Chapter 58 - A life changing decision

“Have they shown any signs of which side they are stronger on?” One of the female councillors pulled a face, almost as if the children disgusted her and Lena wanted to strangle the damn woman!

“Blood witches only gain their powers when we turn eighteen. The powers are granted by the ancestors on our eighteenth birthday. We won’t be able to know if they can do magic until then.” Lena’s voice was filled with venom. The council’s ignorance showed her that they had no idea what they were dealing with. They didn’t know anything about blood witches! They had declared war all those years ago without having all the damn information!

Alaric put his arm around her shoulders and she felt herself calming just a little as he answered the rest of the questions and, finally, the council seemed satisfied. Alaric walked them out and Lena couldn’t wait for the council to leave their home, so when they did, she rushed to the babies’ room. It felt almost as if she could hide them there from whatever danger the council posed. Alaric found her there sitting on the rocking chair with both babies in her arms and Ben silently playing on the floor.

“We knew that the council would want to see the babies, my love.” He hunched down in front of her and it broke his heart to see the tears in her eyes. She was so happy the day they decided to have more children and she has been so damn happy since that day. Things between them were finally working out and Rebecca even found a young man who seemed pretty interested in her.

Although Alaric wasn’t too happy about it … He couldn’t deny his little sister the kind of happiness he now shared with Lena. Until … Until the council stuck their noses into the pack’s business. Alaric knew why the council were acting this way and he couldn’t promise them that his children wouldn’t one day follow in the footsteps of their ancestors, but he could at least try and protect his family.

For as long as possible, Alaric would fight for his family. He would fight until his dying breath to protect them and keep them safe. He would fight for all of them to understand how dangerous it was to do blood magic, but he would fight for their right to be able to do magic. He needed his family to be safe.

After convincing Lena that the council wouldn’t come back, he checked in with Max, who didn’t seem happy either. It seemed as though the pack heard why the council was there, and they all knew Lena. They believed she would never do anything to harm anybody. To them it didn’t matter that she was a blood witch. Lena had proven herself to the pack.

She had proven her loyalty by fighting to keep them all safe. That same spell she got into trouble for was the reason they all believed she was good. She would fight for them. That kind of loyalty didn’t come easily in a pack. You knew you had it from your other members, but you could never trust that an outsider would give you that same kind of loyalty.

Lena had proven herself over and over and she had been forgiven completely for running away and not telling them about Ben. Alaric’s pack saw Lena and the children as part of the pack and he knew they would fight for them. That put him in a very difficult position if the council decided to show up again. His pack wouldn’t take kindly to the council’s interference.

It didn’t matter that they were the council. The war might have sorted out the problem they all had with the blood witch assassins, but it also showed their entire world that nobody was safe once the council voted against them. Alaric decided there was only one thing they could do. He needed to speak to Lena and the pack.

EVERYONE WAS GATHERED in the dining room and two of the older pack females helped Lena to settle the twins before Alaric cleared his throat. This was going to be the most important decision their pack had ever made and he didn’t want to make it without consulting the pack first.

“You all know that the council is concerned about the twins and Ben.” Alaric was pacing back and forth picking his words very carefully. “The council is afraid that we went to war to wipe out the assassins and now we have three children who are even stronger than the blood witches ever were.” Some of the pack members mumbled in the back and Alaric looked up silencing them instantly. “We all know that the children aren’t dangerous at all, but they don’t. They don’t live in our homes. They don’t live our lives and they have no idea what our children are and aren’t capable of. You have to understand that the council didn’t take the decision to go to war lightly.” He stopped pacing and his hands were clamped so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

“I am here to call for a vote on whether we as a pack will remain part of the council or if we are going to withdraw our membership. Now, I want you all to take some time and think about it first before we vote. All of us have to take a moment and think of the pros and cons and how important being part of the council really is. We also need to think about what the council has meant for us all these years. I will arrange that we have our vote tomorrow at noon. Thank you. That is all.” A loud roar of voices discussing what he had just spoken about broke out all over as wolves slowly made their way out of the dining room.

“Alaric, are you sure about this?” Lena looked worried. Alaric hadn’t told her what he planned to do. He didn’t want her to talk him out of it before he spoke to the entire pack. He needed his pack’s support. His children needed their support. He had no idea if he was doing the right thing or not, but he knew the time had come to think about possibly leaving the council.

Alaric walked Lena and the children back to their room and they spent the rest of the day together as a family. Rebecca was out with her new male friend and although Alaric felt like ripping the boy’s throat out each time he saw him, he had more important things to worry about right now. Lena wasn’t sure if he was doing the right thing and, although she hated the council, she seemed to be arguing that they stay.

It surprised Alaric that she was fighting to stay with the council when he knew how much she hated them. They took the little ones to their room to get them ready for bed and their dinner was brought to their room after they put the little ones to bed. Ben kept demanding that Alaric read more books, but in the end, he also fell asleep.

“The children can feel the tension.” Lena sighed when Alaric returned from Ben’s room. Her palms were sweaty and she kept rubbing them on the sides of her pants while pacing back and forth. Alaric stopped her by holding both her shoulders and looking deep into her eyes.

“I know, but I am doing this for them. Once we leave the council as members, they won’t be allowed to just show up here. They also won’t be able to demand that you don’t do blood magic.” He repeated what he said before and she nodded.

“Yes, I know, but they will be able to declare war on our pack.” Alaric pulled Lena into his arms. If the council declared war on his pack, they would have no chance. They were outnumbered. He might have been the one leading the army in the last war, but that didn’t mean the council didn’t have anybody else to fill his shoes. If the council saw the pack and especially Lena and the children as a threat, they could very well declare war and try to wipe out the entire pack.

“I want you to prepare your invisibility spell. I want you and the children to hide in the coven grounds if it comes to that.” Lena pulled out of his arms and her eyes filled with fury. He couldn’t be serious! He couldn’t expect her to just run when her family was in danger!