Chapter 23

Gerard panted, tearing the lycan under him open before sauntering down the hall. They had come in a large group and as he brought them down one by one, a few of the other alphas joined. Gerard couldn't grasp at how tightly Scott had these lycan wrapped around his fingers. Lewis stopped at the juncture of the halls, red slobber dribbling down to the floor, "We have one that's alive; if you feel like questioning."

"We need to. I need to know how they knew we were all meeting," Gerard sniffed.

"You didn't make this under the radar, to be fair," Lewis followed Gerard as he started down the hall. He could tell the kind of person Lewis was by seeing the aftermath. The walls were splattered, looking like something from a horror movie as the carpet squelched under his feet. Lewis was going to prove to be the more difficult one to deal with for Gerard. He would end up being outspoken and stubborn beyond belief.

"I had. All communication was encrypted by one of my best," Gerard informed him.

Lewis' eyes narrowed a bit and he sniffed, "A leak?"

Gerard stopped, listening to the small scuffle behind the door on his right before nodding, "I expected it. They might have employed a witch or have someone trained."

"So the line wasn't secure," Lewis nodded. Gerard growled and grabbed his snout, glaring.

"The line was secure. It helps us gauge how advanced they've become," he snapped. Lewis' eyes were wide as Gerard let go of him and pushed the door open. He stared at a kid no older than seventeen and his lip rose. "That man has lost his mind, hasn't he?"

"Don't touch me," the kid yelled. "I didn't do anythin' wrong! You can't hold me up like this!"

"Actually, we can," Lewis chuckled. He shifted to his human state, pulling his wallet out and showing a badge. "I'm with the FBI and your lot have done some serious damage around here. I'd like to know just what kind of gas you put in the vents." The kid paled as he looked between the two, his shoulders beginning to shake.

"We need you to answer our questions," Gerard stepped closer, grabbing the kid's collar and dragging him.

"Let go of me! I don't know anything," he cried.

"Gerard, no offense," Lewis stepped in front of him and Gerard growled. "You aren't okay to interrogate him. I'll have one of my-"

"You'll be there while I do," Gerard sniffed. He felt familiar with the setting, his memories clawing forward to when his father was alive. Gerard knew the kid was probably in the wrong place at the wrong time just as he had been when Taj fought with his father.

"Gerard," Lewis warned.

"He's young and high energy," Gerard lifted the kid up enough to hold him under his arm. "I don't harm children, Lew."

Lewis sniffed and crossed his arms as Gerard shifted, "I'm standing in the room." Gerard left the boy tied up, sitting him down in the conference room as he was silently glared at. He sat down across from the kid while Lewis stood behind, using his jacket to wipe the blood from his mouth before someone walked in.

"Name," Gerard ordered.

"Not telling you," the boy snapped quickly. Gerard sighed as Lewis dug through his pockets, pulling out a wallet that was connected to a belt loop by a chain.

"They sent amateurs," Lewis snorted as he tossed the wallet.

"Alpha didn't send us," the boy growled. Gerard started digging through the wallet as Lewis laughed, his ears trained on the two.

"So you're calling Scott alpha, huh," he hummed. "Seems like you're a bitten. You don't call your alpha an alpha."

"Says you," Gerard stared at the student ID.

"We share a name Gerard," he called, gaining the two's attention. "I'll call you Raydon to be safe."

"I'm not telling you-"

"If you launched this yourselves, it could have worked," Gerard threw the wallet back to Lewis who put it back in the boy's pocket. "If my mate hadn't caught the scent, you would have succeeded but at what cost?"

"You're all not seeing the big picture," Raydon muttered.

"We're you bitten," Lewis asked.

"How else am I supposed to be a werewolf," Raydon yelled.

"You are born with it," Gerard informed him. Raydon stared, blinking as his shoulders slumped. "You being a bitten just means you have no idea how any of this works."

"Sure I do. There's books written about us," Raydon showed a bit of pride, his chest puffing up. Gerard wanted to laugh, to say that the books weren't completely accurate. It was Lewis that broke out into laughter and slammed his hand on Raydon's shoulder roughly.

"Kid, you read romance novels? What the hell," Lewis chortled. Raydon turned a dark red and Gerard cleared his throat.

"Scott Pillar is a menace to our society. What's the bigger picture," he asked. Raydon stared and hesitated, staring down at the finely polished table before looking up again with a renewed defiance.

"We can take our rightful place in the world," he stated. Gerard wanted to clap for the boldness while still laugh, the restraint becoming harder and harder to maintain. It was a modern view he had thought about but not a realistic one; not one he could condone.

"If Pillar taught you right, you wouldn't be so stupid," Lewis mumbled. Raydon snapped his head towards Lewis and Gerard gave a warning glare.

"Raydon, what he means to say is that we have written history and systems in place that work," Gerard stated. How many alphas had you brought with you?"

