Deeper Into Isaac and Leah.

The room fell silent.

Tate and Winnie staggered back in shock. They fear on their faces, and surprise was quite evident, and they kept throwing glances at Casey for a bail out of some sort, yet he stood stoic, as though he didn't receive the signal.

"You're making baseless accusations." Retorted Casey to the heavily charged room.

Kristensen threw him a lazy look, leaning back as she sipped the wine. She took her time twirling it in the glass.

That's right - she enjoyed watching them fidget and try to quibble. She was as petty as they came.

What Casey had done to her at the central hall... her eyes arrowed as she let out a careless smile.

Her gaze remained steady as she leaned forward, "Is it? But Sir, you more than me since I've been here all the time and have seen their shady operations. What about you, what gives you confidence?"

Tate and Winnie avoided the gazes of everyone in the room nervously - it didn't help that Kristensen would throw them mocking glances occasionally, making them squirm nervously even more.

As though they had agreed before, Kristensen and Ocean took another sip of their wine as they watched the trio with subtle amusement.

"I had no idea about this," Casey insisted, his voice hardened, looking at Kristensen as though he'd skin her alive. "Leah is a trustworthy member of our house, and Isaac has already been expelled. You... better be careful with your words."

The last sentence had a bite of threat to it that had Kristensen raising her eyebrows, yet she remained unperturbed.

Sweet, sweet revenge, the karma came too quickly. She was so pleased with herself that her whole aura seemed to be wrapped in a fluffy cloud.

The smirk in her face mocked Casey that he wanted to suppress her as he'd done before but was kept at bay by Ocean's lazy demeanor. It seemed lazy, yet the threat remained the same.

"Seems we've somehow reached an impasse." declared Ocean, his voice breaking the silence. "Now, it seems the only way to break it is to temporarily be on the same team, don't you think?"

He said it in a suggestive voice as though he was asking for Casey's opinion, but Caeey knew and felt that he was being told to accept Kristensen to House of Caston.

Casey knew without a doubt he was inviting trouble to his house.

The worst part of all was what Kristensen had said was the same as Tate and Winnie said they suspected, and with the other alpha houses representatives present - he couldn't sweep it under the rug.

Casey threw Kristensen a murderous look before hesitantly conceding, "Fine. House of Caston Maddison welcomes you."

The unwillingness couldn't be hidden from his voice and face, and he threw Tate and Winnie a displeased look. To him, they were most at fault for failing to give him a heads up.

"But we need to deal with those allegations on Leah and Isaac separately." Said Casey after some time. He was really, really unwilling.

The mood in the room matched his overall grey suit.

"That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Replied Ocean, standing up. "We'll rely on you in the future."

He left the room with an uneasy quiet, especially Casey, who received a warning look.

Kristensen leaned back, a smug expression playing on her lips as she watched the trio.

Could it really be that they hadn't known all along that missing recruits were disappearing due to Isaac and Leah? She doubted it. How could they be that clean, especially Tate and Winnie?

"You didn't think it important to tell me about missing recruits?" Casey muttered, directing his frustration at Tate and Winnie.

Tate and Winnie stumbled over their words, attempting feeble explanations.

"I... we...I..."

The atmosphere thickened with every passing moment, and Casey's patience wore thin.

Kristensen interrupted their squabbling with a dismissive chuckle. "Don't you think you're focusing on the wrong thing? The pressing matter - shouldn't it be finding Isaac and maybe the missing recruits if they're still alive..."

Casey shot her a glare, but her nonchalant demeanor seemed to irk him more. "This has nothing to do with you. We'll handle the investigations you included."

Kristensen stood rather in an unhurried manner and threw Casey a light smile.

"As a victim, I hope you'll keep me in the loop. After all, I don't want to die before reaching your House of Caston Maddison."

She threw the comment out as she left.

They might as well forget about brushing her off. She didn't raise the issue of missing recruits for nothing - Kristensen had an inkling that that's where she might find the alpha's symbol.

Casey watched Kristensen's silhouette with a dark look. He had never met a pub that was maddening as her. He felt as though he'd aged a hundred years from Ocean and Kristensen's entry to their departure.

The duo was torturous.

It didn't help that if what Kristensen said was true, it wouldn't only be The Camp that was implicated... with Drew and Ocean Ly here, the capital would also get involved, and their house would be turned upside down.

Who would explain it to their alpha, then? Casey broke out in cold sweat when he thought of that. His brown eyes and thick eyebrows pinching cloe together as he frowned.

The matter wasn't simple.

In a building where the House of Ryder Voss stayed, Vince looked at Trudy with a mixture of frustration and worry. The news he received was worrying.

