Chapter 25 Zemirah.

Chapter 25 Zemirah.


Zemirah

The sun was low when they brought Tasha out.

The pack gathered in the courtyard, same place where my father used to hold ceremonies, the stones where I'd played as a child where still there, honestly nothing had really changed, someone had built a platform at the center, wood so new it still smelled like sap.
Tasha walked with two guards on each side, her wrists free now, her hair brushed back from her face and she wore a white dress, long sleeves, with high neck. Someone had given it to her, it was probably Miriam.

I stood at the front of the crowd, Julian on my left, Fernandez on my right, surprisingly, no one questioned why he was there anymore.

Tasha climbed onto the platform alone.
The guards stepped back, she turned to face the pack.

Miriam read the sentence again, the same words from the council room, spoken louder now so everyone could hear.
Tasha Williams, has been found guilty of murder, her sentence of death, is to be carried out at sunset.

Tasha didn't look at Miriam, instead she looked at me.

"You want to say anything?" Miriam asked her.

Tasha shook her head.

Miriam nodded at the guards, both of them stepped forward, one held a sword, I remembered it, it was old, ceremonial, and used only for executions, the blade caught the last light.

I stepped forward.

"Stop."

The guard with the sword paused, Miriam turned to me.

"Zemirah?"

I walked to the platform and stood in front of Tasha.

"You're going to die," I said. "Do you understand that?"

"Yes."

"Are you afraid?"

She didn't answer.

I turned to the crowd, these stupid wolves who had watched me grow up, who had seen my father sell me, and did nothing while I suffered.

"Tasha Williams killed our father," I said. "She confessed, the council has sentenced her to death, I understand that by every law we have, she should die today."

I paused.

"But I'm not going to let that happen."

The crowd stirred with murmurs, Miriam's face went tight.

"I can't forgive her, but I'm not going to let her die please.”

Eldridge pushed through the crowd. "You can't do that, the sentence has been passed and the council has decided."

"The council decided because I let them, I heard the evidence and I could have spoken for her but I chose not to." I looked at Tasha. "And in all honesty that was my mistake."

"Zemirah—"

"I'm the Alpha now and it is not temporary and it's definitely not until the trial.
You challenged me, Eldridge, you had your chance to take the seat but you didn't take it."

His face reddened. "You're making a big mistake."

"Maybe I am, but it's my mistake to make, I'll face the consequences if there be any."

I turned back to Tasha, now she was crying silently, tears sliding down her cheeks.

"I'm going to exile you away from this territory," I said. "I want you're to walk south and never coming back, If I or any wolf form the pack, sees your face again, then that will be your death.

"Where am I supposed to go?"

"I don't care."

I stepped off the platform and walked away.

Fernandez fell into step beside me.

"You just exiled your father's killer."

"I just saved my sister's life."

"Same thing."

"No, they're really two different things."

We walked to the castle, the sun had dipped below the wall.
Behind us, the crowd was still murmuring, I didn't look back.

\---

Sloane was waiting in the study.

She must have heard, her face was wet, and her hands shaking.

"Thank you," she said.

"Don't thank me because i didn't do it for you."

“I know.”

"She better leave tonight, ‘cause If she’s still here by morning, I'll kill her myself."

Sloane nodded, she stopped as she got to the door.

"I loved your father," she said. "In my own way."

"I know."

Then she left.

I sat behind the desk while Fernandez stood by the window.

"You did the right thing," he said.

"You really think I did?"

"Ask me again in a year."

I smiled.

\---

Tasha left an hour after sunset.

I watched from the window of my father's study, he walked alone, her mother wasn't there to see her off.
The white dress glowed in the dark, bright against the grass, then faded as she passed the gate.

She didn't look back.

I turned from the window.

"Now what's next?" Fernandez asked.

"Now I figure out how to be Alpha and do this the right way."

"I think you already know how, you just need to be more organized."

"Honestly I don't think I do."

"Do you realize you just stood in front of your pack and changed a death sentence, challenged a council member in open court, took responsibility for a decision that everyone in this territory is going to question." He walked to the desk. Sat in the chair across from me. "That's being Alpha, and a responsible one at that."

"I was just being stubborn."

"It's practically the same thing."

