The Alpha's Fated Outcast: Rise Of The Moonsinger.-Chapter 326: Under Attack Again!

Ramsey

I returned to my office, partly because my thoughts were all over the place from what I'd read earlier.

I was racking my brain, trying to see what the missing word could be. Did Lyla also know about this? Did she know that she had to die to end the Dark One's reign? I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice when I got to my office until I stood before it.

When I opened the door, I was shocked to see Lenny lounging on the couch, casually drinking wine as if he hadn't been at death's door days ago.

"Lenny!" I exclaimed, rushing forward to embrace him. I ruffled his hair affectionately, feeling the tight knot of anxiety in my chest loosen a bit. "I'm so happy to see you up and about. I was telling Caius moments ago that we need to come see you. Are you properly healed now?"

"Clearly," a dry voice commented from the direction of my desk. "I always knew something was going on between you two. You were never that happy to see me."

I spun around, surprised to find Lyla perched on the edge of my desk. I hadn't even noticed her when I entered, so focused on Lenny's miraculous recovery.

This was unexpected. After our fight this morning—after her blunt rejection of my marriage proposal—I'd assumed it would take at least a day before we spoke again. That was our usual pattern.

I moved to her immediately, pressing a kiss to her lips. "How are you? How was your run?"

Lyla shook her head. "I didn't go for the run after all. I bumped into Lenny, who wouldn't stop whining about how no one visited him during his recovery."

I turned to Lenny, chuckling. "Sorry about that. I've been busy—in fact, I just came from arresting Elder Thorne."

Lenny's eyebrows shot up. "You arrested Elder Thorne?" He nodded his approval. "I suppose I'll forgive your neglect, then. Give me the details."

I dropped into my chair, still processing the fact that Lyla was here, acting as if our morning confrontation hadn't happened. "Elder Thorne is making a claim for the White Moon Throne. So I charged him with treason. Also, he told me that he was searching for a standing stone to make a bargain with the Dark One—specifically, a Luna Stone."

"A Luna Stone?" Lyla asked suddenly, straightening. "Nanny has that. It's about this small." She indicated with her fingers, showing something roughly the size of a robin's egg. "Nanny said it was part of the things she'd grown up with as a child."

"Grew up with as a child?" I frowned. "I don't understand."

Lyla shifted on the desk. "Nanny told me that every child born with a sigma wolf is taken away from their parents after they're weaned and brought to the Moon Temple. Every link to their parents is destroyed, but she grew up knowing the Luna Stone had something to do with where she was born. She's always carried it with her."

This was a crucial piece of information. If Nanny possessed the stone that Elder Thorne was willing to launch a war over, we needed to secure it immediately. But how did she get it? Thorne had clearly said it belonged to his grandmother, Ellara, but Elaine took over after she singularly began to rule the White Moon Throne.

Was Nanny one of Ellara's many children? My heart pounded as I tried to hide the thousands of thoughts milling through my mind.

"But why does he want to make a bargain with Xander for the Luna Stone? Didn't you say he was making a claim to the throne?" Lyla asked, staring pointedly at me.

"He said I didn't need to bother about that and that it was his business," I replied. "This Luna Stone, how long has Nanny had it?"

"Since she was a child. She grew up with it like I said earlier."

"I'll send for Miriam later," I noted, my mind already spinning with the implications.

Lenny rose from the couch, setting his wine glass aside. "What's the plan now? The Dark One could attack again any moment."

"We've decided that fighting outside our pack is detrimental and not good. Our warriors are not used to fighting in the open, and from the last fight with Nathan and those Ferals, we suffered many losses. So, we've been able to erect temporary fortresses at the entrance of the White Mountain Region and our pack's entrance."

"That's a good idea. It would buy us a lot of time when there's an attack," Lenny nodded.

"Yeah, not to mention we have White Lake Warriors on our side now. So, they would be on the front line. Since they're better fighters than ours, who are still recovering from the fight a few days ago."

