Chapter 240

Caleb's POV

Vincent and I have just arrived at my brethren's pack lands. Aside from the team of workers here with us, it's completely devastated and abandoned. We've been spending most of this first day just being brought up to speed, and helping clean up the damage. We're with a vampire named Darion - the leader of the team - in the main pack house.

It's been ransacked and partially burned from the surrounding fires that have now been extinguished. Darion is briefing us.

"l'd say welcome, but it doesn't seem appropriate."

I nod and let him continue.

"This is what we know so far. The attack happened while the entire pack was sleeping. The main guards around the perimeter were taken out first and with them gone, the full attack proceeded. Most of the pack members were killed, but the main hierarchy were not found among the bodies. We suspect they were taken." My brows furrow in anger.

"Taken? Why on earth would someone kidnap

them?"

"We have no idea, Caleb. Honestly, we can only speculate as to why. In my opinion, they were taken because of their status and their blood. Alpha's, Beta's and Gamma's are the foundations for all werewolf packs as you know, being an Alpha yourself." I nod.

"It would cripple the pack in a normal stuation." state.

"Precisely." Vincent cuts in from behind me.

"Do you believe that this was just a singular attack? Or should we expect and prepare for more?"

"Good question, Vincent. At this point, there isn't anything pointing to another attack, but with such little information we have, I can't say for certain that we're out of the woods yet. It's quite a strange situation."

"What is the next step?" I ask. Darion looks at me with a somber

expression.

"We have to continue to bury the dead. There are way too

many for us to handle ourselves. Especially when we're searching and investigating each of them to see if there is anything that can tell us more." I look back at Vincent, who nods at me and heads outside

"We will help, let us know of any information you find." Darion nods.

"Of course. I turn around and head out, stopping at the front of the pack house and taking in the utter destruction. I see Darion's team picking and lining up the dead pack members bodies in the far distance, probably getting ready to put them to rest alongside the others who are buried already." I feel Kaius' anger rising as we take in our surroundings.

"I know, I'm just as furious as you" I say, know.

3 days later

It took so long to go over every single pack member and bury them

appropriately. It was incredibly tough to see these people, just

slaughtered and burned to the point where some weren't even

recognizable. And the smell. It still lingers of smoke, ash and burnt flesh and hair.

I miss her terribly, and seeing all these dead bodies these past few days makes me want to just rush back to The Hollow and scoop her up and never let her go. I know can't because I have responsibilities here, but this is just such a tragedy. I want to hold her to ease myself, and Kaius.

There hasn't been any new information, but the scouts at the outskirts of the pack lands have noticed some activity of some other wolves in the area. We don't know if they are part of a pack or are rogues coming to take the territory now that its people are gone. They haven't come close to the pack grounds yet, and here's hoping they stay that way don't really want to fight and contribute to any more death here. I wouldn't be surprised if these grounds are cursed now. l got a text from Davyna!" Vincent says, pulling me back to reality.

"How is she?" ask.

"She says she misses us, hopes that we're being safe and that aside

from a couple more headaches, she's been fine. Working mostly with

Marcella. Oh and that Sage's parents agreed to let her move into the compound. Kraven is making all the arrangements and she's even being allowed to stay on our floor" I smile.

"She seems excited. I'm happy that she will have someone else

around. As much as Sage can be a handful, she's a great friend to

Davyna."

"l couldn't agree with you more." Vincent says as he gets up from his cot.

"We've got time, let's call her." I nod and sit up

Vincent dials her number and then puts it on speakerphone. After 2 rings picks up.

"Hello?" Hearing her voice makes me long for her even more.

"Hi love." Vincent says, and I clear my throat and say,

"Hey hot stuff" I hear her snicker on the line.

"Hot stuff? Sounds like you're describing yourself, Caleb. How are you both?"

"We're good, just helping out. It's not a good sight out here."

Her tone changes.

"Are you guys okay? Marcella said that a pack was attacked?"

"We're okay. It's been a bit hard, but we're pushing through. Hope we can figure out who did this." I state calmly.

"I hope so too, I'm sorry that you both have to deal with this. I wish I was there.!" Vincent cuts in.

"Any idea when you're coming back?" She questions.

"Not yet, but shouldn't be much longer. All the dead have been buried and the lands have been cleaned up. We're just making sure that whoever did this, isn't coming back." I tell her.

"That's so sad that people were killed.." She trails off with hurt in her voice but then continues,

"I've gotta get ready to head into Bloodhaven soon for a meeting with Marcella, but you guys...please stay safe. l just found you, I don't want to lose either of you."

"Don't worry, we will be back before you kn ow it, completely safe and sound." Vincent chuckles as he puts his phone down.

"She almost said she loved us." I laugh,

"Yeah I heard that too. She's still so reserved, I hope she

opens up soon."