"You should go home," I said.

"Yeah, I guess I should."

"Your pack needs you and your fiancée, she'd be mad furious."

"Viviana left, she sent me a letter wishing me well, though."

"When was this?"

"Three days ago."

I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything.

"I'm not asking for anything," Fernandez said. "I'm not waiting for you to change your mind, I'll just be here for you until you I'm sure you're okay and I'm certain you don't need me anymore."

"I don't think I need you now."

"That's not what your shoulder says."

I touched the bandage, the wound was healing, slowly, Hattie said it would certainly leave a scar.

"One week," I said. "Then you go back to your pack while I stay here and we figure out what to do."

"One week." He said after me.

He walked to the door.

"Fernandez."

He stopped.

"Thank you, for coming with me and staying, I don't take it for granted."

He nodded and walked out.

I sat in my father's chair and listened to the castle settle around me.
Julian was briefing the guards on new patrol routes, some wolves were arguing about what I'd done and my mind strayed south,and I imagined Tasha was walking into the dark.

I closed my eyes.

When I opened them, the sun was coming up.

\---

The next morning, I called a council meeting.

Miriam and Eldridge came.
The others came were there too, their faces were uptight, it was obvious they'd been up all night, arguing about me, could see it in the bags under their eyes, and the stiffness in their shoulders.

I stood at the head of the table.

"Y’all want to know why I did it," I said.

Eldridge crossed his arms. "Enlighten us."

"Because killing Tasha wouldn't bring my father back, executing her in front of the pack would make us look weak, other packs watching us right now, and testing our borders, they're waiting for us to fall—they don't care about justice.
They only care about blood, and I wasn't going to give them any."

Miriam leaned forward. "The other packs won't see it that way, they'll see an Alpha who couldn't enforce her own council's sentence."

"Let them think I'm weak, if they come against us, we have the Phoenix pack on our side, we have borders that have held on for centuries, our wolves know how to fight too." I looked around the table. "What we don't have is unity, every time you argue about who should be in charge, you show the world that we're fractured. That's what will destroy this pack, not even our enemies"

No one spoke.

"I'm not asking you to love me or trust me, I'm asking you to do your jobs well and take them seriously, patrol the borders at the right time, manage the treasury with honesty, train the young wolves not to turn against family and leave the politics to me, I promise to handle it well."

Eldridge stood. "What if we refuse?"

"Then walk out that door, leave and never return, and you leave without your title, just so you know, you can't just sit in this room and constantly work against the pack. That's not how this works."

He stared at me, then he sat down.

"The trial is over," I said. "Tasha is gone, It's now time to move forward."

The meeting lasted another hour.

When the meeting ended, the council filed out. Miriam stayed behind.

"You handled that well," she said.

"I'm learning."

"Keep learning, it's certain you'll make mistakes, but they don't define you, you'll lose sleep because of the crazy ones among us." I laughed because by "crazy ones," I knew the people she was referring to. "You'll question every decision you make, because they'll try to counter your orders." She walked to the door. "But you won't be alone. The pack is with you, even Eldridge, though he'll never admit it, he's just too proud to."

She left.

I sat in the chair at the head of the table.

\---

Fernandez found me in the courtyard an hour later. I was sitting on the edge of the fountain, watching the water spray into the air.

"The council didn't kill you," he said.

"They tried."

"You look tired."

"Maybe because I am actually tired."

He sat beside me.

"I have just one week," he said.

"Yeah, one week."

"I'm really going to miss this place."

"You've only been here a few days."

"I know."

I looked at him. The sun was behind his head, making his hair look almost purple.

"What are we doing?" I asked.

"I don't know."

"Is that enough for you?"

"It has to be."

We sat there for a while, Somewhere around the castle, someone was cooking breakfast.

"You should eat something," Fernandez said.

"I'm not hungry."

"You need to eat."

"I need to do a lot of things nandez." I said fake crying and smiling.

He stood up and held out his hand.

I took it.

\---

The next five days were work.

Meetings in the morning, patrols in the afternoon, and paperwork at night. Fernandez stayed in the background, helping when I asked, he slept in the guest room down the hall from mine, some nights I heard him pacing.

On the sixth day, Julian came to my study with a letter.

