Unexpected Voice

The contestants will feel betrayed. They trusted and respected our pack to come here and fight to be the Royal Beta, but we have lied to them. Led them on from the beginning.

The moment I glance at Greyson, I see that he has that stupid smug look on his face as if he is proud of what he did.

“Let go of her”, Roman growls from a distance.

I instantly feel his hand grabbing my arm, roughly removing me from Greyson. Roman stares at Greyson with distaste, his eyes pinned to him.

"It's nothing that concerns you doc" Greyson's grey eyes become dark. They are so close to ripping each other off.

They stare at each other for a moment before the growls interrupt them. Greyson triggered the contestants. Royal Beta contestants are strong and fiercely competitive. Their emotions influence the emotions of packmates and any other wolf who is weaker than them. The whole party is gonna be havoc.

The three of us looked at each other before rushing outside. That is a mess. The tables were shattered. Tents were torn apart. Crying pups. The wolves are all growling and staring at each other in feverish anticipation.

I hold onto the pole next to me with shaking hands. It's big enough that I can put my whole weight on it. “Roman,” I whisper. In an instant, he is by my side. I say to him as I gather my dress to walk, "Go bring dad and Alpha".

I turned to Greyson, “Control your packmates, right now”.

He glances at me. An intense turmoil is visible in his eyes. He believes he acted too quickly.

"Now Greyson", I say with a voice mixed with mine and my wolf's. It's huskier and laced with power. Greyson runs to his packmates.

“Contestants, it doesn’t have to be like this. Control your packmates”, I roar at them. As I looked at my pack, I said, "Royal Crescent pack, I command you to stand down." I couldn't believe my own words. I commanded them.

Their growls were low, but they stopped attacking each other.

"Take the she-wolves and pups out of here, we will deal with this". I hear dad’s voice. I nodded at him. Alpha Ezekiel is beside him, eyeing the wolves.

“She-wolves and pups, follow me,” I said in the same tone. Alpha and Dad looked at me, saying nothing.

I took them to the packhouse. Mom and Luna Thalia are already in the packhouse. Omegas welcome everyone with coffee and cookies. The atmosphere is tense. The only strong she-wolves here are Luna Thalia and mom. They seem calm and that is taking effect on all other she-wolves too. They relax sitting down and chatting.

“Mom”, she is talking with one of the she-wolves when I approach her. As she looks at me, she checks for injuries. She lets out a sigh of relief when she sees I am fine. “My baby”, she hugged me tightly.

"Mom, they know," I said as I pulled away. “Your father and Ezekiel will take care of that. I have to go, I must make sure all the she-wolves are okay. Luna Thalia is taking care of pups.” I nod at her. She kisses me on the forehead before heading to the next she-wolf.

I find Lauren near the window, looking outside. We can’t see the men, the packhouse is a couple of blocks away. She seems pretty shaken up. I smile at her, reassuring her things will be okay. She looks at me with guilt.

“Are you okay, Lauren?”, I touch her shoulder.

“I am sorry, I don't know that contestants don't know”, she cries.

“Did you tell him?” I ask in disbelief.

“No, I gave him the idea that he has to take care of you because you have been through so much”. She wipes her eyes.

I signed “It's fine, I told him I am mateless”.

Put two and two together. He fingered it out and told every contestant. I understand he feels betrayed, but I guess he didn't think of the consequences.

“Lauren, it's not your fault”. I say to her, urging her to take a seat. She shouldn't stress too much. It is not healthy for her or her pup.

“Taylor, you want to talk about that?” she asks me in a low voice.

“What”, I look at her. She looks nervous. She keeps her head down when I look at her eyes.

“You used the Royal Beta voice back there".

I did. I have no idea where it came from. Seeing wolves ready to tear each other apart at that moment, I felt something. Felt the need to protect. I am not sure if it was me, the situation, or both, it just happened.

“It just happened”, I whisper.

“George almost died, this other wolf had him pinned. If you didn't do anything, I would have lost my mate”.

Lauren's eyes are filled with tears. I immediately hugged her. While I hold her, she cries. Almost losing your mate before your very eyes. It's the worst pain a wolf could ever experience.