"Scott is the only alpha we have and need," Raydon retorted.

"Mistake one," Gerard held up a finger and smirked. "This table was full of alphas that wouldn't hesitate to end you for your attempt like me and my friend here did." Raydon paled as he looked between Lewis and Gerard slowly. He hadn't gathered any information is what that told Gerard and they misjudged their targets vastly.

"Don't look at me kid, I only took care of your two friends and the two in the hall. He took down the rest," Lewis motioned to Gerard, Raydon turning his head as fear settled in his eyes. He leaned back in his chair as his eyes fell back to the table.

"Who told you this meeting was happening," Gerard asked. There had been enough intimidation. There wasn't much to read into with Lewis and Gerard being there but Raydon was obviously weighing the pros and cons of his mission.

"We posted around the city," he muttered. "We heard people talk about a big meeting and made sure they were werewolves."

"We're lycan," Gerard corrected. "It's the proper term for our race and we use that to call one of our own." Raydon and Lewis scowled at Gerard together, Lewis more so in confusion while Raydon in thought. "There's much to teach the bitten in a short period of time. None of you were born into it and don't know the true ins and outs of lycan society."

"What, you're going to teach us," Raydon sniffed.

"I could if you stopped following a madman," Lewis slammed his hands on the table while he glared at Gerard in bewilderment.

"You're offering information to the enemy," he roared.

"I'm offering aid to one of our own," Gerard snarled. Raydon blinked and looked between the two.

"Wait, what," he asked.

"Kid, do you know the man you're following," Lewis asked.

"Our alpha," Raydon nodded. "He held his hand out. He was helping us find each other so that we could fend for our freedoms."

"Your freedoms would kill us all in the long run," Gerard sighed.

"No it wouldn't have," Raydon's voice cracked and it pulled at Gerard's chest. "We could walk amongst people, be part of society without being scared for our lives. We can stay with our loved ones."

"I council many bitten and have been taught by one," Gerard sighed. "They are always bitten by someone who has lost control or for someone else's power gain. They get used and tossed aside. Scott is using that picture to lure you in."

"There's no lure," Raydon looked close to tears as the door opened. The three looked to Shera as she rubbed her head, her eyes squinted at them. Raydon had a look of familiarity on his face that was filled with more terror than he had given Lewis and Gerard. "What's she doing-doing here?"

Gerard held his hand out to Shera and she walked over, sniffing the air, "This is my mate. The daughter of your alpha." Raydon suddenly turned white as paper and he bowed his head low, his whole body beginning to tremble lightly. Lewis motioned at him with a confused expression and his shoulders raised in question.

"We aren't supposed to hurt her," Raydon finally said. He looked up, his lips in a thin line. "Alpha ordered her to be captured alive and turned into him."

"He's angry she took his title," Gerard nodded.

"No," Raydon quickly cut in. "He wants her because of the test sites and the experiments." Gerard felt like something was close to snapping as Raydon continued, "He said she'd have a higher tolerance and could take more. That she had already gone through the trial-"

"Get it together Gerard," Lewis covered Raydon's mouth, a scowl in his face before a look of gentle understanding came about. Gerard felt at his cheeks and ears, sighing as he rubbed his temple. He was losing control and over what? Something that wouldn't happen, that he wouldn't let happen?

"I'm fine," Gerard sighed. "Look, Raydon, Scott is going to lead us all to extinction. There's few of us and those little 'experiments' are probably to test his silver dust covered membranes."

"What," Shera rose a brow as she sat down, staring at the kid. Gerard didn't let go of her hand, his fingers playing along the scars on her palms to ease himself. Raydon shifted a bit and stared at Lewis and then Gerard, biting the inside of his cheek.

"I'll tell you everything that fell down the pipelines."

"On what condition," Gerard asked.

"I major in history-or I want to when I get to college. I just- alpha didn't have anything on werewolf-lycan history," Raydon nodded. Lewis scowled and stared to Gerard and Shera.

"I'm not taking him in," he rolled his eyes.

"We will then," Shera stood, pulling Gerard's hand with hers. "He can use my room so we can keep an eye on him."

"I don't want him in our apartment," Gerard glared up at her, only to have her glare back.

"There wasn't an ultimatum," Gerard blinked as her cheeks turned a bit pink and she pulled her hand away from his. "If he wants knowledge in exchange for information, than fine. That's going to be the end of it though. You decide what happens after." Gerard sighed and stared at Raymond, narrowing his eyes a bit as people started to walk in.

"You spill everything to everyone walking in here," Gerard ordered, "And you leave nothing you know out, understood?"

"Dude, chill," Raymond looked around nervously, "I won't be a cock block, I promise." Gerard went to say something, stopping as his phone rang from a text. He looked down and frowned before smirking a bit at the menu Shera had sent.

"I'm not worried about that," Gerard hummed.