Page 50 of The Knotty Princes Club

“Ten seconds until the last leader answers.” Enzo stares at Makario’s cellphone, using it to fuck with the leaders of the Pack Regimes. As soon as he answers, the call will begin. “Make sure to give them your bloody side. You know those bastards hide behind those beneath them. When those people realize there is another way, they’ll move aside.”

Wilder smirks before composing himself, tightening his jaw and glowering in front of me. Blood splatters the front of his shirt, and he looks a bit wild and unhinged. It’s perfect for this sort of confrontation. We want the leaders shaking. We want them negotiating to bring peace before war.

That’s what the warning explosives are for. They won’t take us seriously until we cause a little bit of damage. Lucky for us, we have allies behind enemy lines. We have worked with a lot of shady people and allowing some of the gang lords to access other territories through us has helped immensely.

Was it immoral? Depends on who you ask. Might as well get something out of it, considering they would do it anyway.

“Go ahead and answer, brother,” Wilder says, crossing his arms over his chest and straightening his back. I bend my knees slightly, angling the camera so it feels as if he’s looking down on us. Sometimes all it takes are some mind games to make a point. They might not be omegas, but we can trigger them just the same. Knowing how easy my father relented to the outside threat of Platinum Shores proves as much. They will always pick self-preservation over anything—even their packs.

Holding Wilder’s phone, I reverse the camera to face him while staring at the small cluster of videos popping up. Half the leaders scowl in anger, and the other half look bored. That is until Enzo clears his throat, drawing attention to the fact that he accepted the call from Makario’s private line.

Then he shows his body.

“What is going on? What the fuck happened?” Jarvis, the supposed head of our region and the leader of Starlight Horizon, the territory farthest south, raises his voice as he realizes what he looks at. “Did the Demon Knights attack your territory in a power grab? I knew he would fail in controlling that blasphemous territory.”

That wasn’t the response I was expecting, and I tilt my head, studying Wilder to gauge his reaction.

“Shut up and listen,” Wilder snaps, commanding attention from the leaders. “This is a hostile takeover of the Gutter District. They have been found guilty of blackmail, coercion, trafficking omegas, and drug distribution. We have taken it upon ourselves to clean up the mess. If you have any objections, speak now.”

Laughter bubbles from the greasy mouth of Herbert, the leader of the Dark Orchards Pack. “You felt this warranted an emergency meeting that couldn’t wait until morning?”

“Perhaps they need one of us to take those precious Gorgeous Girls off their hands to find good homes for,” Chavez of the Ginger Rain Pack comments, interrupting before they can all deem this conversation worthless.

That’s how cocky they are. As long as it doesn’t concern them, they don’t care.

“You can deliver them to my territory, and I’ll handle it from there.” Jarvis leans closer to the camera, his wrinkled face cracking with dry skin. “We haven’t had a chance to fully work out the details, but as your father’s dear ally, we’re working on creating our own club, run by the best of us. It is tiresome having unworthy alphas use our breeders for power. We should have free rein. Don’t you think?”

I clutch the phone with my anger. “Like the nest of omegas we found starved, tortured, and beaten at Smithsons?”

“What are you talking about? I haven’t agreed to authorize any of that. Why haven’t I heard of these plans before now?” Armand of the Midnight Meadows Pack speaks up. “That sounds absolutely volatile. Omegas aren’t to be misused and mistreated. They’re—”

“Get off your fucking high horse. You damn well know you’d bend over an omega to screw if one of those sexy things was offered to you.” Jarvis’s features darken. “But clearly, your mindset shows how weak you are. Your ideals do not align with our strongest territories, so—”

“Detonate the explosive. Now!” Wilder shouts, his voice cutting over the argument.

Jarvis’s eyes widen as dust swirls in front of his camera, the sound of the explosive booming through the line.

“I’ve had enough. This isn’t a meeting but a fucking warning. Now that you have confirmed the rumors, I’m stepping up as head of Saint Vista alongside my brothers. Things are changing around here, and if you choose to stand against us, you might as well dig your graves. You have ruined enough lives and territories.” Wilder cracks his knuckles. “You will hand over all unclaimed omegas immediately.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding!” Chavez hollers, spitting at the camera.

“Detonate the explosive in Ginger Rain.” Wilder nods to Enzo.

Chavez’s video feed turns to static, the volume cutting in and out as he yells. It turns off a moment later. Silence falls over the video meeting, and I shift my weight anxiously.

“Let’s take a proper vote. If you agree to promote the Gilded Sands Pack as the leader of our region, say ay.” Armand tightens his jaw, not giving away his thoughts. He was never an ally of our pack, and now that I know my father was working with Jarvis to establish a new distribution for omegas as if they’re objects proves why.

“Ay,” Cameron from Shadow Palms says.

“Ay,” Armand agrees.

“This is war, you son of a bitch! Do you hear me? I’ll destroy you.” Edwin from the Rosewood Pass Pack leers at his camera. “I stand beside Jarvis.”

Emmanuel growls, the pack leader of the Bronze Desert Pack, reacting for the first time. “As does my pack.”

A wicked grin crosses Wilder’s face, his blue eyes catching the orange light glowing through the window from the house fire across the street. “Detonate the explosives and send in our soldiers. This war will end before it can begin. Your tyrannous reign is over. You can burn in hell with my father.”

Several explosions boom through the line and static takes out the three alphas’ cameras, leaving only Cameron, Armand, and Spencer, the final leader and an alpha from Fire Valley on the line. He neither agrees nor disagrees, his lack of support announcing his neutrality.

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