After ending the conference call, Seleste and I retired to my room and spent the rest of the day and night together. I just did not want to let her go or let her out of my sight. We talked and loved each other for hours. Seleste told me about her encounter with the goddess the day she left me. I’m slightly hurt that she knew I was under the influence of magic that long, but I understand that she had to follow the instructions of the goddess. Onyx had also explained everything to me this morning. The goddess had come to him as well. That was the only way he did not go feral with the thought of losing our true mate.
After spending the whole day and night locked in my room, Seleste and I had to come back to the real world. I wish I could spend more time just Seleste and me, but we are on a time crunch. We don’t know when the dark lord will strike again. Everyone has been working around the clock to prepare for the upcoming war. The king and councilman Bari called me to the council two days after the conference call. Seleste and I spent the two days together training her warriors who have returned to my pack and cross training my warriors in the different fighting styles that Seleste trained her warriors. I am impressed with how well-trained Seleste and her inner circle are. They fight as one. My elite warriors got their asses handed to them by her team. My mate even got me down embarrassingly fast. I heard from her warriors that she is pretty much undefeated.
When the call came for me to meet with the council to testify about what happened to me, Seleste agreed to travel with me. Neither one of us wanted to be separated for any length of time. Seleste said that she had to look after me since I lost weight during our last separation and didn’t sleep. Whatever her reasoning, I’m just glad that I don’t have to travel without her. We left my beta and Warrior Peace and his mate in charge of the training. Talia and the twins made it back to the pack last night. They also apologized to me and we made up. I can understand and appreciate how protective they are of my mate. After Gamma True explained how hard it was for them to see her like that, I truly understand. My mate is very strong and the thought of my actions of inactions causing her that much pain makes me want to hurt everyone involved as badly as everyone wanted to hurt me. We all are even more determined to make all of them pay.
Talia and the twins will be traveling with us to the council. The three of them have been working undercover for months now and may be able to add more information about the councilman and his treachery.
After traveling on my helicopter for about 3 hours, we made it to the council compound. Councilman Bari met us and escorted us to our suite of rooms in the compound.
“Greetings Alpha Blake, Seleste, Sam, Drew, and Talia. I am glad you all made it safely. We have you all in my private section of the compound. We don’t want to alert the others of your presence until we call the meeting to order. We are still waiting for Councilman Avery to arrive. We have called all council members back to the compound. We are also invited the grandson to be here. They think they have been called to help us deal with a new threat. The grandson believes that he is coming to offer new ideas. We invited the heirs of all of the council members so that it is not suspicious that Torrace was invited. It will be assumed that Alpha Blake is my heir since I haven’t named my heir yet.” Councilman Bari said.
“Ok. We will enjoy the little downtime before shit hits the fan. We will be ready when you call us. Right now, we are eager to get this done and over so we can move to the next phase.” I said and everyone agreed with me.
Seleste has been quiet since we started traveling. I guess this is becoming real again to her.
“Little mate, is everything ok?”
“Yes, I am just thinking. We have a lot of moving pieces to put together. I’m just trying to stay focused on my part in all of this. The goddess gave us a big task and failure is not an option. Literally, the whole world is depending on us being successful.”
“We will be victorious Seleste. The goddess is on our side and she has given us every tool necessary to win. Think about all the power we have on our side. Not to mention the other allies that were not on the conference call, but have been working behind the scene. Like Queen LaDona who has been working with Alpha Keenai and the disruptors and other magical devices. The dark Lord may be ancient and almost all-powerful, but we have a combination of all of his power plus more.”
I see Seleste smile and relax. I only want to see her smile for the rest of our lives. I pull her in my arms and sit on the couch snuggled up with her in silence. It feels nice just to be able to hold her in my arms. I’m not sure how long we stayed snuggled up on the couch in our room before Talia knocks on the door and tell us that they are ready for us. We both get up and meet Talia and the twins in the hallway. Councilman Bari is waiting for us at the end of the hall to lead us to the council room. We will be in the waiting room until they call us to speak. Councilman Bari ordered that the proceedings be projected in the waiting room that we are using so that we can see everything that is happening. Once we get settled, Councilman Bari leaves and goes to the main meeting room.
Males and Females of the council. Thank you for dropping everything and coming for this emergency meeting. As you have seen in your briefing documents, we have a lot to discuss. We are facing a major rebellion for many different species. We have determined that one of the leaders is a very high-ranking official, but before we get to that since this matter is a matter of supernatural security, the king will be presiding today.” Councilman Bari says and takes his seat at the head of the table to the right of the king.
