Chapter 114

**Maya** **POV**


The next morning I rise quickly at the sound of pounding at the front door. For some reason becoming alpha of this pack has put my instincts into overdrive and I could hear the fast-beating heart of the pack member waiting behind the door. I quickly extract myself from Tommy’s possessive grip and dress enough to make my way downstairs. Once I reach the door I fling it open in expectation of danger.

“Alpha. I apologize for disturbing you but we have a situation.” One of the gate guards says lowering his head to me.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Alphas. Several of them, each with about half a dozen accompanying them.” He explains and my brow wrinkles in confusion.

“All the Alphas?” I ask.

“It would appear so.” He says with clear unease.

I could imagine in our current position of recovery, having several alphas in one place was bound to make the pack nervous.

“Okay, show them to the meeting hall and my mates and I will join them shortly,” I say firmly and he lowers his head once more before turning and walking away.

I close the door and look at it for a moment trying to gather myself mentally.

“What’s going on?” I turn to see all of my mates coming down the stairs in various stages of undress.

I smile to myself. Seeing them all together was calming my nerves a little more.

“The Alphas are here,” I say and they tense up noticeably.

“Already? They all came here without warning or invitation?” Noah asked.

“Well we did offer an invitation but I expected to hear a word of acceptance before they arrived. It seems they hope to catch us unprepared.” I say with a sigh.

“They are trying to intimate us. Not a wise choice with you leading this pack.” Thomas says with a hint of pride in his voice.

“Well, it's a good thing I came then. Having all your mates with you will give you an upper hand.” Tommy says.

“I agree. Well, let’s not keep them waiting.” I clap my hands together and make my way toward the stairs.

My mates do not move aside to let me pass though. I watch them and before I can step past them, they wrap around me in a group hug. I laugh at the sweetness of it and enjoy the fullness I feel of us all together again. Not that we often participated in group hugs, especially with such manly mates but I could tell they were offering me their strength. I appreciated the effort and when we finally parted I didn’t feel stronger. It was nice to feel the bond between us so strong after all the drama we endured lately.

We were jumping right back into crazy once again, but like always we were facing it together.

After we break apart we all go our separate directions and get dressed. As we make our way down I see Isaiah sitting at the dining table with one of my pack female pack members.

“Danny! Hi!” I say walking toward her and we hug.

“Hello Alpha. Isiah here let me in.” She says dumpling our son’s hair.

I smile down at him and he offers me a cheeky grin. He had a habit of sensing who was at the door and simply letting any pack member in, but I loved his welcoming spirit.

“How did you know I was gonna need help watching him today?” I ask her as I grab a quick cup of coffee that she seemed to have started.

She was always taking care of us in little ways, and I adored her.

“Devin told me that we are having some unexpected visitors, so I figured you would need someone to watch the pup.” She says with a shrug.

“I appreciate it,” I tell her with a smile and I turn to Isaiah kneeling in front of him. “Hey, cub, daddy’s and I have to meet with some important people today. Can you be good for Danny?”

He nods excitedly. “Yes, mama. I like Danny!”

I smile at him and grab his hands and give them a gentle squeeze. “I know you do.”

His eyes pop up over my head and he jumps to his feet and takes off like a bullet.

“Alpha!” He yells head in straight for Tommy.

Tommy smiles and catches him as he jumps into his arms. Tommy laughs and props Isaiah in his arms and has i light in his eyes for the boy that he didn’t have before. This was his son, and that changed things.

“You don’t have to call em alpha now Isaiah. You can call me dad.” Tommy tells him.

“Really? Ok, dad! I have lots of dads now.” Isaiah says happily.

“You sure do buddy! That’s because you are a very special pup. And special pups like you need lots of dads to take care of him.” Eli says stepping next to them.

“Really? Why do I have only one mommy then?” He asks and I flush from the question.

This was getting deep fast.

