Page 19 of The Betas: Rene
“How is this possible?” Now his Frankie was skeptical.
“Sean can speak with the gods’ voice.”
“I thought you said you don’t need a priest.” Frankie’s tone conveyed sarcasm and disbelief.
“Sean isn’t a priest. Occasionally, he’s a conduit. Their voice comes out of his mouth. But I’ve heard them speak without Sean. As I explained, they spoke at Martin’s reception.” René set his mouth in a stubborn line. He told the truth.
Frankie changed the subject. “So, what does his Voice bring to the loup garou? No challenges?” Frankie had figured out how dangerous René’s job could be.
“There was a second one since Sean arrived. That came from an upstart pack Alpha from Alpha Daurensbourg’s home pack. Maurice challenged Alpha Daurensbourg. Maurice wanted Daurensbourg’s place on the Council. He had barely five years over his majority.”
“When do loup garou reach their majority?” Frankie asked.
Considering that the loup garou live four hundred and fifty years or more, this was a valid question. “At twenty-five, but an Alpha must be trained for decades, a Council Alpha even longer. Alpha Clavier, our current Number Two, is the youngest Alpha to ever sit on the Council and he is seventy.”
“So even if Maurice killed Alpha Daurensbourg…”
“There was no way he was going to sit on the Council. If the fight didn’t appear to be going Daurensbourg’s way, The Alpha would have stepped in before Maurice made the kill. Alpha Mate Julio had a knife hidden on his person and his own plans,” René said with satisfaction.
“I can understand what The Alpha planned to do, but Julio? I tussled with the Russian Enforcer outside of Henri’s, and I barely held him, and I am a strong man. Julio is a hundred and fifty pounds soaking wet. He was going to get into a knife fight with a wolf almost as large as you?” Frankie gaped at him.
“You have to understand the background and the physical limitations of wolves. Before the challenge, it came out that Maurice had secretly challenged other wolves to the death and cheated. When The Alpha found out, he didn’t want Daurensbourg in the pit at all. He was willing to go up against Maurice and annihilate him, but Alpha Daurensbourg felt he had to do it himself. Julio had a throwing knife that he could use with deadly accuracy. Maurice would have had to change to expel it, and the act of changing would have given Alpha Daurensbourg the few seconds he needed to regain the upper hand. Alpha Mate Julio swore to himself he wouldn’t interfere unless Maurice cheated. He did, but Alpha Daurensbourg had it handled. The gods let that one go because Alpha Daurensbourg doesn’t like violence and the packs thought because he eschewed violence, he wasn’t strong.”
“What did he do?” Frankie, by this time, had stopped packing and was wrapped up in the loup garou story.
“That time the gods didn’t stop the fight, and Alpha Daurensbourg had to kill him. Winning the challenge against the cheating wolf proved that he was still strong enough to be their Alpha, hold the territory and a place on the Council.”
“It sounds like getting to be a Made Man in the mob. To be a Made Man, you have to kill someone.”
“Ours is a violent world and the Alphas, even though they are now at peace, keep up the old customs, so no one feels slighted and challenges someone else out of a fit of pique.” René closed the suitcase and zipped it shut.
“So, The Voice keeps the peace. Can The Alpha Mate do anything else?” Frankie sealed the pantry box with tape.
“Sean can ease childbirth. Our women have a hard time birthing pups. He also can help the sick heal. It’s because of Sean’s Voice that we still have Julio.”
Frankie opened another cupboard. “Alpha Daurensbourg’s Julio is the same Julio that worked with Donal?”
“Yes, he helped keep Donal alive. Julio is much loved in our community. It doesn’t matter what a Mate did before he meets his Alpha, wolves are very accepting. We live long lives, and not all wolves are choirboys.”
“I wouldn’t assume they were. Especially after you told me the story about the kidnapping. Was The Alpha Mate that helpless against another wolf?” It finally dawned on Frankie that Mates, especially Alpha Mates, were a magnet for trouble. “Your gods were wise to give the Mates protectors. If I have it right, the Russian wanted to steal The Alpha Mate because of his gift.”
Frankie closed the last cupboard door. The Alpha had lent them Pierre and the limousine so they could fit what belongings Frankie needed to take to René’s in the trunk.
“The Russian wanted to bring Sean’s gift to Russia to buy his way back into the Russian pack structure after being exiled for rape. He was born a Beta and had the notion he could make himself an Alpha if he had The Alpha Mate’s gift. He couldn’t. You are born Alpha, Beta, Pack, Enforcer, or Omega. You may rise in your own ranks. Martin is the top Beta in North America, I am Second, but you can’t become what you’re not. It’s like the Hindu class system, only more permanent. I don’t really know if your status changes with each cycle. Although Alpha Giraud says he remembers past cycles and Alpha Mate Vitas always appeared as an Omega to his Alpha.”
“If loup garou can get beheaded for claiming another’s Mate, why did this Russian only get exile for rape?”
“Because they couldn’t prove it.”
“Ah-ha, so it’s not just summary execution, the accusation has to be proved…”
“Anyway, the rebellious Second, La Farge, now scrubs Siberian toilets as a human. He wanted The Alpha Mate kidnapped so he could challenge an Alpha going nuts without his Mate. Thank the gods, The Alpha Mate figured out how to get away. That was the incident I told you about at the wedding reception.”
“I remember you said The Alpha Mate figured out a way to escape. Back to the tuxedo… I’ve figured it out. The Alpha is required to put on a big show because it’s one of his personal staff getting married.” Frankie lifted his shoulders and grinned, appearing proud of himself.
He should be. Loup garou politics takes a human lifetime to master.
“Got it in one.” René smiled.
