Feral Lust (Feral Souls Series - I) (18+) [Currently Editing]

thirty-four.

The next morning, a feeling of despair seized Celeste hot in her gut.

They had carried the doctor to the room right opposite the Alpha's, and for precaution sake, Xavier had stayed with him all night while Celeste and Elliot had carried out the interrogation of every likely witness and potential suspect of the attack. All they could gather yet was that almost everyone had been asleep when they had heard screams. Muffled as they were, they had reached the ears of the ones right next door who had woken others up.

When they came out to investigate, they were terrified to find the guards lying dead. No one had been able to see the offender because, by the time they had called for backup and gone inside, the culprit had fled through the windows. When they had inspected the walls outside the windows, they found no grooves to help someone climb nor was there any clue to guide them towards the killer and, disappointing as it was, they could now only wait for the doctor to heal enough to let them know of the perpetrator. Till then they had to guard him with all they had.

That morning, the wolves and half-vampires were to be moved to the grand hall until the culprit was found and to make sure that everything that was served would be uncompromised. Albeit it might make them all tiresome and uncomfortable, having everyone in front of their very eyes would definitely get them more clues, if not the traitor too.

Celeste, after getting ready, rushed out to offer all the aid she could in whichever way possible. When she was outside, in the lobby, she saw the terror on the faces of pack-members who were being trudged towards the hall. A forlorn look on their faces, the guards appeared tired of pulling an all-nighter.

'The traitor needs to be found out soon. We cannot keep living in fear forever,' she thought to herself and resorted to look for Elliot. She found him in the garden behind their rooms, sitting by himself.

"Sitting on your ass wouldn't solve our troubles, Elliot. We have to do something," she said as she came to a stop in front of him.

"Do you think I am not aware of that? Or do you wonder that I am enjoying myself while these people are petrified to the core? We are doing all that we can. No traitor would simply step forward, feeling pity for us and give themselves away," he sighed, wringing his hands, "it's even more exigent now that the physician is in a soporose condition due to the injury that was inflicted to his head and the amount of blood that he lost. I don't even know whether he'll wake up or not."

'What am I doing?' Celeste questioned herself as Elliot put his head in his hands, exhausted and helpless. 'How is any of this Elliot's fault? How can I let my anger guide my actions?'

Suddenly getting up, Elliot took a step away from her before she could feel sorry for the words spoken by her.

"I have been called for a task today. Make sure you keep everyone safe and stay alert, for me. Also, Callahan is staying back this time." With that said, he left Celeste standing alone.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ

Malcolm was unusually perky that day. Elliot had a hunch of the feral attacks being a part of Malcolm's plan, but he couldn't be too sure. Without Elliot, the vampires had added two more villages in their tally and the one that they were onto today was about fives towns away from his own. Worry gnawed his mind, he couldn't lose any more time and only rely on mind games.

Something bigger needed to be done.

'But with Malcolm's eyes on me all the time, what can I do?'

The count of bloodsuckers was growing by every passing day. Alone, he was nothing. But his position gave him too much of an advantage to lose.

"How many wolves are there in this town?" He asked Malcolm, who grimaced in return.

"Not enough to sate my children, but we do what we ought to do. Come, then. We must discuss a few things."

He led Elliot to a temporary tent that they had set up. It was small for a person of Malcolm's stature but big enough to house three people. A table, with maps and papers lying atop it, was placed in the centre. Getting a closer look at it revealed a document with his clan seal on it. He stood nearer to the table, deliberately, in order to have a glance at any of the details. Another well-built vampire followed them inside and Elliot could hear about nine heartbeats outside the tent in the closest proximity, standing guard.

He couldn't take a misstep or he might have an entire army to go against, on his own, which would only end in one way for him - death.

"My people tell me that there has been some disturbance in many of the packs. Has it touched yours too?" Malcolm inquired.

Elliot, at the point in time, found himself at crossroads. Either he could sow seeds of distrust against the spies - which could prove to be risky for him if the spies had given more recent information or he could tell the truth - this, because after looking at the papers on the table, their clan's seal, and a document from the physician's desk, he could tell that Malcolm was behind everything.

He remembered Elder Zachariah telling him once that in some situations, it is better to relay half the truth to the other person as it not only garners their trust but also puts one in a less vulnerable position than what complete truth would.

So, meticulously, he framed his response in his head before speaking, "yes, last few days have been taxing for our pack."

"What happened, if I may ask?"

"Four of our wolves turned feral, out of the blue, and then our physician was attacked along with two of his guards. No one was left alive," Elliot sighed, making a show of his despair, which, to be honest, was not entirely fake. He purposely left out the detail about the physician still living with an off-chance that Malcolm didn't know about the physician's condition. Also, there was a possibility of the vampire giving the physician's kill order if he got the wind of truth.

"That's depressing. How are you faring, my best soldier," he boasted, "do you want to, perhaps, sit this one out?" he feigned concern, but Elliot could notice the mirth in his eyes.

"No," he gritted.

When Malcolm raised an eyebrow in question, Elliot responded as calmly as he could, "I joined hands with you to keep my people safe. If a natural and tiny setback can shake me, then I must not be capable enough to lead."

'And,' he added in his mind, 'I need to keep reminding myself how dangerous the situation is.'He straightened his shoulders, and clenching his jaw, he inquired of the recent raze, "we have over seventy thousand vampires and merely twenty wolves in this suburb. Don't you think sending all of the entourage would only be more trouble than it's worth? There's also this point of alerting the humans of our presence with such a number." Right then, Elliot had a fine idea, but he compartmentalized it for reviewing with his mate, later.

Malcolm waved his hand, "with the number that we have gathered, do you think I care about what the humans might do? Even before these miscreants can pick up a weapon, my vampires will kill them all." His smirk, directed towards Elliot, sent warning bells ringing in his head.

"That's true," Elliot forced himself to feel serious, but the plan taking shape in his brain was making it wearisome for him to keep his excitement reined back.

"If that was all, shall we get moving?" Elliot stepped towards the tent's exit, eager to get away from the leech and get the kills over with, but was blocked by the bulky vampire.

"I don't remember dismissing you," Malcolm's voice carried a menacing cadence which would have made Elliot tremble in fear for his life, and that of his pack's had Malcolm's expression not changed in that very instant.

"Congratulations are in order, though, Elliot!" The vampire roared happily. Elliot didn't get a chance to reply or feel confused as the next words from the bloodsucker's mouth left him aghast and mum.

"I have been told that my best soldier has found his mate."