14. Chapter 14 #2
Cyrus took a slow breath and let Gabe take all the time he needed in the hallway to figure out what he would say. He grabbed Lily’s hand and insisted that they go into the room first and leave Gabe out in the hallway to figure it out.
“He needs some space,” Cyrus mumbled.
The looks of the others in the room immediately fell to him.
It was evident that they didn’t look up to Gabe as much as they did him, even if they were excited about the new Alpha and leaving Liam behind.
Even if they’d been growing friendlier and friendlier over the last few weeks with him, Cyrus was their constant.
Cyrus wasn’t going to take the spotlight.
He sat down in one of the available chairs and allowed Lily to sit in his lap. He could feel how nervous she was, so he started to bounce his knee just a little like he used to do when they were kids to help calm her. She held his hand and gave him a look of thanks.
“What’s going on?” Ryan asked.
Cyrus shook his head a bit.
“I can’t say anything. We need to wait for Gabe,” he replied.
Ryan blinked, seeming surprised. “Well, okay.”
He returned to murmuring with Michelle.
Cyrus did his best not to listen to the conversations around him.
He looked up at Lily, a little taller than him, while sitting on his knees.
“Are you okay?” he asked her.
Lily nodded. “Okay, as I can be.”
Cyrus looked toward the doorway. If he was being honest, he was nervous. Gabe was still out there, wasn’t he?
After all, Gabe didn’t have as much to lose as the rest of them.
His family had not been in the inner circle when they’d been part of the pack, and Gabe had only been there a few weeks.
No one would be surprised if he decided to bail on them during this.
Cyrus chewed on the inside of his cheek.
Gabe didn’t have much to lose, but…did that mean he’d just ditch them.
Anxiety was creeping up Cyrus’s spine, and his knee stopped bouncing. His grip on Lily’s hand tightened as he stared at the doorway.
As Lily was saying Cyrus’s name, Gabe walked into the room.
Cyrus sighed, and his grip on Lily’s hand loosened. She tugged her hand away and shot him a slight glare.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, his face turning hot.
His pulse was still racing.
“There’s something important I need to tell you all about,” Gabe said. “Some of you are aware of the situation, and some of you are…mostly in the dark. I felt…with the advice of Cyrus that it would be best to keep things hush until we knew for sure.”
Cyrus settled back in his seat and allowed Lily to lay back in hers. No matter how much he wanted to stand and be at the ready for answering questions, for talking. It wasn’t his time. He chewed at the inside of his cheek to keep his mouth shut.
He found Gabe looking at him, gaze to gaze, uncertainty there, and he nodded. Showing faith in him.
Gabe took a slow breath.
“Liam was hiding attacks and missing persons from Cyrus and the rest of you for weeks,” Gabe explained, voice becoming more and more fluid and confident as he spoke. “We aren’t sure why but we suspect foul play and believe there are a few in our pack which was also on the outs.”
Patrick and Nina. Cyrus had almost forgotten. Of course, Patrick and Nina must have been the ones to tell Jasmine they were going to be there.
He cursed silently and continued to bite his tongue.
“Another pack, the Lotuslacker pack, wants to overtake our districts, this pack and replace me. They have been attacking and taking members of this pack for the last month and a half, but only in the last week and a half have we been aware of the attacks and missing people,” Gabe explained.
“It turns out that the missing people were given an option of being killed or joining their pack. They have betrayed us. I might not have been an Alpha before, and I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t know most of what I was doing if it weren’t for help… from Cyrus. Who should be your Alpha.”
Cyrus blinked, his throat tight.
“But what I do know is you lay down your life for your pack. If you’re given the choice of death or betraying your pack…you stand with your pack till the end,” Gabe said.
Cyrus heard a few minor sounds of agreement and pride from around them.
Cyrus took a slow breath and looked at Gabe once more.
“We have about three weeks to devise a plan. Cyrus and I will be discussing together before calling a meeting to discuss further,” Gabe said.
“But in three weeks on the next full moon, Lotuslacker will be prepared to fight, no doubt. Given that they keep their promise on staying in their own space and halting the attacks till then.”
“Why are they doing this?” Michelle asked. “They just want us?”
“Jasmine, the Alpha, wants control of our districts as well. Control of what they have doesn’t seem to be enough,” Gabe replied.
His shoulders straightened. “I don’t know what their plan is or why exactly they’ve decided to break the peace between us now other than a selfish need for power, but now is the time where you have to decide if you want to stick around because it could get messy. More than it already had.”
Cyrus’s jaw tightened. If it was up to him, no one would be in danger; he’d get everyone out of there as quickly as possible, they’d figure something out, but it wasn’t just up to him, and he knew more than a few of them would want to stick around to fight.
Fleeing wasn’t precisely a trait they usually possessed.
It was part of why it was so shocking that members would choose to be part of Lotuslacker over remaining loyal to their pack.
It indeed showed what kind of people they were.
He wanted to cut them some lack. People made terrible decisions in the face of death, but it wasn’t something taken lightly to join a pack and leave on good terms. It required blessing and understanding from the Alpha.
“To be safe until the meeting can be arranged, stay inside the property lines of the pack house if you shift or go out wandering. If you return to your homes, I am forbidding you from shifting. I know it might be difficult, but it’s why I am offering anyone who wants to shift to do so within the property lines where others will be able to protect you,” Gabe explained.
After a few more questions on specifics that Gabe could not answer and expressions of concern, the room was clearing, and mumblings of anxiety and worry were throughout the house.