Erika’s POV
“One week ago, I became the new Gamma and I received a warning message from the Gamma of the Lumiere Pack…”
Hearing his words, Derek, Kent, Gerald, and I all raised our eyes and looked at him attentively. Derek interrupted him, “We got information that the Lumiere Pack didn’t contact you and cause any trouble.”
James said, “They contacted me and told me to stay away from their territory and asked us to decide on a date to discuss border issues. I was confused because I just became the Gamma and I didn’t know what happened. So I reported it to Alpha Richard. He asked me to just ignore it and keep it a secret. I was very worried at first. And it turned out that the Lumiere Pack hadn’t contacted me after that. I still can’t figure out how Richard did it.”
That was a lot of information. So the Lumiere Pack wanted to do something, but somehow they changed their minds. But what made them change their minds?
We were all lost in thought and tried to figure out something.
“That’s all I know and I need to go back now. If I don’t come back in time, I’ll get severely punished and he’ll possibly know that I meet you tonight,” James said.
“You can go back now, but don’t be impulsive. You can wait for our message. We’ll contact you later. After all, we all want to kill him and we can really use your help.” I showed him the text. I was afraid that he might do something impulsive.
“OK. I know. I’ll wait for your message. Just tell me if you need me to do something,” He nodded and shot us a meaningful look.
We let him go out. There was no need to worry that he might leak it because he would also be punished if Richard knew that James had met us.
Now that we had got some information, the next thing was to figure out the reasons for Richard’s weird behavior.
Gerald drove us back to the pack. We didn’t go to sleep immediately. Instead, we went to the meeting room and held a short meeting to exchange our ideas.
We needed to sort out the information we got today and see if we could find something interesting. Derek asked us to speak our thoughts one by one.
Kent spoke first, “I’m not sure. The information is insufficient and is all about James’ doubt. I think we should gather more information first so that we can make informed decisions. Now that we have a man in Richard’s pack, we can ask him to collect more information.”
I frowned at his words but I didn’t say anything. Then it was Gerald’s turn to speak.
“I agree with him. James’ words confirmed our doubts. But we need more information and we can ask him for help. Besides, I think we should focus on what happened between the Lumiere Pack and Richard first. We need to figure out why the Lumiere Pack changed their idea and what Richard did. It’s the priority,” Gerald said.
Then they all turned to me.
I don’t think we can rely on James to give us more information. Richard is a suspicious man. If we connect James secretly, we might put James in great danger. We can use his help but we can’t contact him frequently. As for the information we got tonight, I’m thinking about whether the two things James mentioned are related. Maybe there is some connection between them. Let’s think about it, why did he go out alone and what might Richard do after? I think it might have something to do with their border issues with the Lumiere Pack. I mind-linked them.
Derek rubbed his chin with his fingers and nodded.
“Luna’s words remind me that there must be another force that interfered in their border issues. You may not know much about the Lumiere Pack. They own many advanced weapons and they have great military capacity, which enables them to focus on their pack affairs. They are quite isolated and seldom communicate with other packs. If someone crossed their border, the expected result would be a severe border encounter. But the Lumiere Pack changed their minds. Maybe Richard went out to meet a guy who could prevent the encounter,” he paused and glanced around us.
Then he continued, “Kent, we have sent a bunch of warriors to receive intelligence training at Francis’ pack, right?”
“Yes,” Kent said.
“Ask one of them to come back and find out what Richard did when he went out alone. If Richard goes out alone again, follow him and see what will happen,” Derek said to Kent.
Kent nodded.
“Gerald, try to find out what made the Lumiere Pack change their mind,” Derek said to Gerald.
“Yes,” Gerald said.
The short meeting ended.
Derek and I came back to the pack house. I took off my makeup, collapsed on the sofa, and yawned. It was such a long day. I woke up early this morning, prepared for the announcement, captured James for information, and had a meeting. Finally, I could lie on the sofa and take a rest. I was so sleepy that I couldn’t lift a finger now. I didn’t feel so sleepy even when I was captured by Richard and couldn’t sleep for days.
Derek took off his tie and put it away. He frowned as he saw me lying on the sofa. He walked over and kicked me in my legs.
Normally, I would jump to my feet and fight him, but not now. I was so sleepy that I lay motionless.
“Why are you so sleepy? I don’t know you are so tired. I won’t allow you to go out for tasks at night anymore,” he said and I could feel his hands on my face.
I wanted to argue with him, but I was so sleepy that even mind-linking him became difficult. My eyelids also felt heavy. I guessed I had never been so sleepy in my entire life. I closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep.