15.

The sight of their Alpha returning to town with a bloody face and leg had set the town buzzing, but the sight of the two strangers had everyone in a near riot. While Farryn wordlessly pushed her way through the crowd Celeste was grinning from ear to ear, the taller male Vini glared at everyone who dared to get close enough to him but neither lashed out thankfully. Farryn’s eyes scanned the gathered mass until she spotted Tony among them. “Gather the council.” She called to him before pressing on without waiting to see if he had even heard her.

“Farryn where are we going exactly?” Vini asked with annoyance as they finally broke through the crowd.

“The packhouse. It’s where we have our meetings.” Farryn didn’t owe him any answers, she could have remained silent but it would be easier to work with them both if she stayed on their good sides. Farryn brought them both to her home, she wasn’t sure just how serious they were about the blood pact they had made in the forest but they were her responsibilities now as well. She realized she had begun to grind her teeth in frustration at the thought and quickly stopped. This was not who she was and yet she seemed to fall into the role rather easily. It was an unsettling realization for her.

Farryn led the way into her house but didn’t give either Fae time to explore as she brought them directly into the meeting room where she seated herself at the head of the table once more and gazed at the pair who had begun to wander around the room to take in the pictures and decorations.

“What is your relationship to one another?” Celeste had just picked up a decorative vase when Farryn’s question echoed in the room. Vini was busy studying a painting of a barren winter forest as Celeste gently placed the vase back.

“He’s my brother…why?” Farryn crossed one of her legs over the other as Celeste turned around with a smooth smile.

“Twins?” Farryn asked slowly, she already had Emily and Amelia to deal with, she didn’t need another pair of twins running around.

“No, I’m his big sister by about fifty years.” Celeste’s response was not quite what Farryn had been expecting. She cleared her throat with a touch of discomfort though she couldn’t keep the curiosity out of her eyes.

“How old are the two of you?” Vini turned slowly while Celeste laughed softly.

“That question is rather rude.” Farryn sat up straight quickly, prepared to backtrack until the door to the meeting room opened. Tony entered with the rest of the council in tow though the majority stopped when the twin pair of silver eyes found them.

“All due respect Alpha but what are these two…outsiders doing here?!” Darius snapped, his shoulders raised as if they were about to attack him though the look in Vini’s eye had Farryn wondering if he wouldn’t.

“That is a piece of what this meeting is about, now please, everyone sit. You two, come here.” Farryn motioned for the siblings to stand near her rather than by the wall but while they walked to her side no one else moved.

“Alpha…” Farryn licked her lips slowly as she cocked her head to the side, without asking them to, the siblings each stood on one side of her seat as if they were her personal guards.

“Darius I said please. Now sit down so we can begin this meeting.” She kept her voice calm as she laced her fingers together. Her brows raised slightly as they hesitated before finally the members of her council sat down on the edge of their seats.

“I would like to introduce everyone to Celeste and Vini, they are going to be around much more often so get used to their presence now.” Tony and Darius both jumped from their seats in alarm.

“You can’t be serious?” Tony hadn’t yet taken his eyes off of the siblings.

“What’s wrong little doggy? Scared?” Celeste asked with a giggle. Tony’s lips pulled back with a snarl as his canines elongated.

“Be silent you silver witch.” Vini released a snarl of his own as he made a single step forward. Farryn put out her hand towards Vini, the motion simple, but stopped him in his tracks regardless as Celeste laughed.

“I am serious Tony.” Farryn paused to wipe at the dried blood on her face. “You see, we three made a blood pact. They are going to be by my side for quite some time.” Darius slowly sank back into his seat, his face slightly pale but Tony remained on his feet.

“You made a blood pact with these things?!” Farryn inhaled slowly as Vini crossed his arms over his chest, she could practically feel the desire to murder this male radiating off of Vini.

“Perhaps you should listen to what they have to say before reacting so irrationally,” Farryn suggested. Tony bit out a laugh before slamming his hands onto the tabletop, the males around him shuffling their chairs away in discomfort.

“Farryn you haven’t been listening to a word we’ve said before. They are murderers, they have slaughtered so many of us before we came here.” Farryn turned her eyes away to look at Celeste and then Vini in turn. Celeste wore a large grin, she was enjoying the show. Vini seemed to be imagining the many ways he might kill everyone in the room.

