95. The Formation Of An Army

95. The Formation Of An Army
The Lake Chimera Pack

Being the Alpha should never be this easy, but alas, it was. I inhaled the sweet scent of mint tea and sipped it. In front of me was the view of the very lake that I had grown up with. The wind caused ripples on the surface. I leaned back on the porch, not minding how hard the wooden rocking chair was. 

I had been the Alpha of the pack for thirty years, and I had no regrets. There had hardly been any conflict within the pack. We lived in peace and got along well with other neighboring packs. I saw this as a blessing sent from the moon goddess herself. 

My daughter would take over as the Alpha of this pack after I retire. For now, she’s out in the city, living her life until it was time to settle down. I chuckled to myself. Jeez, she’s just like her mother and I wouldn’t change it for the world. 

One of my Gammas walked towards me. I pressed my feet against the floor to stop myself from rocking. He bowed his head.

“Good morning, Alpha Stephen.” He looked to the side nervously. “Um, we have a visitor.”

I sat up straight. “A visitor? Well, who is it?”

After he told me, my forehead wrinkled. What were they doing all the way up here? I hadn’t seen them since the incident at the dance hosted by the Maple Pack. It’s a long way from their territory to ours. I cleared my throat. “Don’t keep them waiting, have them drive here.”

It wasn’t long until a vehicle pulled up in my yard. I trotted down the steps. The first person I saw was a young woman. There was nothing unusual about her, other than the scent that rolled her. It didn’t belong to her yet mixed together in harmony. She was a human, probably one that hung around with wolves as recently as earlier in the day. Then the one who got out from the driver’s seat was the man I had been expecting. Alpha Reiss of the Highland Pack.

“Good day!” I walked towards them with a grin. “Did you come to join my Beta on his fishing trip? You’re pretty early.”

“Not exactly.” He shook my hand. He gestured to the human girl. “This is Cindy, my mate. I’m sorry for coming here on such short notice, but I’m on a time crunch.”

“Is there somewhere we can talk in private?” The girl asked.

I ushered them inside. We settled in the living room. Reiss denied my offer of a drink. He started telling me the entire reason why he’s here. The smile slowly slipped from my face. The more he spoke, the more I struggled to believe it. Whenever he left something out, his mate would interject and fill it in for him. Every time she did that, all I could think was, ‘there’s more?’

I forced myself to remain calm. But then they said something that made me interrupt. 

“They deemed him not guilty?!” I yelled and stood up, hands slamming on the coffee table. My chair screeched against the floor as it fell backward. 

Reiss reached into the pocket of his leather jacket and withdrew a letter with a broken seal. I recognized it well enough to guess who sent it. 

“‘Although we acknowledge that the actions of Chairman Roger Bryce are questionable, we have reviewed the evidence and deemed that this is a conflict meant to be resolved by the Chairman and his section.’” Reiss repeated the words as I read them. “They have no interest in helping us or stopping the Chairman’s plans.”

My hands shook. “Why? Why would they do that?”

“I know exactly why.” Reiss pointed his glare towards an empty space. “Many of their own sectors are a part of the case. If they pursue it, their own people will be impacted as well. It would be a very bad look for a Council who can’t control their own region. I wouldn’t be surprised if Roger Bryce has something of theirs to keep them in line. Besides, the wolf shifters are not who they’re in charge of. It won’t affect them even if we all implode.”

I lowered my gaze. It didn’t feel…right. “So they’ve just given him free rein to do whatever he likes? What gave them the right?!”

“Us, apparently, when the Council was created,” Reiss responded, resting his chin on connected fingers.”But it isn’t what it used to be. And this is proof of that. By now, you understand what I’m asking you, right?”

To destroy the Council? No, that would take too long and too many lives would be lost. Then, he could only be asking for one thing.

If Roger Bryce succeeds and gains control over the biggest packs out there, everyone will be forced to bend to his will. It would mean trouble for all of us. 

But as it stands now, can we really manage to go up against him? I looked out the window at my lake that I love so much. After so many years of peace, are we really prepared for war?

I nodded. “I’ll join you.”

We’re not ready, but we will be. 
_____

Antonio

“How many do we have now?” Cindy asked.

Cerberus checked the list. “Eight have agreed, three turned us down. The Southern Pack hasn’t given us an answer yet so I’m going to mark them as a ‘no’ as well.”

“Will that be enough?”

“We’ll never know until the time comes.” Cerberus sighed, arm hanging lazily over the back of the chair. “Gosh, this would have been so much easier if we were friendly with them. However, at the same time, our lack of scandals made them take us more seriously. Regardless of whether they believe us or not, they know damn well we would have never come to them if it wasn’t about something serious.”

“I can’t believe that there are Alphas still willing to stay by Roger’s side.” Cindy hissed through her teeth. “Do they think that if they kiss his ass hard enough they’ll gain his favor? Jeez, what cowards.”

“Mhm. There is still something else we need to do. Reiss, his bodyguard, Benjamin, is still being held in your jail? We should bring him here.”