Chapter 2

DANTE

I was thankful that Caiathus knew a trick to help with Ziyah’s nighttime morning sickness. They should really rethink the name. It was very fucking misleading. ‘Anytime sickness’ would be more accurate.

It had been hell seeing the toll that this pregnancy had been taking on her. She assured me that pregnancies without multiples should not be quite as rough. This was early in her pregnancy as well. It would seriously be kicking her ass as they grew.

My girl was more than happy to deal with all of those effects for the honor of growing our little blobs. I still could not believe that we were expecting. I thanked the Goddess for all four of my loves every single day.

I would have loved for her to be here with me, but we could not do that until the Toris fucker was obliterated from this life. Then my girl would be free to live her life without worrying about anyone finding her.

This was the first official Alpha meeting that Chris and I had attended. Hopefully, it would be fairly straightforward and lack any type of bullshit. I doubted that though because multiple Alphas in a room was bound to become a headache.

“Best of luck to us. May the odds be ever in our favor,” Elle chirped before getting out of the car.

There was a table on either side of the staircase where people were being checked in. Dozens of people were filing in.

“Hello there,” the woman said, eyeing me as if I was on the menu. “What pack are you from?”

“Shadow Falls. Alpha Dante and Beta Chris.”

She checked our names off and handed us badges with our name and pack on it. Her eyes dropped down to Ziyah’s mark, and I saw the disappointment there. Too damn bad. Only my girl would ever have a claim to me.

“Follow the yellow signs into the large conference room.”

Chris bumped my shoulder as we walked up the stairs. I rolled my eyes at his mischievous smirk. He thrived in everything that was drama. It really fed his soul. Said soul was one of a fucking asshole, but he was my fucking asshole – a.k.a. my brother in all ways but blood. It was a bond that did not even compare.

There were seven different packs here. Some I knew but others not.

Nightshade and Shadow Falls were right next to each other. That was undoubtedly a recipe for fun, disaster, or mayhem. Sometimes all three at once.

Silver Creek was also here with Alpha Lance. I had not had the pleasuring of meeting his Luna or Beta yet. Elle had met with Aldan a few times to help him master Moon Fire. She said that he definitely had a good handle of it so far.

Diego and Lindsey were here from Coverstone. I had just found out last week that they were expecting. Lindsey helped raise her siblings, so she had the mothering instinct down pat. I was incredibly happy for my friend. She would have made a fantastic Gamma, but she had always been destined to be Diego’s Luna.

I had not personally met the other three packs. Two of the Alphas looked to be around my father’s age. They had this air of superiority about them. I was basing that off of the look they were shooting us younger Alphas and Lunas. Their Lunas were sitting quietly, the picture of poised perfection. I got the impression that these Alphas preferred she-wolves to be seen and not heard. They would be in for a rude awakening if it was true because my sister was very fucking opinionated and had absolutely no qualms about setting people straight.

‘Be careful with Alpha Dresher of the Parkers pack. Don’t lose your temper if he talks bullshit out of his ass,’ Elle gently warned me.

I flashed her an incredulous look because I took offense to that. It was entirely possible for me to be a perfectly rational and calm individual. Calm in the face of –

Her heel hit my shin because she could probably guess my thoughts. Fine. There was no use in attempting to bullshit myself. My mouth sometimes got the best of me. Speaking bluntly could potentially bruise people’s fragile fucking egos.

“Welcome to Clear Stone. I’m Alpha Thaddeus. This is my Beta Brian. We have a few items on the agenda for today. Omegas are going to be coming around to take your drink orders. We’ll break for lunch in a few hours.”

We used to have Omegas in our pack, but we adopted the Nightshade way. People performed the same types of jobs if it was theirs, but the rank was not used any longer. The rank was often associated with stigmas and treated as inferior in some places. It was not like that in every pack, but there were many, especially where our sanctuary seekers were from.

Ah. Beloved bourbon. I thanked the man as he handed me the glass. He bowed his head and went on to Elle.

Packets were passed out that explained what we would be covering today. The bulleted list had a few different topics.

“The first order of business are rouge attacks. There’s been a flurry of them within a hundred-mile radius, so it’s imperative that we figure out the cause and how to fix the problem at hand,” Alpha Thaddeus said.

