Zuri felt her heart stop beating for a moment when she realized what this devil would tell Knox. No way.
"You have a daughter with July. Her name is Rhea. Don't you think it's a beautiful name?" Aaron said those words in a congratulatory tone, as if he had delivered a great piece of news, something that should make you happy. "Your woman is very protective of your girl," he said indulgently.
On the other hand, Knox stiffened, his expression betrayed his thoughts, which told him to not give any reaction, but the shock he received was too great for him not to give any reaction.
He had a daughter with July? There was no way. July shouldn't have been pregnant in the first place, it would make more sense if it was Sebastian's daughter. There must be a mistake, but then… when Knox glanced at Zuri, his deepest fear was confirmed.
"You know about it…"
That didn't even sound like a question, but more like an accusation. Knox didn't even try to hide what he felt right now, because this was too much for him to handle.
"She met with little Rhea a few weeks ago, right Blue?" Aaron directed his eyes at Zuri, he looked so happy to see that she was in trouble.
Knox turned his head and narrowed his eyes at Zuri, he looked at her with anger and hostility. When he spoke again, the words that came out of his lips sounded like a curse.
"You know about this, but you didn't say anything? Just like how you lied about Eros." Knox was seething right now and the sight of him alone was enough reason for Zuri to get into a fighting stance, since he looked like he was going to attack her soon. "Answer me, Zuri."
Zuri gritted her teeth. She couldn't lie her way out of this situation. "I didn't tell Chaos either."
That was not the answer Knox was looking for, but on a second note, she wanted to tell him that she didn't put his daughter's life in danger, since she had not yet told Chaos about this.
"I don't know how to tell you about this." Zuri shook her head.
Even now, Zuri still cursed Gael for bringing her along to July's place. Who would have thought she would be burdened by such knowledge? In this case, ignorance was indeed a blessing.
"I am sorry."
Knox was livid, he looked like he was going to punch her if she said another word again. Having said all the things that she could say, Zuri fell silent.
On the other hand, Flo stared at the events that unfolded before eyes with a cold gaze, but when she turned her head and talked to Nikolai, her expression softened as she looked more her age.
"I am hungry, can we go somewhere else and buy food?" Flo said childishly, whispering and tugging Nikolai's sleeve. "Please…"
Looking at Flo's face melted his heart, he saw his young sister in her.
Vanesha…
Vanesha was also eleven years old when Chaos ran rampant for the first time in the old capital city, which caused hundreds of thousands of casualties.
It made the Fokosa city turn into the city of the supernatural creatures, while they, humans, had to evacuate to find shelter in the Lucinda city, which now became their new capital city.
That was a rough time, because at the same time, Nikolai was forced to join the organization, since they were short of manpower. He was forced to be separated from Vanesha and he didn't know how she grew up.
Because Vanesha right now was no longer a young sister in his mind. She was very calculative, cunning and sneaky.
"Okay, we will go after this, okay?" Nikolai replied in a small voice before he patted Flo on her backhand.
"Knox," Aaron called his name to get his attention, as the latter looked like he was considering whether to kill Zuri on the spot or not. "They are with me, I will welcome you if you really wish to see her. You should thank me because I am protecting them. You must know how overprotective July can be. I hope to see you soon."
And after saying that, both of them disappeared.
It was very clear that Aaron was playing a savior for those shattered souls and gathered them together to fight against Chaos, if they could get Knox because of his daughter, it would be a great progress for them, not to mention, Aaron had managed to build his power in human world and manipulated them to take his side.
While Chaos didn't care about what was going on in this realm, Aaron managed to strengthen his influence on humans and spread his plan in this realm.
"What else did you hide?" Knox asked Zuri coldly, he looked her straight in the eyes and shook his head in disbelief. "You help when it is convenient for you, but when you find it difficult to deal with, you will lie."
"You did by omitting the truth!" Knox snapped back. "What about Eros? Can you say that you didn't lie when I asked you countless times whether he was Chaos's shattered soul or not?!"
Zuri was tongue- tied, she couldn't say anything.
Not only her, but most of them felt that their pride had been trampled upon.
"Do you want to be the alpha?" Ariana asked Eros bluntly, she looked him straight in the eyes, as they "I believe Chaos has told you about this already, but if you can't take it, step back."
And after saying that, Knox disappeared, leaving her alone in this narrow alley.
===========================
Ariana knew that Eros would come visit Xerxes that night, she knew about this for a long time now, but let it be, because she didn't care about it. But then, her mate was harmed and she wanted to rebel against the alpha, especially after confirming the fact that Liam wanted to join hands with humans.
Not only her, but most of them felt that their pride had been trampled upon.
"Do you want to be the alpha?" Ariana asked Eros bluntly, she looked him straight in the eyes, as they talked face to face.
They were in a quiet corner of the building, where there were not many guards patrolling around this area, not only Emily and Eros, but Ariana also had a great knowledge about the protection around this pack.
After all, she lived in this place longer than the two of them.
"What?" Emily furrowed her brows when she heard that statement. She was shocked as her face blanched. If someone else heard this, it could be interpreted as them committing treason and alpha Liam wouldn't be pleased to hear that. "Don't say something like that."
Emily looked around her, afraid that someone might hear what Ariana said.
However, on the contrary, Eros didn't seem to show any reaction. He listened to what the healer wanted to say calmly, while Emily clung to his arm. She was slightly trembling because of the bold statement from Ariana.
But, the other two didn't seem to care too much. They didn't even try to watch what they were saying.
"Liam will only bring calamity to our kind and make us fight against each other. With him taking humans' side, not only do we need to fight other packs, but there will also be turmoil inside of our pack. Most of the members don't agree with this decision either. It is only a matter of time before all of them will explode and start to rebel."
Ariana, the healer, who always looked so docile and was a far cry from being so confrontational, was actually planning a coup right now.
It was still too far to say that this was a coup, but of course they would progress toward that point.
Ariana was a little bit frustrated because Eros didn't show any emotions. She was not used to persuading someone like this, but she couldn't help it after she heard how badly injured her mate was and how callous Liam was when he found out about that.
That wouldn't be the last time and if it happened again, there was no guarantee Colton would survive while Liam would replace him easily.
Ariana had seen how Liam dealt with the situation when Colton was injured and she was sure he hadn't felt even an inch of concern for his loyal gamma.
In that case, why should they pledge their loyalty to such an alpha?
"This time, it is Colton, but since the alpha wants to involve Emily more actively in our next mission, can you guarantee that she will be safe, that she will not be injured in the process? We need to deal with humans and also fight our own kind."
If only Ariana knew that the people and organization that they would join was the same organization that had tortured Eros in his childhood, she would have used that reason as well, but right now, the healer could only use Eros's affection toward Emily.
"You are not the alpha, Eros. You don't have the power to reject him. As long as this pack acknowledges Liam as their alpha, you can't truly keep her safe." Ariana looked at Emily, whose face blanched because of this whole conversation. "Colton can survive because he is a shifter and he has remarkable healing power, but if that kind of thing happened to a human, there is no chance you will be able to even say your goodbye."
Emily felt a chill run down her spine, her breathing ragged. "Ariana," she whimpered, because this conversation was getting dangerous.
"You know I am right." Ariana ignored Emily's protest and shifted her attention back to Eros. "Will you put her in that kind of danger?"