After Viktor took his leave, Aaron and Damor got into a heated argument. Damor couldn’t understand why Aaron didn’t kill Viktor, especially after his direct, infuriating words. Aaron told him there was more to the confrontation than meets the eye, and Damor told him taking Viktor out would have reduced the number of those against him. He understood Damor’s point, but his brother didn’t see things from his perspective. Zera had been a sage for almost two years, and many in the supernatural world knew about her existence. So it made no sense that Viktor appeared now to spew threats at her. He felt there was more to this threat than they knew.
“And I still can’t believe we let him leave in one piece after he said that,” Damor said. He has been pacing around the office since Viktor and his men left over ten minutes ago.
“I know you love to attack before asking questions, but violence does not resolve everything.” Aaron tried to tell him.
Damor’s hands clenched into tight fists. “Viktor deserves nothing less than violence. I could have taken him on. You should have let me swipe his face on the floor all the way to the parking lot.”
“You’re not helping, Damor!” Aaron said.
“Oh, I do not plan to. Last I checked, I was a dog!” He bit back at him. “Dogs are vicious creatures when pushed.”
“On the battleground? Sure, you can be whatever you want to be, but this isn’t a battleground, Damor. Look the fuck around. This is an office, a business organisation, and an environment. What do you think the humans around us would say if they saw us brawling with each other? We already have a lot of scrutiny since the announcement of the laboratory construction two years ago; if there is even a stain on our reputation, the competition will take it and fly with it.”
Damor pressed his lips together and stopped pacing.
“You think that’s why Victor came here? To get you to react and do something that would cause your name to fly.”
Aaron didn’t want to answer, so he just turned away and ran a hand through his hair. He was still lost and trying to find reason, and so far, nothing has made sense.
He sighed and said, “Enraging me would have been his best move. They certainly cannot take on Zera; she might not look it, but she’s stronger than Viktor would ever be. I do not know what other way he plans on attacking her, but whichever way it is, she has to know they are coming for her. Look, I am sorry you got caught in the fight. If I’m being honest, I’d say I didn’t know there was one to begin with. We will get to the root of this, I promise you.”
…
Ivan came over to the office an hour later, after being summoned by Aaron. There he met Damor as well, and though they hadn’t seen each other in over a year, neither acted like it. Ivan nodded at him and moved on to the reason he came.
“Zera has been a sage for over two years now; he could have come forth with his challenge then but didn’t, and suddenly he does? It makes no sense.”
“You think there is more to this confrontation?”
Without hesitation. “Yes,” he said with certainty. “I also believe we are the target. He could have confronted me at the pack estate, but he did it here, knowing well that we have humans here. He also tried to get under Damor’s skin.” Ivan turned to Damor, who was still pacing around the office. “I know the last thing we should do is play into their hands.”
Ivan didn’t say anything anymore; he just sat on the seat, spread out a small white towel on the desk, placed his hands on it, and closed his eyes.
“Is this comfortable?” Aaron asked.
“No,” he replied immediately, “but it is what you have. I can make do.”
He closed his eyes, and the office became silent except for the sound of Damor’s pacing footstep.
“Can you stop? I’m trying to concentrate.” Ivan asked, turning to Damor.
“Perhaps if you’d mastered the act of wander walking properly, you wouldn’t be easily distracted.” Damor bit back at him. It turns out he was still furious about what had happened and needed to cool off.
“I think it’s best to wait outside until Ivan finishes wander walking.” Aaron suggested, and Damor stormed out immediately, as if waiting for those very words.
Ivan returned to meditating in silence, and Aaron waited on him patiently. If there was anyone who could help find the reasons, it was him.
Ivan opened his eyes. “Give me your hands,” he requested, stretching his hand out to take Aaron’s.
Aaron obliged and handed Ivan his hands. Once again, Ivan returned to silence with his eyes closed, and this time he stayed for over five minutes without speaking. He opened his eyes and released Aaron’s hands, then picked up the white towel he came with and folded it. All this he did in silence, and it made Aaron a little suspicious.
“What did you see?”
Ivan glanced up at him, and his eyes were red as if he were grieving, and that made Aaron’s heart clench in his chest. “What’s wrong?” He rephrased the question.
“I don’t know, but about a dozen wise ones are dead, including the wise one of the Crimson Moon Pack,” he replied. “I normally channel by linking myself to them, but I tried to and I couldn’t find their energy; hence, I called for yours, and even while I wandered, all I felt was an empty void in the places where their energy once dwelt.”
Ivan was the only Hart among the four in tune with his emotions, but even at that, Aaron had never seen him this devastated. He was grieving an immense loss. The wise ones belong to every pack and always serve their pack’s aims and objectives. Most times in battle, they fought against each other, yet they shared a bond.
Xoe was also a wise one, and if every wise one was dead, she would be, too. That would crush him, considering how much he fancied her.
This massive annihilation meant someone was targeting them and wiping them out. Yes, death was a natural order of things, but over a dozen deaths of a particular group in a short period without a known war was not a natural order.
“What could have happened to them?”
Ivan picked up his towel and folded it up before returning it to his pocket. “Someone is targeting the wise ones.”
“Is that why Viktor was here?”
“It could be. The wise ones may be humans, but the abilities they possess equip them, so they aren’t vulnerable to our supernatural counterparts.” He rose to his feet and said, “There is a level of hurt even the strongest of alphas can do to a wise one.”
Aaron crossed his hand over his chest. “You’re saying whoever is responsible for the annihilation of the wise ones has to be stronger than an alpha himself?”
“That’s what it means, and there is only one being with such an amount of power that we know of,” Ivan replied.
“Zera would never do such a thing,” he said immediately, coming to her defence, “and this doesn’t serve her in any way.”
Ivan didn’t speak; he was in a dilemma and mourning. “It raises suspicion when all the packs in the state have lost their wise one except one, and that very one is the one Zera is in.”