"Oh yes, over my dead body," Alpha Darek shouted.
"It was our ancestor's land; you had no right to claim it," Alpha Diaz shouted from the other side.
For the past hour, these two crazy alphas have been fighting for a stupid piece of land. The same piece for which their ancestors fought for and eventually died, and now looking at the present scenario, I could bet they would meet the same end.
Dumeny was still absent, which was an issue because he was the one who summoned the meeting on the first hand.
Every year, all seven alphas across the world united under the same roof to resolve conflicts; to preserve harmony and peace. But looking at these two, peace seems to be a short word. The other two alphas were unable to attend this meeting, so they sent their betas.
"You arrogant bastard, you thought you could win against me?" Darek said with pride. "You would hardly last one minute."
"Are you calling for a war?" Diaz said showing his canines.
The atmosphere was already thick with tension. None of us three dared to interfere between these two. Nobody wanted any additional trouble. I was new and the remaining betas neither had balls nor courage to stop them. Both the alphas stood on their places.
"YOU..."
That's when the door wide opened and Dumeny entered along with the only person I hated most. The tyrant alpha, my mate, Alpha Reed Xander.
All the people present in the room suddenly tensed, as if they hated the mere existence of him, like me. His eyes quickly scanned the room and stopped at mine. He smirked when the realization dawned upon him about my identity.
"Sorry for the delay friends, let's get the meeting started," Dumeny said hurriedly and started walking towards his seat.
All of us sat in our respective positions, leaving only one chair at the farthest corner of the room. Reed went for it without breaking the eye contact with me. His every move cried for attention. Something about him was so dangerous, so carnal, yet so indulging.
Nobody looked in his direction. He sat in the last chair and crossed one leg over the other. The air suddenly changed. Even Diaz and Darek were sitting quietly which seemed to be impossible five minutes ago.
"Thank you everyone for coming at a very short notice," Dumeny said nodding towards Reed.
"No offense, Dumeny, but what he is doing here?" Derek said pointing towards Reed.
"Derek, for what I am going to tell you, I am pretty sure you'll understand why we needed the presence of all the alphas."
"But..."
"Just shut up, Derek," Dumeny cut his statement. I looked at their exchange. It must be important if Dumeny wanted Reed's help. From the little knowledge I have gained, Reed doesn't do meetings.
Reed smirked, but neither he nor I broke the eye contact for a second. After all these years, I couldn't make myself forget him for a second and now watching him in flesh, all the emotions stirred inside me that I thought I had buried so deep. Anger on his audacity to still smirk in my direction. Relief to see his face after a long time.
He looked more handsome since the last time I saw him. His ocean blue eyes captivated me and for a moment I forgot I was in the meeting. I straightened myself and shook my head.
This isn't the time to check out my ex-mate.
I turned my attention towards the meeting. Dumeny was already looking at me.
"All of you already know when we stood as the alpha, we had to undergo some ceremonies and rituals, one of which was blood ceremonies." All nodded in unison.
Blood ceremony was very crucial; it binds us to every member of the pack. Blood ceremony ties everything, not only their thoughts but their loyalty and dedication.
"But very few of us know it isn't enough," Dumeny continued. "By binding the blood of every member of your pack, you are not only gaining their loyalty but their strength and vigor. It is like a constant power source for us. You probably thought that it was a tradition, but it's still far away from the truth.” Dumeny completed the last sentence and took a knife out of his pocket.
"The pack worked in hierarchy. Without the alphas, the packs fall. And with the greater threat like vampires and witches, we would once come to the brink of extinction. So, years back, our ancestors did a ritual, making us, the alpha blood lines, merely immortal." With that, Dumeny shoved the knife straight to his heart.
I gasped and sprinted towards Dumeny only to see his wound healing, surprisingly with immense speed. Within seconds his wound healed and stopped bleeding. I looked back at the other alphas only to catch them looking at me amusingly. I duped my head low and sat back at my place.
"Thank you, Esma," Dumeny winked at me and I lowered my head even more in embarrassment. Dumeny cleared his throat. "The alphas couldn't die, not until they stepped down from their title."
We are immortal? If my father were not in coma, he would have told me about this. And suddenly this all started making sense. This was the very reason why alphas were hungry for land. It was their natural instinct to be more powerful. More land means more power.
"But you are forgetting something," Diaz said in dark tone. "There is a weapon that is so powerful that it could kill anybody, even an alpha."
By listening to these people, I wonder how much I had to learn. But still they were more than twice my age at the same time.
"Yes, last time it was used ten years ago," Dumeny agreed with Diaz. Everyone looked towards Reed. He clenched his jaw. He looked lost in thoughts as if replaying a memory over and over in his mind.
"Now Mr. Xander would tell you more about it."
Reed stood in his seat. He eyed everyone. "That weapon was a blade forged in the fire by elves, made from the tooth of the last shapeshifting dragon," he said without missing the beat. "But as you know, the magic comes with a cost. So, it requires a great sacrifice to activate the power of the blade. I am suggesting whoever got that blade had a high grudge towards any of us."
Everyone looked deep in thought. At this moment, saying that I was overwhelmed by too much information would be an understatement. Immortality? Blade? Sacrifice? Killing the alphas? But the top of that, the question which caught my attention was how did Reed know so much about it? As if reading my thoughts, I found Reed already looking at me.
"The meeting is adjourned for now. Meet you at the dinner tonight." With that, all the alphas left the meeting room. Dumeny signaled me to wait.
The room was soon cleared leaving only two of us. We hugged and only then I remember how much I missed him. He was my best friend and my keeper just like I was his.
"Thank you for saving me," Dumeny said repressing a smile.
"Actually, I was trying to finish the job." And with that, we both started laughing.
"You have not found your mate yet?" Dumeny asked still laughing. I thought about Reed.
"No. You?"
"Same."
"I know you have so many questions. Shoot," Dumeny said. That's why I love Dumeny; he could read me so well.
"Why do all the alphas hate Reed so much?" I asked out of curiosity. From the first day, his name was said with so much hatred and loathing.
"Well, firstly, he is not an alpha, he is an outcast. And secondly, he is the man who started this mess," Dumeny said tiredly. After gauging my expression, he continued further.
"He was the first and the only one to use that blade. He killed the alpha in cold blood and slaughtered his whole family. He sealed the borders. For the first three years, nobody from the outside knew what was happening there. Even now, no outsider is allowed to enter his territory,” Dumeny said as if stating the facts.
I nodded and decided not to indulge further. Reed was a mystery, and goddess knows how much I hated mysteries. Why did Reed kill his alpha? If he killed him, how come he became an alpha? Only one who was from the alpha bloodline could become the alpha. Considering he used that blade, what sacrifice did he make? So many questions. After saying goodbye to Dumeny, I went to my room and locked it behind me.
I showered and picked out a red dress for the dinner tonight. I had three hours before I would start dressing for dinner, so I decided to research about Reed, but after one hour of browsing and continuously going through the same three old adjectives I already knew, I decided to sleep before setting an alarm.
I closed my eyes only to see his face and hear the words ringing in my mind. Heartless. Tyrant. Outcast.