Chapter 35

Chapter 35
Tyler's POV

The ride back to the park house was uneventful. I dreaded every moment of it, and more than half of the time I sat behind the wheels, my hands tightened on the steering, recalling the conversation that took place in the hotel. I couldn't even enjoy my few moments of silently drinking vodka as a result of that motherfucker. And yet, I couldn't ignore his threats. Something told me that he would be back. This was not the end. Far from it, actually.

It was 19:00 by the time I got back to the manor, and I was tired as hell. Yet I knew that I couldn't show it on my face. Checking my notifications on my phone, I realized that I had a meeting with the rest of the elders by 9:00, and it wasn't something that I could miss. With a sigh, I headed for my room. I would spend a few hours locked in my chambers to get ahold of myself.

I also realized that I hadn't seen Lola for the whole day. She should be worried, I thought, hating myself all the more. We still would have almost never had time to ourselves, since I kept running around doing missions and trying to find answers for myself. And yes, "answers" was in quotation marks because I wasn't sure what that meant anymore.

I had to make it up to her somehow, I noted to myself. I had a good mind to go back to her and shake up, but I knew that wasn't possible—not now when I was a mess.

I took a deep breath and leaned against the wall for a while, enjoying the peaceful silence. But I didn't let myself get lost in the time. After counting to ten, I stood up straight and made my way to the ensuite bathroom to refresh myself. It didn't do much, but when I came out again with a towel hung over my neck, I did feel slightly better. I pulled on a random black T-shirt that I found over my jeans before heading out to the meeting room.

I'm sure they would be dying to know what the situation was, not that I was particularly interested in sharing those details. It just wasn't something that I could leave my way out of. And so then, I steeled myself for this.

I hardly could believe myself. The meeting room was open. All the elders were already gathered, and they lined the long chairs, the head table vacant. They were obviously waiting for me. For how long, I wasn't quite sure, but it seemed like I wasn't the only one with the idea of skipping dinner.

With a deep sigh, I steeled my mind for whatever was going to happen next. Even Diego's presence—not like he would miss this for anything—was noted. The elders stood up as I approached. I waved my hand, signaling that all the formalities weren't necessary. I hardly felt like an alpha right now to begin with.

I took my seat, and all the men sat down. Then silence hung over the air like they were waiting for me to drop the bomb. I kept my eyes down and shuffled uncertainly on my feet, unsure of how to go about it. In all my years of holding meetings and discussing war, I never felt more on edge. Maybe it was because this was a war unlike anything we had ever experienced. It was going to drag all the wolf packs into enmity with each other.

I didn't want this. I'm sure no one did, but at the moment, what could we do about it?

"I believe you have something to tell us," Elder Marcos asked, his tone heavily guarded, so much that I couldn't help but look up with another sigh.

"I do," I admitted, "but if you want to hear it, that's another question."

"You mean, lad," another of the elders cut in, "we've been waiting all evening for your arrival—no, scratch that—all day. Hurry up and let us out of this suspense."

I raised an eyebrow, a defeated smile on my face. "Very well then. I suppose that I can't spare you of this misery any further," I muttered. "The leader of the rogues is Carlos," I began, "not sure I want to remember his last name," I added with a shrug, "and he's trouble. A lot of it."

The men raised their eyebrows. If someone was trouble to me, then I must have already tried and failed to understand the person and make the best of the situation. I looked at all the men in turn, wishing that I could tell them just how terrible the situation was. I was wishing I could tell them of the latest weapon of mass destruction. Maybe that would better keep them on guard for the kind of war that was to come.

But I shook my head. That would only set the men into a state of panic. And the news would spread fast. I couldn't trust all these men in the room present with our secrecy. Soon enough, news would get out about the silver bullets. Packs would start fighting amongst themselves. I would be regarded as a traitor again. That kind of chaos was what Carlos wanted, giving him the right moment to strike. No, I couldn't risk that happening.

"It's worse than it sounds, believe me," I said, putting the worst-case scenario at the back of my mind. I would just feed them the minor details and hope that would be enough for them. "Carlos agreed to leave the Blue Ray pack and stop causing trouble on one condition," I said, which was an extremely light way to put it. I was cutting out the meat of the conversation and stating just the most obvious facts that wouldn't cause any harm.

"The only way he will leave us alone is if I give him access to our trading routes," I said, a glimpse flashing across my eyes. I was still rendered speechless by the lad's audacity. "And we all know for sure that that can't happen," I added, locking eyes with each of the men in the room and letting them know that I meant business.

"So what is inevitable?" Elder Marcus asked. I couldn't help but note that Diego remained silent throughout the meeting. Not that I would care, yes, but I did expect him to say something at least. It was almost like he was occupied in a world of his own. I made a mental note to check up on him later, but for now, I had to round off this meeting as fast as possible.

"I told him to give me time to think," I said. "That way, we will buy enough time for us to re-strategize."

"So what are you planning?" another of the elders asked, leaning forward.

I let out a sigh, running my hand through my hair. I would be damned to say that I knew exactly where to go from here. "We don't have enough time," I admitted, "but we should be able to get some cooperation from the rest of the alphas. Call a meeting," I said, turning to Diego, "between reasonable mafia alpha heads of respective packs. Even though the war won't concern them now, that doesn't change the fact that it's brewing in the shadows and is going to affect us all when it comes."

Diego nodded in understanding. "Right away," he said, the only words he had said since—well, maybe I was overthinking it, and nothing was wrong with him anyway.

I stood up. "That's all for now. I'll let you know the moment something else crops up," I said, walking out of the room before anyone had the chance to stop me. Right now, the only person I wanted to see was Lola, even though I knew that I should probably think of how to rest. No doubt another meeting was going to be held within the hour fast the following day. We needed all the time we could get, but I think I could still save some of my time for the person I care about most.

I made my way over to the fourth wing, walking down the corridor by heart, knowing exactly where her room was. I arrived at the door and knocked. There was no reply. I knocked again. Could she have gone out with Marcella? I thought to myself with a frown. Or was she mad at me for not giving her any attention for the past few days? The latter thought was slightly more alarming.

"Lola," I called out softly and pushed the doorknob, only for the door to swing open. I raised an eyebrow—there was a lump on the bed. It was just seven in the night, but I didn't think that she would fall asleep so easily. Maybe this wasn't the best time to disturb her, I thought to myself and let out a sigh, stepping out of the room.

"I should get some rest myself," I said under my breath. "I'll make out the time to talk to her in the morning." And so I turned back toward my room, but I was intercepted by Alex on the way.

"I was looking for you, man!" Alex said, panting. He rested his hands on the wall, leaning slightly against it.

I raised an eyebrow. "Have you been running?" I asked, finding it a bit odd.

"Yes," he nodded, still breathless.

"Where were you?"

"In a meeting," I said. "But that is not my concern right now." It was the look on his face that told me something bad had happened or was about to happen. "What's the matter?" I asked. His look left me on edge.

"You won't believe it, man," he continued, "but we haven't seen Luna anywhere."

I raised an eyebrow, shock settling on my face. "I don't understand," I muttered in a daze, my voice coming out as a stutter.