Chapter 113
Daniel POV
I closed the link with Charlie and caught the tail end of Hyacinth’s rendition of Charlie’s vision, I looked at each Alpha carefully as they absorbed the news. Kasa and Landers looked suitably pensive, while Eric looked bored, it irritated me.
“Do you have any questions about what I have seen gentlemen?” Hyacinth asked, drawing my attention away from Eric and back to her.
“How do we know, you’ve seen anything? That this isn’t a ruse to get us all under one roof, kill us all and claim our lands, people and businesses for yourselves? How can we trust anything you say?” Eric asked, to provoke Hyacinth.
“I would watch how you talk to me boy, I am your elder and you are in my home.” Her voice boomed and her body glowed with the same soft pink glow I had seen when she put the spell on Charlie. “I do not concern myself with the politics of wolves, only with protecting my people.” The light faded and her voice returned to normal. “What would be in it for me? Why would I let you know of my sanctuary, here, when it would have served me better to keep it from you? I have invited you here, into my home, as a show of good faith. And I will help all of you, equally, if you help us prevent a war.” She stated calmly but with a bite to her voice.
“So, you said earlier it’s vampires? That you fight in the vision, and that are messing with the packs?” Lander asked.
“Yeah, when we learned of the vampire connection, we went through the family trees of everyone in the pack. We found three vampire connections, put a small surveillance team on all three families, and hit pay dirt on one. We kept a tail on him, got a record of every call made on his company phone, and every email sent on his company laptop, and recorded him in a clandestine meeting with a vampire. We chose to sit on this information, so as not to tip our hand to the vampires, we were hoping to use it to our advantage, but then the rogues attacked. In an effort to remove me and my family from the situation, or on the off chance I survived, that certain key elders in my pack, were removed, my uncle led the attack on my lands. We already suspected him, so we were prepared and foiled the attack quickly, gathering more than enough evidence to have him executed. He was arrested that evening, and in the early hours of the next day, the vampires tried to break him out. Because we knew of their involvement, we had silver nitrate hollow points distributed amongst the guards, so the jailbreak was not successful.” I couldn’t resist a smirk at that point. “And my uncle remains in prison, he will be executed in front of the pack when I return. Inside the information I have provided is a contract for those bullets, and a detailed explanation of how we uncovered the coup. We have also drawn up a few ideas on how we could train together. I suggest we each send a group of warriors to each other's lands. They could teach us about their techniques while learning our own, and unifying us into an army.”
“You still haven’t provided any proof that this threat is real,” Eric said petulantly. “Why should we split our warriors into a fraction of their number, and allow ourselves to be outnumbered on our own lands?” He asked with a smirk and a chuckle, which pushed me closer to snapping.
“Would you like to see the footage from the surveillance cameras in the prison? Of the vampires trying to break my uncle out? I have provided you with all the relevant information we gathered on the leader of the coup. And if that’s not enough, I’m sure you have found it odd that there have been rumblings of dissent in every pack in the state. You must have wondered about that!” I knew baiting him was the only way he would admit I could be right.
“Just because the rest of you are piss-poor leaders, don’t assume there are any talks of dissent in my pack.” He replied with a snort.
“You can’t honestly believe that what is happening, is because we aren’t good Alphas? At the exact same time?” Kasa asked incredulously.
“Or the talk started in one pack, and the news spread, which inspired the rest to do the same? It’s plausible.” Eric replied.
“I had a vision of a half-vampire, boasting to his Alpha, that you were the first step. I don’t know why, but you were only the first to have your leadership threatened. Soon every pack in North America, maybe even the world, will have an Alpha in charge that is working for the vampires. Making it that much easier to subjugate the humans and destroy the planet.” Hyacinth snapped, her eyes blazing.
“And why should I care about the humans? I care about my pack, and my pack alone. And my pack has had no issues. So, I will not agree to anything, no one is coming on my land, and no one from my pack will be leaving it.” Eric announced as he stood. “Thank you for the interesting presentation, but I must be returning to my pack now.” He started towards the door, leaving the rest of us open-mouthed and staring at him in disbelief.
“Eric, wait please?” Kasa began chasing Eric. “Just stay and hear what everyone has to say, it won’t take long, just listen, for your sister’s sake?” We all knew Astrid was his only weakness, Kasa had used the sibling's bond more than once to convince Eric to follow a course of action.
“Fine... with the condition, you send her home when we get back.” Eric countered, shocking us all, for an Alpha to suggest a Luna leave her pack in their time of need was unheard of.
“I cannot be without my mate, and my pack needs its Luna,” Kasa replied, he recoiled in mistrust of his brother-in-law.
“You will send her to me for her protection, or I leave.” Eric threatened he was putting Kasa in a terrible position.
“Fine, I will send my mate back to your pack, for her protection.” Kasa agreed through gritted teeth. “But as soon as the threat has passed, she is to be returned to me.” He added, with more than a hint of threat in his voice.
“Agreed-" Eric began, but Kasa interrupted him.
“I want it in writing. The moment those responsible for the coup in my pack are arrested, Astrid is returned to me, and our pack.” Kasa insisted.
“Fine!” Eric snapped, frustrated that he wouldn’t be able to keep his sister indefinitely.
“I could have that contract written up.” Hyacinth offered. “We have a very capable witch whose magic can make any contract iron clad, and magically binding, if you would care to use her services?”
“Yes, I would like that very much,” Kasa replied, while he maintained a distrustful eye on Eric.
“Very well. I suggest a five-minute break while I summon the witch, and I think everyone in here could use a few moments to calm down. We need clear heads to tackle this problem and come up with a solution that suits everyone.” Hyacinth said tartly, she stood from her seat and left the room before anyone could object.
“I'm not going anywhere,” Kasa stated, he was still unwilling to take his eyes off Eric.
“Then I will take this opportunity to get some fresh air.” Eric childishly replied, before he turned and left the room and a stewing Kasa.
“I will go keep an eye on him, at a distance.” Lander offered, he clasped Kasa on the shoulder as he followed Eric from the room.
“You alright for a minute? I have to make a phone call.” I asked the only remaining Alpha.
“Yes, I'll be fine. I have to call my mate and explain what I just agreed to.” He replied with a huff of frustration and pulled his phone out of his pocket. I left the room quickly to give him his privacy and ducked into the parlour to link Charlie.
“Hey baby, how are you holding up?” I linked her.
“Well, we've been looking at old children’s stories actually. Dermot remembered one about Fae lore and dug it up for us to look at.” She replied, and I could hear the doubt in her voice.
“Okay, I’m guessing there’s a reason you haven’t told me about yet?” I nudged, unsure where she was going.
“Well, it seems that the story of how the Fae were created, is very similar to the story you told me about how Lycans were created. A goddess made the Fae, ‘giving them gifts of magic that would aid in her work’ is what the story says.” She replied tentatively.
“Alright... and?” I asked, I still wasn’t following.
“The goddess in the story is said to be just one in a pantheon of deities, all of whom blessed creatures with their own gifts.” Charlie insisted, like it made things clearer.
“I’m sorry baby, I’m just not getting it. What has that got to do with what’s happening now?” I asked.
“I think... I mean I’m not sure, but it kinda makes sense that the gods talked about in this story, could be my family?” She said quietly, and her feelings suddenly made sense to me. She had been so hesitant to believe she was a goddess, but the more we uncovered the more likely it seemed, and she had no idea how to cope with it all.
“I know this is hard for you to accept, but no matter what the truth is, you will still be the same person, and I will always be here if you need me.” I tried to comfort her, but all I wanted was to wrap her up in my arms and hold her until she could make sense of everything she had learned.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
