“As appointed by my Alpha, Roan LeGuer. I, Quinn Lowry, have hereby been given the duty to carry out the execution of one Ian Montgomery and Lillah Montgomery, for breaking Pack Law and attempting to murder their child, Rivera Montgomery. May your souls find redemption and peace in the Sacred Forest.” As quick as he could, he twisted their necks, effectively breaking their brain stems. It was one of the very few ways a Lupus could die.
Roan felt the moment Ian and Lillah passed. Their bond, the filaments that tied them to him, snapped, letting him know they were truly gone.
“I, Rafe Teague, have witnessed this execution. It was merciful and just according to the Laws of Nature and the Pack.”
“Aye.”
“Aye.”
Both Steven and Mikeal agreed. Going over to the bodies, they removed their bindings, laying them out. With their job finished, Quinn and Rafe went and took up position behind Roan and Sasha. Not that they couldn’t handle anyone there. It would make the others think twice about trying anything stupid. Quinn and Rafe had the reputations of being swift and brutal when they were with Roan’s father. Retirement hadn’t changed that.
Mikeal turned to Arianna. “Would you like to have their ashes or have them scattered at sea?”
“At sea,” She choked. Maurice was still in no condition to do more than lie there and pant.
Nodding, he went to Steven, talking with him briefly. Steven laid a hand on his shoulder, then Mikeal came up to Roan. “If it would be alright, Roan, I would stand with my brother, Nicolai.”
“Of course,” He agreed solemnly.
Roan was glad Nicolai was there actually. It was bad enough Mikeal was going to see his middle brother executed. It would have been even worse if he’d had to witness it alone. Having your friends around when something tragic happens can sometimes help, it’s exceedingly better when you have family with you.
When Mikeal reached Nicolai, they embraced. Their foreheads touched briefly before they broke apart. They stood side by side, waiting with almost identical grim expressions.
“I believe you owe us an explanation, LeGuer.”
Roan turned to the owner of that comment. “I owe you nothing, Truesdale. But seeing as it’s to my advantage to do so, I’ll humour you.”
“You arrogant, bastard!”
“Put a sock in it, Eli,” Darren snapped, his Mate huddled close in his arms. “We want to know if it’s true about you finding your True Mate and how you made Maurice and Boone shift.”
Roan smiled, just the thought of Rivera made him happy. “Yes, I have. She is my match in every way.”
“Please.” Carlyle scoffed. “That abomination can’t even shift. Ian and Lillah should have killed her at birth.”
“You will watch your mouth, Carlyle.” Roan growled. “Rivera is my True Mate and as such, will have the respect that position deserves. Are we clear?”
The man blanched, nodding his head.
“And just where is your…True Mate?’ Eli asked snidely.
At first, Roan wasn’t sure he should let it be known. He wanted to keep Rivera safe any way he could. But by letting these fools know that she was soon to shift, it would definitely give her better standing in the Pack.
“She is in the Pre-Transformation coma.” That statement caused a few raised eyebrows and indrawn breaths. Even Phillip seemed less bored. “Flynn is with her now. Joel Tanner will be arriving soon as well to assist Flynn.”
“Don’t worry about my new sister,” Sasha interrupted, effectively silencing them. “She’s strong. Much stronger than any of you here. So, don’t worry your pretty little heads about her. You boys have bigger fish to fry.”
“How…quaint.” Eli’s expression was of clear distaste.
He ignored Eli, giving Sasha a look of thanks. She merely grinned, her eyes on those assembled. “As for making Maurice and Boone shift, it was quite easy really.” To prove it, he gazed at Eli until the mans tie was found. Reaching out his hand, Roan pulled. A wet pop and scream rent the air as a dull shimmer faded around Eli Truesdale in wolf form, his dark fur wet as he whimpered on the ground. His Mate ran to him, crying over his prone body. “As Alpha, I was born with abilities. Abilities that mark the true Alpha of this Pack,” he explained. “Eli felt first hand what that ability is. I can rip the wolf from your body. As you can see, it is quite painful. But very effective in getting my point across.”