The map that was included showed the hot zones. We did not have any around us, but they were definitely within proximity of four other packs. One such pack was on the outskirts of the Slater pack. Actually, I took that back. It was two packs that were on the outskirts of it.

Elle’s eyes and mine collided, clearly picking up on the fact of the same placement. The confusion and wariness in her eyes indicated that the connection might not be a good one.

“Why wasn’t Slater called into this meeting, seeing as how there’s significant movement near there,” Elle asked curiously.

Alpha Dresher eyes hardened with her question, either because he thought that the answer should be obvious or the fact that Elle, a she-wolf, decided to utter words that were heard by the menfolk’s ears. The fucker had no idea what he was playing with one way or the other.

“I’m not at all surprised that you’re unaware of the climate between packs,” he said pointedly. “Alpha Dion isn’t the type to come to these meetings nor someone that any of us would associate with.”

His Luna looked like she was praying to Hades himself that the ground would split wide open and pull her down into the blazing flames of the underworld.

The other Alphas, save the additional sourpuss, looked taken aback by his hostility. I never understood sexist pigs like him. Our GODDESS was a female. Our MOTHERS were female. None of us would be breathing right now had a FEMALE not chosen for it to happen. Perhaps his mother should have just swallowed instead.

Elle was not fazed by his attitude. Quite the opposite actually. She was flooded with satisfaction and eagerness. There was a strong drive inside of her that rivaled most Alphas. Instead of being taken aback, she was pleased with being given the opportunity to knock him down a peg or ten.

“And I’m not at all surprised that you’re unaware of what recently occurred in the Slater pack.” A saccharine smile tipped on her lips. “Alpha Dion’s heart was ripped from his chest by Alpha Jaylon. It was very impressive to watch I might add. Alpha Jaylon and Luna Daria have been doing a deep cleanse of that pack, ensuring that the filth that used to reside there no longer does as well as those they associated with.”

There was surprise and something else in Alpha Dresher’s eyes, but it was wiped away before I could identify it. Elle, however, seemed to have caught it if the momentary tensing of her muscles were any indication. I knew my sister’s tells well enough by now.

Her hands rested on the table in front of her. An index finger tapped, silence besides that filled the room.

I noticed that the others were eyeing the tension between these two right now, metaphorically holding their breaths.

“Alpha Dante has his Beta in custody right now for crimes against some of his pack members. Everyone has a limit of what they are willing to tolerate before breaking and offering up whatever scraps of information that they have in hopes of escaping their new reality,” Elle explained.

Nervousness. That was the look that had been wiped from his eyes. That was what Elle had caught and gave him away. Why was he nervous? What was the origin of that emotion?

Elle had requested the binders that had all of the information from other packs and people that Slater dealt with because she claimed it had not been the time for it to be revealed.

I watched as she pulled something from her bag. A black binder with the number 3 on the front of it. The pages were flipped open until she got to what she wanted. Knowing her, it was already memorized, but this was for optics and proof. Plus, she loved making a statement. Who could blame her though? She could not stand people who took advantage of others in whichever form they did it in. Goddess, help him if he had been as vile as the rest of the Slater scum had been.

“Alpha Dion was very thorough with his record keeping,” she murmured with a pointed smirk. “October 24^th, 2022 – Alpha Dresher of the Parkers pack – purchased two female slaves and one case of Ashbane. March 12^th, 2023 – Alpha Dresher of the Parkers pack sold 1 male pup aged 10 and purchased 1 male slave.”

Silence had never sounded so loud before.

A couple of things happened all at once…

The Luna gasped, covering her mouth. She was completely horrified.

Alpha Dresher let out a snarl of rage, his body jumping onto the table before launching at Elle. My sister was not fazed in the fucking least. Before he could get anywhere near her, the shadows wrapped around his body. Then he was flung into the nearest wall, being held there by the all-too-eager shadows.

Now, he got the fucking pleasure of dealing with Kade. I would hate to be him right about now. If there was one thing that he had absolutely no patience for was someone even thinking about harming his mate.

Chris leaned forward on his elbows, greedily soaking in the performance before him as if it was created solely for his amusement. He was not even attempting to hide it.

“Now, I understand why my gorgeous mate didn’t want anyone to see those binders until now. Had we known how fucked up you were then you wouldn’t have been outed in a room filled with fellow Alphas that just witnessed your guilt.”