“Thank you. As Councilman Bari said, we have a lot of things to cover today. First, we have confirmed that the rebel forces are using dark magic to temporarily control strong were species, even wolves. We recently sent a team to investigate an incident with an alpha. We had reason to believe that his actions were not his own. What we found was that that alpha had been drugged and spelled with temporarily blocked his wolf and left him physically and mentally paralyzed. We also found that many of his lower-ranked pack members were also being controlled by dark magic.”
“How do we know this is true? How do we know the alpha did not act on his own and then used the excuse of dark magic? Are we even sure this alpha is not working with the rebels and is using this to cover his tracks?” Councilman Avery asked.
I can’t believe his nerve. He is much too cocky. He should be trying to be low-key right now, but he just has to be the center of attention.
“Well, Councilman Avery, why don’t you ask him yourself.”
‘Where is his Your Majesty, I would love to question him?” Councilman Avery said.
“Can Alpha Blake be escorted in please?” The king says with a smirk.
I get up and walk to the door waiting to be escorted by the council guard. Seleste and the others will wait until the charges of treason are spoken against Councilman Avery. As I enter the main meeting room escorted by the council guard, the look on councilman Avery’s face is almost comical. I’m sure he thought he would get to talk to me alone so he could see how much I knew without the other council members know. Sorry Councilman, your days are numbered.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet with us, Alpha Blake. I know you have a lot on your plate right now.”
“I would not have missed this opportunity to assist my kingdom for anything Your Highness. No thanks needed.” I say.
The king just looks at me and smiles.
“Alpha Blake, can you tell us what happened?” The king asked
“It was soon after we rescued my mate from the rebel’s stronghold in California. I returned to my pack with my mate to introduce her to my family and my pack. As we got ready to enter the pack house, one of my female pack members latched herself to me and kissed me in front of my mate. For a brief period, I was stunned and could not move. My thoughts were jumbled. My wolf could not reach me. It was not until my mate cried out in pain that my wolf was able to break free and then free me.” I say
I can see the shocked faces of the council. There has never been anything powerful enough to have an impact on a pure alpha before, especially one with a long and ancient bloodline like myself.
“Alpha Blake, wasn’t that shewolf your lover before you found your mate?” Councilman Avery asked.
“Although I was not aware that my personal relationships were public knowledge. Yes, I had a casual relationship with that shewolf before the goddess blessed me with a second chance mate after the death of my first mate. As you all know, Once the mate bond snaps into place, no one else matters. Your mate becomes your world.”
Council Avery just played his hand and does not appear to know it. He should not know such a personal and private detail about me. The council had no reason to be watching my pack close enough to know who I was in a relationship with. That also confirms that they specifically went after Theresa because of her relationship with me.
“I still want to know, how are we so sure he did not make all of this up to cover an indiscretion on his part and to keep his mate’s family from killing him? I can’t imagine the True family being very forgiving of him making a fool out of their princess.”
“Watch it, Councilman. It almost seems like you are disrespecting my mate and if that is the case, the True family are the least of your worries. I can promise you that everyone who had a hand in hurting my mate will pay with their lives.” I say.
“That’s enough.’ The king yells. “Do you think I would call the council to an emergency meeting and present this information if I did not have proof.?” The king asks.
Councilman Bari stands up and approaches Councilman Avery with clear anger on his face.
“What I want to know councilman Avery is why are you so hell bend on brings doubt to Alpha Blake’s testimony. Is it that you doubt Alpha Blake or is it that you are trying to discredit him before he gets to implement you and expose your traitorous acts to the council?” Councilman Bari says.
“How dare you, Bari. Everyone on this council knows that I am dedicated to the kingdom.”
“Trust me, Avery, everyone knows just how dedicated you are.” Councilman Bari says and returns to his seat.
“Well, I was not going to do this part yet, but since Councilman Avery insisted on putting the spotlight on himself, let's deal with him now. Guards, can you bring Torrace in here now. He is also a part of this.” The king says.
“What is the meaning of this? What does this have to do with my grandson?”
This has everything to do with your grandson. After all, you have been telling him all of his life that he is a relative of mine and has royal blood although we both know that is not true.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Isn’t that the whole point of your rebellion? So that your grandson can take his rightful place in the palace? Isn’t that what you have told him all of his life, that he is supposed to be king? I don’t know how you figured that. Are you saying my father was his father? Because my brother was not the heir to the throne. Ahh, here is Torrace now. Let’s begin.”
