Tessa drifted off again like she had been doing since their encounter and their return back to the pack. All the sounds were all muffled around her, she paid no attention to what was being discussed. She was worried, she was worrying constantly about Kieran and how he was presently doing. She wished the meeting would be over faster, so she could go see for herself. All that was being discussed was what had already been discussed. About how dangerous this new threat could be and how they were a menace.
Truth is, not until you've been in their presence will you truly feel how menacing they were. Her mind immediately drifted back to their encounter with the Black Lotus for the umpteenth time, playing it over and over again like a broken record. It was most certainly an interesting encounter, one where she was glad they came out alive.
She had helped Kieran up, holding his hand tightly in hers. He had saved earlier, taking the pain she was supposed to be in that moment, becoming blind for her. Her heart broke at the thought that she was already the reason he was suffering even when they still barely knew each other, all because she was weak and couldn't react faster. She glanced at his tightly shut, bleeding eyes and his current state broke her heart.
"What's happening? I can't see" on standing up with Tessa holding his hand.
"Being blind will do that to you" The mystery person sitting on the window spoke up.
His voice drew Tessa's attention toward him and looking around the room she realized the five of them had surrounded them. Taking their appearance into account, she immediately realized who they were "You are the Black Lotus" She pointed out, shifting her eyes between them.
"What?" Kieran who couldn't see anything anymore uttered.
The one standing by the door, stepped forward, removing his hood but leaving his mask on. He had a short black hair. "You're right. We are the Black Lotus" He said with a slightly deep voice just before all their eyes began glowing red through the cut out holes in their mask.
'This is bad' Tessa thought to herself, squeezing Kieran's hand in hers. They had an overwhelming presence and so much confidence. Being an Alpha group would do that to you. It wasn't helping that it was a full moon. Her fear was heightened because of it too. "What do you want?" She questioned, trying not to show how scared she was, but failing at it as her heart was pounding loudly. She could hear lots of wolves howling around and not so far from their cabin. Which was unusual as she could tell they were just wolves and not werewolves. Even though it was a full moon, it was still unusual as they were very few wolves and were now becoming so many howls.
"Mmh" The one who seemed to be the leader sighed, pulling up a chair and sitting just in front of where they were standing. He looked around the room then out the window at the full moon for like a minute, just silently staring at the moon before shifting his attention back to them. "How much is life worth to you?" He asked
"What?" Tessa and Kieran both uttered simultaneously, confused about his question.
"If you were strong enough, will you kill us right here just so you and your boyfriend can survive?" He asked again, his voice sounding ever so serious, his eyes yearning for an honest reply.
Getting a good look into his eyes, Tessa could feel the sadness it held. She didn't know what to say to his question. No one would like to say such a thing so openly easily. It felt like a trap. In truth if she could, she would kill just for them to survive the night, anyone in her position would do the same, so she thought.
"The look in your eyes right now says it all. It is the same look almost everyone posed with the same question as they thought about it. We wolves are animals after all, it is in our nature to try and survive by all means necessary even humans have that nature" He explained
"What has that got to do with anything?" Kieran questioned, he was just as confused as Tessa was.
"Are you trying to justify your actions? Why you all are going around killing?" She inquired, looking around at them. The wolves outside kept howling.
"No...i have no reason to justify my actions to you or anyone else. No one cares about how justifiable your actions are if it doesn't align with what they want or believe. So as long as you think you're in the right and that you are protecting your innocent pack, you will never see our actions as justifiable" He explained.
Tessa thought deeply about it and realized he was right. As long as his goal was different from hers and they were coming to kill her pack members, there was no way she could see it as a justifiable thing. "We all have different ideas, beliefs, opinions and all but one thing is constant, the line between what is good and evil" She pointed out.
"And you think what we are doing is evil?"
"I mean you're killing senselessly, aren't you? Killing the innocent" Tessa argued and she immediately felt Kieran squeezing her hand tighter.
"I can assure you nothing we do is senseless. You are the Alpha's daughter, which means you believe in equality. There are some who would be against you becoming an Alpha because you are a woman and you would move out of your way to prove to them why you're just as capable as any man. And the truth is, not until they experience your rule as Alpha for themselves and see you are capable as you have said, they would never believe. And still no one would understand what you feel during those demeaning moments until they are in your position. That's what we are trying to do, our mission. Different problems, same formula. Your 'innocent' world must feel the same pain ours felt for us to understand each other better."
"Equal rights after all" The other member sitting on the window chipped in.
"Equal rights of pain?" Kieran asked
"Yes. You catch on quickly" He replied, standing up to his feet. "Your people will feel the same pain and horror ours suffered first and then we can all sit down and talk about good and evil and peace"
"You keep saying 'Your people'....." She stated with furrowed brows as the pieces began falling in places in her head. "You are from the Direwolf clan, aren't you? The extinct clan"
"Well we are what's left of it..." He replied, looking around at the others. "We are The Black Lotus. Conan, Zamir, Silas, Freya...and I, Adan" He Introduced one after the other
She looked over at the Freya, she hadn't realized a woman was among them. With all their masks and hood still on, she couldn't tell who was who and wouldn't be able to tell if they changed their positions.
