The Dark Side Of Fate

~Tamia~

I was worried about the arrests, primarily because of the rumours about the gun assassination. I did not know if it were the truth or a piece of false information to mislead us. Anything was possible because the people were intelligent, and they were multiple steps ahead of us.

After Sylvester and the other men left, I knew we had to set some things in motion and reduce the workload.

Iris's questioning would have to wait. I was curious to find out what was in the flash drive.

Sylvester had asked a valid question, and I was tempted to ask Amanda, but I changed my mind. No one trusted her intentions, and they all had valid reasons.

I needed to consult with my friends to figure out what to do.

Carrying Sylvester's laptop, I took the drive from where Sylvester kept it in the closet and headed to Avery's wing so we could check the content together.

We decided to have breakfast there because time was of the essence. Since the information wasn't encrypted, there was no need for a hacker. We would just do well enough.

"Where are you?" I heard Stephanie's voice in my head, and I honestly did not want to see her until I was done, but I knew she would just come looking for me.

"On my way to Avery's room," I replied.

"Nicole wanted us to have breakfast together. I do not want to be there alone,” She confessed, and I giggled.

"You will have to. I have been given a task which I have to complete before Sylvester returns,” I confessed, and she was silent a bit before responding.

"Very well then, 1 will see you later,” She said, giving up, and I was glad she was letting the matter rest.

I arrived at Avery's door and knocked. She answered, and I let myself in.

Linda was there eating a sandwich, and we all greeted ourselves.

"Doing some tech stuff?" Linda said, pointing at the laptop, and I giggled.

"No, Linda. We are going through the flash drive Amanda gave us," I said, and Avery rolled her eyes. "You mean the snake because that is what she is,” Avery said, not wanting to give Amanda the benefit of the doubt.

Looking at it, nobody gave the woman the benefit of the doubt. We all believed she was up to no good.

"You have to agree with Ave, Tamia,” Linda said.

"We were there, remember. Leo took her everywhere; introduced her as his luna to people. They abandoned you at home most of the time and left you to attend serious meetings only. If Leo could admit more than one Luna or replace you, he would have. We all knew how she was eager to attend those meetings, and he had to say no because you were the strategist," she said and stood up.

"The three of us have come a long way, Tamia, and the goddess has smiled on us again, but we should not forget our enemies and the pain of our past. It is what has brought us this far.” Linda said and looked at me.

"Amanda should have gracefully walked away from that party and returned to Cain Island when she realised her fated was already happily married. She should have exposed her father's lies when he tried to force her into your home. And if she did not dare to do so, she should have rejected Leo and stayed out of the way of your marriage when they brought her to your home; she is an Alpha breed, Tamia. Unlike you, she could let go without his consent. Leo is rich; he would have set her up wherever she wanted. She ruined a perfect marriage and claimed she did it because her father said so. Please,” Linda said, rolling her eyes.

"She continued her deception,” Avery continued, “just like the women that took those douchebags from us. Amanda continued her deception after you had left. She had Leo all to herself, and she knew what her father was doing, yet she did not tell Leo. It is almost as if she wants her father to succeed. Claiming she fed him lies? Was that really necessary? She did not need to lie to anyone; All she had to do was tell Leo the truth, Tamia, and she didn't. For whatever fucked up reason she may have, she didn't tell him the truth, and that is the most painful part of all this. She held on to the truth and continued to allow Ramsey to succeed. People died in that attack. What if our men weren't so nice? Do you know how we would have ended up? They were going to kill Leo, you say. Why didn't the bitch give herself up to be taken as tribute? Why did you have to do it? I bet she hoped you would shift, fight and get killed in the process. She is only crying now because she got caught,” Avery said, and I knew both she and Linda were right.

I sighed and sat on the chair, a bit weak in the knees because they had opened fresh wounds. No matter how much I say I forgive Amanda and Leo, my heart couldn't let the pain go. Leo and I were best friends, and he betrayed me for a total stranger. He was my first in almost everything, relationship and friendship-wise, and he betrayed me. Pain like that does not go away. I fought my tears because this wasn't the time to break down.

"I agree with both of you. Sylvester and I discussed it, and we felt it was weird that she did not give Leo the drive after he confronted her. What was she playing at?" I asked, and Avery laughed.

