CHAPTER 384: TRUE PURPOSE...

Ramsey

The sun was too high in the sky, and I was pissed.

Elias, on the other hand, looked like I’d just accused him of something he didn’t do. But I wasn’t in the mood for games.

"What did you say?" he asked.

I took two steps towards him.

"I said," I enunciated my words, holding his gaze "The same Hollow Kin that sent me a threatening message saying if I don’t show up within a fortnight, I’ll be stripped of my rank as Lycan Leader? That same Hollow Kin?"

Elias looked at me with genuine confusion, his eyebrows drawing together in a frown. "I don’t understand. The Hollow Kin would never do that. They respect the autonomy of—"

I scoffed, cutting him off as I pulled out my phone. "Really? Then explain this." I flashed him the screen, showing the threatening message I’d received in the early hours of the morning.

He leaned in, squinting his eyes as he read the message, his expression growing more embarrassed with each other. Then, he sighed deeply and rolled his eyes in a gesture that meant this was not the first time something like this had happened.

"Damn it," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Of course it came from him."

"Him?" I asked, arching my brow. "Who’s him?"

"Our new leader," he murmured, giving me a sheepish look. "Alpha Ramsey, I’m sorry about this," he said, running a hand through his hair. "Our new Hollow Kin leader is... annoying. He’s not like the previous leader. He’s younger, just like you, the youngest leader we’ve ever had. More aggressive, less diplomatic."

"Does that excuse him for sending me this stupid message, and for what? Doesn’t he have people who advise him?"

"He does," Elias sighed. "But his new inner-council members are much worse. He has the notorious Korvain on his side and a few others who think the world owes them something."

"That doesn’t explain anything, Elias. I own the goddamn Hollow Kin. I should not be getting threatening messages from them. Except, of course, there’s another Lycan Leader somewhere whom they take orders from."

"He’s...impulsive," Elias said hastily. "Power-hungry. He’s been looking for ways to introduce the Hollow Kin into our world and you know make us more visible..."

"He’s trying to pull authority away from me?" I laughed. "That is a treasonable offence."

"No, not like that," Elias shook his head hastily. "He means no harm, he doesn’t know how to go about things, you know, and with the way Korvain put words in his ears, it’s difficult to separate those two. But stripping you?" He shook his head. "That’s not our protocol, especially as you’ve done nothing."

"I’m not sure this was a mistake. He threatened me..." I insisted.

"The Hollow Kin were never meant to interfere in leadership unless there’s undeniable evidence of betrayal or corruption."

I laughed dryly, stuffing the phone back into my pocket. "So, what – this guy decides on his own that I am a problem?"

Elias hesitated, seeming to choose his next words carefully. "I’ll be plain with you. We need your help and that of your mate, and we need you to make an appearance. Also, you’re not the problem. Ly—Luna Lyla is."

"My wife is the problem?" I laughed again. "This is making me mad, Elias. I’m trying to meet you at a common ground, but every time you open your mouth—"

"We’re curious about her," he interrupted me, then rushed on when he saw that I’d stopped to listen to him. "The entire Hollow Kin is."

"Curious about Lyla?" I repeated, taking another step closer to Elias. I felt Lax surging close to the surface. The protective fury I’d been suppressing since I came here was threatening to explode. "They asked me to bring my ’werewolf Luna.’ They told me to bring her along, as if she were an item they had the right to inspect. I’m pissed, Elias. They shouldn’t address my mate like that."

"I know how that sounds—" he trailed off, scratching his head uncomfortably. "Well, you did marry a werewolf instead of a Lycan..."

"No, Elias. You don’t," I snapped. "She’s my mate. My fated mate. The Moon Goddess gave her to me." I interrupted, my voice dropping to the dangerous growl that usually made even Alphas think twice. "And I love her so much that I would kill just to be with her. If the Hollow Kin has a problem with it, they should take it up with the Moon Goddess and not me."

