Page 71 of The Tracker's Dawn: Sunderverse
“Yes, the hybrids,” Jake said. “It seems that at times, they do manual labor in their human form, pushing rhabo around. And at others, they terrorize the city in their grotesque animal shapes. All of this following Mekare Graves orders. She is a Midnight Witch,” he elaborated. “In the beginning, she was working with Bernadetta Fiore and Stephen Erickson, but she betrayed them. She stole the Unholy Vessel, and from the looks of it, also the control of the rhabo trade.”
“She sounds like a piece of work,” Travis said.
“Do we have any idea how many hybrids she has created?” Craig asked.
“A rough estimate based on the number of small packs she has decimated. We think it’s around a hundred, and every day that passes, the number threatens to become larger. So far, she has focused on targeting small packs that control territories around the city, but I suspect soon she’ll get bolder, and we’ll have to worry about members of our packs.”
I shuddered at the thought of more and more innocent werewolves being turned into those mindless, awful creatures.
“This means we should act quickly,” Craig said.
Travis leaned back in his chair, looking frustrated. “Sometimes I think we’ve become too complacent. Things were going well for too long for our packs. If we would have kept a tighter hold on... certain individuals, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
Bycertain individuals, I guessed he was referring to Stephen Erickson and Walter Knight. As much as I hated it, I had to agree with him. Those two had screwed up. Royally.
“At this point,” Yura offered, “playing the blame game will not help anyone.”
Travis waved a hand in the air. “I know. I know. It’s just infuriating to think that two of our own played such a big role in creating this mess.”
“I take responsibility for my grandfather’s actions,” Jake said, which was more than Ulfen had ever done for his son. “And I assure you, I will do everything within my power to put a stop to that witch.”
It was surprising to see Jake in this role, to witness his poise and leadership despite everything else he was dealing with and despite the fact that being a pack alpha had never been his preferred choice. But he had never done anything in half measures, and he wasn’t shying away from his responsibilities. On the contrary, he was taking full charge, stepping to the forefront with uncanny authority. I couldn’t help but admire him.
“So what’s the plan?” Travis asked. “I assume we need to move quickly and—”
“Tonight,” Jake interrupted.
“Tonight?” I said, fearing the delays a confrontation could pose on our other plans. What if we ended up in the hospital? Or arrested? Or kidnapped by Mekare? Not that I wasn’t confident in our ability to fight her, but shit happened, and we couldn’t afford any delays.
“Yes, tonight,” he said. “We spotted several trucks there earlier today, and men loading heavy boxes on them. I worry that this may be a sign they’re changing locations. I could be wrong, but I feel we should act.”
Craig leaned forward. “I would hate to miss our opportunity, so I vote we go in tonight. Anyone else?” he asked, putting a hand up in the air.
Ulfen put his hand up immediately. Travis took a moment to consider, then did the same.
“We should send our best people in,” Craig offered. “Our strongest betas and a strong alpha to lead them.”
“I will go,” Jake said without hesitation.
“Me, too,” I said right on his heels.
I expected someone to protest, to say that I didn’t belong to any pack so I shouldn’t be part of the mission, but no one did.
Travis met my eyes across the table. There was a strange expression on his face that made me wonder. It looked like a mixture of concern and protectiveness as if he didn’t want me to get involved in any type of danger.
“I will join you,” he said.
“I will go as well,” Ulfen put in. “Like Alpha Jake Knight, I take responsibility for my son’s actions.”
“Perhaps, that is too many alphas,” Yura offered.
“I concede leadership to Alpha Jake Knight,” Travis said. “He knows the situation better. I go only out of concern for my... pack. My strongest betas happen to be my son and daughter.”
Yura inclined her head in understanding. “I see. If this is all, I will report the proceedings to the Supreme Pack Rule. I will report back and inform them you’re taking measures toward correcting the situation and recovering the Unholy Vessel, which should be a top priority. No one wants to see more of our kind be turned into mindless monsters. I feel this is still something the local packs can accomplish, so I will tell them that. As of right now, our involvement doesn’t need to go beyond moderating these meetings.”
“As it should be,” Ulfen said.
“I’m all for everyone solving their own problems,” the Keeper said.
