Instead of running straight to the shower, we headed straight to the meeting room. A long, oak table that ran through the majority of the table.

While the table could easily seat twelve or more, only seven of the seats were filled. Alexander sat at the top of the table, while I sat directly next to him, Hugo now completely passed out on my shoulder.

Everyone else was waiting, Myra, Farren and Vance were seated across from me, while Ti and Harmony sat next to me on the same row. The moment that I sat down, Ti grabbed onto my hand.

She turned to me, "She's dead isn't she?"

I bit my lip as my eyes drooped, "Right in front of me. She sold me out, they threatened Harvey and in a way to save him, she told them what my plans were, how I went off injections and how I was permanently leaving the organisation."

Her brows furrowed, "But the laws, they couldn't do anything to him, he's human!"

I shrugged, "It would have been a stressful moment and she would have been distraught. You can't blame her, I suppose."

Ti paused, "So, and with love, it's her fault?"

I grimaced. "Technically? Yes. But I went back for more sentiments than anything else. I could have just stayed here, but I didn't. I still put myself in that situation."

"And the glass flower?" She then asked, "Did you get it back?"

I looked down at the table. "I smashed it against the floor in our dormitory, shattered within a second. I have no idea why I did it, but it's gone now."

Ti squeezed a little harder, "Don't worry about it, don't even think about it. What are the chances that it actually came from your childhood anyway? Maybe they just gave it to you for whatever reason. You never know."

My lip wavered, "Yeah, you never know."

"Ok," Alexander interrupted, "Let's get started. Vance, have you heard anything from the warriors tasked with identifying bodies and getting numbers?"

"We'll have the final list by tonight, however, they're looking at around 150 dead at this moment in time," Vance said as if he was reading a paper. "They managed to get through via the eastern border and from what we've heard, none of our surrounding packs has been affected. Only us."

"Alright, so what's next?" Farren brought up, "We can't just keep ignoring it. It's time to make a stand."

"The Organisation has been a pain in our neck for years," Alexander started, "So I agree, it's time to do something. What we need to do is target their leaders. The actual members aren't of any concern to me, especially since, as we know, most of them are under the strict influence and wouldn't be acting like this is regular daily life."

"What they've introduced is a permanent injection, one that doesn't need to be re-administered every day. Our best bet is to make a move before they're able to roll that out to the entirety of all the organisation." I added. "But your bet on how to do it is as good as mine."

Alexander paused, "What I think is that we need to individually take out the leaders one by one. We want to leave the leader for last, but take out the most influential and useful one first." He turned to Ti and I, "What would you suggest?"

"Mistress Hemlock." Ti said, "Without a doubt,"

"Oh definitely," I agreed. "We'll want to go with Mistress Hemlock."

Farren raised her brow, "Why?"

I shrugged, "It's easy, Mistress Hemlock is the one that pulls the injection together. She binds it and infuses the magic into it. She doesn't do much on the front, but she does all the talking behind the scenes, especially in terms of tricky situations that she could bend into her favour. Madame Beaudeline is proud, Master Skotus is violent but Mistress Hemlock is a manipulator."

"And what, we'll kill her?" Ti asked, slightly nervously.

"Well, obviously," Alexander said, slightly confused. "What else is there to do?"

Ti and I stared at each other. "Nothing, of course. Killing them is the only option, I suppose Mistress Hemlock was always just polite to us."

I snorted, "Well, as polite as you can be in such a situation."

"Mistress Hemlock is a spirit, no?" Myra asked, "What's the best way to get her out of the Organisation into a situation where we can make our move against us?"

"She's a private person, very rarely leaving. In fact, the only time she's ever gone out is on one of her personal private endeavours for the sake of gathering ingredients." I admitted.

"So, is there anything that she hasn't been able to get her hands on that she would come out of hiding for?" Harmony asked.

Nothing came to mind, but Ti immediately perked up.

"Easy, Rosary Pea." Ti bragged, "She's been talking about it for years but has never been able to get her hands on the right strain. If we maybe published an article or submit it to a news platform, saying that the plant has been found near the Bloodlust Area, she'll come running. In fact, I would think that she wouldn't even tell the other Leaders, just say that she's going on a mission. No matter how suspicious it sounds, she'll come running."

"And if she's in the area, we can set up an informed trap and get her in the dungeons. Maybe get some information out of her before we kill her." Alexander finished. "Done, we can do that."

"From there, they'll most likely either send out Master Skotus to assess the situation. Obviously, in terms of the case of a leader, the only person important and trusted enough to assess it is another Leader. Or, they'll make their official attack. If they go down that road, what would your plans be?" I asked, laying my information down on the table.

"We would get in contact with other packs beforehand, have them aware of what could possibly happen, then, from there, if they should launch a proper attack we'll get in contact with them immediately and then have their support in our attack back," Vance said confidently.

Alexander smiled, tucking his hands beneath his chin. "Amazing, now for the next topic,"

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" -According to Myra Weir, Bloodlusts Gamma and resident witch, the poisonous 'Rosary Pea' has been discovered just off their borders. Gamma Weir claims that this is the first time that this specific branch of the plant has been found, one that does not affect the Fae and Spirits when touched or crushed, yet still has an equally as powerful effect. Bloodlust, while choosing to make this information public, have made the desiscion to leave the plants untouched, as to try and preserve the natural wildlife as successfully as possible."

