Caged Between The Beta & Alpha
Chapter 24

LIAM

Everything else was gone from my mind, I didn’t know how many hours had passed since I had begun to read the book. Some of it was far too worn to read, yet it was preserved well even then.

Some of it was what we already knew; how the Deimos was one of the first four werewolf lines, alongside the Asheton and Solaris, and the new piece of knowledge was the name of the fourth line – The Volkov. This was the line that the very first Lycan was born into, but unlike the other three who were like royalty, the Lycan was shunned and ousted from the inner circle of the other three lines, as it was feared by the werewolves.

It is interesting, considering it was the Lycans who were destined to be the kings who would rule over us, whenever born.

The story was otherwise the same as what the witch Janaina had once told Kiara and Alejandro, with perhaps a few minor additional details. This book was mostly about the Deimos line: How our line had moved away first and had been one of the strongest, conquering many lands and spreading our territory far and fast.

The Deimos line was gifted with the ability of speed, to see the future, a sixth sense and the ability to foresee disaster. Traits that Kiara held, being a blessed wolf. Along with the Deimos traits and abilities, Kiara also had the Asheton ability, the gift of healing

When it came to light about Kiara being a blessed wolf, I had a lot of judgement from the pack – how the Alpha should have been gifted something, not the second born daughter. It annoyed me, considering Kiara is no less competent than I am. She is my twin and my equal.

But obviously, the pack didn’t see it like that. Although they tried to be subtle, not daring to say anything in front of Dad, I heard it enough. “The future Alpha is ordinary, but the blessed princess has found a mate who is already so strong, making his pack even more powerful.’

Yeah, apart from being one of the fastest and having a stronger sense of aura’s… I was just a strong Alpha. I just don’t get why she didn’t leave this book to Kiara, why me? I’m ordinary. She was the blessed wolf of two strong bloodlines, that all skipped me.

I was halfway through it, or what I could read anyway, when the next section piqued my interest and I sat up straighter.

The Prophecy of Light and Darkness.

I’m so f*****g tired though, I’ll continue reading this tomorrow. Sighing, I snapped it shut, coughing as another puff of dust hit my face. Groaning, I shoved the book and card under the sofa before resting my head on the seat, my legs sprawled on the ground in front of me. ~

The image of me ripping Raven’s shirt off flashed in my head. I fvcked up… I owed her a f*****g apology, but it wasn’t enough. What the f**k was I thinking, I can’t treat her like f*****g shit

I needed to control myself, I closed my eyes.

Have I ever considered making it work? The three of us? Yeah, and the entire f*****g idea doesn’t sit right with me. But we are stuck in this f*****g deadlock… Maybe this f*****g talk is needed, because I sure as f**k am not going to let him have her.

The same anger began rising within me and I exhaled sharply.

Breathe Liam and don’t f*****g think of it…

I glanced at the clock on the wall, but it no longer worked… It is almost as if everything in this cottage had stopped in time along with its original owner.

The future is still undecided; you are in control of your destiny

I don’t know what Grandma Amelia was referring to when she wrote that, but I will decide my own destiny. Raven is mine…

Deep inside, the doubt that perhaps I wasn’t what she wanted clawed at my chest but I pushed it away.

I couldn’t go on like this, I f*****g couldn’t… I need her.

The following morning dawned grey and cloudy, just like my mood. I left Grandma Amelia’s home with that book and card in hand, I’ll look more into it at another time.

Locking up after me, I replaced the key where I usually hid it and returned to the packhouse, making sure to avoid everyone, then placing the card and book into the safe in my room.

Showering I got dressed quickly as I needed to go see Kia and Alejandro off. I knew Raven would definitely go to see them off too and I didn’t want to run into her there, not after last night…

After I had visited them, I headed straight to the pack security building. It had everything, including the surveillance centre, the cells were beneath this very building too, along with the morgue and the rest of the labs or holding rooms. Let’s just say this was the headquarters of our pack, and it was the only place that not all members of the pack had access to.

I made my way inside after scanning my hand and keying in the security code.

The metal doors slid open and I walked past the entrance guards, making my way upstairs to one of the labs and wondering if Esteban, one of our forensics, had found anything on the new body.

Scanning my hand once again, I entered the room. Luckily he was there; coat, mask and gloves on, despite the body being

covered with a sheet.

“Anything?” I asked.

“Alpha.” He lowered his head to me respectfully before looking at the covered body. “Well like the first, when we ran the b***d tests there was the slight traces of Wolfsbane, silver and ricin. Ricin, as you know, is not something that can really do too much harm to a werewolf, however, it seems when it’s added alongside wolfsbane and silver which slow down the healing capability of a werewolf, it does wonders. But it’s very faint, whoever has done this thought it out. Like the first, the body shut down due to organ failure.”

I crossed my arms, thinking how well-planned this was. Who was doing it, and why?

“Any idea on how the teeth were removed or the eyes?”

He frowned, his brown curls falling into his eyes as he placed the clipboard down, passing me gloves and a mask before moving the sheet back.

“See these cutting marks? There’s bruising on the gums where the teeth were pulled out. By the looks of it, I would say garden pliers.” Esteban said glancing up at me, his sharp hazel eyes turning back to the body after a moment.

“Some sicko…” I muttered. “And the eyes?”

“Going by the striation marks or lack of them in this case, I would say a spoon.” He said, making me glance away disgusted.

“Right…”

“We didn’t replace any residue or DNA, so the killer was probably wearing gloves.” He continued moving back. “As for the incision along the mouth corners, I would go with a small kitchen knife.”

Covering the body once again, he took his gloves off, shaking his head.

“Whoever did this knew what they wanted to do prior.”

I nodded before thanking him, removing my gloves and mask before heading to the IT quarters. From the temperature of the body at the time of discovery, it was clear the person had been dead at least two hours before being discovered. It was all so planned out.

Entering the IT department, I walked over to Zoe, who was our pack hacker and the smartest wolf I have met, when it came to computers anyway.

“Did you manage to get the data?” I asked her.

She looked up at me, pushing back her bright red curls.

“Yes Alpha, most of it, but gathering data from hundreds of people using the internet is going to take time, I’m getting there. Apart from having to wash my eyes out thanks to the amount of porn that is being accessed, I haven’t come across anything disturbing.” She said, blushing almost the same bright shade of red as her hair.

“Filter out the trash and send me the rest, I’ll take a look myself and see if anything has been missed.”

“Yes, Alpha.” She replied, glancing up at me, I gave her a curt nod.

The thing was, I didn’t trust anyone. Leaving the room, I looked around, observing my men doing their jobs through the glass partitions of separate quarters. From watching the cameras to discussing something, to those standing around… The killer could be anywhere, at any rank and position in this pack. They could be on the inside, with a good chance of avoiding detection and covering their tracks.

I didn’t really care if I was hated… I really wanted to put everyone under Alpha Command, but the only thing that made me truly hesitate was what happened with the Sangue Pack, when Rayhan had visited them. His actions had only caused unrest within that pack.

I cast a final glance around at my people. Those who caught me watching lowered their heads in respect, I gave them a small nod of acknowledgement.

Who knows who the killer is and, above all, where and when will they strike next?