The Dark Side Of Fate by Karima Sa'ad Usman

56 Inspecting The Damage (Book 2)

~Devin~

I left the living room immediately and went to my garage to get my truck. What Lukman had said was mind-boggling, and I was worried—I had never heard of such a thing before.

"Alpha, what should I do?" Alice asked me through the mind link, and honestly did not know what to tell her. I wasn't in a reasonable frame of mind.

"You can do your normal chores and help Susan if she needs anything. I might be long," I linked her back while I drove towards my office.

I closed the mind link before she could respond.

I tried to keep things short between us because the girl had a major crush on me, and I could do nothing about it. I hoped she would find someone soon. Until then, I had to suffer the attention of a crush.

I got to my office, and Lukman was already waiting outside. I alighted the truck and moved to the passenger's side while he came to the driver's side to drive the truck.

"What happened?" I asked him the moment he started the engine, and he sighed.

"It was horrible, Alpha. The evil bastards invaded the place at midnight and asked them to leave the land in the morning, but Alpha Micheal refused. He claimed it was his family's legacy. The evil people decided it was only befitting that he died along with his pack on the land." He told me, and I frowned.

"How did you learn this?" I asked, knowing he said everyone died.

"A few people, about twenty or so, survived. They were lucky to hold their breaths and hide, but they sustained silver burns. I have asked Delta Dwayne to bring them to the hospital in Greenville. But they won't move until we have spoken to them," Lukman said, and I was sad by the news.

"Is the air clear of silver?" I asked, and he nodded.

"Our men went to test the atmosphere. Those people died in the early hours. The perpetrators were long gone by then." He said and sighed.

"They also left you a letter with the survivours. No one has read it yet," he said, and I told him it was okay.

We drove for a bit and then arrived at Pridewood. That was the pack where the inn where Maurice died was situated. It had its memories. Dominic and I had fought on that land when he tried to attack me for revenge. My best warriors were from there. The people that did this wanted to cripple my defence.

The moment we entered the settlement area in Pridewood, I saw corpses on the floor.

There were excavators digging mass graves, and we gradually drove through the residential area.

My heart was broken.

The way the people died showed that they were trapped and surrounded. There was just so much people that did not have access to their wolves could do.

The people that did this were cowards.

"The witnesses said they had weird-looking eyes. That they looked blind." Lukman added, and I did not need to guess what type of eyes they had. Could they have been Amelia's relatives? I did not know what to do, so I took out my phone and called Leo.

Leo answered on the first ring.

"Devin," he said, and I sighed.

"I have been hit, Leo," I said, and he was silent.

"Those mutants came to Pridewood last night and asked people to leave so they could take over the land. I think they wanted Pridewood the same way they wanted Brent, but unlike Kyle, who chose life over land, Alpha Micheal was too proud to surrender and walk away. He claimed it was his family's legacy, so he would remain. They granted him his wishes. They pumped silver into the air and surrounded the village, killing its residents.

They surrounded the people to ensure they breathed in the silver and did not escape. They all died except for a few that hid and did not inhale the Dust." I said, and Leo was silent. I knew he was processing what I had told him.

"You should tell Sylvester," Leo said, and I growled.

"Not after I have taken off Clay Newton's head," I said.

"I do not think Clay did this, just like Alexei didn't perpetuate what happened in the east," Leo said quickly, and I wondered whose side he was on.

"What do you mean? Do you know something I don't? The last time I checked, we believed they could have a hand in this shit," I said, and Leo sighed.

"I spoke to Alexei; he isn't who we thought he was. He admitted to cheating, but these things are bigger than we all imagined. Alexei, Clay and Amelia are siblings and might be the only ones on our side. This is Stepanov's revenge," Leo told me, and I was shocked. I did not know whether or not to believe what he had said.

"How sure are you they can be trusted?' I asked my friend.

"I saw it in Alexei's eyes, Devin. He has no reason to lie. Other than that, they have never pumped silver into the air in a fight. Neither killed their opponents. We need to sit and talk about this. The king and lords are joining me in the east soon. I think you should come too. For now, staying away from Pridewood will be best to avoid aggravating the terrorists. This whole operation is bigger than we think, and we are caught in a family battle we aren't part of." Leo told me, and as wise as his idea sounded, I was mad. I did not want to be a sitting duck. I did not like trouble, so this was too much.

"Fine. I will visit the east in three days. Have a place prepared for me," I said.

"Amelia and I are moving to the packhouse in Mountain town to accommodate everyone. It has seventeen rooms so we will be fine. A room will be reserved for you. If you are bringing warriors or staff, let me know so I can prepare for them too," he said, and I realised we would be setting up a station in the east as we did in the north.

"Very well. But I can't stay away from the south for too long because of the activities happening here," I told Leo.

"Devin, our regions are in trouble because the Stepanovs that fled the north settled in the east and south. We will need all the help we can get," he said, and I sighed so much for the much-needed rest and peace.

I said goodbye and hung up.

Lukman led me to where the survivors were.

My heart broke when I saw them. They were a bit above twenty, primarily women and children. Eyes swollen from tears, skin burned from silver, and I could just imagine the extent of the evil in the

heart of the attackers.

They should have allowed the people to leave peacefully.

"Who saw what happened," I asked, and a young, badly burnt boy stepped forward.

He was about seventeen. He was the one they gave the letter to give me. I was glad for his life.

The boy bowed his head, avoiding looking into my eyes and showing submission and respect. My heart was breaking at the sight of what had happened to the people, but I held it together.

"Alpha. They came and surrounded us. They looked weird. They asked us to leave the land by morning, but Alpha Micheal provoked them. He did so against Beta Jack's warning. He told them he would not leave and asked the warriors to be ready to attack.

The man leading the intruders laughed at him.

He said if we wanted to die, we could stand by our Alpha, but if we wanted to live, we should run and hide because when they started, they would not stop.

It sounded like a joke until they started pumping silver Dust in heavy quantities into the air.

We could not tell it was the real thing because it did not affect them, but we realised it was the real thing when it started to burn us.

People started running, trying to leave, but the men did not allow them. They partially shifted and backed them to the centre, where the Dust was more prominent.

That was when a few of us, farther from the centre, ran into our houses. The ones in the centre tried to run but were hit most with the silver; they couldn't make it, and some died before entering their

houses. I hid in a shed far from the centre, observing the massacre." He said, and there was horror in his eyes.

"They waited everyone out. They waited until everyone was dead. They knew some of us had survived. They said they did not want anyone on this land again. Then one of the men pulled me out from where I hid and gave me this note." He said, showing me a piece of paper.

"It is addressed to you, Alpha," he said, and I took it from him.

I opened the letter to read it, and it was the scribbles of a mad arrogant man who believed he had already won the war before the battle began.

"Devin Corrigan, this is just an example of what will happen in the south if you choose to defy us. We have no issues with the people, but all ruling Alphas in the south must but obey our orders," It read, and my hand shook.

I was mad. Content provided by NôvelDrama.Org.

Why did trouble always come knocking?