Chapter 465: True colors reveal

As the night sky slowly began to split into dusk, with birds flying over the brightening horizon and the air turning colder with the morning weather, a little far away from Silver, beyond the trees that separated the packless from the largest pack, a new pack could be seen building up, with modern skyscrapers under construction.

While the rest were still under construction, one in particular had already been completed, and some of the floors were in use, though there was no elevator working yet. In one of the new rooms, Zoe could be seen getting off the bed she had been sleeping in ever since she arrived.

Though the building was starting to look like home, it didn’t feel like home, and she was beginning to think maybe it was time to head back and stop this silly game of seeing if anyone would notice her absence and come looking for her.

Zoe pursed her lips as she sat up on the large bed, one leg folded on the mattress and the other on the floor, as she stared at the breaking dusk. She’d been here for days now, though she hadn’t planned to stay, she had only come to visit Nick, who she believed was living with the packless, but she’d been stunned speechless when she was driven into this new place instead.

Zoe reached out to grab her phone from the stand and turned the screen on, her eyes falling immediately to the signal bar, and she was yet again disappointed by the lack of signal in this area. So even if any of her family called, she wouldn’t have received it anyway.

Zoe had meant to let Nick know since yesterday that she’d be leaving today, but she hadn’t gotten the chance to see him, actually, she barely saw him here at all anymore, as he was too busy to give her the time he once had, back when they were in Silver.

He had begun helping the packless build a new pack, and she had wondered whether they even had the right to do that. But he had assured her that they were doing it legally, giving homes to those who had nowhere to go. They had welcomed him kindly, an argument Zoe couldn’t push back against, since she supported that kind of help and wished for everyone to have a home and a roof over their heads.

Only something about Nick was beginning to make her feel slightly uneasy whenever she caught him talking to the others, they feared him and trembled like they were talking to the devil himself, when he wasn’t even the boss of them.

And just yesterday, he had come to tell her, "Very soon, we will be complete here, Zoe. Vee will soon come join us once the buildings are all up. I don’t want her coming here while it’s still a work in progress, so the boss, who is now my friend is making everyone hasten things and move faster."

Zoe had thought he was joking and said, "Yeah, right. You don’t really think Vee will leave my brother and come live here. Besides, I don’t plan on staying here much longer myself."

Nick’s smile had turned stiff at that, and he’d looked at her strangely as he said, "You don’t think I’ll let that happen, do you? Watch and see me make the impossible happen, dear cousin. This pack will flourish, and we will live here together, like a family. This work will be finished in the next two months."

Zoe had thought that impossible, but she hadn’t argued, and now, looking out the window, she could see he wasn’t bluffing, the workers had been laboring overnight without rest as though they indeed intended to finish in two months.

She didn’t like how this was already unfolding. Her short visit was starting to stretch out, and she had a life she wanted to return to in Silver, one she couldn’t even keep up with because of the lack of signal here, not to mention her job. Her employees would be worried sick if no one could reach her.

With that thought in mind, Zoe got off the bed and put on her shoes to go find Nick. If she was going to catch him, it would have to be now, before he left to do his work.

However, as Zoe stepped out onto the floor she was on and made her way down the stairs, she passed workers cleaning and talking. Zoe greeted them the way she usually greeted the ones back in Silver whenever she saw them working, but they didn’t answer, too absorbed in their gossip. By coincidence, she caught the topic of their conversation and slowed down to listen more when she realized it was about her family.

"...how did you hear that? They’re going to execute the Supreme Alpha, for his own pregnant Luna? That’s absurd. What happened to him?"

"I don’t know. I heard it from Michelle, apparently Silver hasn’t been the same, and the Luna has some kind of powers, and her pregnancy is important." Said another, with an uncertain look that made the one listening roll her eyes and mutter,

"It’s probably just a rumor. Killing the Supreme Alpha for the sake of his heir? That’s crazy, and I don’t want him to die like that. It would be better if he died by our own Alpha’s hands for heartlessly banishing us from Silver for stealing from rich guests to make ourselves better, and..." The Omega’s voice trailed off when they noticed Zoe, and they immediately fell silent.

Zoe, who had already heard everything they’d said, began descending the stairs with speed now, determined to request she be taken back home. What was happening back there? Vee was pregnant, and her brother was going to be executed?

She knew it sounded too absurd to be true, and it didn’t make sense at all, but Zoe knew she had to go back home regardless. Even if the execution part was absurd, the pregnancy part wasn’t, and there was no way in hell she would miss out on being part of her niece’s nephew’s, or both’s, pregnancy journey.

Zoe ran to Nick’s place, and when she entered, she stumbled upon a horrific scene that brought her to a halt and left her pale with horror.

Nick stood there, his claws grown out and buried in the neck of one of the big men she’d seen around him, men he’d told her were the ones running the place and giving him a home here as they were friends. Right now, his hand was buried deep in the man’s throat, and right beside his feet lay another dead body.

Nick’s face was menacingly cold, but upon seeing her, he pulled his hand free, and the body dropped to the floor next to the other. Zoe belatedly noticed another man in the room as Nick ordered,

"Get out, and make sure you bring me back good news."

The man bowed and hurried out of the place as though there was fire on his tail, and Zoe realized there was no doubt about who was in charge here. She stared at him, and Nick gave her his charming smile as he reached for a wipe on his desk, saying,

"What brings you here, Zoe? You don’t normally wake up this early." He wiped the blood from his fingers as though the bodies on the floor were nothing, and when he noticed her eyes drop to the sprawled bodies, Nick cursed under his breath and then said,

"I can explain. It’s not what it looks like, I promise. Do you want to eat breakfast with me? We can talk there, and also discuss how you’d like your fashion house built here, and which direction suits you better." He set the wipe aside and pulled a cigarette from his pocket, placing it between his teeth before flicking a lighter at the tip. When it caught, glowing orange, his cheeks hollowed as he took a drag and blew the smoke out from the corner of his lips, all the while, Zoe watched.