"She seemed to be affected by hearing people died here. I keep

wondering what happened to her mother. Sage said she died but

wouldn't elaborate." I reply to him,

"Yeah, she doesn't talk about it, at all. But I mean, I don't

want to push her. She's already gone through enough already"

"l agree, maybe we can get her to open up once we're back, like you

said" Vincent clears his throat and then we both stop what we're doing immediately. I strain my ears and hear yelling, cursing and snarling and snapping.

"You hear that?" I ask Vincent and he nods.

"Seems like the wolves decided to come into the territory." We both stand and head out of our tent, only to be met by Darion.

"It's a handful of rogue wolves, but they're massive. We've managed to take down 2, but we lost 3 scouts already. Can you help?"

I nod and strip my shirt off, feeling Kaius' excitement. "Definitely. Vincent, you head for the perimeter and let me know their movements. Don't engage with them unless you have to."

"You got it." He takes off and leaps into the tall trees around the pack lands. Once he's out of sight,I turn to Darion again.

You might want to back up." He nods and moves a few meters away. I push myself to the back of my mind and allow Kaius to come to the forefront. My bones crack and shift and only in a moment, I see myself towering over Damion, his eyes wide.

"So that's an Alpha wolf:" He says and Kaius snorts at him. I mind link him quickly

K- Where are most of them?-

D- They're still along the edge of the lands, we've been holding them off but they're tough.

K- Okay, anyone who can't fight, move them back to the main

pack house and keep them safe. Post two of your fighters in case any of them get past us.

D- Vou got it Alpha.

We break the connection and Kaius takes off at a full run and we're at the edge of the lands within minutes. I hear Vincent above us in the trees, watching our back, see two of the rogues and am puzzled at how deformed and large they are. Most rogues are weak and feral due to not being part of a pack community. We werewolves thrive on family and pack ties, and without that we are just shells of ourselves. Seeing these ones, it's strange.

They're still feral, but they are built like me. This might be a bit of a challenge if they're as strong as us too.

One of them spots Kaius, and comes at us full speed. Kaius leaps high into the air and tackles the rogue mid sprint. The rogue flies backwards, thrown from just the force of Kaius hitting him. He recovers and snarls loudly before coming at us again. Kaius dodges him and as he goes past us, snaps his jaws onto the rogue's left hind leg. The rogue howls loudly and before he can turn to try and snap back at us, Kaius pulls with all this strength and throws the rogue back again. This time, ripping a large

chunk of it's leg out. Kaius lets the piece fall from his mouth, and growls low. The rogue tries to get up, but is limping due to the large chunk now missing from its leg. Kaius approaches him as he tries to limp away and clamps his jaws down on his neck, killing him instantly.

Just when Kaius finishes his kill, we hear Vincent leap down from the trees. Kaius quickly turns and see Vincent on the back of the second rogue snarls as he continues to approach us at full speed. Vincent drops down again behind him and takes the rogues attention off of us, giving us a chance to get up and shake it of. Once we're up again, we see the rogue snap his jaws down onto Vincent's shoulder and he yells out in pain. Kaius takes off at full sprint and lunges at the rogue.

The rogue lets go of Vincent, just as we collide. Both Kaius and the rogue tumble over and over, snapping at each other. The rogue gets us on the shoulder, but Kaius gets ahold of his neck and as we come to a stop, places his paws on the rogue's chest and pulls, ripping out its neck in the process. We see the life leave the rogue's eyes and Kaius wipes his muzzle in the grass to clean it of the blood. Darion makes his way over to us, while holding his mauled arm at his side.

"That was the last one." Kaius exhales and gives me back control.

My bones snap and lock back into their proper places and I walk over and grab a set of clothes from another team member who emerged

from the pack house. I quickly change and head over to Vincent who is inspecting his wound.

"You okay?" I ask and he nods.

"Hurts, but I'm alright. Wound isn't healing as fast as normal though."

"Here" hold out my hand and I help him up, feeling the pain of my own wound. I inspect it and see it healing slowly, like Vincent's.

"This whole situation was weird. How were those rogues so large? They looked deformed." Vincent shakes his head.

"I found it odd that they weren't starving. Still feral but not as decrepit as others we've come in contact with before."

"It was like they were on steroids." Darion states.

"If those were what attacked this pack, they definitely would have struggled to defend themselves if unprepared!"

"Well I think that was a piece of the puzzle here. We should report to themcouncil." Vincent says as he walks towards the pack house. I follow behind.

"Right with you there." We head into the pack house with Darion, and write our reports and send them to the council. Moments

later, my phone rings. I answer it.

"Hello?"

"Caleb, are you and Vincent injured?" It's my mother. That was fast

"Yes, but only slightly. Our wounds aren't healing as fast as usual. We suspect it has something to do with the deformed rogues that attacked us.

"The council has decided you both need to come back and be

examined. Your wounds need to be studied before they fully heal. The helicopter was sent out and should be arriving any minute."

"Alright, what about everything here?"

"Darion and his team have been given their orders to return as well" I sigh.

"Okay. We will see you soon then." Just as my mother said, the helicopter arrives a short moment later and we grab our things and make our way back to the compound.

At least it was a short trip.