Page 93 of The Dark Rising
There is nothing we can say, it’s the truth.
“I’m the Alpha of the fucking Elites, why wasn’t I approached by the Highers to be a part of this?” I wonder.
“No idea, maybe you had to become a Higher first. Charles has been pushing you to do it,” Jerrod says, moving his braid over his shoulder as he grabs another journal to go through.
“He’s been on everyone’s ass, asking me constantly through letters if we have found Rhea and also stretching his own guards thin to look for her.” He’s obsessed with finding her, but he won’t have her. “He also hasn’t addressed the people about the rogures, and he still hasn’t let anyone into Wolvorn, uncaring about everyone suffering.”
“Piece of shit,” Damian says. “I have been looking into a place where we can send some people, there is an old farmstead in Colhelm. It needs some fixing up, but it’s large enough to house some that desperately need it. It has woods surrounding it, and we can place traps within them and a barrier around the homestead. It should keep them safe enough until we get there should the rogures try to attack.”
“I’ll send some Elites ahead and get them started,” I tell him.
“While going through the lists that were taken from Zakith, we found some things out.” My eyes swing to Leo. “Some Elites with close connections to the Highers, or those of a poor background have been selected by the Highers to take others from their homes,” Leo tells us, and my hands ball into fists. “The problem now is that we have a list of names that are within the Elites that are potentially a threat to us. What do you want to do about it?”
“Get rid of them.” I don’t want them in my keep, living and breathing after what they have done. The Highers and those involved would never expect me to know all this information, they wouldn’t expect us to begin to uncover just how poisonous they are. And they wouldn’t expect theHighers’ weaponsto be their biggest threat. We have the advantage, for now.
So many packs are involved in this, including Aragnis, Nightshade, some from Aliseon and Karion. So are many families that have been in the Elites for generations.
“People will notice those that are missing.” Leo shakes his head. “Especially their families and the Highers.”
I fist my hands. “I don’t give a fuck. They are part of this disgusting experiment, taking children.” I shove the notes my father scribbled down. Just seeing how he observed a female getting raped by this new rogures again and again makes me want to tear out of my skin. I sit back roughly in my chair and my eyes connect with Leo. He knows what I want without having to ask. I look away when his eyes turn concerned, not in the mood to deal with his shit about it. “It’s right there, the names of Elites who had taken them to another location. There is no getting out of what they have done.”
“Send them away on a mission.”
My head swivels to the doorway, and I see Rhea step into the room. She’s wearing shorts and a loose-fitting t-shirt. My t-shirt as I still haven’t given her the clothes she brought from the witch’s home. Her hair in a nest atop her head, thrown up with zero fucks to give and it’s one of the things I admire about her. She doesn’t care for her looks, she cares about her people. But as I take in her face, noting the dark circles beneath her eyes and the subtle slump in her shoulders, I know she’s exhausted, Which is no doubt also due to her power fighting within her.
Since we came from my father’s last night, she’s been restless, staring off into the distance and it has to be something to do with that book she refused to let me see. Though I will read its contents soon enough.
Even in her exhausted state, and the glare set on her face, my cock still thickens in my pants. I see the bite mark I gave her, and the possessive rumble that builds up within me, is out before I can stop it. Her eyes meet mine, and they fill with heat for a moment before she shuts it down. Does she even know the way she looks at me sometimes?
She looks at me like she hates me, rightly so, but when she drops her guard without knowing, I see what’s really there.
Lust, longing…and pain.
The reminder makes me continue.
“What good will sending them away on a mission do?” I ask her.
She moves to the end of the table, scanning the contents with a hard glare. “Send them on a mission and then kill them,” she says bluntly as her eyes flash up to mine. My bloodthirsty little wolf. I smirk. “But not before we get information from them. We need locations of where they took whoever was selected. We know of one location mentioned, but we don’t know where that is, or if there are others.”
“That’s a given,” Leo grunts, and her eyes move off of me to him. She shouldn’t be looking at him, she should only have her eyes on me. “But others will still have questions about where they are.”
She shrugs. “I’m sure they will, but if the mission would take a long time, then it gives us time to figure shit out. Go to locations they can tell us, and if anyone is there, we have time to get them out.” She swallows and looks down. “We need to get them out.”
The look of guilt on her face is obvious, but we are just as guilty. Of a lot of things.
“It would work,” Damian agrees. “For a time.”
“Time that we don’t have, but it’s the only option now. To clean house and see if the remaining Elites are loyal to me.”
We need as many people as we can to eventually get rid of Charles. He doesn’t suspect we know anything right now, and we need to get those who have been taken to another location safely. If we can successfully start emptying these places where they are keeping people. He will get nervous, sloppy and eventually mess up. That’s when we need to strike.
I would copy these notes and put them out into the world to show the people just what kind of authority they are living under, but that would be a mistake to do it too soon. The rogures are already causing chaos, we can’t have any more right now. Then Charles will definitely know someone is on to him. He will be more cautious and we can’t have that in his unstable state. We can’t fuck up with so much on the line.
Then there is Kaden, still at Wolvorn with all the Highers. He could easily be used against Rhea and she won’t put him in harm’s way. She would rather hand herself over than that.
But with us not knowing what Charles and the other Highers are actually doing, we were in the dark about their goals. And being in the dark can lead you to blindly walk into a blade.
“We organize the Elites and get rid of those involved. Then we find where those that have been taken are being kept, and move them to safety. Then we cause an uproar in Vrohkaria and release the copies of records we have here to every town. Then we get Kaden and strike,” I tell the room.
