I look at him curiously as I try to will down my emotions. What the hell is he planning now?
Chapter fifty-eight
Troi
*RAFFY*
Liamfurrowshisbrows,his eyes darkening as his lycan comes forward. “Move!” he growls. His tone is deep and threatening now. I can feel his alpha aura wrap around us as if to shield us while he unleashes the domineering aura of a royal lycan.
The guards surrounding us drop to their knees, baring their necks to him. Liam steps forward, grabbing the man who talked to us by his collar and pulling him up into the air so that his feet dangle in the air. “The meeting,” Liam snarls. “Where is it?”
The man looks like he is about to wet his pants any second. “In the main hall,” he blurts out. “Right behind the foyer.”
Liam drops the man onto the ground and steps over him towards the entrance. He nods towards us. “Follow me.”
My mouth drops open slightly. We’re truly just here for the show, I think. Liam could have done this on his own, but he looks even more powerful with a group behind him. His face is void of any emotion, his eyes hard as he strides through the hall, the rest of us following swiftly.
Without even knocking, Liam rips the door open and steps into the hall where the alphas are currently meeting. Once inside, all eyes are on us. Some of the men furrow their brows in anger, and those sitting closer to the door wince visibly at the aura pulsating around Liam.
I scan the room until my gaze lands on Troi, that fucker. Everett is there, too, looking surprisingly nervous and pale. I wonder what kind of threats that fuckhead threw at him. I notice other faces too… most of them are Troi’s allies. Some shady assholes.
“What’s the meaning of this?” one of the men bellows.
“Quiet,” Liam commands in a calm voice. His blue eyes flash and turn black, his lycan returning to the surface. The alphas lower their heads in submission. “Troi!” Liam hisses.
Troi raises his head, his eyes widening. He looks scared, much to my delight. He has always been more talk than anything else, which is why he let his creepy beta and warriors do most of the work. Troi puts up his perfect slimy smile now. “May I ask—”
“No,” Liam bellows. He lets his eyes trail over the room. “Everett…”
He is the man to the left,I link him.
Liam nods, eyeing Everett now, who looks terrified, like he wishes the ground would open and swallow him. “You’re a lycan alpha…” he stutters.
Beta Dante steps to Liam’s side, his face serious, his eyes cold. “You’re talking to Prince Liam Alcott, second crown prince of the Council. Show some respect.”
A murmur runs through the crowd, the atmosphere shifting from one of bewilderment and anger to downright fear.
Alpha Liam has one of us close the door behind us and steps into the center of the room. Everett still stares at him while Troi’s eyes shift nervously until they rest on me. He jumps up, pointing at me. “That traitor there—”
“Quiet,” Liam hisses. I don’t know what he just did, but Troi grasps his head and drops back onto his seat.
“I will come to the point without further ado,” Liam starts. “It was brought to my attention that the alliance here is formed to overthrow some laws the Council enacted. There are ways to question laws and demand for changes, but this isn’t it, especially if the changes include the rights of lower-ranked wolves to be cut and she-wolves to be suppressed. I’ve further heard that you’ve turned your back on the Moon Goddess and tarnish her blessing by forcing your pack members to reject mates of other species or same gender.”
Liam’s voice is hard, and he sounds pissed. I wasn’t aware of what Troi and his allies were planning, but now that I know, I don’t know if I should be angry or surprised by how stupid he was. Did he think he could form an alliance like that and get away with it?
“The Council will investigate this issue further,” Liam continues. “My betas will later interrogate you and then pass your pack names and contacts to the Council. Don’t even think of running. Whoever runs from the responsibility before we have wrapped up the investigation will be deemed a rogue without further questioning.”
He turns his gaze towards Troi and Everett, the look in his eyes cold as ice. “Further, Raphael Hayes and Esme and Hayden Simmons are members of my pack.” His voice hardens. “Do you have issues with that, Alpha Everett?”
Everett’s mouth drops open as he stares at me and then back to Liam.
“No? I thought so!” Liam’s eyes darken again, the veins on his neck popping up as if dark blood is running through them. His aura turns suffocating and angry again. “Troi,” he hisses. “I have personal issues with you! I’ll tell you how we’ll go about this. The men who attacked my luna, you will hand them over to me, or I will leave for your pack now and burn it to the ground.”
Troi’s eyes widen as realization settles in who they attacked recently. His face pales.
“You get rid of your beta in one way or another, you will retire, and your firstborn son, Ezra, will take over.” Troi looks like he wants to argue, but Liam ignores him. “You will further be investigated by the Council for the crimes you committed. The fact I’m not killing you on the spot for sending men to harm my luna—”
“I didn’t know!” Troi blurts out in panic.