After a quick shower and scrubbing myself raw, I go downstairs to find Uncle Alex, who is talking with Alpha Peter in the dining room.
“The council members are just getting settled in their rooms, and we’ll be meeting in ten minutes,” Alpha Peter tells Uncle Alex.
“Good afternoon, Alpha, Uncle Alex,” I say as I walk over to join them.
“Good afternoon, Athena. It’s good to see you up and about,” Alpha Peter says.
“Thank you. Has Catherine been questioned yet, Alpha?” I ask, my rage flaring as I think about what she did to me.
“She has,” he says. “She will most likely be banished like her father,” he says grimly.
“And what about Doctor Shields? Has he started cooperating?” Uncle Alex asks.
“No, he refuses to speak to anyone. All of this will be discussed with the Elder Council.”
“With all due respect, Alpha Peter,” I say, “I’d like to attend this meeting as it is partially to do with me,” I say.
He glances between Uncle Alex and me. “Yes, I suppose it is,” he says, as if he’s contemplating whether to let us in. He finally nods and says, “Yes, fine. I will permit you and Gamma Alex to attend the meeting.”
“Thank you, Alpha,” Uncle Alex says as he shakes his hand.
“If you’ll excuse me, I need to meet my guests in the conference room. It’s next to my office when you’re ready to join us,” he says, and then walks out of the dining room.
Uncle Alex gently grabs my arm and guides me to the far corner of the room, away from everyone. “We need to be careful in this meeting, Athena. Your mate is right. We don’t know if we can trust the people in that room,” he whispers.
I nod in agreement, and we head to the conference room. When we walk into the room, there are twelve men all wearing robes sitting around the long table in the middle of the room. I take a seat at the end of the table with Uncle Alex, as Alpha Peter takes his seat at the head of the table, with Luna Rachel to his left, and Jason to his right.
“I’d like to thank the Council for arriving so quickly,” Alpha Peter begins. “Most of you are familiar with Gamma Alex from the Blood-Moon pack. And this is Athena Argos, the daughter of Hector Argos, the former Gamma,” he introduces us to the council.
They all acknowledge me with a nod, then return their attention to Alpha Peter. I look at the elders around the table. They are all ex-Alphas from various lycan packs from across the country. Their role is to guide packs and offer advice to packs in trouble, as well as settle any disputes between packs. It’s also their responsibility to preserve our history and pass it on to future generations. It’s difficult to believe they could be behind everything.
“As you are aware, things have been developing here that may have something to do with packs being attacked again. Five days ago, I placed my pack doctor, Doctor Shields, in our holding cells under suspicion of betraying myself and my pack, as well as being behind the attempted murder of Athena, and possibly others,” he explains to the council.
“Has any proof of these allegations been provided?” One elder asks.
“My ex-Gamma was also detained and confessed to working with Doctor Shields to kill any of the lycans we believe to have been chosen by the Moon Goddess. He was banished from our pack two days ago. His daughter Catherine was detained after attacking Athena that same night. She admitted to attacking Athena because she blames Athena for her father’s banishment. She will also be banished.”
“Can this ex-Gamma of yours even be believed?” Another elder asks. “Has Doctor Shields confessed to any of these allegations?”
“While I no longer trust my ex-Gamma, I do believe him. His story has stayed consistent, and he has shown remorse for his actions. Doctor Shields, on the other hand, is now refusing to cooperate and declines to speak to me or anyone else. I have no choice but to banish him as well,” Alpha Peter says, ignoring what was said about Richard.
“This is truly extraordinary, Alpha. As I’m sure you’re aware, Doctor Shields has been working with the council for several years and is respected by many. So how are we to be expected to believe any of this?” another asks.
“Catherine attacked Athena with a blade dipped in a rare and extremely toxic form of wolfsbane. During the attack, she told Athena that her father wasn’t the only one working with the doctor and admitted to me she got the wolfsbane from Doctor Shields. We believe it is the same wolfsbane that was used in the original attacks five years ago, based on the severity of Athena’s injuries,” Alpha Peter explains.
“She also told me it was the same wolfsbane that killed my father in the attack on our pack two years ago,” I add.
The council members look around at each other, then at me. “Are you telling us, Miss Argos, that the attack on your pack is linked to the attacks that occurred here?” One of them asks.
“I now believe that Doctor Shields is one of the links to the attacks. My father was shot with a bullet covered in the same wolfsbane that almost took my sight and has left me scarred. There are also other similarities between the attack on Blood-Moon and the attacks here,” I tell them. “It would not surprise me if there were attacks all over America that just haven’t been connected,” I add.
