Chapter 60: Megan's Decision.
When they got to their new home, it was a courtyard with five buildings. One for Megan and Ryan, one each for the twins, and one for their servants if they decided to hire any.
It took the family of four little to no time to settle into their new home.
While the kids were transferring things from their old rooms, Ryan had come over to see them. It was a strange feeling for the family to be together like this, living in close quarters.
While they had lived under the same roof back at the Villa, the place was so huge that their rooms were miles apart. It was nothing like what they presently have.
When the day broke, Megan led the kids to Alice's office to accept their new jobs and positions.
On the way, she reminded them, "You must sincerely apologize to Alice when you see her." She said, "She meant well this morning. I was the one who misunderstood her and I was the one who started with the insults."
"But Mum…" mumbled Ainar. She was unwilling.
Since she matured and understood the relationship between men and women, Ainar had come to resent Alice for trying to snatch her father from her mother. More than Amoux who just couldn't stand to see his mother insulted or bullied, Ainar understood their grudges and hatred. She wanted to support her mother.
"You are not allowed to interfere in adult fights," Megan said with finality.
"Yes, Mum," Ainar mumbled.
On getting to KuLaa's task force building, Alice was absent and it was one of her subordinates that allocated Megan and her kids to their new jobs.
Having heard about their fight earlier in the day, this person was also rude and inattentive but Megan made her kids bear it.
When Megan saw the jobs, she was infuriated but she knew that this was the punishment for this morning's insubordination.
They were given the lowest level of jobs which also came with the lowest benefits. Luckily, the twins were allowed to work only on weekends as they had school during the week.
Amoux and Ainar were furious but Megan kept them in check.
Meanwhile, the recent raid had gotten Kulan a lot of benefits and answered a lot of questions.
She found out from Becca that up to ten powerful vampire families were allied with the house of Lord Ræm.
Though Becca didn't know what they were planning, she knew that Kulan and the twins were part of their plans.
With the help of the manuscripts she was able to retrieve from Lord Ræm's archives, she was able to piece more theories together and even figure out more secrets.
The next day, she and her elite crew consisting of Ryan, Kurt, Alice, and Lev, visited the home ground of the mentioned Lords. But to their shock, they found out that while they were busy torturing their captives, their enemies were massively moving out of the realm under the cloak of magic.
These families ran away before Kulan could even get to them. Not just them, several spies who had heter-to hidden well also lost their courage and moved out of KuLaa's territories.
This was how much terror Kulan brought to their lives.
With this mass exodus of vampires, Kulan also decided to take over her western side of the realm completely.
The first thing she did was to seal off the island and the second thing was to visit other regions and powerful houses in the west.
Those who pledged their allegiance took oaths and those who resisted her became slaves.
The plan was to strike after ten years but now, the western side of the realm was hers because most of her enemies had moved. Not taking over would be stupid.
During this time, Kurt and Ryan were made to take control of the main crew and during that time, they had no choice but to communicate with each other. Therefore, in the middle of the war, the father and son grew a little closer.
On one of the days when they were in each other's company, drinking and discussing their battles, Kurt had touched on Megan's issue with Kulan and warned Ryan not to interfere because this was a test for Megan. The way she handles it would determine how things would end between her and KuLaa.
After discovering what his mother wanted from his wife, Ryan was reluctant to tell her. But one day, when he returned home from fighting and raiding, he met Megan crying.
By then, the kids who were obligated to work only on weekends had gone back to school and she was the only one in the courtyard.
Knowing that she was heartbroken because of the kind of humiliation she was going through at work, Ryan was royally angry.
In the first place, Megan was a Librarian and a teacher. This was the work she did back in Lockwood. Within reason, this was what Alice should have given her to do but because of the bad blood between them, Alice sent Megan to go work among the harvesters. This is a place where the human population was the highest because it was a job reserved for slaves and there was a lot of degradation.
When Ryan discovered, he had confronted Alice and tried to get her to transfer Megan to some other place but Alice literally told him to fuck off. It was later he got to know that Megan and the twins were the first to offend Alice.
Megan also told him not to interfere as she planned to solve the problems herself. Since then, because of KuLaa's rules, there was nothing she could do and she was not a fan of violence. Therefore she bore the insults with a stern face during the day and cried her eyes out during the night.
Ryan hurried to his wife and scooped her into his arms.
"Who was it this time? Tell me, I will help you teach them a lesson." He murmured into her ears.
Ryan always repeated this each time he saw her crying but Megan had never given him a response. As far as she was concerned, telling him was useless.
