Page 40 of The Alpha: Part Two
“It’s bad enough that he doesn’t have a pack, but we’ve all heard what he did to that girl on the East Coast. He should be in a cell somewhere at the very least, not playing at being a councilman.” The douche continues to talk just to hear himself.
Talia tilts her head to one side and meets his eyes, all but daring him to look away. “I am that girl. What was done, was done to me. And I am here to speak on his behalf.”
Surprised silence follows with all of the members of the council glancing nervously at each other, except Robert who is still held by Talia’s gaze. After a few tense moments, Robert finds his tongue. “He found you in some hole in the wall to defend him. What kind of mother would drag a child into a situation like this? You should be as ashamed as he is.”
“Are you accusing my omega of lying?” Corso asks, his tone cool and deadly. “Be very careful with your answer.”
“No one is saying she’s lying,” another councilman placates. “There’s just no justifiable reason for the girl he raped to come to his defense. You have to understand.”
“I do not have to understand. You only need to listen to her words and accept them. Talia is here with her pack to try to right some of the wrongs that have occurred here. You would do well to keep your tongue because we are not patient or kind when it comes to her treatment.”
“Please, Craig, we are here to listen,” Minos says, lifting a palm to urge Talia to continue.
“Thank you, Alpha Minos,” Talia nods. “I will not be getting into the gory details, but I need you to understand that you have been given an inaccurate account of what happened between Seth and I. Seth only did what he did so he could save me.”
“You must know how that sounds. You can’t expect us to believe–”
Robert is stopped short when Devon slams his hands down on the table. “If you call her a liar again I will do worse than shoot you. Do you understand?”
“You can’t walk in here threatening us,” Robert snarls.
“I can do whatever the fuck I want. We haven’t been introduced. My name is Devon Johnson, I’m sure my reputation precedes me. I sit on the East Coast council alongside my father Alpha Anthony Johnson, my pack member Alpha Corso Zaphir, who is standing right here, and Alpha Seth Pratchett who holds the same seat his father held. On top of all that, this is Jasper Nattier, oftheNattiers, and Talia is his claimed and marked mate. Two of her fathers sit on the East Coast council, and her mother is Elizabet Graves. I will have your ass in a basket within the hour if she even hints at wanting it. You might be a member of this council, but you’re a shit councilman and worse alpha. Based purely on the way you have spoken to my omega, you are obviously not fit to hold any position of leadership. It leads me to wonder who’s pocket you’re in. It won’t be hard to find out. We’ll likely know before we walk out of this room, anyway. That’s going to be some powerful information, wouldn’t you say?”
With every word of Devon’s little speech, the faces at the table grow more somber and pale. By the time he’s finished, Robert and another of the alphas are physically rubbing their chests.
“Please continue, Missus Nattier. You won’t be interrupted again. Is that clear, councilmen?” They all nod in response to Minos and keep their mouths shut.
“I don’t have much else to say, just that Seth asked that the file on what happened not mention me to protect me. He is a good alpha. Whoever gave you his file twisted the information in it to suit their own narrative and you all acted on it without a second thought, just like they wanted. I’m sure you were planning to block him from joining the Aguirre pack. And I doubt that had little to do with Seth’s perceived crimes against me and a whole lot to do with keeping Desir’ee Romero from being claimed by a full pack of three alphas because someone with a lot of money and pull wanted her. That’s a stupid fucking rule, by the way.”
“I instituted that rule years ago in an attempt to protect the omegas. Omegas kept disappearing. The idea was that three alphas could keep their omega safe, and if one of the alphas went down a wrong path, the other two could either bring them back to the light or could support the omega when that alpha was lost. Omegas are safer with a larger pack surrounding them.” Minos has the decency to look embarrassed by the logic.
“Well,” I sigh. “That’s a better reason for it than the one I assumed.”
“What did you think was the reason?” Minos asks.
“To settle arguments.”
He forces his mouth not to curl up into a smile. “That was a convenient side effect.”
“It’s still a stupid rule,” Talia grumbles. She rubs her belly and Reid and Corso are immediately at her side. “I’m alright, just getting a little tired.”
“How far along are you?” Minos asks, his face lighting up with warmth.
“No offense, Alpha Minos, but I’m not about to announce my due date. Too many pregnant omegas and babies disappear around here.” Talia gives Reid a lingering look. He nods once and tips his chin at Kaleb.
Kaleb clears his throat, bringing everyone’s attention to himself instead of Talia. “So, we’re all clear on Seth, right?” Silent nods around the table, a few faces more sour than others, but whatever. They’ll have to get over it or die from it. “Good.”
Minos knocks on the table to get everyone’s attention. “I did a little digging, myself. The person who shared the file with us has since been proven to be untrustworthy on other fronts. Things are going to be changing somewhat rapidly and drastically in our council and the West Coast as a whole.” One or two of the more unpleasant councilmen, including Robert, start making noises, but Minos’s voice booms over them all, effectively silencing them. “I am head of this council and I will remain so until someone more worthy comes along. None of you are in line for my position, and some of you aren’t fit for your own, but that is a separate conversation. I’ve spent a great amount of time with Alpha Pratchett, and I have made calls to Alphas Graves and Johnson just this morning. We are going to work together to clean up the mess this rogue organization has made of the territories. We will be calling on the Northern and Southern Councils. Together, we are going to make our territories safe for our omegas again. No amount of money,” he pauses to look at each of the councilmen, holding their gaze until their eyes drop to the table, “will change these facts. I have let things go on long enough. It was foolish of me to lean into the hope that our council was good and honest enough to take care of things in our own districts. Things will be changing and you will either work with us or be forced into exile. Meeting adjourned.”
Well damn. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but that wasn’t it. That seemed awfully easy, but the real work starts after the meeting, not during it.
Mother. Fucker.
Seth is an actual councilman. Our pack is going to be involved in the work Minos talked about. Shit. I just wanted us to have Desie and live our lives, and now we’re going to have to be involved in whatever territory revolution council upset Minos has in mind. Ben’s going to be as ecstatic as I am.
“Seth, a moment, please,” Minos calls as we start filing out of the meeting room. “Let me walk you out.”
Seth nods and waves at Kaleb. “We’ll catch up. I’ll be quick.”
