The Award For Best Actress Goes To....

"What do you mean they're dead?" Lara gasped and put her hands over her mouth in shock.

Lyrica may not have been pretty, nor could she win a popularity contest -- but boy could she act. It was easy to put on the fake waterworks as she sobbed 'uncontrollably' even going so far as to hiccup and take in broken breaths as she explained exactly what she saw.....but absolutely made up the last part.

"...and then...he...they..." Lyrica sobbed and put her hands up to her face as though the scene were unbearable to recall. "...They skinned them, and took their bodies *hic* back to the mountain!"

Poor Lara's mind's eye was well developed, and she couldn't help but turn to the side and vomit at the thought of her best friend being killed so brutally and his body being abused by the very asshole who started this entire problem to begin with.

Ajax was simply shocked at the thought of Metas being gone - and now Myranda, too. Who would want to break that to Jyriah right now?

No one, that's who.

His light green eyes stared down to the ground with deep disbelief and grief as his brain attempted to process this information.

Not only was Metas dead - but that meant his brother was dead, his best friend was dead, and the Alpha was dead......which made him the new Alpha....

This was absolutely not what he ever wanted. His intrusive thoughts kicked in as his knee-jerk reaction was to find the nearest water source to drown himself in. Ajax was a lot of things - but being a King and the leader of the large pack was not one of them. He'd rather take orders then bark them, really.

"W-what should we say to the rest of the pack?" Ajax asked shakily.

"What? How....how am I supposed to know?" Lyrica 'sobbed'.

"It was rhetorical." He replied instantly.

Lara had recovered from her vomiting fit and as she wiped her eyes, she spoke through the tears that just kept coming no matter how many times she tried to get rid of them. "We tell them that we can't just quit. Metas started this, and we need to finish it. There would be no better way to serve his legacy than to  carry on the flames of revolution - and now more than ever, we should be fueled to kill Harbinger for what he has done. He may have taken Metas - but he's not taking our flames of desire to see a better tomorrow."

Both Lyrica and Ajax looked at Lara with a stunned expression. It seemed they were already bewitched from her words.

"Why don't you deliver that speech, babe?" He suggested and looked at her with a bit of a pleading look.

"No. You owe it to your brother to walk into his paw prints with dignity. You can do it, and you know deep down you can." Lara replied with strength as her blue eyes looked into his beautiful peridot ones.

"Okay. You're right. I made a promise, and I have to fulfill that promise. Just... give me a minute to let this all sink in, and for me to break the news to Jyriah. If someone told me my sibling had died in a rousing speech before I knew of their death, I'd be not only furious - but I'd feel betrayed. I can't do that to Jyr. Not after everything he has done for everyone." The newly crowned Alpha spoke as he tried to channel his inner Metas.

Now, this was all well and good - it was touching - and it was exactly what their pack would need to fuel their fight against Harbinger.

Too bad it wasn't the truth, and everything Lyrica had told them was not was she was instructed to do. Metas had told her to tell the others what happened, and that they would be doing their part from the crater.

After all the films she had seen by the humans (including documentaries), she knew a little bit better about the behavior of living souls, and Werewolves were still partially human - whether they wanted to acknowledge that or not, it was the truth - and she knew a thing or two about emotional manipulation.

If one side was just going to lean on the other, their little house of cards would fall. Metas needed the pressure of thinking everyone was counting on him - but so did Ajax. Both weren't possible.

So she sewed a little lie instead. Besides, she had just saved their lives - they /kinda/ owed her. At least, that's what she was going to say when the Alpha found out she had lied.

"Sh-she's right..." Lyrica sniffed and let out another broken, soft sob as she tried to 'dial it back' a bit. "You n-need to be the new hope for us." She added and looked down with a sullen expression.

"Let's go tell Jyriah once we figure out how, and then we'll make a plan on what to say to the pack. You're both right. I've hidden behind Metas' literal large shadow for too long. Even if he's g...gone... He needs me, and I can't stand back anymore."

Lara's eyes filled with pride and gave her mate a nod and a look of respect and affection. Although she wanted to smile, it was impossible to do so in the current climate. The best friend who she had known for practically her entire life was gone. Poof. Out of thin air, like a sudden storm.