Chapter 196: Chapter 196 – Don’t you think there’s a reason I’ve been ignoring your calls?

The Centenary Pack. One hour earlier.

"Alpha, their condition is getting worse."

Damon’s voice carried urgency, but Ravyn barely reacted, his expression tightening just a little as he shot him a look that carried more irritation than anger.

"I told you already," he said, his tone low but firm, "just call me by my first name."

There was no real bite in it, but the distance between had been closed up the moment Damon invested more in his company. Right now, The Walkers Global Enterprise was what it was because of Damon.

Ravyn’s focus pivoted almost immediately, his mind snapping back to the problem pressing down on them from every direction, suffocating and relentless.

He had seen something like this before, and that memory alone made his chest tighten in a way he couldn’t ignore.

"This has happened before," he said slowly, his brows drawing together as he thought it through, piecing together fragments of memory and instinct. "But last time... the effect hit Sera the hardest."

His voice dropped slightly, quieter now, edged with something protective, and unspoken.

"We can’t let that happen again."

His gaze lifted to Damon, sharp and searching. "Have you figured out where it’s coming from?"

Damon shook his head, frustration flickering across his face. "No. It spreads too fast. Anyone who inhales it gets hit almost immediately, and before we can even collect samples..." he exhaled, shaking his head again, "the air just swallows it up. There’s nothing left to analyze."

That wasn’t just bad, it was dangerous, and unpredictable.

Ravyn’s jaw tightened, but instead of responding right away, his attention drifted for a moment.

Bryan.

The little boy sat nearby, completely unaware of the storm building around him, quietly eating the pancakes Ravyn had made with careful, almost awkward effort.

Ever since Seraphine had given the condition that entrusted Bryan to him, everything had changed. The responsibility wasn’t optional or shared, but entirely his.

And Ravyn, who had never imagined himself standing in a kitchen flipping pancakes, had found himself reading cookbooks, trying to figure out something as simple as how to cook for his own son’s enjoyment.

Bryan didn’t even like the food. That much was obvious, but he still ate it anyway.

Because his father made it, and that small, quiet loyalty, warmed a part of Ravyn he didn’t even realize had been cold for so long.

He dragged his attention back to Damon, his expression hardening again as reality settled in.

"How many casualties?"

"Eight so far," Damon replied, his tone heavier now. "Only one is responding to treatment, and that’s because he was farther away from the others when it happened."

He hesitated briefly before adding, "The rest... they didn’t even see it coming. No one knows where it started."

Ravyn ran a hand through his hair, frustration threading through the gesture as his thoughts raced, trying to find something, anything they might have missed.

"Where’s Daisy?" he asked suddenly.

"In her room," Damon answered. "Still upset about being restricted from using any electrical devices."

That made Ravyn pause, something clicking faintly in the back of his mind, his expression changing as he recalled something he had almost overlooked.

"Daisy has specialized medical training," he murmured, more to himself than to Damon.

A brief silence followed before he reached out through the mindlink.

’Daisy, go to the hospital. There’s been a chemical explosion. They need help.

For a moment, there was nothing. Just silence stretching thin between them.

Then her voice came through, softer than he expected, laced with something fragile he didn’t immediately recognize.

’Rav... I’m not in the right state to work. I haven’t been feeling well lately.’

There was a pause, like she was hesitating, like she was choosing her words carefully. ’Can you lift the pack arrest... or come check on me?’

Ravyn’s expression darkened almost instantly, irritation flaring up in a way that felt sharper than the situation called for, but it was there, fed by anger.

Still bothered by the way she had been communicating with other men, the quiet betrayal that hadn’t quite faded from his mind. He had not even told her that someone by the name Zane had called her on the phone because somehow, he hoped for the person to show up as he threatened.

So when he responded, his tone carried more edge than it should have. ’I’m already taking care of Bryan, he shot back. Now you want me to take care of you too? How many children do I have?’

The moment the mindlink left him, they lingered there, harsher than necessary, but he didn’t take them back.

In her room, Daisy went still, her lips pressing together as the sting of his words settled in, sharp and unexpected. For a second, it felt like something inside her cracked, like the space between them, once so easy, was suddenly filled with something cold and distant.

’Rav... are you calling me a child now?’ she asked quietly through the mindlink, her voice barely holding together.

But there was no answer. The connection snapped shut before she could even process it, leaving behind nothing but silence.

Back where he sat, Ravyn’s jaw tightened as he withdrew from the link, his expression hardening again as if shutting down that entire exchange had been the simplest solution.

"It’s useless relying on her," he said flatly, almost dismissively. "I’ll call Sera."

Damon’s brows lifted slightly, concern flickering across his face. "Luna Sera? Are you sure she’d even be willing?"

He hesitated before adding carefully, "I’ve heard things. About how she was treated."

The implication hung in the air, unspoken but clear, but Ravyn didn’t seem to waver.

"She helped Bryan," he said, his voice firm with quiet certainty. "That means she will."

Damon pressed his lips into a thin line, nodding slowly even though something about that reasoning didn’t sit entirely right with him.

"You’re right," he said anyway. "There’s no harm in trying. She seems like a good person... helping Bryan like that."

There was something controlled in his tone, because the truth was, Damon knew more than he was letting on about Seraphine, but Ravyn didn’t need to know that.

Before the thought could stretch any further, Ravyn had already pulled out his phone and dialed her number.

The call didn’t last long.

And when it ended, the change in his expression said everything.

His mood had turned sour, frustration settling in his features like a shadow he couldn’t quite shake.

Damon didn’t need to ask but he did anyway. "Let me guess," he said lightly, though his eyes were sharp, "she refused?"

Ravyn didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he sat there, his lips pressed together as something calculating flickered behind his gaze.

"She might refuse me," he said slowly, his voice dropping with quiet determination, "but she won’t refuse my parents."

Without wasting another second, he dialed a different number. It rang once, twice, then went dead.

Ravyn’s expression darkened, but he didn’t hesitate—he called again, more insistently this time, and the line connected. "Ravyn," his father’s voice came through, calm but edged with something unmistakable. "Don’t you think there’s a reason I’ve been ignoring your calls?"

For a brief moment, something flickered in Ravyn’s eyes, but it didn’t linger. He pushed past it, forcing his voice steady. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Dad," he said, the word heavy with more than just address, "you might hate me... but this isn’t about me."

There was a pause, a quiet inhale, before he added, his tone tightening with urgency,

"It’s about the pack."