Chapter 254: Harding's short past

Erick frowned as he read the reports in his hands. He was sitting next to Hamish, where the two of them were discussing the plans that Lachlan had told them about, earlier.

At that moment, the Alpha and the elders continued to talk among each other, leaving the triplets and the three young shifters to themselves. It was not that they were not invited to have their say but rather, they preferred to keep quiet and let the 'experienced' shifters work it out.

The meeting continued on until the early morning but the shifters in the room were still active and buzzing with activities.

Erick sighed as he thought of the vision that Paccia showed them.

Honestly, he felt like the place looked quite familiar and yet, he knew that he had never been there before. It was as if he could feel a strong connection with that place. But what?

That question swamped around in his mind. He wanted to ask Dane about it but the strangest thing had happened. The latter was quiet. Hopefully he was alright.

Dex, who was sitting on his other side, turned to him. "What do you think of the plan?" he asked.

Erick frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked back.

Dex stared at him as if he was dumb. "The plan that they were talking about," he answered, pointing his chin at where the Alpha and the elders were still talking.

Erick shrugged. "It seems manageable."

Dex rolled his eyes. "Easy for you to say," he muttered as he placed his chin on his palm, looking wistfully. "It has been a while since I've joined a mission."

"But at least, you've been training, no?" Erick asked.

"It's not the same as being in a real situation."

"True, true."

The two of them fell silent.

Soon after, the Alpha turned back to them and then told them all to settle down and be quiet.

He looked over at Paccia and then back again. "We will take the time to make use of the vision that Paccia has shown us and we will immediately go on the offense. We do not have much time to sit around and wait for the assault to come to us. Before Harding unleashed or revealed his secret 'weapon' or 'power', we will need to eliminate it."

He turned over to Fergus and said, "You will need to get in touch with the other packs' Betas and inform them of this. Better yet, arrange a meeting as soon as possible."

Fergus stood up and bowed his head. "Yes, Alpha."

Lachlan then turned to the others and said, "We will also need to have a contingency plan that only involves us, the Kendalls."

He immediately shot out the names and the teams. Unlike previous missions, this was a big one where it involves all the elders, the triplets and the three young shifters. Even the Alpha and the Beta were involved. To say that this was not a powerful team was an understatement. This clearly shows how crucial the mission would be. And hopefully the last.

-----

It has only been a couple of days after that late meeting when another meeting has started once more. And this time, it was held in the morning and that, there were more people in the room, which included the Alphas and the Betas from Cairin and Cesaro pack.

Lachlan welcomed and thanked their guests for coming from far away.

Both Riedrich and Isaiah nodded.

Lachlan then continued by giving the objectives of the meeting; of why they were here. Riedrich, Isaiah and their Betas actually did not fully know the reason why they were called here. But they understood the urgency of the call they received from Fergus the other day, hence why they immediately came, without questioning why.

After the other packs had heard the objectives of the meeting, they grew solemn and grim. They actually expected this but did not expect it to be too soon.

Few minutes later, once Lachlan has his say, he passes the floor to Paccia, who then shows Riedrich and the others the vision she has gotten from the warlock's skin. And this time, she also shows them the route of Harding's hideout or one might called, 'fortress'.

When the image of Harding's fortress was projected in front of them; similar to the other packs, it was also the Kendall pack's first time seeing it.

At first, Erick seemed disinterested when he looked over. But suddenly, he felt some tingling inside him. His mind started to blur, making him a bit dizzy. It was not long when his eyes suddenly turned to amber.

Ignoring the startled looks from around him, Erick roughly stood up, making his chair fall back to the ground with a loud 'bang'.

He slammed his hand on top of the table and snarled, showing his fangs.

"THAT FECKING BASTARD!"

-----

In that same fortress, Harding was walking around inside, seemingly oblivious to the rage he had caused to his younger brother back at Burkendall town.

He was in the hall where it was once used as a throne room. He recalled this was where he had once stood, together with his brothers, including Dane as they listened to their father, the Lycan King's speech. It was the last time he stood with his brothers in harmony until that day had happened. He was the oldest son of the Lycan King and yet, the throne was to be given to one of his younger brothers, who was not Dane.

Dissatisfied with the appointed, Harding had planned to kill off his father before he appointed his brother to be the next Lycan King.

He was satisfied and pleased that none had realized that he was the perpetrator of all this. He was the one who had committed patricide.

Seeing how the lycan world at that time had become chaotic as there were disagreements of who was to be the Lycan King, Harding had taken this opportunity to eliminate his brothers. Using the presence of the strong Hunters, he could easily remove these 'obstacles'.

He fumed silently as he recalled that day. He really had thought that Dane was dead. He never thought of the possibility that his human self had died but his wolf soul was still alive.

'It doesn't matter,' he thought to himself smugly. 'I will wait for you here, Dane.'