“And just what point would that be?” Carlyle had his arms crossed in an attempt to look formidable. It didn’t work. Roan could smell the fear. From them all.
“That every one of you has underestimated me. You’ve let your own greed and arrogance blind you. Let your positions and status poison not only yourselves but the next generation.” He nodded toward the terrible trio. “Boone went feral, attacking and killing a young human female. And thinking he would get away with it because of who he is.”
“She was a whore,” Boone shouted. “Nothing but trash.”
“Regardless of your opinion, that still doesn’t alter the fact you ended that young woman’s life,” Roan said. “One of our most sacred Laws, the attack or murder of a human is death. There are no appeals, no protests or negotiations. You forfeited your life when you ended hers.”
Walking with purpose over to Boone, Dane, Tristan, and Cole flanked him, more than ready should anything happen.
“So that’s it? Because he rid the world of some piece of human waste, he has to die?” Darren’s tone was incredulous.
“No one is above Pack Law, Darren. No one.” Roan looked down at Boone. “I, Roan LeGuer, Alpha of this Pack, have found you, Boone Reynard, guilty of attacking and murdering one Carrie Ann Hoyt.” There was a slight commotion, but Roan ignored it. He knew Sasha and the others were more than capable to take care of it. “As dictated by Pack Law, the penalty for such a crime is death. Due to the severity of the crime, it is my right as Alpha to carry out this sentence. May your soul find redemption and peace in the Sacred Forest.” Lightning fast, Roan reached down and twisted Boone’s neck, snapping his brain stem. It was quick and more than he deserved.
“I, Mikeal Reynard, have witnessed this execution. It was merciful and just according the Laws of Nature and the Pack.”
Hearing that caused a pang of sadness for Roan. He thought for sure that Rafe would have been witness again. But Mikeal was never one to shirk what he thought as his duty. As eldest of the Reynard brothers and their parents absent, it fell to Mikeal to be the strong one. Sometimes duty and strength were highly overrated.
“Aye,” Nicolai said.
“Aye,” Sasha repeated.
Roan sighed sadly, somehow knowing Nicolai would follow his brother. They were too much alike for it not to happen.
When Roan took his place beside Sasha, he noticed Darren, Carlyle, and Elise dangling in the air. So much for them trying anything. “Sasha, Dane, you can let them down now.” He then turned to Mikeal.
“At sea.”
He nodded solemnly.
The three dropped to the ground, but Elise, angry and grief stricken, didn’t stay down for long.
“You bastard!” She lunged toward Roan. She didn’t get far.
Sasha’s hand was out, the way Roan had taught her. Her head was cocked to the side, a look of concentration on her face. When she smiled, Roan knew she had found Elise’s tie. Sasha balled up her hand into a fist, causing Elise to gasp.
“No, please,” she pleaded.
There would be no mercy with Sasha. She simply yanked her fist down, tearing Elise’s wolf from her body with a wet splat and a keening wail. Elise’s brown wolf appeared through a dull grey mist on the ground. She was panting heavily and whimpering in pain.
“That was a bit harder than I thought it would be,” Sasha said.
“Like all your other abilities, practice makes perfect,” he replied.
She nodded, the small smile telling him she was pleased with her first attempt. Roan had to admit that he was pleased as well. Not being raised with
her powers, she was extremely adept at learning and harnessing them. But then, the woman was terribly single minded. When she got a notion in that head, nothing and no one was going to stop her. Learning to control her powers was just such a notion.
“How have we never heard of the Alpha’s having these powers, Roan?” During everything, Phillip St. Paul had remained silent. Even during his sister’s execution, he said not one word. Until now.
“Simple really. The Alpha’s before me didn’t see the need. They were Alpha. The position was enough to keep the Pack in line,” he began. “Other’s thought the Pack knowing would be too much for them to accept. A few were even paranoid to think if the Pack knew, it would lead to the Alpha’s powers being used in some way against the Pack.”
“But now?”
