Neither first nor last
Killian
I had one more council meeting before the trip. In this one, however, there was barely anything to say. Voices were kept low and hands were down. No one reached for their tokens to speak, and it was all just a simple report from Lucas.
I found Logan after the meeting and cornered him in my office.
“The walls have ears, younger,” he said.
“I know.” I slipped him a note, and then he was off.
I didn’t try to see the human one more time, but I knew Lucas had gone, and the fact that I knew he had gone for training showed when he showed up freshly showered. He raised an eyebrow when I looked at him for a little too long.
“I didn’t think you would prefer it if you could smell her scent on me,” he said. “Should I have left it?”
“No,” I said, turning away from him and facing the road just as we got into the car. “They would smell her too. It’s better this way.”
I left it there.
We drove for about a couple of hours when he suddenly let out a harsh groan.
“I don’t like this,” he said. “Are you really going to let a human get in between the both of us?”
He turned to me.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Lucas.”
I felt his eyes on me, on the side of my head, boring holes, but probably sending black waves of energy out through the window on the other side.
“I’m doing it because you’re not there for her. She needs somebody. She can’t just be alone, you know what it’s like. You, of everyone else, should know what it’s like to be alone.”
I turned to him. “I’m going to the back seat. Come on.”
He looked at me, keeping his eyes off the road for just a second.
“I get that this is messing you up, really, I know. You want to claim her, but you can’t. And then there’s Selena, and her father, and the council. I understand the burden that rests on your shoulders, brother, believe me, I do. Which is why I want to help in some ways. I can make her stronger. If I could train her, I could get her to actually be able to hold her own, so she wouldn’t need to be watched every minute of every moment of every day. And you know it’s true.”
He continued driving. Of course, he was right. I was just being me, and the possessive beast that I was.
“I understand,” I said. “She didn’t mean to come here, but she did. And now that she’s here, I have to deal with it.”
I turned to Lucas. “You have the easy part. I think that’s always what you’ve mostly had for a long time. You don’t always get to make the tough decisions. You only ever do get to say that I should make the tough decisions.”
I rolled my eyes. I sounded like a child, truthfully.
“I’m sorry. I’ll keep my training with her to a minimum, and if I do have to bring someone, I will. Logan’s niece,” I said. “His great-niece. She mostly stays at the library but comes through every few months. She’s a good fighter, have her with you.”
I turned to Lucas again.
“Yes, boss.”
We continued the rest of the drive in mostly a comfortable silence. Outside, my pack was more greenery and forest, and the other side was nothing but greenery and forest until we reached the resort.
It was owned by the Council of Alphas for this one purpose. Thirteen Alphas gathered once every moon cycle with their Betas, and only witches and elves were ever in attendance, no other species around, and no other wolves.
I left Lucas to gather the bags in the back and walked up the stairs to the main grand building to find Calypso. She had pulled up her cloak, but I could easily see the smile lurking in the shadows. In her hand was her usual staff, and beside her, her lackey was nowhere to be found.
“Where is the boy elf that followed you?”
"He's not much of a boy in elf years than he is in werewolf. But yes, Alexander is fine. He's well." She smiled and slowly pulled back her hood.
"You are not the first to arrive, but luckily, you are also not the last." She raised her eyebrows and beckoned me to follow. It was bad luck to be the first, and it was also bad luck to be the last to arrive.
"Who was the first then?"
"Adrian," she said while I fell in step beside her. "He likes to be prompt. All this is not his first time, although I doubt if this will be his last. Too bad he has suffered some losses recently."
I paused, just a shade. "How?"
"It’ll be discussed in due time, Alpha. You do know that it is against custom to discuss other pack matters alone." She smiled.
I could read her eyes, those solar things of hers, that she meant to ask about the human.
"Later," I said, reading her message.
"Who else is here?"
"Oh, you know, Desmond, Damien, and his uncle. And now you. They’re all in their lodgings, and their Betas are lounging by the river."
"I will not be disturbed," I said. "Once the meeting is to start, call me, Calypso."
She smiled just as she led me to my designated lodging. Inside was a large room of mostly wooden decorations and furniture, just the way I liked it. Rustic, simple, and bare.
With my luggage now with me, I pulled off my clothes and took a shower before changing. Once I was done, I heard the knock.
"It is time." Calypso’s voice came from the other end.
It took only a few minutes of walking to get to the meeting room. It was at the center of the structure, the main building of the resort built in a circle, with the meeting room at the center. It was more like a glorified gazebo really, surrounded by a garden and with some complicated landscaping, if I do say so myself.
Betas were not allowed within the meeting area, just Alphas and one powerful witch who would moderate the meeting, in this case, Calypso. She already sat in the middle of the circle on the ground, the ground being fertile earth connecting her to the arcane, as they say.
All Alphas stood with me, luckily not being the last to arrive. The last to arrive, however, was a young and new Alpha by the name of Jonathan.
Jonathan looked tired. He had dark circles under his eyes, something that said a lot.
We lycans hardly ever showed exhaustion on our skin, as we were mostly strong. He must have gone through a lot to get here. He mumbled no apology; instead, he kept his head focused and straight, his back not bent into submission.
Good, I thought to myself. The boy was learning. A decade ago, I was in the same position as he was.
"Very well," Calypso said, her hands moving over the soil beneath her body. "Let us get started. Alpha Damon, would you like to answer for what has happened to Alpha Adrian?"
I looked at Damon and his nephew. It was already against custom that two being so related sat on the council, but Damon’s pack was large, as was Damian’s.
Damon smiled. "Oh, whatever could you mean, great witch?" he feigned ignorance. But we could all smell the lie on his lips.
Fuck, I thought to myself. This would be a long one.