas to believe his story and whose eyes were fixed upon the debaters and Leonardo was at the losing end of it.
"If we take time to deliberate on this, more innocent people that's going to die",
"You sound as if you are a witch or a clairvoyant",
Martins remarked not too concerned how the Alpha was going to react to his statement.
"Last time I checked, you don't have the powers to see the future. Besides, I honestly believe that these incidents you are bent on having the belief that it was done by a werewolf, is nothing but random unrelated murders that we should not bother about",
"I'm only telling you what I saw",
"And you expect us to believe your judgment?",
Leonardo was dumbstruck when he heard another comment from Camonda. He couldn't phantom that it would be this hard to convince the omegas of his evaluations despite the fact that
"Look here, kid. It's smarter to confirm if you are saying the truth or not and we don't care about if what you saw is the correct thing but the bottom line is that there must be proof to backup your story otherwise you'd be wasting our time here if you keep up with this",
For the first time since the argument began, Leonardo suddenly realized some sense in what they were saying though he was definitely annoyed by their harsh words but the last response from Martins helped cleared the tensed atmosphere between them.
"Okay, I give up. If you want proof I'll give you one",
"Now you are talking like your father here",
Pennant as well as everyone seated in the room, saw the funny look on Camonda's Visage as he replied.
"It may seem that some of our district is behind this attacks just like last year, don't you think, Sermond?",
Benson questioned.
"Like we said before, there's no way to confirm if that's true",
"At least not yet but I'll personally check it out with my son and that guy from your district",
Sermond said peering at Pennant who felt the hard stare of every one looking at him the moment he heard that he was to join the Alpha to investigate quietly. He wanted to hid himself from the eyes watching him but he remained unwavering and undeterred by their
"You still don't trust me",
"You should understand better",
"I'm innocent of this one and I know that it could be our enemies plot to create divisions among us",
"Better still, reveal our identity to the public",
Martins cut in.
"Things will really go bad if that happens",
"Camonda, because of what happened last year, I have no doubt that this could be your irresponsible handling of the betas under your leadership",
"I may have messed up last year but this time, I'm completely innocent of this accusations you lay against me",
"Sermond, let's find out the truth first before we could decide who's guilty of this rumors",
"Better be ready to face the consequences if I find out that you're too weak to control your betas",
Sermond said crossing his fingers but Camonda seemed less threatened by his stare.
"Have it your way then. Anyway, we'll be waiting to hear the truth from you",
"And once I find out it's your fault for letting the recruited betas going wild in your district, I won't hesitate to tell you to step down",
Everyone was appalled by what Sermond told them and wanted to speak but found themselves tongue-tied and unable to utter any word out of their mouth.
"Dad, I—",
It was Leonardo who tried to speak first but he could hardly say something from his mouth since he too was dumbstruck like the rest of the members of the pack at the meeting.
Camonda shrugged and brought himself back from the trance because he hadn't expected Sermond to be harboring such a decision in mind.
"If that's the case, it's a deal then. I'll fine with whatever decision you make after the truth comes out but know that I am completely innocent this time around",
"It's plausible that the lyoana clan is behind this one but accusing Camonda because of what happened last year is quite a bold accusation you had to make",
"I may sound unfair when you heard my accusations but we can't be hasty to decide that the Vampires are up to no good without checking ourselves first",
"Good thought indeed. So, when do you plan to begin the investigations?",
"I hope you'll start right away so that my name will be cleared out of this",
"Sorry to say this but to ensure utmost secrecy, I'll only relay the time we need to investigate to those who are joining me",
Sermond paused and peered at the discontented faces of his followers apart from his son.
"Are you okay with that?",
Sermond questioned.
"Yes..we are",
Martins grudgingly replied.
"That's good to hear. All you guys have to know is that Leonardo, that fella from Camonda's district will be joining me for this investigation and I urge the everyone not to tell even a soul about what was discussed in this secret meeting",
"We've heard you loud and clear",
"Good. I sincerely hope that the Vampires are hatching another plan to ruin us and not your misgivings, Camonda",
Sermond said and got up from his seat with his gaze fixed on Camonda.
"We're done here for now",
He said further and beckoned on Leonardo to leave the crypt with him alongside his two bodyguards. Pennant followed as well leaving the Omegas behind including his district leader.