Lunar Legacy: Rise Of The Beastlord-Chapter 299: Meeting with Fred

Jayden's eyes narrowed slightly. "Aunt Kate?" he muttered to himself.

"Yes. Your aunt Kate," Fred confirmed, having heard him. "We went to Beta Academy together. We were... close friends too. Very close."

Jayden felt a flicker of surprise but kept his expression neutral. "You went to school with Aunt Kate?"

"I did," Fred said, a hint of nostalgia crossing his features. "Kate was brilliant. Top of our class in tactical analysis and... basically everything else. She could read a situation faster than anyone I've ever met. She was also stubborn as hell, fiercely protective of the people she cared about, and had a sense of humor that could catch you completely off guard." His expression softened slightly. "And the last time we met, she talked about you, actually. The newbie wolf she was mentoring. Said you had potential beyond what most people could see."

Jayden's throat tightened. Kate had been more than just a teacher to him these past few weeks—she'd been a mentor, a guide, someone who he'd begun to look up to. Hearing someone talk about her like this, as a real person with depth and history...

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Jayden managed, his hard shell already cracking. "At the school. In the forest."

"Because I needed to be sure," Fred replied. "Sure that you were who I thought you were. Sure that you weren't a threat. Sure that helping you wouldn't blow up in both our faces."

Jayden raised a brow. "And now you're sure?"

"Now I'm sure." Fred took a sip of his own coffee. "Jayden, I need you to understand something. I've been aware of you for a while now. Even before Kate told me about you."

Jayden's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I know all about your... extracurricular activities," Fred said calmly. "know about the men you fought a few weeks ago. The ones who tried to hurt you and your friends. I know about your late-night hunts in the forest. I know about your abilities, about your frequent hunts in Jade city, all of it. I even know about the smugglers you took down yesterday."

Jayden's eyes widened. Blood drained from his face. "How—"

"The EVA sees everything, Jayden. We have surveillance on every major city. Monitoring systems that flag unusual activity. Algorithms that track energy signatures and combat patterns." Fred's gaze was steady, unflinching. "You've been pinging those systems since you came back from coma. Every fight. Every transformation. Every time you push your limits."

Jayden's hands clenched into fists under the table. His mind was racing, panic clawing at the edges of his control. If EVA knew everything, if they'd been stalking him—

"But," Fred continued, and his voice took on a different tone, "those pings don't go anywhere. The reports get reported and then... disappear. Investigations get redirected. Evidence gets lost in bureaucratic shuffle. Because I make sure they do."

Jayden blinked. "You...?"

"I've been covering for you, Jayden. Since before we even met at the school. Since before I saw you transform in that forest." Fred leaned forward, his expression intense. "I'm the Lunaria family's inside man at EVA. Your family has had someone watching your back from within the organization for years. I've worked with Castor Lunaria before. He trusts me. I even knew your mum when she was alive. And when I saw your face flagged in the system, saw a Lycan with that same silver hair showing up on surveillance footage doing things that should have gotten him immediately detained... I made a choice."

"To protect me," Jayden said slowly, trying to process this avalanche of information.

"To give you a chance," Fred corrected. "To see if you were a threat or just a kid trying to survive in a world that doesn't understand what you are. Kate believed in you. Believed you had something special. I owed her enough to at least verify that before I let EVA lock you up. Because even though you're related to the Lunaria family, it doesn't automatically make you a good person."

"And what am I?" Jayden asked, his voice harder now. "In your assessment?"

Fred didn't hesitate. "You're dangerous. Powerful. Capable of significant destruction if you lose control. But you're not a monster. I've seen monsters, Jayden. Real ones. Beasts that kill indiscriminately. Evolved humans who use their gifts to hurt people for pleasure or profit. You don't fit that profile."

Jayden's gaze turned serious. "How can you be sure?"

"Because I've been watching," Fred said simply. "You fight when threatened, but you don't kill unless necessary. You protect people—your friends, strangers, even that woman in the alley. You have rules. Lines you won't cross. That's not the behavior of a monster. That's the behavior of someone trying to do the right thing with the hand they've been dealt."

Jayden stared at him, searching for any sign of deception. But Fred's expression was open, honest.

"You approached me after the school tournament," Jayden said. "With your partner."

"I took that case intentionally," Fred admitted. "When your name came up as a person of interest after your performance, I made sure I was assigned to the investigation. Jenny doesn't know any of this. As far as she's concerned, we're just doing standard follow-up on a suspicious but promising student."

"And how many people in EVA do know?" Jayden demanded. "How many are covering for me?"

"A handful," Fred replied. "People I trust. People who owe me favors or who have their own reasons for wanting to keep you off the radar. But Jayden, you need to understand—this is a tightrope. If you keep beating up criminals in alleys, if you keep transforming in semi-public locations, eventually someone's going to slip through the cracks. Someone I can't control. And then all of this falls apart."

Jayden raised a brow. "Is that a threat?"

"It's a warning," Fred said firmly. "You're playing a dangerous game. I get it—you're strong, you can handle yourself. But strength isn't enough when you're up against an entire organization designed to contain people like you. One mistake, one witness I can't silence, one piece of evidence I can't bury, and you're done. Captured. Studied. Locked away in a facility where they'll spend the rest of your life trying to figure out what makes you tick."

"Do you want that?"