“None of those reasons apply to today’s Pack. The times have changed and so has the Pack’s members. Some more so than others.” He gave a pointed stare to Kyle and Morgan. “For example. Kyle and Morgan followed Boone blindly. Even helped him dispose of and cover up the murder of that young woman. Now, they think their wealth and status are going to exempt them from any sort of punishment.”
“It won’t?”
“No, it won’t.” Out of respect for Mikeal, he didn’t mention Boone. It would just add salt to an already open wound. But the smile he gave Phillip was as cold as he could make it, letting him know that retribution was at hand.
“You aren’t going to execute my son, are you?” Muriel Montblanc’s voice quavered with the question.
“Morgan and Kyle won’t forfeit their lives. But they were an accessory to this crime. That’s a punishable offense, Muriel,” He told her. “An example must be made.”
“What sort of an example?” Phillip’s tone held curiosity.
“As of this moment, all ten high ranking Pack families are hereby stripped of their titles and status.”
Silence reigned for a split second before the clearing erupted into chaos. Phillip, oddly enough, was the only one out of those gathered that remained calm.
“Enough!” It didn’t take much power to have everyone quiet again. But then, they didn’t exactly want to end up like Elise and Eli. “You don’t seem all that surprised, Phillip.”
He shrugged. “As you’ve said, the positions have poisoned some and caused others to be fools. Still, to take away from them all because these two were too stupid to know better does seem rather extreme.”
“And yet, you’re still not upset about it.” It was an odd reaction considering he was next in line. Roan didn’t know what to think of it. But then, he didn’t really know Phillip all that well. He was one of those that was quiet and unobtrusive.
“Not really.” He shook his head with a small smile. “I have my own pursuits that don’t involve alliances and scaling the social ladder. Which is why my father will never pass on the title to me. Our views have never quite meshed on such things.”
“I see,” Roan mused.
Before he could blink or think more about the oddity that was Phillip St. Paul, he was interrupted. And rudely so.
“You can’t just arbitrarily take away what has been in our families for generations, Roan,” Darren demanded. “Those positions are our birthright.”
“Wrong on both counts, Darren.” Roan motioned for Cole to come to his side. “This is Cole Trelaine. Like my sister, brother-in-law, and father was, Cole is a historian. For the last fifty years, with my father’s help and that of my sister and brother-in-law, Cole has finally finished mapping out the Pack’s entire history.”
“There are a few very small gaps, of course,” Cole interjected. “It happens over such a long and varied time span.”
“Of course.” Roan nodded, smiling at Cole’s cheekiness. “Why don’t you explain about Darren’s so called birthright.” If the little shit wanted to speak, Roan had no problems with it.
Cole gave him a big grin. “Be happy to.”
A couple of groan covered coughs sounded behind him. Roan just shook his head as Cole reached in his pocket and pulled out four flash drives, holding them up.
“These contain the Pack’s history from when it was first written down to now. Everyone will be receiving a copy tonight. As for the high ranking Pack families, that position is a construct that come about around 750 years ago.”
“Absurd,” Carlyle sneered. “The Montblanc’s have been a high ranking Pack family for fifteen generations.”
“Sorry to rid you of that false notion, but no, they haven’t.” Cole chuckled.
When Carlyle opened his mouth to say more, Roan held up his hand. “Let Cole finish.”
“Thank you.” He nodded to Roan, getting a murderous glare from Carlyle. Not that Cole seemed to care. He simply continued with the history lesson. “You see, the positions that you and your families have coveted for all these years were never meant to be yours in the first place or hold the power and prestige all you have made them out to be.” He put the flash drives back in his pocket. “About two thousand years ago, one of the Alpha’s thought it would be to his advantage to form a council of elders. Those that still retained their sanity would impart to him their wisdom, knowledge and life experiences so he could better lead the Pack. And it worked. For centuries, each Alpha had his council. When an elder succumbed to the insanity, another was appointed and so on. The role was never passed down nor was it kept in that elder’s family. It was for the Alpha and his council to appoint a new elder.”
“So what changed?” Phillip asked.