Kade’s right hand raised in the air and slowly closed into a fist. The shadows that were wrapped around him had tightened in response.

“Is there anyone else in this room that needs to be mentioned, darling?” he asked, looking at her over his shoulder.

Elle’s eyes landed on the Beta and waved her fingers at him. His paling face was definitely amusing. I would not be surprised if he ended up pissing himself. Shadows wrapped around him too.

“Nobody else here is a dirty bastard in this case,” she cooed.

Chris popped some candy in his mouth and rested his hands behind his head, grinning ear to fucking ear. He could never get enough of the drama that always seemed to find its way onto Elle’s plate. She was like the sister he always wanted even though he had his own.

I would venture a guess that this was not what these meetings were usually like. Either way, it definitely helped to break up the monotony that the other Alphas probably faced at these illustrious meetings.

I honestly felt horrible for the Luna because you could see that she had no idea what her mate or Beta had done. She was understandably horrified.

“I’m curious about something,” Elle drawled.

The two fuckers glared at her as if it would cause her to fall over dead or something. Completely unrealistic and very ineffectual.

Alpha Thaddeus asked her what that was, turning his icy glare onto the fuckers. They were definitely not winning any popularity contests. I had anticipated drama amongst the Alphas but did not imagine this. I supposed that was my fault for not thinking big enough though.

“Alpha Dion had his hand in many rogue cookie jars. I wonder if Alpha Dresher does as well.”

She rose to her feet and walked around the table until she was next to Kade. Silence stretched on for a couple of minutes, and it worked perfectly to fuck their nerves even more.

“I’m a gifted wolf and able to compel someone to speak the truth. Did you have anything to do with the rogue issues? Tell us the truth” she commanded.

He did what all of the truly corrupted fuckheads did – he attempted, and failed, to break the command. Blood even dribbled down his chin. Clearly, not everyone was created equal.

“Yes,” he hissed out, glaring at my sister.

Then she commanded him to tell her the specifics of it, not sparing even a single detail.

“Alpha Dion hired rogues as distractions to keep the focus where he wanted them. If packs were focusing on rogue issues in front of them then they weren’t focusing on what’s behind them. They were less likely to notice their missing pack members until the coast was clear. He hired my services as well. Two birds, one stone.”

The Luna stood up, walked right up to him, and slapped his face with enough force to make it whip to the side.

Elle whispered something into her ear that none of us could hear. The Luna nodded her head.

“I, Danielle Paulson, reject you, Dresher Davis, as my mate and Alpha.” Her voice was nothing but cold.

His jaw comically dropped open. That was fucking hilarious. He apparently could not believe that his mate would ever reject him for being a vile fucker.

He was growling from the pain, and I knew that he wanted to pretend that he was stronger than what he was, but he knew that the pain would not stop until he accepted it.

“I, Dresher Davis, accept your rejection, you worthless bitch,” he spat.

Every male in the room winced with what happened next. Elle’s knee got up close and personal with his balls. The animalistic and painful groan that left him would haunt me for the rest of my days. It was also a very clear warning for me to never cross my sister to that extent.

“So…” I drawled. “What shall we do with the pinata?” I asked, popping a piece of Chris’ candy in my mouth.

“I’LL KILL YO–” his words to me were cut off when she gave him his very own personal Moon Fire brand.

This was just getting better and better. I simply waved her on with a giant smirk. Goddess, I could not wait to share all of this meeting’s details with Ziyah. All of this had happened before lunch. That had to be a record.

“We can house him and his Beta at Coverstone if that’s acceptable to Luna Danielle. They’re being detained, so that leaves you as acting Alpha. You’ll have our full support and warriors if you need while this matter is being investigated,” Diego told her.

Luna Danielle’s shoulders squared as she got her head in the game. She nodded and thanked him, telling him that everything in the pack was open for them to investigate, and any member found culpable would be turned over to them if they would like.

That right there was a true leader. I had no idea what was going to happen, but I knew that she would have people to support her. We would be there if she ever needed it.

Lindsey excused herself. Two warriors and Thompson came back in with her not even five minutes later to escort them to Coverstone. Kade might have smacked his back fairly hard when he walked past him.

Well. This was a shitshow and a half, but it had good results in the end. The Goddess worked in mysterious ways. Every piece and player had been carefully chosen. It was amazing to see how everything played out in the end.