Filed to story: Claimed by My Ex’s Alpha Brother
My throat became thick with emotion.
I leaned down and kissed her cool forehead.
I stayed like that-with my lips pressed against her forehead-until I could fully wrap my head around the fact that she was going to be alright.
***
I stared out at my pack, focusing on all the familiar faces of the WaterLock community to draw strength for what I was about to do.
It was two days after I’d killed Noah, and I’d called an emergency pack meeting.
After I was certain Ella would be all right, I went to the holding cells that the Rogues were being kept in and obtained the information I needed. I videotaped their confessions and then sent them with ten guards from the army to a Rogue prison I helped set up with the other Alphas two hours away. While we were putting together the army, we developed prisons all over our three kingdoms. The plan was to fill the prisons with Rogues as the shifter army fought through the kingdoms. The Rogue army was still out there causing death and destruction every single day.
Now, I was standing on stage in our meeting hall, facing my entire pack. I gripped the wooden podium until my knuckles were white.
As soon as my eyes met Ella’s, my body instantly relaxed.
She was sitting in the back of the meeting hall with her mom-Aunt Mia was back at my compound watching Grayson since he was too young to hear what I was going to discuss at this meeting. I’d asked them to come to the pack meeting. Ella’s mom said that it was too dangerous for Ella and Grayson, but I assured her that my father and I talked to the Elders yesterday.
When I said this, Ella’s mom began to scream that I had no right to endanger her daughter and grandson by doing that. But Ella assured her mother that I’d asked her permission before I spoke with the Elders.
I told the Elders that my one condition of WaterLock being protected by the shifter army was that Ella and I-and by extension, Grayson-be granted a full pardon for breaking pack law six years ago. After I explained everything that happened, there was a tense moment where a few of the Elders were outraged, and one even suggested that Ella, Grayson, Ella’s parents, and I be exiled immediately. The Elder had always held unbending loyalty to pack law.
But most of the Elders were just grateful that our pack would now be protected from the Rogues. The majority of them spoke up in support of me and praised my work toward helping eliminate the Rogue army. My heart lifted when most of the Elders took pride in my role in helping create the shifter army.
The five of us were granted a full pardon.
Ella and Grayson were free to come back and live in Brindle Creek. When I told Ella the news, her eyes had filled with tears of joy.
The past two days had been filled with a whirlwind of activity, but I could deal with anything as long as my Mate and my son were safe.
My family.
Ella and I were still staring at each other from across the room. She looked beautiful in a checkered red and black flannel and jeans. Her long hair was in a high ponytail. There was also an angry pink line on the middle of her neck from the wound Noah had given her.
The bastard.
Everyone who had been injured on our side was able to be mended and discharged from the hospital that same day or the next morning. The two fatal casualties on our side were my two guards-Finn and Rachel. When I had time yesterday, I sat down with Finn’s wife to tell her the news and called Rachel’s family, who still lived in the Pryegate Kingdom. I told them that their loved ones were great warriors, but even greater people and I was here if they needed anything.
Now, it was time to tell my pack that I’d been keeping the shifter army a secret from them for a long time.
“Good afternoon, everyone,” I said into the microphone attached to the podium. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.” I cleared my throat and kept my eyes on Ella’s. The only way I’d be able to do this was if I kept looking at her.
She felt like home.
She and Grayson were my home.
“You’ve got this,” Ella mouthed to me.
A grateful smile crossed my face.
“As you all know, there was a pack lockdown two days ago, and you might have seen warriors patrolling the borders. These were not soldiers from King Ezekiel’s Royal Guard. These warriors are a part of a shifter army that I have helped create. They are going to travel around our kingdom-and the Pyregate and Whispborn Kingdoms-to fight the Rogue wolf armies. Which our former pack member-Noah-had been a part of until I killed him during battle.”
There were few gasps in the crowd.
“Why would we need a shifter army?” Mrs. Stone, who owned a small bakery in town, asked. “Aren’t we gaining protection from the Royal Guard because you are marrying the Alpha King’s daughter?”
Ella frowned at Mrs. Stone’s question.
“No,” I said firmly. “I am not marrying the Alpha King’s daughter. I know that my father told you I was. But I’m not. I apologize for the confusion.”
My dad shifted in his seat in the front row.
I wished that I could introduce Ella as my Mate and Grayson to our pack, but I knew that Ella and I needed to figure things out before I did that. The past few days had been so hectic that we hadn’t had time to talk about our relationship.
“Won’t backing out of a marriage deal affect WaterLock’s relationship with the Alpha King?” the Elder who had called for my family to be exiled yesterday asked.
“Yes,” I answered honestly. “It might. But, I believe that King Ezekiel is corrupt.” I paused. “No, not only do I believe he is. I can prove he is.”
For the first time, our meeting hall was completely silent.
“When I was developing my army, I found evidence that the Alpha King might be helping the Rogue wolves get into territories in exchange for money to fund his gambling problem,” I said and folded my hands on the podium.
“That’s ridiculous!” the same Elder from before cried, his ruddy cheeks growing even darker.
“Don’t just take my word for it,” I said. “I have four different testimonies of Rogue wolves confirming the same thing that I just alleged. Should I play one?”
I didn’t wait for a response, but instead, I played all four videos. With each video that played, the meeting hall became progressively more quiet.
“I also have obtained proof of King Ezekiel exchanging wired payments and emails with a few well-known Rogues,” I said. “With this proof-and the four Rogues testimonies-I believe that I have gathered enough evidence to get the Alpha King dethroned.”
For a long moment, my pack was silent, but then Mrs. Stone asked a question about the shifter army, and the tension in the room seemed to break.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?