Punching the wall angrily, leaving a crack on it, Derek growled with anger so loud it was evident even with the thunder rumbling outside. "You're getting more than me" Vee pointed out, running her fingers through her wet hair whilst also tapping her foot worriedly.
"Why wouldn't I be?!" He barked, turning to face her. "We've scoured the whole town and woods but came up empty. Where the hell did they take her to?"
"We can't give up...we are still yet to get a report from the group that went toward the north river" She pointed out. She kept trying so hard not to let any negative thought into her head.
"Of course I'm not giving up. I'm going to find her, bring her back safely and then end the lives of those bastards"
"What do we do now? We can't just sit on our asses. It's pouring out there so it's hard to get a scent or track them, but the more time we waste, the harder it will be to find her"
"I know that. I need to discuss with my father first...where the hell is he anyway?" He replied and stormed out of the room, leaving Vee alone there.
***
"What do you mean?" Tessa fixed her confused eyes on him, giving her full attention to him. "What do you mean those are my people too?"
"It means....you're from our clan" Kreed broke the news to her. He paused and watch as she began processing the news and what it meant.
"Yo...u....you are lying, that's not possible" She scoffed with disbelief. What he just said sounded absurd and impossible to her. There was no way it could be true.
"You can choose to believe me or not but it doesn't change the reality of things. You've been lied to all your life. Just as my family was slaughtered, so was yours and you were taken to fill a void and prevent a problem..."
"Stop! Just stop!!! You're lying" She blurted out, cleaning the tears away from her eyes. "I don't know what you hope to achieve by telling me all these, but it's not gonna work. You trying to twist my head for whatever purpose you've schemed won't work. You're just a heartless killer and that is fact, a fact I know too well"
"I see your love for your dead friend is clouding your judgement and masking your eyes to the truth. Let it go or It's going to cause you nothing but pain and suffering" He stated, standing up from his seat.
"What do you know about love, pain and suffering?" She barked at him angrily with a hurtful voice.
Kreed smiled behind his mask and walked over to the window, staring out and watching the heavy rainfall. "You're right....I might know nothing about love but that's because I was never given the chance to experience it. But pain and suffering is all I have ever known, it's all we have ever known" He stopped and then turned to face her. "I am telling you all these because you're a member of our clan. We had to give you a chance to join us after knowing the truth..."
"And if I don't?"
"Then you will experience the pain and suffering we are about to bring to them"
Tessa stared directly into his eyes but couldn't tell if he meant every word he just said. There was something familiar about his eyes but that was the extent of it.
"It's pouring heavily tonight. You can choose to stay till it stops or you can leave now"
"I wanna leave right now" She said almost immediately.
"I see. Then you're free to leave" He concluded and started for the door.
"Wait!" She called just before he could walk out. "I have one question"
"Go on" He urged her
"Why? Why him? Why did you kill him? Why did you have to kill him?" She questioned softly, tears running down her cheeks.
"I don't have the answer to that...." He replied, staring at her as she sobs quietly. He felt something stir inside him. It was the same thing he felt when she kissed him back at the motel. He shut his eyes for a sec and then opened them. "But it'll serve you best to forget about him. That's the only way you can survive in the long run" He added before walking out, leaving her there.
Tessa continued sobbing, ignoring the continues rumbling of thunder. She couldn't tell how long she had spent there sobbing when she finally snapped back to reality fully, realizing she had to leave as her people would be worried and searching for her, especially her father.
She forced herself up from the floor, her palms were almost fully healed up. She looked out and it seemed the rain had almost stopped, it was merely drizzling, confirming the fact that she had zoned out for quiet a while when sobbing and thinking about Kieran.
***
Tessa walked into the main hall of her house. She was deep in thoughts, thinking back to her conversation with Devil's Eyes. She didn't know what to make of it. The logical thing was to dismiss it as part of their ploy but she couldn't help but wonder why they would leave her alive and why the whole reason of her being taken was just to tell her all that if it was all a lie.
Something seemed wrong and the only one who could make it right was her father. She needed to ask him if any of it was true. He was the only one who could put her mind to rest.
As soon as she got to where her father's seat was at the head of the hall, she caught a faint small of blood. Before she could think on it, the door was pushed open with Derek and Vee rushing in. "Tess!" Vee called loudly, running over to where she was.
"Tessa are you okay?" Derek questioned worriedly, hurrying behind Vee.
Vee engulfed her into a tight hug on getting to where she was. None of them minding about their soaked body. "Oh my God!!! Thank God you're okay"
"I'm fine Vee" She replied with a tired smile, breaking the hug
"What the hell happened Tess? One of the wolves alerted us that they saw you walking in here" Derek inquired just before his eyes fell on her wounded palm. He grabbed them both immediately, inspecting the wound. "Did they do this to you?" He asked with rage in his eyes.
"Yeah but I'm okay, it's almost healed up"
"Where did they take you and what did they want? We searched the woods through the night but couldn't find a trace" Vee pointed out
"That's because I wasn't taken to the woods. I was taken to an abandoned house here in town and..." She paused when Beta Maynard walked in, coming from the direction of the Alpha's room.
They all shifted their attention to him when they noticed the sad look in his eyes. "Thank God you're alive Tessa. We can't afford to lose you" He added
"Yeah I'm fine. Where's my father? He must be worried sick. I have to let him know I'm okay"
"I'm afraid I have bad news. Your disappearance last night wasn't the only bad thing that took place"
"What do you mean father?" Derek asked with a puzzled look on his face, the same look the others had
"The Alpha is dead. He was murdered" Beta Maynard announced.
"What?" They said simultaneously and then they turned to Tessa who had a look of shock and disbelief, staring speechless into space.