Seeing that she was ignoring his question again, Ryan signed heavily.
"Why don't we just leave? We can join up with your father and brothers. We don't have to bear this humiliation." Ryan said in a solemn voice. It was clear that he had given this a lot of thought.
Megan looked at him for the first time since he came in. She silently observed him and he returned the gaze. "I am serious. Just say the word, and I will get you out of here." Ryan repeated firmly.
Megan huffed and her eyes stopped tearing. "I will think about it." She whispered.
And she did a lot of thinking.
For two weeks, she brooded over this decision but at the end of the day, she decided to stay.
For Megan who had grown used to being respected and honored by the crew, leaving was a great temptation.
But when she considered the alternatives to having KuLaa's protection and the opportunity of leaving this continent one day, Megan discovered that her only choice was to bow and submit to KuLaa.
All these years, Kulan never asked anything of her. Instead, she had given her everything and even helped her to train and protect her kids.
When Megan reflected on this, it was easy for her to decide to submit but as a Luna, this decision went against everything she was about. Therefore, it was mentally difficult When she told her husband of her decision, he wasn't pleased. He was beginning to resent his mother for the things happening to his wife and he knew that Kulan could feel his resentment. The question was, when would she call him out on it? When that time comes, they might be chased out of the island and completely abandoned. Ryan didn't want to wait till then.
"Why?" He asked Megan when she told him.
"It's simple. We need Kulan too much." She shrugged.
"What do you mean? Are you saying without her we wouldn't be able to survive?" Ryan asked in anger.
For the first time since they got married, Ryan couldn't understand Megan. What kind of person would prefer to be humiliated when they have the chance to leave and start all over?
"Yes," Megan replied without looking at him.
She was in her bedroom, cutting her nails when this conversation happened, therefore, half the time, she was focused on her nails.
"I don't understand, Megan." Ryan snarled.
The scent of his anger filled the room and it got Megan's attention. She frowned in confusion and looked up at him.
"You are angry?"
Ryan being angry at her was a nouveau thing because Megan was sure this was the first time he would ever be.
"Shouldn't I be? Or do you think you are the only one bearing this? Do you have an idea how I feel when I see you go through all these things?" Ryan grabbed her shoulders and asked her.
"I am connected to you, Ryan. I can feel all of you, all the time." Megan rolled her eyes and shrugged his hands off.
She stood up and went to the window. She opened the curtain and gazed outside silently.
There was silence in the room as Megan gathered her thoughts while watching the going-on outside her window.
"It's been how long since your mother took us under her wings?" She asked without turning around.
"21 years.'
"It will be 22 in a couple of months," Megan muttered then continued. "In those 21 years, when has she ever punished us for doing anything wrong?"
Ryan frowned in defiance.
"Even if it is just this once, isn't it too much?" He snapped.
Megan smiled and shook her head in bemusement.
"Ryan," she faced her husband who was now standing close to her. "...if any of the crew members should question KuLaa's order, what will be the punishment?"
"Death. But you are not just any crew member. You are her daughter-in-law. You are family!" Ryan was almost yelling.
This was the point that was eating him away. How could an elder be this cold to her own family? His mother was really too much!
"Ryan." Megan placed her hands on her husband's broad and hard chest.
"This is KuLaa. the vampire who wiped out her family in cold blood in a single night. She killed her parents without regret, who am I? Do you think being a daughter-in-law is enough to deter her?"
Knowing Megan was right, Ryan had no retort. All he could do was stare pitifully at his annoyingly rational wife.
"KuLaa has already done so much for us. Leaving just because she got angry with us will only prove that we are not just weak but ungrateful. Is that who we are?"
"No." Ryan shook his head.
If saying 'yes' would make his wife listen to him, Ryan would have said it. But he knew that once Megan made up her mind, nothing could stand in her way. Not even his unwillingness. All that she was doing now was to make him understand and accept her decision.
"I am staying and I will bear this humiliation for a couple of reasons." Megan continued. "One, After everything Kulan has done for our family, it would be quite arrogant and stupid to desert her the very first time she decided to mete out punishment for our insubordination."
"I wouldn't be so mad if that was all Megan. She wants you to submit. You are a Luna, it's impossible!" Ryan reminded her.
The fact is, Lunas never submit.
Not even to a Supreme Alpha!
Not to talk of a witch.
KuLaa's demand was unreasonable!
"It's the same to me, Ryan. All these years, I have been doing things my own way and she let me. That is why we are having this problem now. Isn't it?"