CHAPTER 267: PEST CONTROL...

[ New World - Bloodfang Pack – Alpha’s Quarters ]

"Damn the Moon! I was such a fucking fool!"

The sound of shattering wood split the stale air.

A heavy vase...black stone carved with the crest of Bloodfang...slammed against the floor and burst into jagged shards. Water spilled, pooling crimson under the dim indoor light as petals of crushed lilies floated out like drowned corpses.

Alpha Velor stood heaving above the ruin, his chest contracting and expanding visibly with each ragged breath.

His pupils glowed a feral red, bleeding across the whites of his eyes until they looked carved from blood itself. His fists trembled at his sides, veins crawling across his skin like thick ropes.

A low growl pulsed from his throat...like dangerous thunder just before it tears the sky apart.

Behind him, Serra and Marra stood stiff.

Their shoulders nearly brushed. Both of them shook, their bodies taut with fear, each elbowing the other subtly as if urging the other person to speak first.

Neither dared open their mouths.

Velor’s head snapped towards them.

"Where," his voice rolled out too sharp, "...the fuck... is Niva?"

The two of them flinched at once. Serra’s lips trembled, her words tripping.

"We... we don’t know, Alpha..."

Marra jumped in, nodding furiously, voice cracking. "She never came back from that party. We swear it! We swear..."

Velor’s growl deepened, vibrating the stone walls. His chest rumbled with it, his fangs baring slowly as his body twitched with the urge to strike.

"Do you take me for a fool?" His voice rose, thunder crashing now. "Do you think I don’t see through your jealousy? I know very well how you treat her behind her back!"

Both wives whimpered, their knees threatening to buckle beneath them.

Serra’s eyes darted to Marra, wide, pleading. "We..we are telling the truth, Alpha. She vanished.She mind linked us. Told us to wait at the borders. We waited. Hours. We thought she would come back eventually...but nothing...we could no longer get through her mindlink...nothing else..."

Marra nodded, stumbling closer, palms half lifted. "We searched for her. The grounds, the river path, even the southern woods...nothing. It’s like she just...disappeared."

" And why the fuck would she disappear all of a sudden?" Velor’s head lowered. His lips peeled back further, the tips of his fangs glinting wet in the firelight. His entire body coiled, shoulders hunching like a predator before a pounce.

" We... we don’t know... she only said she had something important to tell us.. That we should be ready for action... nothing else..."

"You useless..." Velor’s voice cracked into a roar. "Useless piece of shit...the both of you!"

The force of it rattled the torches in their sconces. The flames flickered wildly, throwing warped shadows across the chamber.The chandeliers shook. The lights spasmed as if there was about to be an outage.

Serra and Marra squealed, stumbling back so fast their heels scraped against the stone.

"GET. OUT!"

The command ripped the air like a whip.

Neither of them waited for a second chance.

They spun and bolted, their steps echoing hard and uneven against the stone corridor, nearly tripping over each other in their scramble to escape the Alpha’s wrath.

Velor remained there, chest rising and falling like some wounded beast caged too long.

He turned sharply.

His fist drove into the wall with a sound like bones cracking. The stone itself shuddered, plaster and dust raining in small avalanches as a crater split open beneath his knuckles.

"Fuck!All this time,I thought it was Isolde...I thought that was what I was chasing when it was not...it was never Isolde but Autumn...I had her...in my arms...in my castle...yet I never knew she was the one..Fuck!!! This is bad...Niva...you better not be upto something foolish..."

His growl fractured into a gasp, harsh, ragged. His forehead pressed against the wall for a moment, his body shaking with the weight of rage. His claws scraped the crumbling plaster until his hands bled.

"That bastard Roanoke..." His voice came rough, splintered. "He had to ruin everything. All my plans...everything I had so carefully built...damn...that’s what you get when you ally with fools..."

His teeth clenched, grinding audibly. His eyes burned brighter, wide, unblinking, veins crawling at his temples.

"Just when I finally found Autumn again...he went ahead and alerted her...fuck..."

His words cracked, breaking into a hiss between his teeth."Death wasn’t fucking enough for you,fool!"

His roar punched the chamber once more, tearing at the silence until the flames guttered.

For a moment, the chamber drowned in shadow...only the ragged sound of Velor’s breathing filled the air.

Then suddenly...FWOOOM.

The torches flared again, sputtering back to life, as if forced by a sudden gust of unseen breath.

The firelight bent...then elongated...and grew still.

Velor lifted his head.

His glowing eyes narrowed, pupils constricting like a predator sighting movement in tall grass.

Shapes were forming. Cloaked. Hooded.

The air grew colder...crawling like frost over stone.

Then the heavy musk of old wolves filled in, along with incense, blood, and parchment dust.

Three figures materialized before him, their faces shadowed beneath deep hoods. Not a sound of footsteps marked their arrival, as though the earth itself had bent to deliver them.

Velor straightened slowly, his chest still heaving. His hands, still streaked with plaster dust and blood, curled into fists at his sides.

"...Council?!" His voice was low, guttural, yet edged with venom. "You dare enter my quarters unbidden?"

The figure in the middle lifted its chin, shadows peeling slightly to reveal a mouth lined thin with displeasure. The voice that came was dry but calm.

"The Council does not need to ask for permission, Alpha Velor. We appear when summoned by necessity."

Velor’s lips peeled back, exposing fangs still wet from where they had cut his gums in rage. "Necessity? What kind?" His voice rolled, mocking, dangerous. "Your shadows crawl in only when it’s bad news."

The figure on the left shifted, her cloak rippling faintly. A rasping voice cut in. "Enough posturing. You were summoned once before and ignored. This time, there will be no defiance.Don’t think for one second we are unaware of your malicious actions."

Velor stepped forward, shoulders squared, the air quaking faintly around his power. "You will not dictate my actions.I am not Kieran. I know all about your Achilles ankle. If you came here to waste my time with riddles, then speak fast before I end you where you stand."

The central figure raised a gloved hand, silencing the tension with a single movement.

"The Blackmoons..." the words rolled slowly, like a verdict, "...are stirring again. Their remnants fester beyond control. We can not sit and watch Kieran eclipse us all after claiming his mate. She has awakened her true powers. Which in itself is a larger threat. They are on the verge of becoming a big problem once more."

The air in the chamber shifted. Even Velor’s breathing stilled, caught on the edge of that name.

The figure leaned forward slightly, the hood tipping enough for twin pinpricks of red to gleam faintly beneath.

"We request your presence. The Council summons all Alphas for what must be done."

Velor’s claws dug into his palms until blood slicked his fists. His chest rose slowly.

"...Pest control,Alpha Velor. The situation is dire..." The hooded figure added, like a footnote.