When Aaron finally helped Ivan up to his feet, they realised that Alpha Lucius and the sage he came with were gone. He was unsuccessful in causing the chaos he came for and had left, realising the odds were not in his favour. Miguel helped rally the still-living pack members together, and though Alpha Kol was alive, he was in terrible shape.
“I will not leave my estate or pack,” Alpha Kol said stubbornly when Aaron suggested leaving.
“This is a graveyard, I say; come with us; Ivan cannot heal you, but he can keep you in a stable state until you are fully healed. Besides, there are chances that Lucius will return to finish what he already started.” Aaron told him.
“I have lost my pack; I have nothing to live for anymore.” Alpha Kol said it with a tone filled with remorse.
“Father!” They heard a feminine voice call, and Kol’s head turned to find the young woman hurrying towards him.
“Star!” he replied, his eyes growing glassy as he looked at her with arms stretched out.
She ran into his open arms, and he hugged her tightly, not wanting to let her go. Aaron understood the feeling well. He didn’t want to let Ivan go earlier, either. In the face of battle, family becomes everything.
“I still believe you should come with us; you cannot fight the legion of sages alone. You need as much help as you can get.” Alpha Kol turned to Star, and his daughter nodded, telling him this was the best choice they had.
They returned home, and, on their arrival, Zera ran to Aaron after seeing him in not-so-good shape. Her eyes were filled with worry, and Aaron knew she already had a dozen questions she wanted to ask. She held her tongue from asking the questions in the wrong place. Instead, she waited for the retribution pack’s proper settlement into the pack estate.
George, who seemed to be on standby, came out to meet Miguel. Following Aaron’s orders, they moved Alpha Kol into the quarters Viktor had been in for the past few weeks. The retribution pack, luckily, had over a dozen members still alive. Though that had greatly added to their number, it was something they could work around until everything got back to normal.
They returned to their quarters, and Ivan followed because whatever they wanted to say would be for a few ears only. The three stepped into the study together, and Aaron shut the door behind them.
The many questions that he had read in Zera’s mind returned. He needed to answer every one of them.
“I am fine.” Compared to the rest, including Ivan, he was in much better shape, but that didn’t help the worried look on her face.
“You should have told me somehow.”
He couldn’t do much with the time. He had mastered the act of reaching Ivan through the quick ritual Ivan taught him while they were much younger, and it was in cases of emergency. Ivan had made the call to not inform her about the emergency and instead take Miguel. She was with Zion, and the last thing anyone wanted was to pull her away from that.
He couldn’t do that.
Ivan came to his defence, saying, “He might share a bond with you, but he can reach me faster than he can with you, and so he made the quickest decision.”
Ivan didn’t reserve any form of sentiment as he spoke to her. It could be a result of what happened at the retribution pack’s estate, but Ivan had gotten colder this past week.
“I am sorry,” he said, although the real person in danger was Ivan.
Her eyes moved from his over to Ivan after reading his thought. “Are you okay?” she asked, her voice equally worried as she was when she spoke with Aaron.
Ivan managed a small smile and said, “It will take a lot to kill me,” he said, and Aaron could tell he was putting up a brave face.
The sage had his claws around his neck. Being faster than Ivan, he would have done more harm even before Ivan would have come up with any form of defense. Ivan, having escaped, will be much more alert next time.
Having him here in one piece was a miracle, and he had never thought he would say this, but he would cherish his brother more.
“You aren’t going anywhere, that is for certain.” She said that and placed her hand on Ivan’s shoulder.
“I feel like I have missed a lot,” Damor said, and they turned to face him. He had a puzzled look on his face as he watched them.
He had gotten into the room without their notice. Either their senses had all dulled up or Damor had gotten faster in his ability. The former couldn’t be the case.
“The enemy attacked the retribution pack while I was there, and they almost got Ivan.” He said, but Ivan didn’t react to anything; he just said.
Damor’s gaze moved to Ivan’s and remained there. “Are you okay?” he asked, and he held the same level of worry Zera had when she saw him, if not more.
This was the first time he saw Damor worried about anyone or anything. It felt odd and created a different image of his brother in his head than the one he had.
Ivan nodded. “I am, as you can see.”
“I am worried, and that is not for you to act like an asshole about it.” He groaned and glared at Ivan.
“The legions of sages are coming, and with every day that passes, their day of attack draws near. Today is for retribution, and tomorrow might as well be for us. Are we to keep the secret among ourselves and a few trusted pack members, or do we tell everyone?” Aaron asked, staring at the faces in the room.
“One thing I do not understand is: how can one pack have so many sages? Isn’t the occurrence of a sage a rare one?” Zera asked with a confused look on her face.
“Not if many knew how they were made.” Ivan answered. “He most definitely knew about your creation and experimented with the theory; I can’t even tell how many he experimented with before creating so many numbers.”
“This is against the natural order of things.” Zera said, and Aaron nodded in agreement.
“It is, but men like Lucius do not care; they see it as a chance to seize power since it is what they crave the most.” Aaron answered. “They attacked the retribution pack the same way Viktor detailed the attack on his pack, and we don’t know who’s next on the line. We do not know what is coming or when it will come; we have to be ready.”