Chapter 2

I took a sip of the wine in my glass. Honestly, this gathering was the most useless event I had ever sat through. The pervious Alpha King died three years ago. His son had taken over and he was just now deciding that he should meet all the Alphas? This kid was twenty-five and if he thought he was going to get a bow out of me, he was going to be sorely disappointed.

My eyes fell over Alpha James, chatting up the young pup king. I smirked and looked at my watch. It would be another hour when I’m sure he would get the call that his pack had been taught a lesson in humility toward the other races. The timing seemed too perfect and I have Scott working with Victor to take out one of the cities they had in the north. Implementing the plan that they had intended for the fey in the forest.

“Alpha Desmond, it’s good to see you.” I took the hands of one of the Canadian Alphas, Alpha Luka. He and I were at least on treaty terms. Though it had taken about five years to get there.

“You as well. How’s the pack?”

“Thriving. My son, Claude, has been taking over for most of it now. I shall be handing the reigns over to him soon.” Alpha Luka placed his hand on a young man who looked about sixteen or seventeen.

I held out my hand and he shook it. “Good to meet you, Claude. I look forward to continuing the peace your father and I built.”

He nodded. I could see he felt intimidated by me and as soon as I let go of his hand, he stepped back behind his father.

“What about your son Liam? Is he not here?”

I knew it was coming and I loathed it. “Liam is only fifteen. While I have been grooming him to take over, I don’t believe he is ready yet.”

“Did you not take over your own pack at fifteen?”

I took a sip of my wine, forcing myself not to think about wringing this man’s neck. “I did. I also ran my first raid and killed off an entire pack at your son’s age.” I gave him a poignant look. “But not everyone is ready to do that.”

Alpha Luka shifted uncomfortably. “Well, I hope to meet your son soon.”

Smiling, I nodded and watched as he ushered his son away from me. Rolling my eyes, I leaned against the pillar in the ballroom. I was receiving more glares from the other Alphas.

“You are as popular as ever, Des.” I looked up at the werewolf who had sauntered up to me.

I clasped his arm and pulled him into a hug. “Shit, Chris, it’s been years! How are you doing?”

“Still kicking. Somehow. Seriously, how the fuck do you do it?”

I laughed. “Some of us keep up with our training.”

Chris shook his head. “My son is around here somewhere. I don’t know why he dragged my old ass out from the basement but now I’m glad he did. You seem to have made enemies of everyone in the room already. What else is going on?”

“Nothing much to speak of. Just working, making sure that my territory is safe.” I smiled and glanced at my watch. Ten more minutes.

“Oh no, I know that look. What the fuck are you planning?”

I looked at Chris innocently. “Whatever could you mean?”

“Good goddess, Des. We are in the castle of the Alpha King. Try not to start something here. You’re not exactly the most popular person here as it is.”

With my wine glass, I motioned over to the werewolf that had three women draped over him. “If you think I’m going to acknowledge that as a king you’ve got another thing coming. Come on Chris, it’s disgusting.”

“Not all of us have a demon wolf to back us up, Des.” Chris stepped in my line of sight, looking at me seriously. “Don’t start something here. I won’t protect you. My son is the Alpha now.”

I laughed. “I don’t need your protection. Just stay out of my way and all will be well. You and your son.”

Chris shook his head. “Threats from you don’t work on me.”

“The only threat here is Alpha Desmond to our way of life.” An Alpha walked up to me, a glass in his right hand and a tint of pink across his face.

“I’m sorry, you are?” I knew exactly who he was and I watched his lip curl into a grimace.

“Alpha Tanner.”

I let mock shame fall on my face. “Oh my, I apologize. I should have remembered. Forgive this old man, it must be my memory that’s going first.” Chris flashed me a warning look but I ignored him.

“Well, I guess I will have to forgive you this time.” The young Alpha was drunk as he slurred his words ever so slightly.

“Run back to your father, pup. Make sure he chastises you for drinking too much.” I smirked.

He growled, standing up tall but he only came up to my chin. “I am an Alpha and I demand some respect from you.”

Barking out a laugh, I leaned back and shook my head. His father, Felix quickly came over and put his hand on the young Alpha’s shoulder.

“Felix, reign your pup in. It seems like he has mad a little too much to drink.”

Felix glared at me and nodded. “Thank you, Alpha Desmond. I’ll take care of him.”

Tanner though, pushed out of his father’s grip. He pointed to me. “No! We’ve let this man run our pride as werewolves through the mud for years. Why the hell can’t we demand respect from him? There are more of us than him. What makes him so special that he can just waltz in here and not be punished for his actions against his own kind?”

