Shadows of Destiny

~Leo~

I knew it wasn’t a good idea to eat with Erik, but I also knew it would be rude to refuse his hospitality,

and since we had come for his help, we had to be on our best behaviour so we did not piss him off.

The man looked pretty weird, and his features were unexpected. His different eye colours made him

look as if he were blind in one and could see with only the blue one.

Other than him looking like a mad scientist, the man did not seem dangerous at all. Nothing like

Andrew had expressed. I could see why my father rebuked Andrew’s words as a rambling of an

aggrieved child. It was, indeed.

I looked at Theodore and saw him contemplating the comfort too. Too bad neither of us belonged to the

same pack; we could not link each other.

“Erhmm”, Erik cleared his throat, drawing our attention back to him, and I wondered what he wanted.

“I am glad we had that talk, but that brings me to my desires,” he said, and I frowned, wondering what

he meant by his desires.

He took out a syringe and placed it on the table. Seeing a syringe with someone like him was scary,

especially knowing he ran experiments on people. He composed himself to speak while we tried not to

act spooked.

“I would first like to apologise for trying to forcefully take you from your pack. I did not ask them to

extract you, but they got overzealous,” He said, and my eyes bulged. He confessed to being

responsible for the attack that happened in my woods.

“They almost killed me!” I exclaimed.

“As I said, they were being overzealous, and I am grateful they didn’t,” he said casually as if it were

nothing. I began to suspect the man was just as unstable as the rumours implied.

“Anyway, since you are here, I want to believe you hold no grudge and we can be friends,” He said,

and it was a very odd way to apologise, so I just stared at him.

“I do not know if you have heard anything, but I am sure you know you have both Stepanov and Volkov

genes,” He said, and I nodded.

“I would like to run some tests on you. I mean, on your blood samples.” He said and corrected himself

immediately, knowing how the first sentence sounded.

“The Albert line is the only Bloodline with Stepanov genes that could still produce alphas and mighty

ones at that.

I want to see why. I just need a blood sample. I promise I won’t harm you,” He said, rushing through his

words so I do not interrupt him;

I did not know what to say. Knowing we needed him did not leave me any choice.

“If I give you the blood sample, you won’t ask something else of me again?” I asked, and he nodded.

“I want to study you, Leo. I won’t ask anything of you again, except if I am alive and your heir with

Amelia Westwood happens to be an Alpha, then that would be a good study,” he said with a glow in his

eyes that let me know he would move to take blood samples of my children if he is still alive when they

grow up.

One thing I had to give the man was that he did not bother to hide his emotions and intentions, which

was a good trait on his part. He would be an easy man to deal with.

“Very well,” I said, and he beamed at me; then he put away the syringe he placed on the table and

brought out one with a larger container.

“hey!” I exclaimed, and everyone except Erik and me started laughing.

“What? It’s just a little bigger than the one I presented,” Erik said, pretending he had not just deceived

me.

“You deceived me. You plan on taking a lot,” I complained, and he sighed.

“Had I shown you this one, you wouldn’t have agreed. It is not a big deal. You will eat and drink water,

and the blood will be replaced.

I will even give you an iron supplement for free. Mine works like magic,” He said with a creepy grin, and

I looked at my friends and soon-to-be inlaw. They nodded and told me to go ahead.

Erik grinned and led me to a chair. He did not use the syringe; instead, someone brought a plastic

adapter, a hypodermic needle and a vacuum tube.

Erik used the needle to collect my blood in a bag. It took about fifteen minutes for him to get a quarter

of the bag. Then he took it out, labelled the bag, and asked a lady dressed like a nurse to store it in

their bank. I wondered what they were doing in the lab.

“Well, that is it,” Erik said, smiling at me and leading us out of his office.

“Sometimes asking just makes it easy,” He said with a grin while he stood by the door as we walked out

of his office.

“Be assured that I will not trouble you anymore,” He said when Clay stepped out of his office.

