Alpha Kilian frowned at her. “Nelly ...”
“Please.” Nelly looked up at him and pleaded, “I miss Grandpa and Old Alpha Morris . I want to go home.”
With her pleading gaze and tone, Alpha Kilian would've given in if her request was for anything else. Instead, he tightened his balled-up fists when the thought of that video flashed across his mind.
He couldn't let it go.
Most importantly, it wasn't just that incident, as there were others.
“Nelly , you know I would've agreed to your request if it was for anything else, but only this I can't,” Alpha Kilian rejected.
Nelly 's brows furrowed as she looked at him. “Alpha Kilian , I wasn't disadvantaged, nor did I suffer any loss in this incident.”
“That is not the whole point, Nelly ! With numbers on their side, they wanted your demise. I can't just let this matter slide!” Alpha Kilian raised his voice.
“Alpha Kilian !” Nelly gazed at him in disbelief. Yet Alpha Kilian was adamant.
Nelly inhaled deeply, dropped her smile, and kept her gaze on Alpha Kilian . “What are you planning to do then?”
“I'll kill him!”
“Okay!” Nelly nodded with agreement.
Alpha Kilian narrowed his eyes at her in suspicion. “We'll do it together,” Nelly said. “Nelly !” Alpha Kilian looked at her with resignation in his eyes.
“I should avenge myself. Even you can't stop me,” Nelly replied.
“Do you know how dangerous it is, Nelly ?” Alpha Kilian asked with a solemn look.
“Then do you think it won't be as dangerous if you went instead?” Nelly questioned. “Alpha Kilian , have you thought about what would happen to me if something happened to you? Have you thought about the kids or Old Alpha Morris ?”
She paused briefly before continuing, “I already told you I didn't suffer any loss in this matter, so why can't we just let it slide?”
Alpha Kilian stared at her, worried she would find out his reason for doing so if he persisted with his decision.
At that thought, he said, “I just felt bad for you.”
Nelly looked at him with sincerity. “Alpha Kilian , I understand your intention. I promise to tell you if I was wronged in any way, but I wasn't.”
His dark gaze searched her eyes and face for any sign that she was lying. After a while, he finally nodded
and compromised. “Fine.”
Nelly was taken aback by his sudden agreement. Surprise filled her impassive eyes. “Does that mean you agree?”
Alpha Kilian looked at her with resignation. “Do I have any other choice but to agree?”
Nelly laughed at his answer, then tipped her toes, lifting herself to embrace him by wrapping her arms around his neck. “Alpha Kilian , I know you want to do it for me, but please trust my decision. This is the best outcome possible.”
Alpha Kilian wrapped his arms around her and muttered an acknowledgment. With a smile, Nelly asked, “When can I return?”
“It's up to you.”
“Perfect! I'll make the arrangement immediately.” “Okay.”
Meanwhile, the three kids were gathered together in a close huddle. “What was the situation today?” Ben asked.
“My plan failed,” Donna said straightforwardly. “Does Nelly know about it?” Ben questioned.
“She not only found out, but she even cussed them out. Have you seen the largest mega screen in the pack center today? That's Nelly 's doing,” Donna explained.
Ben scrunched his brows at Donna 's explanation. “What's going on? Nelly exposed herself?”
“Nelly didn't use hers nor Tony's account. She used Miguel's, but she definitely revealed her identity as a hacker,” Donna clarified.
Ben was still confused. “What went down today exactly?”
Tony sighed. “What went down wasn't the crucial part. All in all, Nelly found out about our motive and plan and asked me to put it on halt.”
The crease on Ben 's forehead deepened. “And then?”
“There's no then!” “Did you agree?”
“I didn't want to, but Nelly used the carrot and stick approach to persuade me.” Tony 's eyebrows drew together.
“So, are we giving up?” Ben asked.
After contemplating it shortly, Tony answered, “Midnight fang pack repeatedly target Nelly , so I think even if we give up, they won't. This matter won't just slip away.”
“Your promise won't be significant when that time comes. If we let them take the lead, we won't be going against Nelly 's instruction. Is that what you're saying?” Ben asked.
Tony nodded. “You're right on point.”
Ben laughed. “As I expect, you're not the type who gives up easily.” Tony turned to Ben . “What about you? How was it today?”
Ben let out a sigh and flopped onto the couch. “Everything went smoothly at first. I went to Alpha Dave's armory and saw so much stuff!” Excitement filled his eyes as he recalled his memories. “Alpha Dave even has many prized collections. It was a feast for my eyes. Also, Daddy taught me how to shoot!”
“Did you guys spill the beans?” asked Tony .
“No, but there's a secret surveillance camera in the hidden room. I also just discovered that myself...” came Miguel's confession.
Tony was utterly speechless.
“Master, I'll talk to you later. Dave's back again!” Miguel hung up the phone as soon as he dropped the sentence.
Just then, Ben looked Tony in the eye and questioned, “What's the matter?” “Miguel said that Alpha Dave knew it already!”
