SHADOWS OF DESTINY - Season 3 Episode 23

~Leo~

Amelia and Susan cooked a delicious dinner and then served the food at the table together.

I did not need anyone to tell me Amelia was protective of what goes into our stomachs. The fact that

she did not trust the Omegas also was a part of it, but I appreciated her efforts.

Devin praised the meal at the table; when it was time for dessert, he was more than willing to dig in.

I could tell he maintained a strong facade for Susan’s benefit, and I commended him.

Not wanting Susan to worry was sweet of him, but unlike him, I could not hide what I felt from Amelia.

She might not ask, but I knew she knew I was worried. We were connected, so hiding my emotions

would be pointless.

“Both of you made this?” Devin asked, tasting the fudge, and Susan smiled.

“Amelia is a professional, and she has decided to take me under her wings,” Susan said, smiling

gratefully, looking at Amelia and thanking her. It was clear the women had fun in the kitchen.

I wished I could have fun too. Max and Kyle did not join us. They remained at the bungalow.

Knowing the lords were coming made them uncomfortable about staying in the packhouse.

I could understand, but I hoped it would be temporary, and they could sit and talk like Sylvester and

me.

After dinner, Devin and I returned to the lounge to wait for Alexei.

Alexei arrived at ten in the night. I wondered why it took so long, but I knew he would elaborate once I

saw him.

Casper brought them to the packhouse lounge, and I did not need to guess why it took long for them to

come. The three of them were shirtless, and their shorts seemed stolen. It only meant they had been in

a fight.

Clay’s hair was white, and he had grey eyes. I figured they were contact lenses.

He was easily six feet six inches and brawny. He also had tattoos that bled to his neck. His face looked

more like Amelia’s but with harder edges. Had I seen him first, I would have connected the dots.

He greeted me politely and greeted Devin, who seemed reserved.

I could understand Devin’s reservations.

Clay was a problem for him in the south, just like Alexei was a problem for me in the east.

The third person with them had brown hair but moon eyes like Amelia’s. He wasn’t wearing contacts.

He seemed six feet two and very muscular with sharp edges.

He also had a tan.

The three of them would have done well in the modelling industry. I offered them seats, and Casper

went to get them joggers.

“What happened?” Devin asked, beating me to the question.

“Andrew was being tailed. They attacked us. There were about seven of them. He was lucky he was with us when they found him; he would have been dead,” Alexei said, and Clay laughed, and Andrew

ruffled his hair. They were relaxed and free.

“Would have faired well if I had your genes,” Andrew complained, and Clay laughed at him.

It seemed killing the attackers was easy for the brothers. It made me wonder what they could do.

“Why do they want to kill you, Andrew?” I asked the guy.

“Because they figured I was feeding Clay and Alexei with information?” He said quickly, and that was

plausible. Not good enough, but reasonable.

“The group split in two, and most of the members that are unrelated to us have either died or left. Some

are being hunted. See my attack more as Erik tying up loose ends.” Andrew explained.

“What happened in the south,” Devin asked the question that concerned him the most. He wasn’t up for

pleasantries. They weren’t his in-laws.

Alexei raised his palm to plead with Devin to be patient.

“Andrew will tell us everything he knows,” Alexei said, and just then, some omega brought them

glasses of juice and spring rolls.

They collected it politely and thanked them.

Even though they were pretty omegas, the men did not spare them a look which meant they were

disciplined and could not be caught off guard. It was a good quality in an ally but not an enemy.

“Erik and Yuri are having an issue,” Andrew said, and I frowned.

“Who is this, Yuri?” I asked immediately.

“Yuri is our father’s first cousin, the son of Adrik’s brother, Ighor. Erik’s mother fled to the east with him,

so the two grew up like brothers, but they are distant cousins,” He explained I had nothing to say about

it, so I was quiet.

“Yuri started the group. It was a group then, but it transformed into a cult later.

Yuri started the group so we could all be in touch and help each other.

My father, Uncle Erik and Uncle Ilya helped Uncle Yuri fish out everyone that fled and survived the

massacre.

It was a gradual process that took years. They found all our relatives twenty-nine years ago when they

completed the search and recruitment.

Luis, the true Stepanov heir, was the only member who refused to join.

Their main aim was to restore glory to our bloodline.

Luis said he did not want anything to do with the lordship, so the family leadership was given to Yuri.

Yuri was not pleasant, but he tried to be fair and diplomatic.

They started planning ways to reverse Dimitri’s order by cancelling the lordship and placing the council

above all.

The plan was to swoop in and take out the council, then install Yuri as King; with this plan, the Volkovs

won’t be able to do anything because the council would have stripped the Volkovs of their power by

being above them and abolishing their royalty.

