Damon’s POV
“What the hell happened out there?” I yelled at Ashley as soon as I placed Lyla on the bed and sent one of the warriors who had followed me to get Dean.
“I can’t really explain it,” She replied. “I don’t know how it happened but he started it,” she said pointing at the leader.
“What the heck happened, Konrad? What did you do to my mate?” I asked angrily.
His eyes went wide as he realized his mistake.
“I’m sorry Alpha, I didn’t mean to hurt her. They both said they wanted to join the warriors and I sent them off” he explained.
“After you called us disgusting, pathetic humans right?” Ashely asked, fuming.
“That was a mistake”
“Fuck you, do you hear me? Fuck you” Ashley spat in his face.
“Get out,” I commanded. He bowed and walked out of my space. If he hadn’t done that, I would’ve killed him.
I looked over at Lyla and decided it was time to understand what she was exactly. This is the only way we can know what’s going on with her.
“What happened?”
Dean asked as he rushed in with Tunde. I sat beside the bed and held Lyla’s hand in mine. She was sleeping soundly with a smile plastered on her face. I turned to see Ashley explaining what happened to Tunde and Dean who was listening so attentively.
“How’s she?” Dean asked as he moved closer to check her pulse.
“She’s sleeping,” he replied.
“Do you have any clue about what could be going on?” I asked Dean.
“I’m not really sure, Damon. I don’t want to make any assumptions either but she may be a Nephilim or a daughter of one. Ashley said she saw light surrounding her after Konrad pushed her to the floor. Also, from my finding, Nephilim lose their temper when certain things trigger their anger and they tend to destroy things”
“But Nephilim had wings and they’ve been extinct for centuries” Ashley argued.
“You’re a witch, Ashley and you’re one of the five of your kind still existing. A half-wolf, half-witch. If anyone heard of your existence, they’ll say the same thing. Moreover, she’s probably the daughter of a Nephilim and that could be why she’s without wings” Dean explained.
Maybe one of her parents is human, probably the father. Either way, she’s a creature of light. This is just an assumption though, we have to see what she can do first before we make any confirmation” I nodded, agreeing with his argument.
“So, what do we do now?” Tunde asked.
“We’ll let her wake up first and ask her some questions. Ashley, you’ll be in charge of helping her from now on. You’re a witch so you should know a thing or two about them”
After a long silence, Ashley suddenly yelled “Now I’m suddenly important to the pack after so many years of being excluded from everything because I’m a witch” She yelled angrily.
“Lyla is your friend. You should be always ready to help her”
“Yeah, and she’s the Luna. I don’t want to damage her reputation by training her. Your pack wouldn’t want that, Alpha”
I stood up and walked towards her.
“It’s not a request Ashley, it’s a command. You will put aside your hatred for this pack and help in every little way you can. There’s no time for argument. We need all hands on deck and trust me yours is as important as mine” I beseeched.
“I can’t help her, Alpha. Imagine when she lost her control the other time, I freaked out and couldn’t do anything. How do you then expect me to help her out?” She asked with a shaky voice.
“You can do it, Ashley, trust me” I assured her.
“The people are waiting” Tunde informed me and I nodded. I turned to give Lyla one more kiss on her forehead before I left the room.
Ashley decided to stay back with Lyla till she woke up while Tunde, Dean, and I went on to attend the meeting with three other elders from our pack. We needed a solution to the problem fast.
“Good evening everyone, sorry I kept you all waiting” I apologized as I walked into the pack’s office. Seated was the leader of the warriors and the former Beta, Beta Raphael, the one who took over after Tunde’s father died.
“Tunde already informed us about what happened. The words are spreading across the pack and people are already worried” Beta Rapheal complained.
“They may come back,” Tunde said.
“We’ll be ready when they do,” Dean added. I banged my hand so hard on the table.
“We’ll be ready with what? We have nothing to protect ourselves from these people. Thirty-something warriors aren’t enough from the damage we saw at the border”
I turned to Konrad and said, “The next time you touch any woman, especially my mate in this pack, I’ll make sure I feed you your hands. Make sure the border is reinforced before morning and find a way to recruit more warriors from the people and begin their training as soon as possible” I instructed.
“Yes Alpha” he bowed and walked out immediately.
“We’ll join them at the borders tonight, Beta” I informed Tunde and he nodded.
“I think we should make contact with Alpha Xander. He has uranium and I think this is the time we need it most” Tunde suggested.
“We won’t. Xander is too arrogant to agree to such a thing”
“We can’t risk people’s lives when we know we have a solution. We need to move fast and fast means contacting Xander. Whatever he wants, we’ll give it to him” He added.
“Contact the neighboring packs and see if any of them would be willing to form alliances. Meeting dismissed” I ordered ignoring his words about Xander. We have to survive without uranium this time around.
“Yes Alpha” They all grumbled but without an argument.
Lyla’s POV
I opened my eyes slightly when I felt a strange sensation through my body. A movement went across the room so fast and swift that if I blinked, I wouldn’t have noticed it.
Something smells burnt and it disturbed my stomach so much I wanted to throw up.
“Who are you?” I yelled only to be replied with whimpering. I turned to see Ashley lying on the floor. She wasn’t moving.
“Ashley,” I hurriedly stood up from the bed and I ran to her side. “What’s going on?” I asked, observing her.
The moonlight streamed into the room, as the light was already put off.
Ashley was lying stiff, her eyes were the only part of her body that was moving. She was trying to talk but she couldn’t.
“Just stay calm Ashley, I’ll go get help immediately,”
Before I could get to open the door, Someone already did from the outside. I watched as Devante walked in, oblivious of what was going on.
“Hey Luna,” He called out smiling, before I could reply, I saw something right behind him. It was a man, covered with black clothes. He had yellow eyes, pale skin, and his fangs were out. He looked dead in one word.
“What’s wrong, Lyla,?” He asked once he saw the look on my face.
“Behind you….” Before I could finish my statement, the man knocked Devante onto the shelf and I screamed as the whole shelf came down on him.
“Who are you? What do you want?” I cried.
“You,” he replied. “You’re his mate, right?”
I shook my head as I couldn’t get the right word out. As he began walking slowly towards me, I backed away from where I was. I moved as far as I thought I would until my back hit the bathroom door.
I tried opening it forcefully but I couldn’t, the bathroom door got jammed at a time like this.
“Help!! Help me!!” I screamed out. That was the only option left for me.
“Nobody can help you now, sweetheart. Not even your goddess”
I screamed as he inhumanly charged towards me. Before I could blink, he was right in front of me, his hand out to hold me.
He grabbed me by the neck suddenly and before seconds, he hissed as he removed his hand as fast as he had held my neck in the first place.
“You burnt me. What the hell are you,?” He asked.
“Me? I don’t know” I replied. I was shaking visibly from the fear.
“People are coming” he suddenly announced, perfectly talking to himself.
He grabbed my hand this time around and in a second, he dropped it as he did earlier.
This time, he was burning not just his hands, but the fire radiated through his entire body. He raised his hands towards me, trying to grab me even though he was in pain.
“Lyla, move from there,” Devante screamed just as Damon ran into the room.
I remained rooted as I was confused with a bout of tears streaming down my eyes.
Damon moved swiftly towards the man with an iron rod and once he got so close to him, he stabbed him in the chest.
I screamed at the same time as the man as my eyes closed involuntarily.
Damon pulled me away from him as he fell to the ground in a loud thud. I opened my eyes to the same time the man turned into ashes.
“What the hell was that?” Devante demanded.
“A vampire”