61. In honor and blood

✧ Luke ✧

The car stops and I hurriedly walk out and towards the building in front of me, Casper racing to keep up.

I knock the door impatiently. Then knock again, almost banging on the heavy wood.

Williams opens the door, his eyes widen when he sees us but doesn't say anything as I walk inside the house.

"Where are the Goldstein warriors?" I ask him

"Just retired to their rooms after training, Alpha." He tells me

"Gather everyone in the meeting room," I say over my shoulder, already moving towards it

A house near the mansion at the finish line of the Alpha's Hunt is the first thing I bought when I decided I wouldn't be killing those warriors afterall.

Elise was right, they did expect me to kill them. And when I announced that I wouldn't be killing them and that they are to be the personal guard of the Alpha Supreme, they were grateful.

At least they seemed to be.

And now I'll find out how true that was.

Casper settles down in a chair next to mine as I set my elbows on the table and interlock my fingers.

Soon after, men fill inside the room, a few of my own among them. Ferice and suspicious gazes turn towards me.

My gaze swims over them, assessing any malice like a hawk looking for prey.

I come up short. All their faces hold a mix of confusion and suspicion. Nothing more.

I stand up, flattening my palms on the table, gathering some semblance of stability from the smooth surface.

"My Luna is missing."

The tension that hangs in the air with those words is almost palpable. My own men look almost as panicked as I did when I first heard the news.

"She's been taken." I continue, my voice carrying over the room "By Zoya Goldstein. She intends to make her confess that I killed your former Alpha. I doubt Goldstein would explain why I did it."

"But to know what you did, she must be some sort of witness..." Williams trails off, something like a mix of shock and realization crosses his face "Your partner for the Hunt."

A terse nod of my head confirms what he's saying.

A man stands up, making my eyes snap to his. His hair is shaved off, and three claw marks run down the side of his face in ragged lines.

Leon Byrd, the leader of the Goldstein warriors. The one who had sworn loyalty to me on all of theirs behalf.

"What must we do to help, Alpha?" He asks in his gravely voice

I doubt I have any capability left to make any expression on my face, and the relief is too numbed by a killing calm.

"The Goldsteins must have some place they kept secret prisoners," I say "Some place they never wanted anyone else to find them."

Leon nods "Not many, but they are very well guarded."

"I suspect she's keeping her in one of them until she brings her wherever it is she wants to declare my position unstable." I tell them, looking around the room "I want you to search for her in those hideouts."

A rounds of nods. Leon puts a fist over his heart.

"We will bring the Luna Supreme back to you, Alpha." He dips his head "We owe her our lives."

I raise an eyebrow. He offers me a fierce smile.

"We are not idiotic enough to imagine you changed your mind over night." He says "We are indebted to her, in honor and blood."

"I will come along to search." I swallow whatever emotion tries to surface, swallow the need to shift and tear the world apart for my mate

"Luke," Casper's hand falls on my shoulder "You need to see this."

He holds up his phone, a message illuminating on it.

"Zoya Goldstein challenges Alpha Luke Winters' right to the title. She invites all Alphas of the continent to gather at the temple of moonshire in her pack territory, tomorrow at dawn to see the proof of his unfitness."

"That woman sure is dramatic." Casper puts his phone back in his pocket

I feel unnervingly still, almost detached from my own body, whirling through the thoughts in my head.

"Alpha?" Leon looks at me

"Go," I tell them all "Start the search. If you find her, get her back. I don't care who you have to kill for it. Get her back."

I don't mention what to do if they don't find her. The table groans under my hands and I realize I've dented the heavy wood with claw marks.

The warriors filter out of the room, I distantly hear Leon barking orders.

"This message probably reached every Alpha in the continent." Casper says "They're going to start contacting soon, asking what the hell this is."

He turns his gaze to me "What do we do now?"

I feel like it would be a wholly bad idea if I flipped the table over. Even a minute kind of chaos would probably tear through every barrier I have put on my instinct.

"Call them," I tell my Beta, an inkling of a plan forming at the back of my mind "I want all of them in this room before mid-night."

"And if they contact Goldstein and tell her?" Williams asks

I feel my finger dig deeper in the wood "She wont care. She thinks she has the upper hand right now and I'm only drawing at straws."

They both nod, leaving me alone in the room with thoughts that threaten to swallow the calm I've conjured up.

I cant seem to bend my knees to sit, I let the stillness wash over me, over the creature that prowlers beneath my skin, over every rash desire to murder the woman who's taken my Luna from me, over every horrible thought that threatens to enter my head.

I breathe, force the tension from my limbs with practiced skill and settle down in my chair.

I'm going to get my girl, and I'm going to make sure everyone knows what happens to those who threaten me or mine.

...

The meeting room is full again, this time with all the Alpha's of the continent under my control.

I turn my gaze over the faces seated around the table "You all got the message."