"Last resort, if all fails, she will pretend to be on the winning side,” Linda said, and we laughed. As funny as the answer was, it was true.

"You know the painful part of all this is that Theo told me we can't hold the bitch here for long if we can't link her directly to anything. Leo would have to send her back to the east, and then they would solve their matter there." Linda said, and I nodded, knowing that bit too.

"The arrests might yield something no matter how little; we might get something that we can pin on the bitch and deal with her, pregnant or not. I do not care. She deserves to suffer. Maybe sentence her to prison and take the babies from her when she gives birth. I am just thinking. But she has been too wicked to you, Tamia, for her to go scot-free,” Avery said, and I appreciated their support.

"I would like that too, but unless someone says something to implicate her, we will have to let her go soon,” I said, and we were all silent.

I turned on the laptop, and Linda frowned at me.

"Is that Sylvester's?" she asked, and I nodded.

"I do not think connecting Amanda's drive to that laptop is wise. What if there is spyware in it," she said, and it did not cross my mind.

"You need a blank laptop, one that is not connected to the internet and that has nothing on it to monitor or copy. I am still baffled that she gave you the drive instead of Leo. What if it is all part of the plan? After all, that was what Lilly was doing for them here before the two-timing, two-faced bitch got caught. I am just saying," she said, finishing her sandwich, and I felt foolish.

How could I have been so careless?

I was very grateful to Linda for her wisdom. I guess that questioning and critical thinking had slowed me down mentally.

I linked Kappa Wilson to get me a laptop that wasn't used for anything serious. I was glad Sylvester left Wilson for me. The Kappa has been an asset, and even though we started off on the wrong foot because of the slap, he has been respectful and efficient. I wouldn't change him for anything.

"Yes, Luna. I will bring one to you now." He said, and I relaxed.

Food was brought, and we ate while we waited for Kappa Wilson to get the laptop I requested. "Our wedding is fast approaching, and we have not decided what to wear," Avery said, sounding worried.

"I hate this uprising group. They are a pain. We should be receiving beauty treatments and having the wedding planned, but as things are looking, it would be rushed, thanks to those bastards," Linda said, and I felt the same way.

Although Sylvester and I did not need the blue moon ceremony to claim each other and be connected, we still wanted to experience it and be a part of it. It was a fantastic feeling. Our wolves and us would have ceremonies, and people would witness our declaration of love and union as we claim each other under the particular moon. But these bastards were occupying our planning time. I didn't want it rushed, so I thought of an idea.

"How about I have Katya, Stephanie, and Nicole plan it? Katya will be getting married on that day, Nicole is looking for something to do, and Stephanie has been bored lately. We can ask them to do it, and we would just worry about our dresses." I said, and Linda smiled.

"That is very smart. I hope your sister-in-law won't mind and Stephanie would willingly oblige because we both know how the woman is. She comes off as unstable sometimes," Linda said, and I knew Stephanie gave that vibe, but I knew she wasn't unstable. Yet, I could not defend it because I knew Stephanie's secrets, and Sylvester and I vowed not to tell anyone of the demons that haunted the woman. As things were, it was clear that it would soon be out in the open, but I was hopeful we would nail the bastards before all that happened.

"I understand, but I am sure she would love to do it," I said, and Linda nodded

Wilson soon brought the laptop, and I connected the drive to it.

On it was a folder labelled Files. Inside that folder were other folders marked Desktop, downloads, and documents.

We went through them, and they all had just one file. Each had a document file of lists of names. The one in the downloads was from an email, while the others were screenshots of a folder. The information wasn't coherent initially, but it soon made sense. By the time we finished going through the drive, we had found over eighty names of the members of the uprising.

We didn't even have that number of names. The people we arrested were about thirty-forty altogether, eighty names of which we already knew twenty-seven on the list was a huge break. Amanda really had in for her father. The sad part was their aliases weren't there, so we did not know who the king was and if he was among them. I would have to have Leo question her about the king before he decides what he would do to her. So far, Amanda has cooperated and has no direct link to anything. We had nothing to hold her with, we would be violating her rights by holding her in the North. Unless Leo decides to take her to the east and deal with his problems there, there was no reason to hold her.