“Lauren, he is all right. George is okay,” I say, rubbing her back.

I look to see mom and Tina approach us.

“You must be checked, Lauren. The pup as well”. Mom says holding Lauren’s hand.

The packhouse door opened and men barged in. Their mates took them in their arms, whispering and kissing each other. Dad comes by mum’s side taking her in his arms. The pups run to their parents. Big smiles on their faces. The situation completely calmed down.

George rushed in and hugged Lauren. His face is bruised and his lip is torn. His face was covered in blood. His dress is tattered and he's leaning heavily on his left leg. He looks like he's been to hell and back but his eyes look at Lauren with love.

“You okay, baby”, George asked, peppering kisses all over Lauren’s face. I look away, they love each other so much. I don't have that kind of love in my life. Roman is my mate, but he doesn't want me. Everywhere I look, couples are hugging or kissing each other. I feel sick being here.

Dad motioned for me to come to him. “Ezekiel's office in 30,” he says. “Yes, dad”, I nod at him and immediately leave the pack house. The smell of wolves is too strong. I go to the former Alpha’s house. I was about to knock on the door when I heard them.

“Ez. Oh, goddess!”I backed away instantly. Are they having sex? In the middle of the day?

“Fuck Thalia!” I am going to puck. What the fuck is happening to me. First the voice, and then the smell and now this.

“They have been at it for the past 10 minutes”, a voice comes from the trees. I look back to see the Viking god. “Casper Edvard?” I say shielding my eyes from the sun.

“Yeah”, he smiles, showing me his dimples. So adorable. “You should close your mouth, you know, to prevent any flies from getting in”. He says leaning on one of the trees.

I turn away from embarrassment. These contestants are driving me nuts. “I know we kept a secret from you, we…”

He tugs at the rubberband from his man bun. His gorgeous curly brown hair falls on his shoulders. He pulls all the stands away from his face, tying the topknot. He messes with his beard looking at me. I forget what I have to say and just stare at him.

"Pictures last longer, darling", he says with a smile. I didn't have the time to say anything because Angelo interupted.

“Hey, man bun, how you doing?” Angelo is beside me with an ice-cream.

“Messing with this pretty darling here” I blush, but thanks to my olive skin, they can’t see it.

“She’s so easy to mess with, isn’t she?”

"Hey guys, you know I can hear you right?”. They both chuckle.

“Well, well, well, if it isn't the one who ordered me with her Beta voice”, Greyson appears. But now, he has this genuine smile rather than his usual ugly jerkface. "Do you realise...... "

“What is she doing here?” Someone yells. “Oliver, we have been through this. Back down”, Casper comes in front of me shielding me from the yelling man, Oliver. “You bitch, you think you can replace my mate”. He runs towards me. Casper and Greyson grab him just in time.

“What’s happening here?” Alpha Ezekiel comes out. As he saw Oliver looking at me with murderous instinct, “Oliver Jackson, stand down” he says using his Royal Beta voice. Each of us flinches but the command is directed to Oliver. He screams and stops moving. The other contestants formed an audience around us.

I look into their eyes. Most of them have betrayed look on their face, some don't even care. And a few accept that, as the look on Nicolas from France. He looks at me, giving me a nod and a smile. I furrow my brows at him, but nod back.

Dad arrives with guards. “It's true, Oliver started the fight, Ezekiel. The emotions of the contestants created the tense atmosphere, but Oliver's killed three wolves and almost killed off one of our guards, George."

“Arrest him. Until we have contact with his Alpha, dont release him”, Alpha Ezekiel ordered the guards. Nerves took over. He killed three wolves. He nearly killed George. Everything happened slowly. I could hear my ears ringing.

As the guards grabbed Oliver's arms, he cried out slicing the guard's arm. The guard screamed while Olver punched the other guard in the stomach. My legs are paralyzed to the ground as he ran to me towards me.

Everything is in slow motion and my eyes are focused on Oliver. He raised his hand, he held a knife in it. Screaming, I pressed my hands against my face before closing my eyes.