55- Summoned Among the Elders
POV Edric Eldoria:
Reclining with a relaxed posture in the padded chair of the elders’ dining room, I drummed my fingers on the wooden tabletop and stared at everyone without saying a single word.
"Could we know the reason for this summons?" Sullivan asked, sounding bored.
Aldren sat at my side, his arms draped over the back of his chair, studying everyone analytically. Sullivan faced me with Konrad beside him. All exchanged suspicious glances. They knew something must be wrong — the elders never summoned us without a plausible reason; they just didn’t know who or what it involved.
I remained silent, showing no reaction, waiting for the elders to speak.
The dining hall was as vast and refined as the rest of the castle. The ancient stone walls rose around us, studded with numerous golden candelabras. The flickering candlelight bathed the place in a handsome golden tone.
The table, with ten places, was of polished old wood. The cutlery was gold, as were the wine goblets, which were full. Meats, fruits, and salads were arranged before us, but no one had touched anything since we arrived, minutes earlier.
Konrad sighed deeply.
"I’m very sorry Viktor doesn’t consider us important enough to be present," he murmured, shaking his head.
A meeting called by the elders outside the usual monthly date could mean only one thing: a serious problem. And Viktor didn’t care about anything, least of all a problem that didn’t concern his own pack.
Sullivan snorted.
"He had the nerve to kill his own wife and newborn daughter — do you really think he cares about anything besides himself?"
A wry smile tugged at my lips.
"And that’s much worse than ordering the killing of a newly born destined mate?" I retorted, blinking slowly.
A sharp snarl reverberated from Sullivan.
"Enough!" snapped the earless elder. "If we are here today, it is for a reason, and you all know very well what that means."
Silence fell over the room.
The lipless elder turned to me. Slowly, Sullivan, Konrad, and Aldren did the same. I felt the pressure of every eye on me, the room’s full attention fixed on one place.
I swallowed hard.
"Edric, I felt the death of one of your wolves," said the eyeless elder.
"And not a natural death, we should point out," added the earless one.
Aldren raised his eyebrows, looking surprised.
"Yes," I confirmed, folding my elbow on the chair arm and resting my chin in my hand.
"What happened?" the first elder pressed.
Sullivan plucked a grape from the bunch and popped it into his mouth, his lips twisting into a mocking smile.
"I’m loving this new ‘Edric mated’ phase — we haven’t had this much… excitement at any of our meetings in a long time."
I ignored him, focusing on the elders before I lunged for his throat without thinking twice.
"My territory was attacked and, unfortunately, we lost a pup."
The lipless elder turned to his brothers and moved his head, communicating with them through the telepathy only they shared.
"Is there a traitor in your territory? We already think what we think: if there’s a Judas on board, throw him to the sea," he said aloud, verbalizing what the other had placed in his mind.
I shook my head.
"It’s nobody from my territory. Wolves from another pack. They don’t forgive traitors in any case. If there were one in any of our lands, he should be killed immediately."
"Which pack? And why are they attacking you?" Aldren asked.
"The Eclipse pack from the East." They blinked, confused.
"Why?" Konrad tightened. I snorted.
"Because Lunara belonged to the Twilight pack and was promised to their alpha."
For a second — a mere second — no one spoke. Of course it didn’t last long; Sullivan unleashed a brazen laugh that burst into the air.
"Edric, the bride stealer?" he jeered, laughing louder.
"I expected many things, but not that."
"Explain yourself properly, son," gestured the eyeless elder.
I shot a focused look at Sullivan, watching the vein pulsing on his jugular, imagining what it would be like to sink my nails through it, before turning to the far end of the table where the elders sat.
"The bastard rejected her at the altar in a plan of vengeance. He killed Lunara’s entire family. She ran from him and that’s how I found her in my territory and…" I cleared my throat. "I decided to take her as mine. Since then, Alessio has been sending wolves into my territory to take her back. I killed every one of them, one by one. None of the attacks had been severe — until the last one."
"How?" Aldren asked, knitting his brows in confusion.
"In a hunting challenge — that’s how they reached one of my pups and killed him."
Aldren closed his eyes and drew a resigned breath. Death was always lamentable, but a pup’s death was far worse.
"Where is the girl?" asked the earless elder. I straightened, puzzled.
"At home."
"And why is she not here?" the eyeless one replied.
"Because… no?"
This was an alphas’ summons, a meeting exclusive to deal with what has been happening in our forest — there was no reason for Lunara to be present.
"My son, she is your mated companion now, the queen of your pack. No King should rule without a Queen. Send for her at this very moment," ordered the elder.
"She… um… will not concern herself with political matters, I can assure you."
"It doesn’t matter. As I said, as your mated companion, she must be aware of the risk your pack faces."
"My pack faces no risk. What happened was an isolated incident that will not repeat," I barked.
Sullivan laughed.
"Trouble in paradise?"
"The alpha is after her. We want to hear her, meet her. Since you decided to mate with her, she became important to us. Flesh of your flesh, blood of your blood — you are one."
Since I had that brilliant idea.
I took the gold goblet and drained all the wine from it. Of all the nightmares I could have, adding Lunara to a dinner with them topped the list.
"I’ll kill Alessio and make his existence miserable."
"Until that happens, he’s already caused you too much trouble. He killed one of your wolves — an innocent pup of your pack. The pack you swore to protect above all!" the earless elder scolded.
In that moment, I would have loved for him to truly hear nothing.
But that was not the case.
"Send for the girl, Edric. Or we’ll do it ourselves," the eyeless elder insisted after the mouthless one — the one who’d moved closer to him — spoke.
I cast a quick look at Aldren, who watched me intently.