“These two are the murderers?” Farryn asked as she looked back at Tony again. He blinked twice before standing up straight.

“What?”

“Are these two the ones who murdered your packmates? Did you see these two commit these murders?” The muscle in Tony’s jaw twitched at Farryn’s questions. “No…” Farryn cleared her throat as she uncrossed her legs and leaned forward towards the table.

“In that case take your seat Tony and listen.” The dismissal in her voice was enough to sit him back down. He took his seat with his head lowered.

Farryn waited to see if anyone else had anything to add before motioning to Celeste. “Go ahead.” Celeste lowered her head in a show of respect before straightening herself once more before directing her gaze to the males before her.

“My brother and I have done a lot of traveling and before we came to this area we heard about a male who goes by the name of Deacon. From what we’ve heard he’s unhinged, wants everyone to fear him. He has his own little group and they run around terrorizing everyone they can while getting away with it all. We’ve been wanting to meet him you see, he sounds like he knows how to have a good time after all.” Celeste shrugged her shoulders with a chuckle.

“That’s how we wound up here, we had heard his name in a nearby human town and then the dead deer turned up on your territory.” Vini filled in the last piece of information which brought his sister out of her giddiness. Celeste cleared her throat as she brushed a strand of her blonde hair off of her shoulder.

“Right, yes, so we did not place a dead deer inside your territory but we would be more than happy to help you find this Deacon character.” Tony huffed but didn’t argue. Farryn knew that these siblings were going to be in the same boat she was in. They were all outsiders and were simply expecting respect.

“There is another reason why I needed to call for a meeting.” Celeste and Vini both looked to Farryn in slight confusion as she lowered her gaze to her hands. “It has been brought to my attention that what this pack needs more than anything is proper leadership” as she hesitated all of the males seated looked up with wide eyes.

“so I will be putting together a royale to help me decide who will take place as my Beta. I need someone I can trust to help lead this pack, I need someone you trust.” She watched as they all looked among themselves. She couldn’t tell if it was concern, excitement, or relief. She couldn’t name the emotions she was seeing among them all.

Instead of trying to figure it out, she stood up. “Let everyone know that it will take place in one week, in the meantime I will be expecting everyone to be keeping an ear out for any more information about Deacon.” Farryn excused herself from the table with the siblings in tow.

“What is a Beta?” Vini asked once the door was shut behind the trio. Farryn sighed as she glanced up at him.

“My second in charge, someone I am supposed to be able to rely on in times of need who can care for the pack when I am unable to do so. In this case…the strongest male would be my Beta.”

Farryn led the way through the house and into the kitchen, she could hear the siblings muttering behind her. “If you two want, you can stay here. There are plenty of empty rooms.” She made the offer out of kindness as she began to dig through the cabinets until she found herself some chips.

“Why do you seem less than thrilled about this ‘royale’ idea? A day of watching them tear each other apart? You should be excited!” Farryn opened the bag of chips and popped one into her mouth before looking up past her bangs.

“Because this will reveal the strongest male in the pack. The odds of him settling to be considered less than a female are slim. I’m not as daft as they think I am. I know that whoever wins is going to challenge me.” Celeste and her brother shared a look between each other before looking back. “And you think you’ll lose?” Celeste looked disappointed.

“No. I know I’ll win. Though I wouldn’t care if I did lose. I didn’t want this position. This is not my home, but while this title is mine I don’t have a choice I have to protect these people. I just don’t have time to worry about this and a mysterious psychopath whose intentions we don’t know.” Farryn shoved her hand back inside the bag of chips while Vini moved. The speed at which he moved was far superior to how quickly he moved when they had fought.

Within the blink of an eye, Vini was at the kitchen door nearly ripping it off of its hinges to open it up. There was no one on the other side but Vini’s shoulders were tense. “Someone was at the door listening.” He reported. Celeste’s disappointed look evaporated and changed into one of surprise.

“Blood pact or not I wouldn’t want to miss what happens next anyway. You don’t seem to have many allies here and that makes for interesting days.” Farryn chuckled warily as she placed another chip in her mouth. She had certainly found herself in strange company now but still that empty feeling she had, the feeling of being alone, it hadn’t gone away yet.