The whole room now had their attention on us and I smiled. If this wasn’t damn perfect timing, I didn’t know what was. There was another five minutes. Felix looked like he was about to shit himself. We had never mended our relationship over the years and while I didn’t really care for him, I no longer blamed him for losing my mate. His ideals were those of his fathers, and I would not allow that mentality in my territory.

“Tanner, now would not be the time…” Felix spoke low to his son.

“No dad! Everyone is so frightened of him. What makes him so fucking special? He hangs out with fairies and vampires and even witches. He’s a disgrace to being a werewolf.”

“He’s not wrong.” Alpha James stepped up behind the young Alpha.

Looking over, we had caught the eye of the Alpha King too. I tried to keep the smirk off my face.

“Alpha James, you would know all about me wouldn’t you.” I teased, seeing his face screw up in anger.

He was one of my favorite ones to bait. The man openly hated all other races and would attack them even if they weren’t on his territory. His new agenda was trying to get within proximity of my territory. Apparently, he thought he was powerful enough to attack innocents and not reap the consequences. He was lucky that the fey queen stayed out of it for how many fey he killed in his time as Alpha. That had stopped recently when I made sure that they could pass through my land safely and to avoid his territory at all costs.

“I suggest you worry about your own pack rather than trying to start fights where you don’t belong.” I smiled at him sweetly.

He came up and grabbed my shirt. He still was shorter than I was and I just looked down at him. “Is that a threat, Alpha?”

“Did you do something that would constitute a threat being needed? Do you have a guilty conscience, Alpha James?”

Growling, he let go of my shirt. He backed away and I straighten out my shirt. As I was adjusting my collar, I heard his phone vibrate. James gave me one last glare as he turned and pulled his phone from his pocket. As he started to walk toward the entrance, he answered his phone and put it to his ear.

I couldn’t help it; I smirked. If there was ever a time to teach these young pups not to fuck with me, it would be now. James turned to me, his eyes ablaze with anger.

“What the FUCK did you DO?” He screamed at me and I tilted my head to the side.

“Whatever could you mean Alpha?”

James stalked up to me and threw a punch but I leaned away from it. His wolf had obviously taken over by the look of his eyes and he threw another punch at me but I leaned away again.

“You fucking bastard. You attacked my territory! Do you want a war?”

My eyebrows knit together. “How could I have attacked your territory? I’m right here.” I took a sip of my wine.

“I know it was you! One of my scouts went missing last week! You’ve been holding him! I know it was you!”

I blinked at him, still feigning confusion. “I have no idea what you are talking about. Why would one of your scouts be up by my territory? Unless you sent them to spy on me.”

“Why the fuck would I need to spy on you?”

I shrugged and then looked at him seriously, my face no longer holding the smirk. “Unless you were planning on attacking and destroying the fey sanctuary that is just east of my territory. Planning on killing all of them while they slept. That would be barbaric considering that the sanctuary only has woman, children, and the dying.” I leaned down and looked at him, my nose inches from him. “Even that’s against the law and I wouldn’t think you would be stupid enough to try and pull that so near to my territory. Knowing that they are still under my protection.”

The blood drained from his face and his eyes reverted to their normal color. Behind him though, I saw a few of the younger Alpha’s trying to come to his aid. Even the Alpha King started to move the women off his lap.

'Alright Aamon, let them have it.'

With my control still in place, I let Aamon forward and allowed his Alpha presence to spill from me. It filled the room in a thick pressure. Washing over the room, I watched as even some of the older Alpha’s began to bare their necks to me. James in front of me, as well as Felix and his son, bore the brunt of the presence since they were the closest. James fell to his knees, baring his neck fully. Felix managed to stay standing but was baring his neck to me. His son was even worse, whimpering on the floor.

“I don’t think I need to advise you to stay the fuck away from my territory, James. I feel like I’ve made that clear in the past and I will make it clear again if I have to.” I squatted down and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at me, my golden eyes reflecting in his. “My patience for you runs thin though, and I have no problem deciding that your pack needs new leadership.”

“Alpha Desmond, that’s enough.” The Alpha King was holding onto the armrests of his throne fighting my presence.

For a moment, I let Aamon have some fun. I watched as the Alpha King whimpered in his chair and lean against it. Satisfied with the whimper, I snapped back the presence and the whole room breathed again. Taking a drink, I placed the glass on a small table that was next to the pillar.

“As much fun as this little party was, it just proves to be as useless as every other meeting we have. So if you will excuse me, I’ll be seeing myself out. Have a wonderful evening.”