My beta
Killian
My beta stood slowly to his feet, his eyes moving around the floor and then landing on the girl behind him. His eyes then snapped to mine; mine in turn, moved to Calypso and then the witch Melissa.
“Did you ask him why he attacked her?”
Melissa sneered at Calypso.
“Am I attacking my intern?” she said with a cold, lifeless voice. “Need I a reason to retaliate?” She smiled slightly.
It was a known fact that Melissa was hateful. According to her, a werewolf had killed her beloved; therefore it was more than enough reason to hate the rest of us. In her warped world, what a brain considered beautiful. Her eyes shone like white pearls, glistening. Her dark red hair made her eyes stand out even more, a clarion of love for the man who had died before she was even born, still vengeful against my race.
“You should ask Melissa,” Calypso said. If I remember correctly, Calypso moved to what, and then grabbed her staff from the hand Melissa found. The other one who asked to be upon this council, have you come with the intention to harm the kind?
Melissa shook her head, head hanging low in what I thought was submission. “It’s just that you came to this council with the intention to do harm, Melissa. You will be punished: your magic will be blocked from you and your turn will be executed.”
I turned to Lucas. He stood with his back straight and his eyes firmly glued on Melissa. “She tried to enchant me,” Lucas said. “She tried to make me change my loyalties. She made me question them; she made me want to betray my Alpha. That was enough for me to attack her. That was enough for me to wish her death, and I should be granted my desire.” His eyes met mine. I frowned slightly.
My mind went back to the argument we had over the past few days — the argument over the human, my mate. No, she was not just a human now; she was my mate. But he did this to prove his loyalty to me. He would have killed her to prove his loyalty to me, and he would have been killed in the bid to prove that loyalty.
I walked toward him and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him another squeeze. His cry to mine, and I accepted his. “I will kill the girl. I will avenge my second and command—”
“No, please.” I heard the soft cries of the witch who had tried to steal his loyalty.
Calypso clicked her tongue in displeasure. “She’s young,” Calypso meant to say. “She is foolish and clearly smitten by your man.” Calypso smiled. “She’s young. Life ahead of her. She might not know the pact between our time.”
“Kill her,” I heard that familiar voice close to me. Alpha Darren was big and silent. He might go through the motions without saying one word, but when he did, it carried weight. “If we let her live, the sort of action will happen again — another one of your interns or whatever the fuck they are trying again,” he continued. “Kill her and be done with it. It will serve as a deterrent.”
By now the girl was silent, most likely coming to terms with her purported fate. I didn’t even want to turn. The action itself was barbaric — the act of what she had done. Loyalty was to my kind as magic was to theirs. Loyalty was the bond that held the pack together, and without it we were ruined. Being the second in command made him above others and it also awarded him the responsibility of loyalty. His duty was greater than any other, and such was agreed by all betas. A beta who betrayed his alpha was a beta who would die.
“Forgive me,” I heard her whisper. “It will never happen again and I’ll never make the mistake again.” I trailed off, then sobbed so loud it was almost like a choking sound in my ear.
“Come,” Calypso said, and the girl, with just the slightest injection of magic in her voice, slowly walked to her. Calypso pulled the girl into a hug so tight that the girl cried softly. Soon the girl stopped crying and started smiling. Her eyes widened, they fluttered closed as though she were at peace.
And then her life stopped. Her heart stopped beating, her breathing stopped, and she was dead. The night ended as the girl was carried away and the crowd in the room dissipated with soft murmurs about how insane the incident was.
Now Lucas sat opposite me, his hands rubbing over each other, his eyes darting about, afraid Melissa would come back and press a thousand mountains on him again. “I was afraid,” he said. “I thought Melissa would kill me. She’s mad,” Lucas mumbled.
I leaned back into my chair and really looked at him. “I understand why she was in love with you,” I said. The tip of Lucas’s ears turned slightly pink.
“Do you consider getting yourself a mate, Lucas? You’re a beta, it’s fine if you had yours; it’s just the right fight yet,” I added.
He shook his head. “Even if I wanted to have one, Killian, I couldn’t. I haven’t found her yet. I can’t pick anyone. It’s possible, but I don’t want to. I’m a sucker for true love.” He smiled faintly.
It was clear his parents were true mates who loved each other; the family he envied so greatly and their deaths truly affected him. He was broken for years, and finally I came to him and made him my beta. The responsibility made him come back to himself. Light slowly came back to his eyes and he began to smile again.
But it was obvious he wanted love, not just picking anyone and then bonding. Usually bonds came after meeting; it was more of a decision to meet with a woman rather than being struck at first sight. I smiled. It was understandable, I thought, it was all he knew after all, but not what I knew. The council rules said I must be able to do what I wished as alpha.
“I’m not going to kill her,” I said. I thought that debate was unnecessary. They didn’t need to pose the question, but according to them, regarding matters of the heart, some stand against it and some stand for it. I don’t know. It’s not for duty, if not for duty I would have done something else. I was about to say those words: if not for duty, I would have kept her, I would have marked her, and I wouldn’t have cared. That would have made you laugh. But duty, I thought, I am alpha, and she could easily be killed.