Forty

Vaughn stared down at his son, knowing that he wouldn't be able to escape this time. Giving up his seat just at his command had been a wake-up call of what power Dearil truly possessed and that if he was allowed to live, there would be no one that anyone would be able to stand In his way.

The mafia girl had been the cause of everything. Who could have thought that a mere human, not even one that powerful could have such an effect on Dearil? She even succeeded in breaking his curse, which was something that Vaughn had been looking forward to fulfilling of it.

If he had just killed her that night in the woods when he'd come across her, everything that was happening would have been avoided. He should have known better! Vaughn blamed himself for not realizing that a girl that had such an influence over Dearil on their first night of meeting was someone not to take seriously. Her eyes had been fierce, she had looked ready for battle and yet he'd merely ignored every sign that she wasn't just a normal human.

She was his mate and it was sacrilegious that he was thinking of murdering her, but he was already pushed to the wall, and anything that could guarantee to get him back to his position, he was willing to do. And staring at the pack members, he was sure that Dearil was not going to be able to escape the death penalty, not after everything that he had done, especially when everyone knew that he killed his mate.

The fear of him running wild and destroying the whole pack was enough to guarantee that.

Vaughn stepped towards him. "You do not deserve to seat on that seat you're currently occupying. A murderer is not fit to rule".

"Vaughn is right, and there is no need to even take a vote on this. In the past, we did not even have to deliberate this much".

They all nodded in agreement. Dearil gaze roamed around the room, the pheromones of the Alphas in the room all in agreement.

His claws elongated, the fury in his chest boiling as his wolf urged him to kill everyone in the room. His family had betrayed him, they wanted to cast him off even tho they had no evidence that his mate was dead. They were willing to kill him as if his life didn't matter.

"I am sure we are all in the agreement of what punishment it is you should receive and since Vaughn was the former head Alpha, and your father, we will leave the decision into his hand".

Black grinned in triumph. He exchanged a look with Vaughn whose lips were also stretched in a victorious smirk.

The door to the room was suddenly flung open, disrupting the proceedings as everyone's gaze fastened on the intruder, their body poised for attack.

Ariel sauntered into the room and Dearil was on her in a second to the surprise of the pack members.

"Where is she? Where is my mate?" He asked as he dragged Ariel closer, his nose burrowing into her dress that reeked of his mate. They were Jade's cloth. Dearil pulled back while the pack members all stared at the both of them.

"That is why I am here, so If you can let go of me, then maybe I will speak that which I know".

Dearil let go of her reluctantly, his heart pounding loudly in his ears. "Speak" he commanded and Ariel glared at him.

Ariel wolf recoiled at the order. She was an Alpha too and everything in her was wired to dominate, not submit, or obey the words of others. "Do not order me around, Alpha".

"You better have a good reason for disrupting our meeting Ariel. I did not remember sending you an invite" Vaughn interrupted their standoff, his eyebrow raised to the max as his gaze roamed over the form of Ariel.

Ariel shrugged nonchalantly. "You did not have to send me an invite. You seem to be forgetting that you are no longer the head Alpha of this pack, Alpha Vaughn."

"How dare you speak to the chief in that manner" Black yelled and stepped towards her, every intention to hurt her in his eyes before Ariel's gaze cut to him in, a growl rumbling deep within her chest as she took a fighting stance.

"Don't you dare lay your filthy hand on me Alpha Black. If you do, I can guarantee that you won't be redrawing it back intact".

Vaughn stepped toward Black. "Let her be. She is an Alpha just as you are and deserve to be here representing her pack member".

"You better have a good reason for disrupting this meeting" Detinos glared, his flashing eyes trying to intimidate Ariel who just ignored him with a smirk.

"What is so funny Ariel?" Black asked, his nostril flaring as he took another step in her direction.

"Easy there Black, one might think you are trying to defend your mate from being insulted" she taunted and Black recoiled, backing off a bit.

"You are out of your mind" he fired hotly, his throat working but no more words coming out.

Detinos also avoided her gaze and Ariel's smirk got wider. "That's what I thought," she said then turned to face the pack's member.

"There will be no one receiving the death penalty today because Dearil's mate is well and alive. How do I know this? It is because I took care of her myself after I found her in the woods, bearing Alpha Dearil's mark and scent. I saw the mark on her neck. Jade Alvarez did not die, but she was not fully transformed either and that is why Dearil here could not sense her, or feel her due to the distance between the both of them".

