Thirty nine

DEARIL POV.

"You humiliated your own father in front of all the other Alphas" Detinos yelled, the veins on his neck standing out as his anger saturated the air around us but I didn't care. I had tolerated them for the longest time and I'd finally had enough.

I gave a non-committal shrug. "He had humiliated me countless of times, if I could take it, I am sure that he will be able to, heck, he might even outdo me since he is the most perfect father figure out there, am I right?".

"What do you hope to achieve? Are you finally going to get revenge on us for all those years? Is that what all these Are about?" Detinos yelled, his neck straining as he stepped closer to me, his intentions to intimidate me shining through his eyes even though his movements were cautious. Despite his anger, he was scared of me, of what he knew I could do, which was the sole reason he was holding back when all he wanted to do was rip me to shreds.

I matched his stance, my gaze piercing into his, "I am going to clean up all your messes".

"Bullshit. An Alpha who killed his own mate is going to start acting like a saint. You sicken me Dearil, you always have, killing your twin was not enough for you huh, what will you do next, destroy the park under the guise of saving it." He spat in disgust and I shoved at his chest, a warning glare on my face.

"Do not speak to your Alpha in that manner", I warned as my wolf started getting agitated. It wasn't too intense as it was in the past, but I could still feel the evil within me, it was still lurking underneath the surface, waiting to strike, if the pain of losing our mate would allow it.

Detinos head bobbed as he finally found something to latch onto. "Face it brother, even tho everyone thinks the problems you faced thus far were due to the witch's curse, you and I both know it's because you have darkness following you. It has been a part of you right since you were born. You are a bringer of chaos and death. Haven't you ever wondered why father named you Dearil?"

I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and he let me, a smirk on his face. We stared at each other, our breaths leaving our lungs in furious puffs of air.

"What are you going to do brother? Kill me as you killed your twin, your mate, or wound me as you did all the members of the council. Do it. I dare you".

I let go of him, choosing not to let his words get to me. "You are not worth it, and neither are they"

Detinos laughed. "You are so weak and pathetic. You should have been the one to die".

"Yeah, but I didn't die and right now I am your Alpha, and whether you like it or not, from now henceforth, you'll have to answer to me and if you push it too far, I will get into your head and mess it all up. I am the head Alpha Detinos, your Alpha."

Detinos smile faded, replaced by a raging glare that he managed to tame in record time. "Not for long. I and Black will not allow you to destroy the pack. You already killed your mate... "

"She is not dead!" I growled, stepping towards him. "I will find her... "

"Well you better hope you do because no one believes the crap you made up about finding your mate, and once the council reaches a decision, it won't matter that you are head Alpha now, you will be tried and judged, and we both know what judgment it is you will be receiving"

"Is that what you think?" I asked and he nodded, his smirk returning...

"It's what I know, not what I think brother. Enjoy your throne while it last. It won't be long now before you find yourself in the gutters where you belong".

"You are wrong Detinos. You do not know the extent of the power I possess, but shame it would be too late when you finally realize it" I said to cast doubt on his mind. He watched me, his irises moving every which way as he searched his head for a comeback.

The pack members had no choice but to accept me as the new leader. The head Alpha had already stepped down, and for all, they knew whatever curse had been placed on me was broken even though Detinos thought they wouldn't believe it.

But they would because I was able to shift now, and even before the full moon without an ounce of pain.

Black had been mortified to acknowledge that I was now in charge. The change of leadership shocked him the most but if he had anything to say about it, he kept it to himself, choosing rather stay on the safe side because despite the curse getting broken, it didn't quite tone down the rage of my wolf, but it was understandable. After everything I had faced at their hands, they were lucky to still be breathing.

The only problem now was my Luna. I couldn't feel her, couldn't sense her and that could only mean that she was dead, but I could not accept it, my wolf refused to believe it and somehow, we knew that she was out there, still alive and we were going to find her.

The door to my office opened and Black stood there, his face grim and tired.

"The council is ready for your trial Alpha Dearil" he announced, his voice polite but the pheromones that accompanied them cold and hostile.

His attention shifted toward the other Alpha in the room and I couldn't help but pick up the tension that spiked in the air between Detinos and Black. I was almost sure that If I looked deeper, I would find something, a sought of leverage that I could hold against them.

Black cleared his throat, his gaze refocusing on me.

"As the head Alpha, you should strive to lead by example, so you should confess to your crimes and take your punishment as a true leader would" he advised and I laughed because I was done with all their veiled manipulations.