"What if Xander doesn't attack from the front gate, which we're all conversant with? I know there's no way to access the White Mountain region without going through the main gate, but who knows? There might be a breach somewhere."

"We thought of that, too," I nodded. "So, we established new patrol patterns to fortify our weakest points. Nanny and the priestess around helped us with that, too. Plus, we have warriors patrolling every nook and cranny of the pack every minute of the day. There's a curfew after the sun goes down, with limited movement to only certain categories of people."

"So, our enemies now are, Nathan, Cassidy, Jemimah, the almost made High priestess and the Dark One," Lenny counted with his fingers. "We need to devise a way to take out these people. I feel like when they're cut off, our work will be reduced by half."

"True!" I nodded. "Cassidy would be arrested as soon as she's seen. Miriam said she would tackle Jemimah…"

"Nathan is mine," Lyla said quietly and rushed on when I turned to her to protest. "I don't know if I've ever mentioned this to you, but Mother Liora, on the day she introduced me to the council, told me plainly that when it is time, I would kill Nathan. So, he's mine."

There was no time to dwell on the issue, so I nodded in agreement. "So, what's left now would be the Dark One."

"Yes," Lyla nodded. "If we can lure him out of the pack and towards the Northern Forests," Lyla said quietly. "I can finish him off with Neriah's sword. That's the only place where the sword's potency is manifested," she explained.

I was going to ask her to explain further when Lenny suddenly chirped in. "Can we trust the White Lake Warriors? Don't you think they accepted our leadership surprisingly easily? Isn't that odd, or am I being paranoid?"

"Believe me, Lenny," I sighed. "I thought about that, too, but we don't have a choice in this situation. Our warriors have all reached their breaking point. They would not survive past three hours if they faced those vicious Ferals again. That's why White Lake would go first, before our forces would follow. Besides, most of them were frustrated with the Thorne family anyway."

"Smart strategy," Lenny commented. "Always better to convert enemies to allies than to kill them, but let's also trade carefully."

"Are we leaving out anything?" Lyla suddenly asked, staring at me.

I shook my head. "This is all there is."

I couldn't mention what I'd read about the Dark One's identity or the supposed requirement of a Moonsinger's death to defeat him. I couldn't bring myself to speak those words aloud, especially to Lyla.

"There's something else," I said instead. "I've been reading your father's research on the Moonsingers and Aureans…"

"My f-father's research?" Lyla stuttered. "H-how did you get that?"

"He gave a copy of it to my grandfather. Why?"

"She shook her head. "Nothing, just surprised, but I didn't miss the quiet fear that flashed through her eyes. I decided to dismiss it as nothing.

"So, Alpha Logan's research suggests the Dark One might be a rogue Lycan Shadowblade called Corvus—a shadowblader cursed by the Moon Goddess after causing a massacre centuries ago."

"Yeah," Lyla nodded. "I mentioned it to you, right?" she looked at me. "Or didn't I?"

I nodded slowly, still gauging her expression.

"If it's the same entity," I continued, "then he's been planning this revenge for centuries. The Feral armies, corrupting leaders like Nathan—it's all been building to this moment."

Before I could elaborate further, the door burst open. Caius rushed in, his face flushed and breathing hard.

"We're under attack, again," he announced between gasps for air.

All three of us shot to our feet.

"Where?" I demanded.

"Our Eastern border again," Caius replied. "Not the Dark One this time—it's Cassidy. She's leading what looks like a small group of Ferals. This group are different, though. They're in groups of seven."

"It's the same ones that attacked me the first time," Lyla murmured. "But why is she with them?"

"I don't know," Caius breathed.

"How many?" I asked.

"Maybe two hundred," Caius estimated. "A tiny fraction of our warriors should be more than enough to handle them, but—"

"But what?" I prompted.

"She's not attacking. She's just standing there, demanding to speak with Lyla. Says she has information from the Dark One, and it is important."