Stronger as One (#1, Completed)

40. Karma

RILEY

Markolf- I finally had a name for the enemy. But what had my family ever done for him to target us? And what did Rafe's father get in return? Unravelling the complete story was far from over, as I was still missing answers. It was a start, nonetheless.

"He is more dangerous than any of us could have imagined. What he does to shifters... taking their animals away, their life force - that's savage! No shifter can go through that unscathed- if the process doesn't kill you, life after is worse than death."

"Yet you did the same thing to me," I stated matter-of-factly because it was the truth.

He looked at me with remorse, which surprised me. He was his Alpha's most trusted enforcer according to Rafe- I was sure he had ruined and taken away many lives. Yet he seemed to feel remorseful for what he had done to me.

"And now I have finally been punished for that," he said, looking back at the ground. "The Moon Goddess is clearly punishing me for going after one of my own like this. For trying to take away what the Goddess had granted as a gift- your wolf. But this cambion- he is not planning to stop. He is out to get all shifters, one way or another. And if someone doesn't stop him wolves, foxes, bears, dragons- whatever shifter you can think of- they will all be gone. Our world will come to an end."

"Can someone please explain to me what a cambion is?" I asked puzzled.

Aiden stepped forward. "There are ancient legends about those creatures- the offspring of a demon and a human, so they have half a human soul and the rest is demonic essence. Cambions are extremely cunning and angelically beautiful, according to the stories told, and virtually no one can resist their supernatural charisma."

"Yes, that's how he controls his human minions. They are easier to fall for his charisma and are more difficult to track," John added.

I'd heard enough. "Can we talk upstairs?" I looked at Rafe and Aiden before I made my way up to the kitchen and they followed.

"What is it, Riley?" Aiden looked at me with concern. It was sweet how he always looked out for me and how he tried to do so without getting in my way or trying to control me.

"Look, I think we have everything that we can get out of him but we still have unanswered questions. If we are to stop Markolf, we need to know the whole picture," I explained.

"She is right. And I need to start with my father." I wanted nothing more than to get the answers from Angus Macalister myself but I knew that this was something that Rafe had to do on his own. I trusted him enough to know that he would tell me the truth after but, most of all, he had lost his mother and nearly lost his sister because of the shady deals of his father so I had no doubts that he would make him face the consequences.

"I will speak to my parents...well, my adoptive parents. They are warlocks- or so I have found out recently." Rafe and Aiden both looked at me with surprise. " Oh, come on, surely you both wondered how I have a bracelet that protects me from magic and I can change my appearance?"

"Now that you mentioned it....." both of them spoke in unison. 

Men.

"Anyway. I will speak to them and see what they say, seeing as they also have links to demons."

"I will see if I can get some clues from the investigation that your brother had done so far," said Aiden. "I know that I am not a Council member anymore now that I am no longer the Beta of the Fire Dragons but I can still help out, even if I can't contribute to the decisions anymore."

"And what about him?" Rafe furrowed his eyebrows while he nodded towards the basement.

"I think it should be Riley's call. He was following orders for most of it but his actions had impacted her more than anyone else. What do you think, Riley?" Aiden asked.