"If I should lead by example, then you should all be punished for the crimes you have been and are still committing with the previous Alpha, is that right or do you want to reconsider the advice you just gave me".

Black eyes darkened to slit, his fist clenching at his side. I stepped closer to him, and his pheromones mixing with mine made Detinos squirm, his wolf urging him to exert his dominance too. The scent in the room thickened until it felt as if a thick cloud of smoke was engulfing every space in the room.

"It doesn't matter what you say, we all know how this is going to end when you can not produce your mate, you murderer".

The sting of being reminded of my mate made my blood boil. "You might get added to that death list soon if you don't watch your mouth, Black, and that is not a threat, it's a promise"

He made to speak and Detinos touched him, his eyes telling him not to antagonize me further. The spike of the hostile pheromones to that of lust made my head reel, which in turn made me stare at the duo. Something was going on alright and I was almost sure it started from the night of the blood moon. They were both Alpha and each already had their mate so what was going on with them, why did they both look as if they were long lost lovers about getting reunited?

Black yanked his hand away from Detinos, giving him a murderous glare then rushed out of the room.

Detinos refused to meet my gaze as he walked towards the door. Grabbing the doorknob, he paused, his gaze fixed on the piece of metal his hands were wrapped around, "I wish you would just die already. All you do is ruin everything" he got out in a venomous tone and walked out the room.

His words would have hurt, but he had said it countless times before that I was immune to it.

*******

The council was always the same. They were aggravating, and my wolf was already at its breaking point as the argument proceeded.

Vaughn, my father was my greatest adversary. He wanted me to get the death penalty and I could see it in his eyes, felt it in every pores on my skin as he spoke swelling words that were guaranteed to bury me alive and paint me as a wild beast that was only profiled to cause mayhem.

Vaughn smacked his hand against his chest, his eyes reddening and his voice thickening."I accepted you after all these years because I thought you were doing better, I stood by you and told your brothers and the pack members to accept you despite how unstable you were, I, for the lack of my better judgment wanted to stand by you, but what did you do, you double-crossed your father, and harmed half the members of the pack. You are not fit to rule the pack, you do not possess the skill for it, and from your track record, I'm sure everyone is aware here what danger it is we will be exposing ourselves to if we let you lead us. He killed his own mate!" He fired, an accusing finger pointed in my direction and I could feel the shift of their emotions in the air.

They were going to join hands and destroy me.

"Alpha Vaughn is right. You all have already witnessed the extent of his unrestrained rage, he killed an Omega just a few weeks before. Power unrestrained begets evil, if we let him rule over the pack, are we ready to face the consequences when he can't control his wolf and he kills off all the omegas, then comes for our young pups"Black said and murmuring swept through the council.

"But the curse has been broken. He found his mate" one of the council members spoke up in my defense.

"And where is she?" Vaughn asked, his gaze roaming slowly over all the faces in the room before turning to face me. "Where is your human mate, Dearil", he asked, and I could feel every eye on me, waiting expectantly for my answer.

"I do not know where she is..." I was saying when he cut me off.

"Because you killed her" he finished, an evil glint in his eyes. "A wolf that cannot feel his Mate bond? Are we all suddenly so daft that we cannot realize what that means? I am not saying he did not find his mate, he did, because as the strongest Alpha, I can see the bond between him and his mate, but it is barely visible and that is because she is dead, and once that thread dies completely, are we ready to face the impact it will have on him. He would go so mad with grief, that he will end up destroying everything in his path. Are we going to seat back and allow that to happen? He is my son, but that does not mean that I would shield and cover him from paying for his crimes".

"Enough" I yelled, his words making the anger in my chest fester and burn. "You have never been a father to me so you have no right to call me your son" I forced out, the sound of my voice carrying through the room, and taking along with it all the pain I'd been keeping in all my life. "My mate is not dead, I know this for a fact and so does my wolf".

"And we are supposed to take your word for it after your act of contempt", Black said maliciously.

"Do not speak to the head Alpha that way" one of the council members chastised at the same moment I crushed the table beside me. The act made Black and my father smirk in triumph and my blood that boiled before threatened to spill over the edge.

"This is just the beginning of the end. Are we going to stay back and watch him destroy everything we have built? No Alpha is fit to rule without a mate. I say he steps down and take the punishment he deserves for all he has done so far" Vaughn told them, his gaze roaming all the members as they murmured in his support. "And what better punishment for a wolf that killed his mate than the death penalty," Vaughn delivered, a victorious glint in his eyes as they met mine.