It was a good plan, but they would not be able to achieve this plan without members that weren’t from

our bloodline.

Members that could mingle.

Members that were part of the government and could make things happen, so they remained on the

low.

It became a cult when every male Stepanov, mated or not, was required to impregnate as many

women as possible.

They would settle the women and take the babies from them.

They did this to build an army of people with Stepanov genes.

Erik also carried out some experiments following the formula of the successful trial, and it worked.

He was able to have pregnant women that weren’t Stepanovs but were planning on giving up their

babies for adoption sign up for this trial.

They would pay handsomely and collect the babies. The result could have been better, but it was good

enough. Those babies are the ones in their army now.

To achieve their goals, they started recruiting people without Stepanov genes.

They went after people that had issues with the north or the Volkovs. Maurice’s activities in the west did

not help matters then.

My father told me Maurice was like Dimitri.

My father and uncles thought they were doing the right thing.

They thought they were ridding the world of menace by taking down the Volkov bloodline, but they did

not know that to fight a monster, they were becoming monsters too.

Erik believed Yuri was moving too slowly. He stylishly took over by convincing everyone that Yuri wasn’t

fit to lead them. I do not know how because my father was the one that was there.

They placed Erik above Yuri but allowed Yuri to be second in command. Erik worked harder than Yuri.

He visited people in disguise and convinced them to join.

Top families in the west, north, east and south. Then one day, the opportunity fell on their lap when a

council member named Larry complained to his friend in a bar about his need for revenge.

Unknown to Larry, his friend was a cult member, and that was how he was introduced to Erik.

They promised to support him with everything he needed, and he promised to help them cancel the

lordship when the council throws the Volkovs.

With the help of top Alphas from the west and east, Larry almost succeeded, but Maurice caught on,

and that operation ended.

That was the closest the cult had gotten to victory since its inception, so Larry became a valuable

member.

They supported everything he wanted with the condition that his life was forfeit if he ever got caught.

They were not bold or strong enough to have his dealings lead back to them.

Those who participated in Larry’s first uprising were killed, leaving the few to go into hiding.

Erik believed in what Larry was trying to do and decided they would try again when the time was right.

Maurice was too difficult for them, and by the time they got Maurice, a new lord had been installed, one more fierce than his father, Sylvester Volkov.

Sylvester was brutal and quick to action.

He never left an enemy alive, and that was a problem for the cult.

Like Sylvester, we had taken over from our fathers by then, but the old men were still in charge.

Yuri told Erik they should take the south and east and leave the north for the Volkovs.

Erik refused and said the Volkovs would pay for what they did to their clan.

They contacted Larry again and sponsored another uprising well planned than the first, but this time,

Sylvester had help from all of you.

Things just did not work in the cult’s favour.

It was even worse because now Sylvester Volkov had installed himself as king, meaning taking over

the north would not be possible until the king and lords were dead.

That was when Erik and Yuri disagreed.

Erik wanted the Volkovs dead, while Yuri would settle for taking the east and south and ruling it as king.

They did not bother to fight about it. Each carried out their plans.

Yuri sent his loyal men to take overpacks that shared a border with the east and south.

From there, they would have successfully divided our world, and instead of having four regions, it will

just be two, north and south.

Erik concentrated on getting people to the north to finish the Volkovs and those bearing their mother’s

last names.

For Erik to install himself as king, every person in the Volkov lineage must die because Sylvester

Volkov is the first original king in hundreds of years. He was chosen and placed there. It wasn’t the old

Mornach but a new one, and because of that, there would be no alternating between the two clans.

When Alexei and Clay took over the eastern and srouthern packs, Yuri knew he would no longer have

the element of surprise.

He figured someone had informed them of their plans to take those packs.

The packs were in strategic places. To get into the east, they must go through Hill Valley, Brentwood,

and then Brent to get to Mountain.

Once Mountain is down, the rest of the east falls under them, likewise the south.

They moved faster in the south because, unlike the east, which had members in the cult protecting it,

the foreign members in the cult from the south had no sentiments toward the south. Mainly the

Sullivans.

They are a southern family with roots in the north, but Maurice bullied them out of their status.

He wanted their life at a point. I do not know what happened, but they had to flee and leave their

daughter for their brother to raise,” he said, and I was shell-shocked because those were Susan’s

parents, but I kept silent and looked at Devin. He had connected the dots too.

Andrew looked at me, a bit worried whatever he had to say was difficult. I knew it and braced myself for

it.

“Your parents were members until recently when Yuri said he wanted to take the east. I believe they

are currently on the run,” he confessed, and I was speechless. It was as if my air supply had been cut

off briefly. I did not know if I should believe him or not.