The news piece then shifted from the womans face onto images we had provided both of the plant and the area that we had chosen for it. It was just in the area that remained unclaimed, the way that I always travelled to get to Bloodlust from base.

"How long do you think it's going to take for her to show up?" Alexander asked.

The two of us were nestled on the couch, his arm wrapped around my waist as I leaned against his shoulder.

The moment we had left the meeting room, Farren came up and offered to take Hugo off my hands, asking if she could look after him until more details came through about his parents. of course I had said yes, passing over the sleeping child right into Farren's awating arms. No one could miss the way her eyes softened and the smile that bloomed on her face as he tugged onto her torso slightly tighter.

I had never taken Farren as a maternal figure, but after seeing her just in that moment, I truly wondered why.

"Who knows, depends on when she'll see it. Within the next two days at the very least." I hummed.

His chest rumbled, "That's such a long span of time. But as long as it happens, it'll be worth the wait."

"I'll be sad to see her die, I think." I whispered. "It's hard to distinguish a memory from a hallucination, but I remember her caring for me. After training sessions, ones that were particuarly bad, she would walk me back to my room, sometimes give me something sweet to bring my sugars up. Of course, she gaslighted me and manipulated the minds of the other leaders into harsher punishments and used the fact that she was the nicest into forcing me awful situations."

Alexander hugged me a little tighter, "I know that what you're saying is supposed to be nice, but really it's just persuading me into having her death onto my hands instead of someone elses."

I sighed, "I know, I know. But still, the positive ideas of her outweigh the negative ones, I think."

"Well, here's a question. Circe Hemlock, who was she before she was a spirit?" Alexander asked, trying to move my attention slightly, "They don't remember and the Fae aren't allowed to say. Circe Hemlock is the only Leader that's actually well-known outside of the Organistaion, especially among Pack Officials so I'll admit that I've heard my fare share of rumours about her, but I'm curious about what you think."

It was something I had given thought to, something everyone in the Organisation liked to conspire about.

"She's old. I know that much and chanced are she's close to fading, close to her life ending permenantly. As for when she was a Fae, I think she was the one who created the rift between us all. Something she did, perhaps it was in the form of a curse, maybe not. Though I will be honest, the idea that she was the final Fae Queen certainly paints quite the picture."

Xander began to stroke my skin, the very touch causing my eyes to droop with exhaustion.

"I think I believe that she was no one. Some sort of dramatic death caused a peak in her power so when she came back as a spirit..." Alexander trailed off, "Of course, I haven't met her or anything, but that's my thinking.

"And that's just Mistress Hemlock. Master Skotus... where did he get his power from? How did he become so advanced so quickly? Madame Beaudeline, how she learned to hide her emotions, how she gained her power, how she keeps her personal life and abilities so quiet. I've spent my entire life with them and yet, I barely know a single thing. Of course, they were so much higher than me, they had no obligation to tell me anything."

"It's crazy just how big of a part it was in your life." Alexander replied, almost bewildered. "I'm glad that you got out of it."

"Yeah," I replied, "I am too."

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John Ladder, Willow Lane, Quinn Lane, Morris Lawrence, Kyle Le, Yasmin Le.

Finally, I found the names on the eternal list that I had been looking for. I sat alone on my bed, filtering through until I found the last name, 'Le'.

Attatched to the two names Kyle and Yasmin was a small bracket and beside it was written, 'Hugo Le, Two years, 98 days, (alive)'

I bit my tongue. It was confirmed, Hugo's parents had been killed. I stood up and strolled through the house, moving down to where I knew Farren and Myra's room was. I rasped my fist against the door, Farren immediately opening the door.

"Hey," She said, breathlessly. "What's up?"

I looked behind her to see Myra and Hugo on the floor, playing some game including cars and robots.

"Just step outside the door for a second," I murmrmed, "I don't want him to hear."

The tension changed, suddenly becoming much more intense. Knowingly, Farren shut the door behind her before leaning against it. "What does it say?" She gestured down to paper in my hand.

I swallowed harsly, "Both of his parents have passed away."

A sigh, "I thought so." Farren looked behind as if she was staring straight at her mate and Hugo. "We know what his options are, now that his parents death has been confirmed. We want to adopt him, officially. It was in the cards for us anyhow, we were just waiting for this whole thing to blow over but now that it's here... Myra says it's fate and I think I believe her. We want to adopt him."

My heart swelled. "I have no objections to that, and we'll start the process as soon as possible."

Farren smiled slightly, "We'll be talking to Alexander after we talk to Hugo, but thank you."

I lowered my head in respect before taking my leave. I dropped the piece of paper back at Xander's office, sliding it beneath the slit of the door before wandering off. I was moments away from starting my shift watching over the area for Mistress Hemlock. I jumped down the stairs and exited the area, disapperading back into the forest and eventually, crossing over the border.

As I moved into the field, I watched as Vance dropped down from a tree. He cracked his neck as he wandered over, slapping my hand as he passed me.

"Good luck," He said cheerfully, "It gets tiring within five minutes."

I snorted, "Or maybe you're just lazy. Keep walking Vance,"

I climbed up into a different tree than the one that Vance had dropped out of, hanging myself delicately between the branches in a spot that allowed me the perfect vantage point to be watching the bush of fake rosary pea, far enough away that I couldn't be seen but close enough that I would be able to reach her before she would be able to escape.

I leaned my head back against the bark and started to wait.

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