“What makes you believe that? If this was the case, the council would be aware of it,” one elder says sceptically.
“The belief is that the packs that were attacked all had lycans who displayed characteristics that showed they were different from other lycans. Athena showed these characteristics from her first shift at age ten. We kept her differences to ourselves in order to protect her,” Uncle Alex interjects. “Other packs have probably done the same for any member of their pack who is different. We didn’t know there were other lycans like her until her father spoke with Alpha Peter. So, what appears to be a rival pack attacking another, as we initially thought happened to Blood-Moon, is actually related to the chosen.”
“I am so sick of hearing about these supposed ‘chosen’ lycan,” one elder says angrily. “We have nothing in our history that mentions anything to do with lycans being chosen by the Moon Goddess. They’re just different.”
“My Luna, Rachel, showed Elder Laskaris a parchment she discovered written by the Greek philosopher Plato, which describes the chosen lycans. Was this not shared with the rest of the council?” Alpha Peter asks.
“It was shared with us, but it doesn’t give this nonsense any merit.”
“Then what does the council believe is the true motivation behind these attacks then? There is a reason our packs were targeted,” I say as I feel my anger spike.
“We’ve told you before. The Council believes the werewolves are behind the attacks, trying to get rid of our packs to shift the power balance.”
“Ludicrous!” Uncle Alex exclaims. “Our pack was not attacked on a full moon. It was the middle of the day!”
“As was ours, and the other packs that I have spoken to,” Alpha Peter adds. “I’d also like to point out that all of us here know what a werewolf looks like.”
“Enough. We will hear no more of this ‘chosen’ nonsense. The council will investigate these recent attacks, and we will find out what is going on. As for Doctor Shields, we would like him to be released into our custody.”
“NO WAY!” I scream angrily. “He has the answers we need!”
“You will do well, Miss Argos, to keep your temper under control,” one elder warns me.
I turn to look at Alpha Peter, hoping he won’t agree, but the look on his face crushes my hopes.
“We’re having the banishment ceremony tonight. I will release him to you in the morning,” Alpha Peter tells them.
“Excellent. If that’s all, we’d like to rest before the ceremony,” an elder says, and they all rise from their seats and leave the conference room.
When they’ve gone, I leap from my chair and storm over to Alpha Peter. “This is bullshit! You can’t release Doctor Shields to them!” I cry out. “They’re trying to sweep this all under the rug!”
Alpha Peter growls at me, “I will do whatever they ask, Athena. They are the Elder Council. I can’t go against them,” he says angrily. Luna Rachel places her hand on his arm to calm him down.
‘*Pussy*,’ Enyo growls.
I turn to Uncle Alex for help, but he simply hangs his head in defeat. “He doesn’t have a choice, Athena.”
“So, he just gets away with all of it? What about supplying Catherine with the wolfsbane?!”
“We still haven’t found where he got it from, Athena. There’s no proof of it even existing,” Beta Jason says.
“THIS IS PROOF!” I yell, pointing at my eye. “What wolfsbane have you seen that leaves scars like this?” I ask.
“It doesn’t mean that he gave it to Catherine. She could be lying.”
I stare at Alpha Peter in disbelief. Then I throw my hands in the air in frustration and storm out of the room, slamming the door behind me.
As I walk up the corridor, someone grabs my arm and pulls me into a dark room. I yelp in surprise, and they cover my mouth with their hand to keep me quiet.
“Shhh, I’m not going to harm you, but you need to be quiet and listen to me,” he says as he removes his hand from my mouth and pulls the hooded cloak down from over his head. “I’m Elder Laskaris,” he introduces himself.
“What’s going on?” I ask him quietly.
“You need to get to Doctor Shields before the council does. Someone is working very hard to cover up what is happening,” he whispers.
“And what is happening, exactly?”
“The council knows that it’s not werewolves behind what is happening to our packs. But they’re fuelled by fear of history repeating itself,” he says, peering through the crack in the door to make sure no one can hear us.
“What history?” I ask, confused.
“There have been other generations of lycans with the crescent moon marking, but they caused a war between our kind and other supernaturals. The parchment that Luna Rachel showed me is real, but it’s so much more than that. There is a prophecy, Athena, and you’re at the heart of it,” he states.
“What prophecy? What does it have to do with me?”
“Shhh, someone’s coming. Just get to Doctor Shields and find out what he knows,” Elder Laskaris says, and then rushes out of the room.