"Look, I understand your anger—"

"Do you?" I stepped closer to him, letting my Alpha presence fill the space between us. "Do you understand what it’s like to have ancient councils questioning the woman you’d die for? To have them treat her like some curiosity to be examined instead of the Luna she is?"

Elias held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Ramsey, I’m on your side here. But you have to understand, Lyla is unprecedented. A pheromonal werewolf, with a two-tailed wolf who became a Moonsinger, who mated with the Lycan Leader, who’s now carrying what might be the first hybrid children in centuries? Of course, they’re curious. She has destroyed things as we know."

"Curious is one thing. Disrespectful is another."

"I’m not defending them," Elias said quickly, hands raised. "I just... need you to understand. Lyla is something they haven’t seen before. She’s powerful in a way they don’t understand. And the Hollow Kin doesn’t deal well with the unknown."

"She’s not a weapon. She’s a person," I muttered.

I turned away from him, my patience finally reaching its breaking point. "I cannot wait to leave this contraption called the human world and get my mate home to heal properly. Everything here is getting on my nerves."

I started walking back toward the house, but Elias followed after me.

"You want to leave? No, you can’t. Not yet."

I threw a look over my shoulder without slowing down. "Why not?"

"Because we need your wife’s help right here in the human world. There are new problems."

That stopped me in my tracks. I turned to face him fully. "What do you mean?"

Elias sighed. "There’s a lot at stake, Alpha Ramsey. Something is happening. Something bad. That’s part of why I’m here."

I narrowed my eyes. "What kind of problems?"

Elias glanced around, making sure we weren’t being overheard, then stepped closer. "The kind that could expose our entire species to the human world if they’re not handled carefully."

"Speak plainly, Elias. I’m not in the mood for riddles."

He took a deep breath. "There’s been a string of organised killings across human towns in this region, especially places bothering our territories. People ripped apart, their bodies left in strange patterns. The human world is quiet about it because they do not want their people to panic, but it’s growing by the day. Their military is not making headway in solving the problem. Their authorities are baffled. The Hollow Kin is terrified because...all signs point to werewolves."

Silence fell between us. Even the birds seemed to stop chirping.

"Werewolves are not allowed to hunt humans. That hasn’t happened for thousands of years now. Thankfully, we’ve evolved past the stage where we need human blood or meat to survive, so how is this possible?"

"No one knows," Elias sighed. "And the other supernatural creatures are agitating because..." he paused. "I shouldn’t be telling you this, but the Hollow Kin has some affiliations with the human world, we exchange a lot of..."

"I’m not dumb, I know that," I glared at him. "How else is it possible for us to access their world with ease, if there isn’t some kind of partnership?"

"Good, then. Well, the other supernatural creatures like Vamps are agitating. They’re saying this incident would make humans stop trusting us and withdraw a lot of benefits. But they’re only saying that because they’re leaving off humans. They’re lazy and..."

"So, why do you need my mate’s help?" I cut him off. "To talk peace between both species? Thankfully, you were here yesterday. Lyla is not in the best of health right now. The fight with the Dark One sapped a lot of her essence. She’s lost friends, family, and she’s barely recovering. So, they should look for someone else to serve as ambassador."

"That’s not why we need her help," Elias shook his head quietly. "These creatures."

"I don’t want to hear," I stopped him, raising my hand. "We’ll provide resources to the human world to help them combat this new threat."

"You think we haven’t done that before?" Elias whispered fiercely. "None of our warriors came back alive. The ones that managed to survive for a few hours could not even heal. It’s as if their Lycan essence was removed, and anything that can kill a Lycan would kill a werewolf, thrice as fast."

I shook my head. "I’m sorry, but I cannot help you. We just finished fighting a war, and we’re not going to fight another one."

I turned and continued walking, ignoring his attempts to get me to stop.

"I can help you with the police issue," he shouted after me, making me stop in my tracks.

I turned to him and watched as he hurried across the lawn to me. "I can help sort it out, and Paul would never disturb you and your wife ever again."

I paused for a minute, studying him. "And what do you want in return?"

"A chance to listen to me and to hold on in the human world for the meantime."