Dearil exhaled, the tension in his chest loosening until he could breathe right. His claws slowly retracted, the veins that had bunched up his arms fading until he was normal. His mate was alive. He hadn't killed her just as the witch had cursed. Everything was over.

"Where is she?" he inquired, his eyes imploring Ariel to tell him the truth

"I will tell you in private. She left a message for you".

"This is ludicrous. Are we just going to believe the words of this rogue Alpha" Vaughn thundered, his body shaking where he stood?

"So now I am a rogue Alpha? I don't even know why I bother trying to get your acceptance Alpha Vaughn when you can't even accept your own flesh and blood. You are so power-hungry that you are willing to kill your son to keep your position. Who is the true villain in this story Vaughn Lyall? Do you need me to answer that question or are you going to figure it out yourself"?

"There has been no human for decades that was able to survive a wolf's bite, especially that of an Alpha and you want to tell us that a mere human did".

"Do you want to question me or was that meant for the moon goddess. She made it all possible so I do not have the answers you seek".

The members of the council grumbled among themselves.

"We can get rid of the doubt once and for all if we all open our minds to each other. Let us merge our minds and then we will all know that Dearil's mate is still alive" Ariel suggested and she could see the wheels turning in the head of Vaughn and the other members.

Dearil smiled because he knew there was no way his father would willingly participate in a mind merge. He had always organized one every decade but he never participated and how could he when he knew that every secret he kept in his heart was going to be on display for all the members to see?

Everyone's secrets would be out in the open during a mind merge and that was something most of the council wanted to avoid. Hearing others' thoughts and voices was already so hard to block. A mind merge meant starting from scratch all over again and relearning to conceal your thought and feelings from others.

"A mind merge. That is porpestrous! Besides, it is not the full moon yet or the mating season" Black said hotly.

"That has never been a criterion for the merge before. If you will not take my word for it that his mate is alive, then you shouldn't oppose my suggestion."

"Enough!" Vaughn roared, then stepped towards Dearil, he leaned close to him, his voice a rough whisper. "This is not over yet, I am going to stop you before you destroy the pack," he said with venom then turned to face the pack. "There will be no need for a mind merge when we already have a witness here that can testify to the fact that Dearil's mate is still alive".

Dearil stepped beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder to tell him to move back. Vaughn's eyes widened at the blatant disrespect.

"That was all you needed to say father, but as the current head Alpha, I will take it from here." He said then called for his beta who quickly rushed forward with a projector. "I have been accused falsely on countless occasion and I took every insult, every punishment without fighting or talking back, so I believe as a leader who only promises to lead by example, I should bring to light those that has been destroying the pack's reputation under the guise of being an Alpha. They have played as angels and yet did the devil's work. My first act as an Alpha is to make sure justice is served to everyone that breaks the pack's rules. Play the videos Herik" Dearil ordered. Herik hastened to set everything up, and then he hit the play button.

Everyone gasped as they watched the content that the videos contained. "It was captured by a werewolf, so everything is clear and pretty accurate. I will leave the decision of how to punish those three culprits in the hand of the council" Dearil said then faced his father, Detinos, and Black who were the stars in the video. "This is payback for all the shit you have been doing for ages. The pack may go easy on you, but I won't" he told them and watched as their anger blotched up their faces. They could do whatever it was to try to stop him, but he was head Alpha, and he was never going to let them back into a position of power.

*********"

"I will be leaving Etral never to return and if by chance Dearil doesn't believe me dead, then tell him I reject him as my mate, and that he should never come looking for me because if he does, he will meet his death. That was what she said word for word," Ariel said and Dearil's heart squeezed, his wolf trying to claw its way out of his chest.

She wanted to reject him after he had found her only by a miracle. The thought made him want to set everything on fire and watch it burn to the ground.

"She is back to her territory, doing what she had always wanted to do. What are you going to do. Are you going to grant her the rejection she seeks for".

Dearil eyes cut to Ariel. "Never. Jade Alvarez is mine and even if she runs to the end of the world, that will never change. She will always be mine".

"Are you going to leave the pack and go in search of her. She is pretty stronger now, it will not be easy to bring her back".

"No, leaving the pack is what father and the rest want. Her heat is just a month and a half away. She will miss me, she will crave and she will seek out her mate whether she likes it or not. Our thread still burns and as long as it does, I will forever be her Alpha".