“The Alpha pair was killed,” Cole answered. “As all of you are aware of what happened with Sasha and Jenna, this same event occurred 750 years ago. Only neither of the Alpha’s or their murderer survived. The Alpha male in training was just a child and the Alpha female had yet to be born. The only ones with any authority or knowledge to lead the Pack was the council.”
“Ah.” Phillip nodded grimly. “Got a taste of power, did they?”
“Absolutely.” Cole chuckled. Roan couldn’t help but grin himself at they play on words. It was no wonder Cole was such a sought after teacher. He made learning interesting and fun. “Those ten council members set in motion the status the Montblanc’s and the other nine families have today by making sure the next elder to be appointed was from their own family. Seven –hundred and fifty years later, those ten families still think they have all the power. Too bad the original ten didn’t put their ambitions into Law though. With no one to tell them otherwise, they made up their own agenda and went with it. Of course, the original appointing of council elders is a Law. One that is still on the books if anyone had a care to really look for it.”
“Yes. One that the ten families have been breaking for…how many generations, Carlyle?” The man blanched under Roan’s pointed glare.
“You really don’t expect us to believe your little history lesson, do you Roan?” Darren’s tone was dripping with condescension. “Regardless of these findings, none of us has heard a word about any elder council. It all seems like a ploy to topple the ten families from the power we’ve rightly held for so long.”
“Of course not, Darren. That council made sure from that moment on, their version of history was the right one. But what they didn’t know about was the Alpha journals.”
“There’s no such thing,” He said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
“I’m happy to say that there are.” Roan grinned. “When my father went back to the old country to follow some leads on our history, he stayed in one of our predecessors homes. The house that stands there now was built over the original structure. Doing a bit of snooping, he found a tunnel in the basement that lead to a warren of other tunnels. After several weeks of exploring, he stumbled into a room containing four wooden chests. Only two were still intact, their contents undamaged. Inside them were the usual old clothes, jewellery, and baby items. But the real prize was the journals. Thirty in all, some were extremely old and crudely fashioned, some made of thick paper and resin, and others bound in
fine leather. All a daily account of twenty two generations of Alpha’s. There were even three hand written copies of our original Pack Laws.”
“And we’re all just learning of this now?” Darren’s eyes narrowed. “Convenient.”
“My father spent years putting into motion what I have done today,” Roan’s voice was harsh with anger. “Wanting this Pack put back on the right path. Before those ten council elders got power hungry and sent us down the road to destruction. He died before he could see this day. So, I took up the reins, continuing his work for the good of the Pack. If you think for one moment I’m going to let you, or those other fools interfere with his plans, you really have underestimated me.”
Darren gave him an oily grin. “A pretty speech, Roan. But I seriously doubt you comprehend the true power the ten families have. The wealth we’ve accumulated along with the prestige isn’t something you can just wrest away from us with a history lesson and a few parlour tricks. Our power runs deep, boy. Not even both Alpha’s can take that away.”
Roan folded his arms over his chest, feeling Sasha vibrating beside him.
“You’re about to drop a bomb, aren’t you?” She asked with glee. “Please tell me you are.”
“Indeed.” He grinned with wicked delight. “Dane, if you would be so kind.”
He let loose a shrill whistle as Cole and Tristan took up position on each side of Roan and Sasha. Then, in a blink, fifteen men seemed to Materialize out of the forest and surround them all. The three real timber wolves melting out of the shadows and coming to stand beside Roan, Sasha, and Tristan was definitely a nice touch.
“Oh, Roan. You were able to get them all here.” Sasha had a look of pure joy on her face. After learning of Omega Squad, she had made it her mission to meet every one. They had made her their den mother, of a sort. Though these weren’t all of Omega Squad, they were the ones from the States. “I’ve missed my guys so much. This is going to rock!”
“Alpha man discipline Pack?” The Alpha male asked Roan telepathically.
He looked down at the very large wolf and grinned, responding aloud. “Yes. But they aren’t happy about it.”
Destiny's Choice Page 13