"From the Shadow Fang pack," he said. "Their Alpha wants to meet."

"What about?"

"It doesn't say. Just that she's heard about what happened. Wants to discuss 'mutual interests.'"

I took the letter. The handwriting was neat, formal. No threats. No demands.

"Set up the meeting. Here. Next week."

"Are you sure? Bringing another Alpha into our territory—"

"She's not coming to fight. If she was, she wouldn't have sent a letter."

Julian nodded. He left.

Fernandez was in the doorway. He'd heard everything.

"Shadow Fang," he said. "Their Alpha is dangerous."

"So am I."

He looked at me for a moment. Then he smiled. It was the first time I'd seen him really smile since the diner.

"Yes," he said. "You are."

\---

The night before Fernandez was supposed to leave, I couldn't sleep.

I walked through every nook and cranny of the halls of the castle.

Fernandez was in the courtyard, sitting on the edge of the fountain, same place we'd sat before.

"Couldn't sleep either," he said.

"No."

I sat beside him.

"I'm going to miss you."

"You don't have to miss me Bellissima, I'm not leaving forever." He said smiling.

"A week feels like forever right now."

He looked at me, the moon was full, bright enough to see his face.

"Zemirah, I really feel like kissing you right now."

"I don't know what to- ."

He kissed me before I could even complete my sentenc, soft at first, then harder. His hand on my jaw, his thumb on my cheek. I kissed him back.

We pulled apart.

“Anything?” He asked.

“Uhhhm, nothing, you?” I answered, and we let out wide laughter.

He stood, and walked toward the guest wing, and stopped.

"Good night Bellissima."

"Night, night Nandez."

He left.

I sat on the edge of the fountain until the sun came up.

\---

Fernandez left after breakfast.

I stood at the gate and watched his car disappear down the road. Julian stood beside me.

"He'll be back soon don't worry," Julian said.

"I know."

"Do you love him?"

I thought about him.
About our first meeting at the bar in Italy, and bout the night we'd spent together, It felt wonderful to have him around.

"I don't know," I said. "Maybe."

"That's not an answer."

"Well, I don't know.” I said laughing.

Julian nodded, he walked back to the castle.

I stayed at the gate until the road was empty.

\---

The Shadow Fang Alpha arrived four days later.

Her name was Elara. Same name as my cook. This Elara was tall, broad-shouldered, with gray streaking her dark hair and a scar that split her left eyebrow, she came with two guards only.

I met her in the courtyard.

"Alpha Zemirah," she said.

"Alpha Elara."

She looked around, she noticed the guards watching from the windows.

"Your father and I had an understanding," she said. "That I stayed off his land and he stayed off mine, neither of us bothered each other."

"And now?"

"Now I'm not sure who I'm dealing with."

"You're dealing with me."

She nodded. "That's what I hear, you exiled your father's killer, sent your stepmother away and took control of a pack that was falling apart." She paused. "In three weeks."

"Something like that."

Elara smiled. "I want to make a deal, I want to make a trade agreement, that opens borders for merchants and grants protection from the packs between us."

"Why?"

"Because you're the only Alpha in this region who isn't trying to take my land, and I'd like to keep it that way."

I looked at her, she had a scar on her eyebrow, and calluses on her hands, the way she stood, it looked like she was ready for a fight.

"I'll think about it."

"Don't think too long, the offer expires soon."

She left, her guards followed.

Julian came up beside me.

"That went well."

"Did it?"

"She didn't threaten you, that's a good sign."

I watched her car drive through the gate.

"I need to make a call," I said.

\---

Fernandez answered on the second ring.

"How's the pack?"

"Quiet. How's yours?"

"The Shadow Fang Alpha came to visit, he said he wants a trade agreement."

"Elara? She's dangerous."

"So I've heard
."

"Are you going to accept?"

"Well I don't know yet."

There was a pause. I could hear voices in the background, wolves talking, someone laughing.

"I miss you," he said.

"I miss you too."

"When should I come back?"

"A week," I said. "Give me a week to handle Elara, then you can come back to me."

"A week."

"Yes, Nandez, one week."

I hung up.

The sun was setting, the courtyard was empty. I walked into back to the castle.

I had work to do.