Ben was stumped for a second before blurting out, “How did Alpha Dave find out?” “Through the surveillance camera, that's how.”
“Adults can be so shrewd and cunning!”
At that point in time, Donna put forward a naive inquiry. “But does that mean Alpha Dave saw what you did in the hidden room? Or did he learn those true identities of yours and Nelly ?”
Upon hearing those words, Tony and Ben shifted their lines of sight to Donna in unison. That's right!
The children had never used their own IDs, so even if Dave were to pick up anything, he would know nothing more than what they had been up to. Considering that they were simply trying to keep the hackers at bay, they figured they wouldn't be told off for anything.
The corner of Tony 's lips curled upward. “You're so smart, Donna !” Huh? What did I do?
Right at that moment, Tony went on, “I'm going out to see Alpha Dave for a bit.” After announcing his decision, he leaped up straightaway and headed outside.
A crease appeared between Donna 's brows. “What are you trying to do?” Alas, Tony had already left without even looking back.
All Donna could do was turn back. The frown on her face didn't abate as her gaze landed on Ben . The latter piped up, “Obviously, he's going to negotiate with Alpha Dave. What else could he be doing?” Then came Donna 's speculation, “By stopping Alpha Dave from telling on him?”
Ben bobbed his head in exasperation.
“Wouldn't that be a little unnecessary, though?” added Donna .
“Since he wishes to go against Daddy, we'll simply let them battle each other!”
Nodding, Donna agreed, “We'll watch from the sidelines and enjoy the drama, then!”
“Yes, let's do that!”
The two looked at each other and grinned.
Meanwhile, Tony was bolting toward the hidden room in a flurry.
As chance would have it, he bumped into Dave the second he arrived at the door.
Tony pretended to stay collected and flashed Dave a smile so bright, greeting, “Hello, Alpha Dave!” Dave, in turn, sneaked a peek at the boy, and the former, too, chose to put on an act. “Here to play?” “No, no. I'm not here to play. I'm here to see you, Alpha Dave,” replied Tony as he shook his head. “See me?” Dave walked up to Tony and continued, “What's up?”
After deliberating momentarily, Tony parted his lips and reported, “Alpha Dave, there seems to be a new batch of hackers at Midnight fang pack , and they're quite good.”
“So?” Dave's eyes never left Tony .
“So, I'm actually struggling to fend them off.”
With a smirk playing about Dave's lips, he stated, “Okay, now. What are you hinting at? Just tell me what you have in mind.”
Tony wasn't sure what he should say.
Is Alpha Dave already doing away with our pleasantries? Since it's come to this, I suppose I should quit playing dumb.
The next second, he spoke. “About that, Alpha Dave, have you told my daddy yet?”
An unfathomable glint flickered across Dave's eyes. The man kept mum for quite some time before revealing, “I might've brought up a thing or two.”
“How far did you go?”
“Not much. I only briefly described to him how you fared in the uninhabited zone.” Listening to that, Tony was at a loss for words.
That means... Daddy must've some rough idea of what's been going on.
At the thought of that, he hurled Dave a question. “For the time being, can you not mention a word about what happened today to my daddy?”
“Why?” Dave sounded so casual as he responded with yet another inquiry. “I'd like to come clean with him personally.”
Dave narrowed his eyes to slits, seemingly considering the boy's request.
Right then, Tony looked the man in the eye and pressed on. “Pretty please, Alpha Dave?” “All right, all right. But you have to answer me one thing.”
As expected, nothing would come for free without an equivalent exchange. Tony inclined his head in acknowledgment. “Ask away.”
A broad grin then appeared on Dave's face. “You're not the disciple of Anonymous, correct?” Once again, Tony was bereft of speech on the spot.
Oh, dear! Adults are indeed intelligent. Come to think of it; they must've all gone through a lot to be where they are today. Of course, they wouldn't fall for my tricks that easily.
He reckoned that the adults must have lowered their guards solely because he was a kid. Deep down, he knew very well that his secret would come to light someday.
Thinking of that, Tony shook his head and denied it. “No, I'm not.”
Dave's lips curved at the boy's words. It was as though the former had long known the answer himself. “Okay, got it,” replied Dave, nodding at the same time.
Tony , on the other hand, was baffled.
“I won't tell on you. I promise,” reassured Dave in a deep voice.
At first, Tony thought that Dave would pursue further by bombarding him with gazillions of interrogations. He wasn't anticipating the whole exchange to conclude in that manner.
Following that, a smile finally bloomed on Tony 's face. “Thank you, Alpha Dave.” Without a word, Dave spun on his heels.
Tony eventually heaved a sigh of relief as he watched Dave's leaving silhouette.
It was then he started to wonder how he could ever bring himself to confess to his father.
At that juncture, Miguel sneaked out of the hidden room. “Master, does that mean you owned up already?”
Tony 's brows knitted to a tight knot. “Were you eavesdropping on our conversation?”
“N-No. I was following Dave out and wanted to ask him some questions. I didn't expect to hear you two talking. I really tried hard not to listen, but I still accidentally overheard everything...”