43: Gas

**Lucien**

The Alpha Conference was held in a large conference building, virtually in the middle of nowhere. In fact, the only “neighbouring buildings” here were large, wooden and had leaves sprouting from the ends of them- in other words, trees.

The inside of the building was cold, and the presence of these people only made it colder. They were arrogant, righteous and stood unmoving in their beliefs. They were Alphas- wolves given the title of power within their packs, wolves meant to lead and protect. However, when I gazed at the Alphas in front of me, I saw nothing but wolves who resembled my father. They were consumed by power and the idea of having control over… everything. Only three young Alphas were an exception to this, Jasmine, Damon (who had Jasmine to thank for his call to humbleness) and a young female Alpha known by the name of Madeline. Apart from Jasmine, she was the only other female Alpha here, and by Goddess, did she look intimidated by the others surrounding her.

“Madeline!” I called out. Her beautiful blue eyes glanced up and softened when they met mine.

“Lucien! Is that really you? It’s been ages!” She yelled as she made her way towards us. Once she was close enough, I embraced her into a hug and promptly let go of her. Madeline belonged to the Blue Moon pack and had earned her title not only by being one of the strongest members of her pack, but she was also the only sole survivor of the Alpha family. Her pack history was one of controversy, and it clearly continued to be a controversial pack. We’d grown up seeing each other when our fathers would gather for occasional meetings and discussions, and we naturally got along.

“What are you doing here? You’re not an Alpha, are you?” She asked. I was about to explain when Damon interjected.

“No, but I am. He’s sort of a guest of mine.”

Her smile grew at the sight of my brother. She’d always took a strange liking to him- poor thing had no taste, clearly.

“Damon! It’s been years!” She uttered, and then her eyes landed on Jasmine and her smile only grew. “This must be your mate, Jasmine. I hear you’re an Alpha too. Makes me feel a little better having another female Alpha here.”

Jasmine smiled back at her brightly. “Likewise. It’s nice to meet you… Madeline, was it?”

“It seems I’m famous, or… infamous.” She said with a pained expression on her face. It, however disappeared the moment it appeared, and she gazed up at us with another smile. “By the way, you’ve brought many guests with you. Jasmine, Lucien, and of course Landon,” she shot Landon a friendly wink, “I don’t think the Alphas are going to like that very much. It’s a strictly Alpha and Luna event only.”

“Yeah well, they can kiss my ass. I trust the people I’ve brought with.” He said, and from the corner of his eye, he shot me a reassuring look. I was caught off-guard by it, in all honesty. Hearing my brother telling me that he trusted me made me feel a little lighter, as though that road to redemption was becoming a little easier.

When the conference was about to begin, we were all led into a large room, in which there stood a very long table lined with an array of chairs. The room was dimly lit with few windows and the air-conditioning made the room feel too cold. Our seats were located on the other end of the room, towards the fire escape. Next to us was supposed to be the Alpha from the Lunar pack, however thanks to a death glare from Jasmine and a good threat from Damon, Madeline took his place instead. We’d discovered she’d come here all by herself. It made sense though, she was mateless and had no more family left. I doubted her Beta had the guts to show his face here either, and so she’d decided to brave this day of torture all by herself. It was admirable, to say the least.

It wasn’t long before the room became consumed in a series of hushed whispers, and after a quick glance around the room I realised why. Alpha Terrance was not here. Alpha Terrance was an old friend of my father’s. He was a well-known, well-respected Alpha and so it wasn’t like him to miss a single gathering.

“Did you hear,” Madeline whispered to me, “Alpha Terrance has been missing for days.”

My eyes widened at the news of this, and I could tell by Damon’s own shocked expression that he’d also not been expecting such news.

“Missing?” I repeated. Madeline nodded frantically. “Rumour has it the rogues got to him. He must have done something really bad to piss those assholes off.”

Were the rogues intentionally attempting to piss powerful people off? First my Vixens, and now an Alpha. They weren’t being subtle at all. And as I thought this, it began to dawn on me that perhaps they weren’t meaning to be subtle at all. The rogues were clearly trying to recruit more wolves and they were clearly attempting to make themselves known not only to the general public, but to the Alphas as well. They wanted them to fear and cower, the way rogues were meant to fear and cower. They wanted to make a statement, and what better place to make a statement than the one place all the Alphas were gathered in.

“This is a trap.” I uttered out.

“What?” Madeline asked. And so I repeated, louder this time. “Everyone… we’ve got to get ourselves out of here. It’s a trap!”

“Sit the fuck down you bastard. Why are you even here?” This came from Alpha Rory, a sour middle-aged man who’d never really liked my family due to their success and his lack thereof.

I raised a brow, not once showing any sort of anger. I wouldn’t let him have the satisfaction. “Listen here you power-hungry fools, I suspect we’re sitting right in the middle of a trap.”