"Alpha's symbol? Is it his, could it be?" He asked for the second time.

Trudy had just told him what Kristensen had told the others in another building - at the House of Caston's residence.

"Did you see it? Did you personally see it?" Prompted Vince.

Trudy shook her head lightly. "I didn't see the alpha's symbol personally, but I saw the recruits chained and Leah leading them - chained, with someone wearing a mask. He was an alpha."

Vince narrowed his eyes deep in thought.

The group that practiced sacrificing betas and omegas to the alpha's symbol was wiped out a long time ago. If there was another one rising and rising at this remote place...

He sighed.

Their alpha had been missing for more than five years, and other houses were started to eye them. He didn't have the luxury to worry about unrelated matters.

And yet, what if the alpha's symbol was Ryder's?

Vince felt suffocated thinking about that possibility. It couldn't be, could it? Was their alpha really dead?

"I think... I think the alpha's symbol has to do with Mara Ryson." Trudy continued hesitantly.

Vince stood abruptly - the chair he sat on falling.

"You... are you sure?" He asked. His voice shook with excitement.

Trudy looked at him puzzled as she nodded.

When he received the confirmation, he could barely contain his excitement. Not many knew, but Vince knew - Ryder was looking for Mara when he left.

"You... take me there. I want to see the place where you saw her mural." Said Vince.

He beckoned Trudy to follow him as he hurried his steps. Maybe his trip to this godforsaken place wasn't in vain after all.

It happened that as they were leaving, they met Casey and his party.

Vince snorted at the sight of Casey and passed. Bad luck, he thought. It was his bad luck.

"Oh, if it isn't Vince, from the budding House of Ryder. What, there's a leak at home, and you have to rush back?" Casey mocked.

Vince paused on his steps.

"How can that be? Our people at least won't watch the house leak and make it worse." Vince responded with a light teasing tone and smirked, "What about you? Have you found your murderers yet?"

Casey gritted his teeth as he threw a cold blaming glance at Tate and Winnie.

It made Vince laugh. "Right. Not only do you have murderers, but you also have people trying to resurrect that group? What? Has your House of Caston grown so big that it wants to fight the emperor?"

Vince sauntered out as his laughter followed him.

"You have one of us with you." Casey shouted at Vince's back. "Are you sure they're not a murderer?"

But he didn't get a response, Vince left the victor.

What they didn't know was they were going to the same place.

House of Caston Maddison and House of Ryder Voss were located in the same town. They were two tigers in a single mountain.

The town that The Camp fell under its jurisdiction - Cyan.

Before the alpha of House of Ryder Voss went missing, there wasn't a clear ruler of Cyan as both houses shared the same terroties and were equal in power, but since Ryder Voss has gone missing, House of Caston Maddison became the ruler of Cyan.

They were both big houses - the only difference was one had its alpha and the didn't. It went without saying that House of Ryder Voss was a snake missing its head.

Currently, House of Caston Maddison was looking to swallow the House of Ryder Voss from its territory, something unheard of and unprecedented as cities in Crandale didn't have a single house ruling a territory.

It was their current mission and the reason why Casey was flustered at the thought of Vince finding out about Leah and Isaac.

He couldn't shoulder the responsibility of hindering the plans of the house, and it made it urgent for him to find Isaac, no matter what it took.

It didn't take the two parties long before they arrived at the building where Mara Ryson's mural was.

The doors were opened.

Casey and Vince threw each other disdaining looks before walking in, Casey and his party first.

What surprised him was Kristensen, standing in front of the mural - giving an illusion of being one with it.

"You..."

Kristensen turned around to the people who were getting in.

"I did say, as the victim, I have to be kept in the loop. Otherwise, how will I know if you're looking into it if I'm not there?" Kristensen said as she smiled.

It turned out her gamble paid off. She'd made the decision to go to this place when Casey said they were going to look into it. If Tate and Winnie had investigated Leah then... this place was within range.

Not long after, Vince and Trudy also came in.

Trudy and Kristensen exchanged acknowledging glances.

"You... do you think I'll listen to you? Mr Ly isn't here now." Casey threatened, his voice exceptionally laced with his alpha power.

Kristensen didn't even flinch. She turned around to the mural.

It didn't contain anything. There was only a picture of a veiled woman in red - her eyes slightly visible.

The problem was she couldn't see beyond the veil, her face at least to confirm what she looked like.

The person who'd suddenly come into her mind after the alpha's symbol tried to suck her dry too,

Was it the same person on the mural?

Alive or dead... What was going on?