The Alpha's Blind Fate
Chapter 71: Her Origins: The Matriarchy

Chapter 71: Her Origins: The Matriarchy

DAEMON

The sweetest war ever won was one where the commander didn’t have to move his army. In Daemon’s case, all he ever had to do was isolate one piece from the board for the taking of all.

The Aberrant.

And while many scrambled to take her life, a more powerful force desired to conserve it instead.

The Matriarchy.

During the night of the full moon. The war was won alright, but when the adrenaline wore off, the very piece that had become the center of the war had turned up missing. Worse still, Daemon felt it through the Hunt Mark he had given Zina WolfKnight that she was traveling fast... somewhere far.

Surprisingly, Vessira Nightfang, the Alpha of the Matriarchy Pack had led the warriors of the pack. Currently, the woman was glaring daggers at Zoric Sofyr’s second-in-command.

"I shall ask for the last time, where is Zina WolfKnight?" Vessira enunciated in a voice that spoke of her authority. The second in command cowered naturally, for after all, before her was one of the most feared women throughout Vraga.

Vessira, more infamous for holding together the Matriarchy Pack, was well known for her Tibetan Supreme Wolf. The woman who was one of the five supreme shifters in Vraga, and whose wolf made it to the List Of Rare Shifters commanded fear as much as she commanded respect alright.

"We had kept her in the commander’s tent." Zoric’s second-in-command repeated the same answer she had given.

The only problem with that answer was that the place was already searched and Zina was nowhere to be found.

Daemon, who could feel where Zina was turned and faced Vessira squarely. "She speaks the truth." He said.

"And how am I to believe that?" The middle-aged woman snarled. "Everyone in the Eastern Lands knows that Zoric Sofyr kidnapped the woman."

Daemon didn’t bother to tell that he was the one who had spread that very information. "That is because I have a hunt mark on Zina WolfKnight."

"Tell me," Vessira said with a bite to her voice, "where is she?"

Daemon narrowed his eyes. Supreme shifter or not, Vessira far from scared him, and he wouldn’t tolerate her talking to him the way she would talk to his subordinates. "I don’t believe I said I am willing to share that information."

Vessira narrowed her eyes equally. "What do you want?"

"The Deformed." Came Daemon’s immediate response which caused Vessira to shift uncomfortably, her eyes darting around as if to know if anyone heard.

A few people stood close to them which included Yaren, Marcus, and two of Vessira’s subordinates.

"What do you mean?" Vessira asked, acting dumb.

Daemon knew well how to play this kind of game. He smirked, leveling the woman with a pointed stare. "I suppose you’re not at all anxious to get to Zina WolfKnight then. Perhaps when you remember what I have asked of you, then we can talk again."

Daemon turned in a show to leave. He admitted at that moment that Zina being missing from the rogue camp was a variable he didn’t calculate for, but getting to the root of his mother’s death unfortunately trumped any non-existent concern he might have for the Theta’s life.

She had managed to survive for six years, she would survive for a few more days come rain, come sunshine.

The full moon had passed, and yet, Daemon’s wolf raged restlessly, particularly when he made his vicious decision to hang the news of the Theta’s whereabouts over Vessira’s head. Daemon shut out the creature, reining his control over it in spite of how much it raged.

Daemon had gotten to the flap of the tent when Vessira’s voice stopped him short.

"What do you wish to know?" The woman gritted, "no... let me rephrase that question, how much do you know?"

Daemon turned around, gazing impassively at the woman. He loved to deal with people who knew how to pick their battles and Vessira seemed like such a person.

"I know there has been a sighting of some strange creatures near your pack, and I know you value Zina WolfKnight’s life."

The second part of his statement made Vessira look really uncomfortable. The woman darted her eyes to Daemon’s companions.

"They won’t be leaving." Daemon answered her unasked question.

Vessira signaled the warriors accompanying her to take away Zoric’s second in command, and then she heaved a tired sigh.

"What you truly ask of me is unspeakable. I must know the whereabouts of Zina WolfKnight. If she were to lose her life...." She trailed, her expression tight as if she were imagining something truly unimaginable.

Her hesitation only made Daemon’s resolve hardened.

"What have you done?" He asked in a deathly still voice, for there was guilt tinged to Vessira’s expression.

"It was a deal with the devil..." the woman trailed, causing Daemon to chuckle darkly.

"What have you done?" He repeated again, this time more harshly.

He had heard about the prosperity and advancement of the Matriarchy Pack. How one of their warriors could easily take down hundreds of ordinary werewolves. A fact that was reinforced in the battle against the Arising Rogues. At the same time, Daemon knew that the techniques and methods hidden behind such capability weren’t always clear.

"I cannot say much because I truly cannot," Vessira began to explain harshly, "but after the great purge, there were remnants of the monsters that our ancestors fought against. Two of them were trapped in our Pack for the purpose of research."

A stunned silence fell in the tent as Daemon could hardly believe what he heard. So much for the Matriarchy being reclusive, had they been hiding their greed all along?

"Research?" Daemon repeated sarcastically, "everyone knows that your Packs need to dominate is insatiable. Did you trap those monsters to know how to become them?"

Vessira laughed harshly. "Trust me, no one wants to become a deformed. They are mindless, have no empathy, and worse, they do not even understand hierarchy. They only main and kill."

"So why?" Marcus asked angrily, "why did your ancestors find the need to do something horrible?"

"Oh please," Vessira said in frustration, "what we did was for the very reason the five great evils were created. We only wished to know how to conquer the Deformed in the case they reappeared again."

"And did you learn that?" Daemon asked harshly.

Vessira drew back in slight shock at the bite to his voice, "the two monsters that were trapped in our dwellings were under our control when your mother, the Luna Queen, died. Surely, you do not think we are responsible for her death."

Daemon took two menacing steps forward although Vessira didn’t back down.

"Were in your control? What about now?" He asked darkly as something far sinister seemed to be in play.

In truth, Daemon had started to suspect the Matriarchy for his mother’s demise in the face of Vessira’s confessions that there was actually such a monster under their control. But in the face of Vessira’s denial and new revelations, it didn’t seem to be the case.

Vessira sighed, massaging her temples. "One of the monsters raged free seven nights ago. But that is besides the point, you must tell me now where Zina WolfKnight is."

Marcus and Yaren exchanged a look of surprise at how flagrantly Vessira acted as if a Deformed being on the loose was nothing.

"Why are you searching for her so much?" Daemon asked suspiciously. "What does Zina WolfKnight’s life mean to you?"

"You really will not let this go until I say everything?" Vessira’s frustration was now at the peak, "fine, Zina WolfKnight is one of our research products albeit an impossible one. She is the child of one of the Deformed and a woman of our world. If she is to mistakenly lose her life, I am afraid of what will become of her."

"....?"

"I do not have all the time to explain this, but you must understand that the reason why she stands blind and without a wolf is because we took them away from her when she was just an hour old. We have been monitoring her since then to know if she shows any peculiar changes, but what we know for sure is that a brush with death might unleash in her the very thing we have been trying to control. So where is SHE?!"

Daemon had never been tongue tied in his entire life until Vessira spewed those words that bordered between horror and evil.

Just at that moment, Falcon bursted in, breathing hard.

"You must lend me a search party, Daemon. I’m just discovering that Xalea Borne has been missing, and I have a feeling he is after the Theta!"

Vessira simply looked between Falcon and Daemon trying to process the strange words that sounded somewhat horrific. Instinctively, Daemon shifted into his full form wolf, running out of the tent with top speed while tracking down Zina at the same time.

The mark showed she was still well and alive. But Daemon didn’t believe that fact would remain the same for long.