“How can you be certain?” It was Damon who asked this. A serious, concerned look dawned upon his face.

“If I were the leader of the rogues, I’d want to get all of you gathered up and cause terror and panic. It makes a good statement: the Alphas are weak compared to the rogues. Fear is a very powerful tool, Damon. I thought you would have learned that by now.”

I didn’t mean to subtly bring up the hell I’d put him through in the past, but it was the only way to get him to understand, and it seemed to do a good job because he nodded in understanding and turned to the rest of the crowd, saying, “My brother’s right. Who’s to say our location hasn’t been compromised. I say we leave the building right this instant as a precautionary measurement.”

“That’s bullshit!” Said Alpha Nick. He was a newer Alpha, having been given the title two years ago. He, however still carried the sickening attitude of the old Alphas. “The only person who would have given our location is you and your whore of a mate. She can’t be trusted; I knew that from the beginning. Women were never meant to be Alphas in the first place.”

It was almost second nature of me to stand up for Jasmine. To defend her and protect her from the world, and so I stood up, ready to do so. I was, however stopped by a light touch on the hand dealt by my brother. I glanced down at him, and he shook his head at me. At first, I didn’t understand why he didn’t want to defend the woman he was so desperately in love with. I couldn’t fathom that my brother was just about to sit there and let her take what Nick had said. But it wasn’t until Jasmine herself stood up from her chair, eyes red as scarlet and fists enclosed tightly, that I began to understand why Damon had stopped me.

“Women were never meant to be Alphas in the first place…” She uttered. She then glanced right at Nick and held his gaze steadily. “Why?”

“W-why?” He stuttered. I could tell that Jasmine’s stare was enough to fluster the young Alpha.

“Yes. Why? What makes me less than you? Why can’t I be an Alpha.” She then looked down towards Madline and said, “Why can’t Madeline be an Alpha either?”

“B-because that’s not how it works. The position of Alpha is reserved for male members of the family only. Women have a separate title, Luna.”

The entire table began to murmur, and I could see a subtle argument beginning to brew. It was clear not everyone shared in the popular “Male Alpha” rule either.

“Does that title hold the same amount of power as Alpha?” She asked.

“It should.” Another person from the table answered.

“It should, yes, but does it? Would people respect Madeline if she called herself the sole Luna of her pack?”

This question was left unanswered, and the reason was because the answer was much too difficult for the table to face. Lunas were supposed to be on an equal standing with their Alphas, but through the years, it had just become a powerless title. The woman mated to the Alpha, that was all it amounted to, and now, the entire table had become disturbingly aware of it, so much so that the previous urgency I’d created about leaving the building had disappeared, and even I’d become too consumed in this conversation to bring myself to think about leaving.

“What the fuck are you on about? You shouldn’t have even spoken in the first place, *Luna*. Know your place.” Nick said as a way to redeem himself from the clear humiliation he was facing. But I suppose it was the biggest mistake he’d made.

“Know my place? That’s a funny thing to say to someone like me.” She said before she began walking towards his chair. My eyes stayed glued to her, intrigued and disturbed. It became clearer and clearer just how much Jasmine truly had grown into her own person. She didn’t need protection any longer. She didn’t need me.

Once she made it to his seat, he glanced up at her and was about to say something when she grabbed at his jaw and dug her fingers into his flesh.

“You’re a sad individual.” She then looked around the room and said, “You all are. Your minds are so closed off, it’s like staring at a bunch of brick walls. So I won’t give you a speech or try to prove that I’m worthy to be an Alpha, God knows none of you are worth the time. All I can say is that-”

But before she could say anything, an object broke through the window, immediately emitting smoke. But it was unlike any smoke I’d ever been exposed to. Instead, it felt like a gas like substance that began to choke and blind me. The whole room was filled with it in moments.

“Lucien was right!” Someone exclaimed.

“Get to the exit!” It was easier said than done. The whole room was just filled with this murky gas, and I could barely decipher what was in front of me. Admittedly, I felt the sudden surge of urgency and panic rising in me, and my first instinct was to try to find Damon, Jasmine or Landon. I figured it would be safer if we stayed together in a group, especially with the gas so thick in the air. I began wading my way through the gas which was filled with panicked cries, coughing and gagging.

I tripped over a chair and bumped into a person whom I soon realised was Damon. He was close enough to me to see the panicked expression on his face. It caught me off guard and the panic within me only grew.

“Jasmine…” he coughed, “I don’t know where sh-she is!”

I grabbed at his shoulders and gave him a look of reassurance, “We’ll find her Damon.”

He shook his head, and his face grew even more worried. It was a look I’d never seen him wear before and it frightened me beyond anything.

“You don’t understand brother. I don’t know what this is in the air and how harmful it is and Lucien… Jasmine is pregnant.”