Chapter 15

ALPHA TRISTAN 

".....What is it Kaelen, I don't like it when you wear that kind of face." I paused my conversation with Yvonne to address him.

"Well, it's the only face I've had Alpha. You have to learn to like it." Kaelen said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. 

"That's it, what's the problem. One can tell your thoughts from your expression." Kaelen was our best tracker in Twilight Zone and also the head of our spy network. 

"I just got word that Moonshadow are preparing for battle against us. We intercepted some of their drones that crossed into our borders. Moonshadow has always claimed neutrality but I suspect that they are leaning towards Alpha Rune more. But more importantly, they have taken over the borderlands of Kursh." This was a chilling revelation. 

"They want to have over my gold mine? Tell Jaxon to ready his unit, we leave immedia...." Yvonne interrupted before I could finish.

"Alpha Tristan, please do not rush into battle. Time eventually fixes everything. The monthly Gathering Meal is tomorrow, and the unity of the pack is more important than anything. We should never undermine the unity of our pack, or activities that could foster unity. A united pack would be difficult to break, and together, they'd vanquish this Moonshadow pack in a heartbeat." She advised and I nodded.

The air in the Great Hall of the Twilight Zone Pack was heavy with the scent of roasted stag, aged wine, and the simmering, collective bloodlust of a hundred wolves. They were the highest ranking and most loyal members of the pack who have demonstrated their loyalty. So there were Betas, Gammas, Deltas, Zetas and even Omegas. Everyone who mattered were here, a hundred of the pack's best.

This was the monthly Gathering Meal, a ritual of unity and strength—and tonight, it was the first since Claudia died, at the hands of Sara. She had died on the eve of the meal and I had been too overwhelmed with grief to even remember. 

Everyone was already sitted and waiting for me when I entered. They all stood and as I walked in, the absence of Claudia hit me differently. She's always walked beside me to this event in the past, this was supposed to be our first official pack meal as husband and wife. When I got to my seat, I motioned for Yvonne to occupy the vacant seat that has been kept in honor of Claudia. 

"Please, seat down." I waved and they all sat. Beside me, Yvonne sat like a queen in waiting, her eyes bright with anticipation. Harlan sat to my left, his face a mask of uneasy stone. 

"Today is a day is one of the days when we gather to remind ourselves of the bond that binds us. Personally, today is a day that reminds me of a life that would have been." I spoke with bitterness in my voice and looked Sara Lockwood beneath us, weaving through the tables like a ghost that had forgotten how to haunt. "Today is a day that the Alpha serves to remind everyone that the Alpha is supposed to be a servant leader. Make merry and enjoy, for tomorrow we go to war." 

"Yeah!!!!!" The crowd cheered and the merriment began. 

My eyes scanned the crowd for Sara who was busy serving today. There was something I didn't like about her, despite my best efforts, she carried herself with grace and dignity. Even with her shabby clothing, you'd think she was a model trying out a new clothes and didn't like her. She was too proud and carried herself as such.

"Refill the Elder’s cup," I commanded, my voice cutting through the boisterous laughter of the pack.

She moved instantly. She was forbidden from sitting, forbidden from speaking, and forbidden from tasting a single crumb of the feast. She was a silent attendant, a vessel of service. She knelt before Elder Yamal, her movements stiff and mechanical, her head bowed so low her hair nearly touched the grease-stained floor.

"Look at it," I said, pitching my voice so it carried across the hall. The room went silent. All eyes turned toward the girl in shabby clothing on her knees. "A tool must be evaluated by its efficiency. Does it leak? Does it falter? This one was once high-born, but now, it serves a higher purpose: atonement."

"It’s a bit slow, isn't it, Alpha?" Kaelen remarked, leaning back in his chair. He deliberately tilted his plate, letting a glob of thick, fatty gravy slide off and splatter onto the tiled floor right between Sara’s bare feet. "Clean that up. I can’t have the floor slippery while I’m trying to enjoy my meal."

Sara didn't hesitate. She didn't look up. She dropped to her knees and began to wipe the sludge away with a tattered rag, her knuckles raw and trembling. I like the fact that the crowd was united in my hatred for Sara and all she represents.

"Thank you, S-Rat," another warrior mocked, distorting her name into a hiss. He 'accidentally' knocked his half-empty jug over, the red wine drenching her thin clothes, which made her clothes cling to her frame, revealing her curves from waist down. "Oh, my apologies. I thought you were a shadow. Shadows don't mind the wet, do they?"

I enjoyed how members of the crowd took turns in ridiculing and humiliating her and she couldn't say a word, since she was forbidden from speaking. After a few hours, I stood up, silencing the snickers with a sharp raise of my hand. I walked toward her, my boots echoing with a slow, rhythmic thud. I stopped inches from her head.

"Tell me, pack," I said, my gaze sweeping over the rows of faces. "She has been standing for four hours. She has watched us eat while her own stomach gnaws at her ribs. She has endured the spills and the insults without a single whimper. Does she look... grateful enough for the life I’ve spared?"

A chorus of cruel laughter erupted. "Not yet!" someone shouted. "She still looks too much like a Lockwood!"

"I agree," I whispered, looking down at the top of her head. "The pride is still there, buried deep in the marrow. It needs to be starved out."

She raised her head to look at me, there was anger, pain and rage behind those eyes. But she didn't dare say a word, it was a consolation that she was learning the lengths I'd go to punish her. But then, there was a silent resilience in her, I could sense it and didn't like it.

As The meal finally wound down. The bones were picked clean, and the cheese and pie were cleaned out. The pack began to settle into a contented, wine-soaked stupor. If want them in battle tomorrow, they need to abstain from getting drunk tonight. 

"You are all dismissed," I barked to the pack. "Go to your quarters, we attack Moonshadow by dawn. They have decided to attack our gold mine and break years of peace. We shall remind them what it feels like to come against Twilight Zone. So keep your strength for the night, you can fuck your wifes and harlots after the battle. The domestic slave will remain to clear the remains she was never allowed to touch."

Sara looked at me with an expression that seemed she was asking for mercy when she heard that she was to clean everything alone, after serving the tables all alone. I nodded with pride, knowing that I had gotten to her. Yet, she held her head high, and chinned up, like she was asking if that was the worst I could do.