Chapter 132 Impending Disaster?
Calhoun's POV
"You all asked to see me?" I inquire as I make my presence known at the door, with my beta right behind me as usual.
"Yes, Alpha Calhoun." Elder Alphous is the first to speak up, and he rises to his feet immediately.
"Congratulations on having a son," he says, and the rest of the elders copy him.
I mutter my thanks with a straight facial expression.
"But there's something important you should know," Elder Festus informs me as they all take their seats.
And I leave the door, just so I can slide into the power seat at the council hall. It was reserved for me as the Alpha of this pack.
"It's about Kristen," Elder Adolphus goes straight to the point.
"What about her?" My stomach churns because I don't have a good feeling about this. Judging from the look on their faces. They're all wearing the same expression.
"We have a custom in the Greyhound pack that occurred centuries ago. If a woman puts to bed before becoming Luna, she has to go through the Luna's rite." The head elder of my pack informs me.
"What Luna rite?" My face immediately squeeze into a frown.
"Eating the heart and testicle of a bull." He drops this.
"What?" I stiffen in my seat at his response.
"You heard me clearly, Alpha. Kristen has to eat the testicles of a bull. You're yet to wed her so it's against our custom. And the only way to rectify the issue here is when Kristen eats the heart and testicles of a bull." Elder Festus's voice is much more firmer than that of his superior, Adolphus.
"This is insane, how in the world can such a thing be implemented in this park?"
"It has been so right before our existence," Elder Festus states matter-of-factly as he pushes a big black ancient book to my side.
I reluctantly go through the book, and after spending the least five minutes skimming through it, I can feel my breath getting caught up in my throat.
In a rush, I slam the book shut before returning my attention to them.
"How come no one ever told me?" My voice is rough and bitter, and lastly, it sounds accusing.
"Because you married Natalie first and made her your Luna. She wasn't pregnant," Elder Festus reminds me.
"What if Kristen shifts and her wolf eats the bull's heart?" I inquire, staring intently at him.
"No, she has to be in her human form," he deadpans.
"What? That's disgusting," I puff out a big breath before popping up the second question, "How about I eat it in place of her? I am Alpha, after all, we eat raw meat from time to time.
"Not possible, Alpha Calhoun. You can't change the way things are done," Alpha Adolphus shakes his head at me in disapproval.
And things are just getting seemingly worse.
"What if she fails to carry out the rite?" I ask in a much firmer tone.
"Then you two will separate," Elder Jaime speaks up for the first time since the meeting began. He's the oldest here.
"Tell me you're joking, Elder Jaime." I address him.
"No, I am being serious. It's be abominable to the whole Greyhound pack and there could be an irreversible curse following all the members." There's a stern expression on his face as he makes this known to me.
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" I ask as I stare from one elder to the other, "I would have married her right away," I add.
"It's not the point, as long as she was pregnant before anything, then she must perform the rite," Elder Jaime continues.
"So she has to eat the testicles and heart of a bull before she'll be made Luna of this pack?" It sounds completely ridiculous to me.
And the old man gives me a firm nod.
"Yes, Alpha Calhoun. That's the way things are done."
"And if she fails to do it, she'll be kicked out of this pack?" I inquire with a churning stomach.
"You got that right. You two will be separated from each other and you cannot see your son either." Elder Jaime again agrees.
"Fuck," I hiss under my breath. My heart is already doing skips in my chest.
The mere thought of Kristen and our son, Aiden being separated from me is enough to make my whole body tremble.
"There's no way out of this," Elder Festus pins on this as he looks at
me.
"How about I put a stop to such a custom?" I demand through gritted teeth because I'll be damned if I let such an occurrence take
place.
"Like he said, it's impossible. It has lasted for centuries," Another elder adds with a slight frown on his face.
And my beta has been silent this whole time.
"To hell with such a custom," I jerk my finger into my chest as I
glare at all the elders, "I am the Alpha of this pack and I make the
decisions."
"As you know, Decisions are different from customs. Customs cannot be withdrawn," Elder Festus states the obvious.
"Customs are peer pressure from dead people," I grit out, "Kristen will not partake in such a barbaric act. She's too young and innocent."
"If she's not bold enough to take such risks, then I'm afraid she isn't fit to be our Luna," Elder Festus mutters with distaste.
And this irks me even more.
"Don't talk about her like that," I snap, growing momentarily upset because I wasn't expecting any of this. My mate just delivered our son five hours ago, and now they're spurting all this rubbish?
"Just calm down and think about this," Elder directs this to me.
"Or what?" I growl, refraining from pounding my fist against the
table.
"She has less than a week to partake in the Luna's rite," Elder Festus
says.
And Bruce who's seated on my left is holding his breath because he can tell I am about to explode.
"Alpha Calhoun..." he begins but it's already too late.
"For Selene's sake, Kristen is weak, yet to recover," I yell, wanting
them to understand things through my perspective.
"The earlier she does the Luna's rite, the better," Elder Adolphus
gruffly announces.
"Let's get out of here, Bruce," I command my beta.
And Bruce abruptly rises to his feet.
"We understand that you're upset, Alpha Calhoun. But we'd still
advise you to have a rethink over everything to when you're at ease," Elder Adolphus
While I just clench my jaw and turn my back to all of them as I take my leave.
What the fuck is going on!?
Are these men pulling pranks on me? I just became a father today and they're out to separate me from my mate and our son.
"Don't beat yourself over this, Alpha Calhoun," Bruce says from
behind me.
"So you're in support of it?" I pause to observe his countenance.
"I never said so, but you should try to calm down. Kristen will worry
if she sees you like this," he shrugs a little. "They're trying to separate her from me, after all we've been
through," My hands jam through my hair as I pant and puff out exasperated breaths.
"It won't happen..." Bruce disagrees quickly.
"Kristen is still a child at heart.. she's weak, I doubt she'll be able to
take such a barbaric Luna rite in front of our whole pack," the
thought alone is dreadful.
"You're right about your mate being frail," Bruce points out, "but
maybe you can talk to her to prepare for it."
"We're in the freaking twenty-first century, how can they bring back a custom that took place three centuries ago?" My body trembles with anger as I curl my fingers into tight hard fists.
"Because there's not been such an occurrence before," Bruce admits
cautiously as he puts his hands right behind him. And my shoulders sag in worry.