Erik led us to another room with a table with six chairs and food on it.

The spread wasn’t spectacular, but the fact that they could have that much food underground was

mind-blowing.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they had a place they grew stuff underground. The place was massive. It was

wider than the size of the warehouse above. They did not have loud machinery that would cause

vibrations and expose them. It was quiet and serene.

“Please manage our meal,” Erik said with a grin, and I nodded.

It was okay.

Nelson finally joined us, grinning.

It was fair to say he loved Erik more than his father. That spoke a lot of volumes.

“Do you have any record of Yuri when he was in Mountain? You said you had people watching him.

You also said he is a master of disguise. I would like to see how he was able to infiltrate my people.” I

asked, and Erick nodded.

“He didn’t only do that; he befriended the lovely Amelia too,” He said, and I was in shock.

“Do not worry. He had no intention of harming her. He tried to use her for information, but she was no

good to him. She is a tight-lip woman. My men watched them,” he said, took a sip of water and

chuckled.

“Yuri dressed like a displaced person, and Amelia gave him food. Mainly sandwiches. We have

pictures,” Erik said, and it was taking a lot for me to calm down.

Knowing that Amelia was that close to danger and I was ignorant about it made me worried. I

wondered what I would have done if he had nefarious intentions and had carried them out.

My stubbornness must have driven her to talk to strangers back then. I thanked the goddess for

protecting her and keeping her safe.

“May we the photograph?” Theodore asked, sounding curious, and Erik smiled.

Someone walked in five minutes later with a small stack of pictures. Erik went through them and

passed a few around. I noticed the shock on Theodore’s face when he held the photo. I was eager to

see what was on it.

Theodore passed it to me, and I saw the same photo I had discovered in the sachel I found in the

woods when Max and I went to search for clues. The picture of the displaced man handing something

to Amelia.

“When we saw that, we assumed she had joined Yuri, but we soon figured that wasn’t true,” Erik said,

and I remembered what was written at the back of the photo.

“Was that why they wrote ‘Send to Alpha; she is in’ at the back of the copy of the picture?” I asked him,

and he frowned at me. I took out my phone and scrolled until I got to the image and the writing behind

it. I passed the phone to Erik, and he read it.

“Where did you find the picture?” He asked me with concern.

“In a sachel abandoned in my woods,” I said, and he nodded.

“The man that took this picture went missin’ before you went to the North for the meeting. I have been

looking for him since. I used to think you had him; now I know Yuri’s people must have taken him,” He

said with sadness in his eyes.

“I should have pulled him from there once Yuri showed up, but I did not expect Yuri to know he was

watching him. I was stupid. The man was kind,” He said, and I could see the genuine regret in his eyes.

“The answer to your question is yes. That was what the writing meant,” He said and ate his potatoes.

I could not get over Yuri being in Mountain all along. It troubled me that he was this close, and we did

not know. Amelia even gave him food. It was disturbing.

“So, how do we begin? Because I would like everything to return to normal,” Theodore finally spoke up,

and Erik answered.

“Tell Sylvester to keep his promise and do the needful; it would make it easier for me to get willing

volunteers to fight Yuri. As for the army on your side, I am sure they could handle a little rash. I can

produce high quantities of AgK32 and administer it before the battle. Although I would need some level

of freedom in Hayland to produce the needed quantity,” he said and grinned at me.

“As head alpha of the East, I am sure you can get Gordon out of the way and cure this place for me to

work. I will also have my scout out there trying to fish Yuri out, but we would have to work together and

pass information between ourselves effectively to move fast.

I also suspect he would be in the South because that is his strongest hold. We also have to subdue

alpha, Sean, of course. He is a sly bastard and might ruin our plans if we allow him freedom.” Erik said,

and I nodded.

“We will need you to write everything down and sign so there won’t have a misunderstanding. All these

things can be arranged,” Theodore said, and Erik nodded.

We ate the food in peace, and I was eager to see the outcome of this partnership.