"The Black Lotus group who wants to bring pain to the werewolf world. I am guessing it has something to do with your extinct clan" Kieran pointed out.
"Life has to be fair for there to be peace" Adan stated. "We will be visiting you pack soon. After all it all started with your pack. A war is inevitable, its just a matter of time" He explained, walking toward the door. The others followed behind him closely. "We will meet again" He concluded as they walked out through the door casually as though they didn't just threaten her pack, the rest of the werewolf world and just promised a war.
Thinking back to that encounter Tessa realized they were not like she had imagined. She thought they would be a ruthless, savage killing thugs, but they were completely opposite, at least Adan their leader was. He seemed cool headed and seemed like a calculative leader. He was definitely someone who believed in his cause, no matter how wrong it is. Leaving them alive was what surprised her the most. She had thought that would be the end of them because there was no way herself and a blind Omega who was weaker than her could take five Alphas at the same time. Their guard Betas who were standing guard and patrolling the woods, didn't survive the encounter though.
She sighed, waking up from her reverie and bringing her attention back to the meeting. One could easily tell her mind wasn't there with the others, and neither did she want to be there physically. She wanted to leave and go check on Kieran. Since their return he's been with the pack doctor. "I have to go. Am I excused?" She blurted out, her eyes fixed on her father.
"We are almost done, why the impatience?" The Alpha asked
"Because discussing this without a solution seems pointless" She replied
"Haven't you been listening babe? We just decided to call a meeting with the other Alphas and come up with a plan that could help avoid the war or at the very least survive it." Derek explained
"If you are right about them being part of the once troublesome Direwolf clan, then this is worse than we could have anticipated and they shouldn't be treated lightly" Beta Maynard stated.
"Why? What was so special about the clan and what is so dangerous about them that got them annihilated?" Tessa inquired with a curious look. She had the stories a few times from her father. But for some reason, whenever he told it to her it always seemed as though he wasn't giving her the whole detail.
All she knew was that the Direwolf clan was a special clan because they were descendants of Fenrir. A wolf once known as the father of Alphas, revered as a god amongst werewolves. His whole descendants where all Alphas. Any child he birth, be it female or male was born an Alpha. But as time went on, the line wasn't as strong as it used to be due to humans being turned by them and later coming together to mate, making the blood not as strong as it used to be. So not everyone was born an Alpha but they were still more Alphas than Betas or Omega though some became Alphas later down the course of their lives, some died Betas or Omegas.
As time went on they were fewer full blood descendants of Fenrir. They weren't more than a pack. And that's when they began planning a power shift, seeing as their bloodline was slowly dying. Word got to other Alphas about their plan of an uprising, a plan to overthrow all Alphas, becoming the Alpha themselves and take the Alphas' Lunas or their female kids as their mates, so they could build back their clan with a pure blood.
The Alphas came together with their packs to form an army and went up against the clan. Although not without a cost, they won and ended up annihilating the clan. That was the story she knew, the story she was told. If that was how they went up against a whole pack of them then and won, then going against just five shouldn't be a problem. So she thought. "So why?"
The Alpha cleared his throat, adjusting on his seat with a serious expression across his face. "Well there's a part left out from what I have always told you..."
"I kind of figured"
"Well added to their special cases, those born an Alpha had some sort of special abilities, a visual prowess that they were born with"
"What does that mean?" She asked with a curious look.
"It means their eyes aren't just red like an Alpha's so as just to distinguish them from Betas and Omegas but it houses a special ability too. Some of them had the powers to control wolves, actual wolves not werewolves, with just their eyes. And some others could control physical movements or thoughts of anyone with just their eyes. Different abilities that some of them were born with in addition to being an Alpha. That was what made them so dangerous then and what makes them dangerous now" The Alpha explained
"And since we heard about them, I have been secretly digging for info on them and it turns out they didn't start with our pack. They have been hitting others. Wolves and humans have gone missing all over every pack and town they have been to. Which could only mean one thing....they are turning humans and building an army" Beta Maynard explained
Tessa sat there in awe, shocked at all the hidden information she has just been exposed to. After hearing all that, she definitely became a little scared. It didn't seem to be just her though. Looking around at their serious faces she could see the fear hiding behind too. She had never seen her father and the commander like that before. Which made her realize the gravity of what was going on and what was going to happen.
Immediately, she stood up. She suddenly felt the urge to go see Kieran. She needed to fill her mind with something else or she would end up thinking about different possibilities in which all these could end and it wouldn't be a good end and she would end up downing herself and her wolf and end up drowning in worries. "This is worst than I thought" She muttered, thinking back to her encounter with them.