“Well because mommy is special just like you, but she is super strong. She is so strong that she can take care of you and us! Isn’t that cool?” Tommy asks and Isaiah nods.

“She is the best mommy! She takes care of a lot of people.” Isaiah says and I feel my throat tighten a little.

“Out of the mouths of babes,” Noah says stepping past them and dropping a kiss on my forehead. “You’re the best.”

I scoff out a laugh. “Okay okay let’s get out of here.”

We all drop a kiss on Isaiah’s head before filing out the door. Thankfully the meeting house isn’t far, so we can easily walk there from our house. When we reach the building I stop and take in a deep breath. These men were here to intimate me and belittle me as a female alpha. I needed to be strong for my people, and that meant I couldn’t doubt myself. They would sense any hesitation, and I needed to show no weakness.

“You got this,” Tommy says stepping up beside me and taking my hand.

“We will be right there with you. No pack has an alpha with four mates to back them up.” Eli says with a smirk taking my other hand.

I nod and feel Thomas and Noah step closer behind us. When I am sure that my heart is steady and I am not visibly shaking I nod at the pack member guarding the door. He lowers his head and steps up to pen the doors for us. Tommy and Eli let go of my hand and take a step back and let me walk in first.

As soon as we enter all heads turn to us and it takes everything in me not to bristle at the sudden attention. I force myself to hold my head high but I can feel the eyes of our guests following my movements. When we reach the head of the room, my mates take seats beside me and I stand and look out at the crowd.

“Welcome Alphas to our pack. Please be seated.” I open my hands to indicate they take a seat at the large round table.

My father seemed to be a bit theatric about his meeting room and we hadn’t had a chance to update the decor just yet. This setup reminded me of the image I imagined when thinking of King Arthur and the round table. Once everyone is seated I can see the amused look on some of the Alpha’s faces.

“So this is the woman who is calling herself an Alpha.” One of them says and several of them snicker along with him.

A low warning growl comes from both sides of me from my mates. I hold a hand up to silence them and turn my attention to the Alpha who spoke.

“My pack chose me as their alpha. I do not take the post on lightly and only took the role in the understanding that it was what my pack wanted.” I assure them. “Unlike some alphas who bully their way into the position by intimidation and violence.”

The man snaps his mouth shut and scowls at me.

“Now, it seems you all are eager to discuss the reason I called to meet with you. So much so that you took it upon yourself to appear before us without approval.” I say firmly.

“You sent for us, and we came. What difference does it make if we came now or announced our intentions of coming?” Another Alpha says.

I look at him and scan him silently. “How would you respond if I were to come to your pack border with every other Alpha in this room and half a dozen of my strongest members? I am sure you would be less understanding.”

He smirks.

“Can you just tell us why you wanted to see us?” Another Alpha says impatiently.

“Very well. It has come to my attention that there is a coming threat to all our people.” I say.

“What threat would that be?” The first Alpha asks.

“Blood Demons,” I say simply and he scoffs at me.

“We have not had a conflict with Blood Demons in hundreds of years. What is the source of such a threat?” I signal for my guard to let Freddie in.

The crowd turns to watch my brother enter.

“This man is my brother. He witnessed the Blood Demons attack and destroy the Fae world.” I explain.

“What do we care if the Fae world has been attacked? It is not as if they have shown an interest in our kind, and have never come to our aid when we needed them.” One of the Alpha’s growls out.

“If the Blood Demons were able to find a way into the Fae world and have the power to destroy an entire world, the threat to your lands is even greater,” Freddie says.

“That is if they come for us at all. What would they want with our lands? And even so, if they could destroy an entire world there is no army we could form that would be able to go against them.” One of the silent alphas says.

I glance at him and smile. “That may be true but we have a weapon they know nothing about. One that could give us the upper hand.” I say.

“And what weapon would that be?” The first arrogant Alpha asks.

I look at him and I let my power simmer under the surface just enough to light up my eyes and cause static to gather in the room.

“Me.”