Page 82 of Forced Alpha Bride
About fucking time!
Everyone stops and looks into the hills. All the council members look shocked, maybe even scared. Except for Regina, who wears an expression of cold fury.
As the call of the alphas gets closer, Regina stands up and takes a decisive step towards Damon. Mitchell grabs her arm and yanks her back towards him.
“Regina, don’t! It’s the call of the alphas!”
“The call of the alphas has not been heard in this valley for over a hundred years!” she swears at him. “This is a trick. Some rubbish cooked up by this traitor to save his worthless hide!”
“It is the call of the alphas, Regina,” I say, stepping forward into the center of the circle. “They are coming to cast their judgment, and the only voice stronger than an elder is an alpha.”
“One alone is a challenge,” Cora adds. “But two together, in the ancient song, is a command. If we do not obey, Regina, they are within their rights to slaughter every single person in this town.”
The elders look properly worried now, and their personal guards step away from Damon. I rush forward and grab his hand, standing with him as the howls spiral down from the peaks and sing through the valley.
Far off in the distance, I hear other wolves baying. I recognize them as members of my pack and Kit’s, coming to back up their leaders.
“They brought their warriors,” Mitchell mutters. “For fuck’s sake, Regina, stand down!”
He tugs on her arm, but she shakes him off, staring into the forest.
“I don’t believe it!” she cries. “I will not believe it until they are standing right in front of me. If any of you think I’m going to let this half-breed mutt leave the ring alive, you’re mad with rabies!”
“Regina, please,” Mitchell implores. “I recognize Galen’s voice. This isn’t a trick.”
Regina glares at Damon, her hands clenching slowly as if she wants to rush across the courtyard to rip his throat out. She stays where she is, though, and only seconds later, one of the warriors shouts.
“Breaking the tree line, Alpha Galen and Alpha Kit!”
“I can see reinforcements on the ridge!” another guard shouts. “They come in full force!”
“Form ranks!” Regina screams. “Prepare yourselves for battle. We can’t let the other packs overcome us and write our laws! Stand against them!”
“Regina,” Cora says evenly, “the entirety of Gryphon Eyrie cannot stand against Quartz Key and Cyan Lock combined. We’d be slaughtered. Besides, have you forgotten our luna is the sister of Alpha Galen?”
Regina turns and glares at me. I can see her calculating the distance between us, as if she’s wondering if she can get to me fast enough to have her claws in my neck by the time Galen reaches the circle.
Damon moves in front of me, breaking her gaze, and the look they share is pure, unadulterated hatred.
Galen enters the circle from one side, and Kit from the other. Both pace around slowly before they shift into their human forms, giving off an aura of menace that forces the first families to move back.
“What is the meaning of this?” Mitchell asks, holding onto Regina with both hands to keep her back. “Why have you come to Gryphon Eyrie, singing the ancient call?”
“I had word that an unfair leadership challenge was about to be performed,” Galen says, striding towards the elders. “But it seems something far more serious has happened instead.”
Kit walks towards the council from the other side, meeting Galen in the middle. He looks over his shoulder at us, and the guards back up a bit more.
“It looks like you’re ready for an execution,” Kit says. “A dishonorable act, and a cowardly one.”
“Your grandfather was very fond of executions,” Regina snaps.
Kit shrugs. “And he was a coward. I command the council to state its intentions here, because two alphas have come in support of a just leader who is the victim of unfair use of pack law. This is the most serious crime amongst all Lycan kind.”
“Justa leader?” Regina shrieks. “He’s a traitor! Our town was attacked, wolves injured and killed, buildings blown up, and burnt to the ground! I personally provided evidence that Valentine Creek was responsible, and he refused to act!”
“You personally?” Galen asks, gazing at her. “I just want to be clear, no other elders were involved in this evidence?”
“No,” Regina answers. “It was a member of my guard who found the fire flower. He showed me the place it was found. I brought it to the council meeting, and it was agreed that since the flowers only grow in Valentine Creek, it must have been one of them responsible for the attack.”
