CHAPTER THIRTY SIX: BETRAYAL FROM WITHIN

"If we're going to do this properly," Sarah said,

"you need to understand exactly how deep this betrayal goes. Sit back down, Laila. There's more you need to see."

I sat back on the log, my heart still racing from the revelations about Damien and my uncle.

Thomas reached into his own bag and pulled out a worn notebook.

"After the warrior died, we started our own investigation. We couldn't do it openly - the Alpha had already dismissed our concerns as paranoia."

"But we gathered what evidence we could."

"What did you find?"

"Patterns," Rose said.

"Terrible, damning patterns."

Thomas opened the notebook, revealing pages filled with dates, names and locations written in cramped handwriting.

"Every family with special bloodline abilities that has been attacked in the last twenty years," he explained, pointing to the list.

"We tracked them all."

I scanned the names.

There were dozens of them, maybe fifty or more families listed.

"All of these people were killed?"

"Most of them," Sarah