Alpha Kieran leans back in his chair "Yours or Goldstein's?"

I fix him with a look "Both."

"What do we make of this?" Joseph asks, rubbing a hand on the stubble at his jaw "What proof does she has against you?"

"None." I say, interlocked fingers on the table

Alpha Lyon barks out a rough laugh "I would've ignored Goldstein's message as crazy if you hadn't called this meeting." He flashes me a roughish grin "You called us because you're scared of something."

Silence falls over the room. I look at him until he drops his grin and gaze.

"He has a point, Alpha." Alpha Texan says calmly "You wouldn't call us for nothing."

"She has something far more important than any proof," I have to wretch the words from my mouth

"She has my mate."

The silence that befalls the room is different than the last. Everyone has gone abruptly still.

"Our Luna Supreme," Alpha Gideon sucks in a sharp breath

"She's stolen my mate to make me bend to her will," I say "Who's to say she wont steal yours to make you do the same."

All at once, everyone of them looks tense. Alpha Lyon clears his throat, looking more aggressive than thoughtful as he says;

"I talked to Goldstein."

I have to refrain myself from leaning across the table and grab him by the throat to have him say what the fuck she said to him.

"As I said, I thought she was crazy so-

"Get to the point," I growl, claws digging in the arms of my chair

"Right, she said," he clears his throat again "That you murdered her brother, before he could call you out on how you somehow cheated on the Hunt."

I'm staring at him in a way that he was the good sense to swallow.

"Did you, Winters?" Kieran narrows his eyes at me

"Don't be absurd," Joseph waves a hand "Goldstein was mad, so is his sister."

"But if Winters killed him or cheated, it does put a question on his right to the throne." Alpha Gideon says

"But we have pledged loyalty to Alpha Winters." Alpha Ryne says

"Does the oath even remain valid under these circumstances?" Alpha Nox raises his brows

The room breaks into a frenzied conversation.

And right then and there, I realize they would all rather have no Alpha Supreme at all. They would let me and Goldstein squabble with each other and hope we both end up dead.

And with that I realize I don't care anymore.

"Enough."

It takes me a moment to realize I've stood up, a moment to register that m canines are elongating out of my mouth, and my fingers are itching to rip out someone's throat.

"We all participated in the Hunt, unhesitant to draw each other's blood for the title," My voice reverberates through the room "I have outsmarted, outraced and out-murdered every obstacle in the way. I would not hesitate to do a lot more for my mate."

"Is that a threat, Alpha?" Alpha Kieran's voice is quiet, but savage

My lip curls back in a snarl that is a testament of how little self control I have left. And how much I don't care about it.

"It's an advise," I say, lowly, viciously "I killed the last Alpha Supreme with my wolf locked up. I wish you don't tempt me into finding out what I can do as the Alpha Supreme.

"You must all remember the ambush we faced on the second lodge," I say, harsher than I had intended my voice to be in this meeting "Our predecessor sent them for us. And those warriors are still whole and hale for you to ask yourselves. He tried to murder me when I reached the finish line. My partner was shot with a silver bullet. And now his sister has stolen my mate. And I'm not feeling particularly patient with their bullshit anymore."

For the next few moments, no one speaks.

"So you did kill him," Alpha Texan muses "and rightly so."

"Doesn't change the fact that you weren't given the title." Alpha Lyon says

Someone snorts.

My eyes snap to the chair two down from mine, where Ethan is leaning back, dressed immaculately despite it being the middle of the night.

"Come on, Alpha," He says casually "You murdered your way to your title, didn't you?"

Then he sits upright, ignoring Alpha Lyon's glare and looks around the room "All of you have a mate waiting for you back home. What if you return, and find out they've been whisked away by Goldstein until she has your vote to take Winters off the throne?"

Snarls and growls break out through the room. Parks doesn't look the least bit concerned.

"And if Goldstein takes Luke off the throne," He leaves the sentence hanging

"Then she becomes the next Alpha Supreme," Joseph finishes "How convenient that the previous Alpha Supremes' family died just recently."

"And if not these two," Alpha Nox murmurs "Then someone from the other continents might take the opportunity to wage war in the absence of someone to deal with the other Alpha Supremes."

A round of nods goes around the room.

"I'd rather have Winters on the throne than someone who murdered her own brother's mate and children for it." Ethan says, then turns his gaze on me "Whatever it is you need to do to bring the Luna Supreme back, you have my pack's support."

"I second that," Joseph nods

"I would rather not have my mate or children be stolen." Alpha Ryne says

And then begrudgingly, everyone settles in agreement. I make my claws retract.

"Good," I say, my voice hard to even my own ears "Now listen to what we're going to do."

...

Please comment and vote!

PS. Not all Alpha's participate in the Hunt. Usually only young ones do. Alpha Lyon and Alpha Texan in the above discussion, weren't participants of the Hunt.