“Grandfather, what is going on?” Torrace asked, clearly confused.
“We have been watching the two of you for a while. We know you are the face of the rebellion.” The king says.
“So, what if you know. I am only fighting for what’s rightfully mine.” Torrace says.
“Really and what do you feel is rightfully yours?”
“Not another word Torrace. This is not the time or place.”
“When will be the time or place grandfather? I am tired of living in the shadows when I should be in the palace.” Terrace says. “My rightful place is being the king. It is my birthright.”
“How is that possible? My father was the king before me, and I know he did not have any children other than my brothers and me. I am the oldest and rightful heir, so where is your claim?” The king asked.
“My father, your brother is the heir, and I am his heir. My grandfather told me that you took the throne from my sperm donor, and I am going to take it back for myself.”
Everyone in the room is looking at Torrace and Councilman Avery. Torrace obviously never paid attention in school about the royal family, or he would know that what his grandfather told him was a bunch of bullshit. It is also possible that his grandfather brainwashed him to ignored everything he learned.
“Let me ask you a simple question?” The king says. “Do you have a wolf?”
‘No, I don’t have a filthy dog. I took after my mother.”
“You just proved there is no way you could be a royal or a relative of mine. It would be impossible for you to be from the royal bloodline and not have a wolf. Whenever we mate, our blood dominates any other species, so no matter who your mother was, you would have had a wolf if your father was a royal. Your grandfather is well aware of that. But you don’t have to believe me, I have proof that your grandfather lied to you.” The king said and walked over, grabbing the remote to the projector and screen.
The screen lowered and within seconds, the council was viewing the footage we saw between the dark lord and the councilman.
Once the video began, councilman Avery tried to sneak out of the meeting room but was stopped by the guard. The guard held him in place. Although the council members had been briefed on this, it shocked them to see the actual footage of one of their members plotting against them for power.
Torrace looked both hurt and angry.
After the video stopped, Terrace went after his grandfather. He had to be restrained by the guard.
“All of my life, you have lied to me. You had me hating a male I never met, thinking he impregnated my mother, killed her, and abandoned me when you knew who my father was the whole time. You convinced me when different powers started manifesting in me that I was imagining them when you knew they were real, and finally, you KILLED MY MOTHER!” Torrace yelled. “For that, you will die.”
Torrace kept trying to get to the councilman.
“Oh, you can be sure that your grandfather will die. His and your actions are treason, and you both will pay.” The king said. “We initially were going to allow you to work with us, but I’m not sure we can trust you.”
“I don’t care what you do to me as long as I get to see him and the one who called himself my father suffer. He knew I was his son this whole time and let me think someone else was my father. He used us to get to and experiment on other were-animals so that he could dominate all of us. He needs to die along with my grandfather.” Torrace said.
“We may be able to work with you after all. We are going to put you in a secure location for now and I will meet with you later. I can grant you one thing. I will allow you to witness the death of your grandfather. He will be publicly executed to send a message to everyone else that we are coming for them. We know who most of your allies are and we are moving on them as we speak.”
“They are not my allies. They all work for and answer to my grandfather. I see now I was just a pawn for his thirst for power. I was just a figurehead. He had always planned on controlling me and keeping any power obtained for himself. He made me reject my mate or at least he thought I did. To make me weak and ensure I didn’t have an heir. That way he would keep power. I can’t believe that I was fooled by him for so long.”
I can tell that Torrace really isn’t a bad person. He was lied to and molded by two very evil beings. The council guard escorted him out of the room.
“That went different than I suspected. We will end the day. I will make sure that the guard gets what we need from Torrace. He appears to want to cooperate, so I want to get everything before he has a chance to think about it. We will keep him under guard until we know where his loyalty lies. We don’t want him letting the dark lord know that we are on to him just yet. The council is dismissed. Alpha Blake, you and your family can return to your pack. I appreciate you all being here. We don’t need to reveal the identities of the others right now since it is not needed. So, I’ll have you all wait in the waiting room until it is clear, then you all can leave.”
“Thanks, Your Highness for everything,” I say and walk back to the waiting room with the council guard assigned to us. All we can do now is wait then go home and continue to prepare. The king is going to call another meeting soon to coordinate our attack. As of now, we will be going on the offensive as soon as everything falls into place with the different moving parts. Seleste and I will be on the frontline fighting until we can lock the dark lord back in his prison.