Filed to story: Mated to the Alpha and His Beta Novel Free >>???
That’s what he’d told me back when I was the one who was just learning that vampires were real. It looked like he was taking more than orders from my grandfather now. My skin didn’t just pr ickle. It crawled as I remembered Braden’s mouth on mine And now he was with my grandpa? Yeah, Malachi looked young, but..
“The High Council’s official stanca is that vamnites working tanather enhacivalu-”
“Like we’re a monolith,” Malachi spat out. “Like we aren’t individuals capable of our own choices!”
Braden gave another heavy sigh and continued.
“According to the Council, vampires have been able to infiltrate every wolf pack, mating with wolves to create hybrids who could subjugate wolves via mind control.”
“We can compel, yes, but something like this on a diabolical, wide scale….” Malachi hissed, showing his fangs.
*Clearly, you’re affronted,” Mason said coldly. “But could you let Braden f ucking finish?”
Malachi sat back.
“Hybrids carrying vampire blood are loyal to vampires, according to the High Council, Braden said.
“That makes no sense whatsoever,” Zane replied.
Mason shook his head. “Why would hybrids be loyal to any one bloodline over the other? Especially if they were raised without knowing they were hybrids?”
“Why would anyone with wolf blood be loyal to vampires, hybrid or not?” Xander snarled.
“Obviously, because we are superior,” Malachi shot back at him.
I stood up and slammed my palms onto the table, making them all look at me. “Shut up, all of you. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m the one they called out.
I’m the one they accused. So stop with all the d ick swinging and let Braden finish!”
My shout came out along with a burst of Luna power I could see my own glow and feeling throbbing and pulsing in the air all around me. It even seemed to affect Malachi and Braden. Both twitched backward.
Breathing hard, I composed myself and retook my seat.
Braden waited a few seconds before giving me a nod that was as good as applause.
“However they spun it, people are all-in about it,” he said. “Fear mo ngering works. The packs are scared and restless. It was no secret Orion was killed and you four went missing. Without any solid proof to the contrary, they’ve managed to convince everyone that Lanie was able to get Xander, Zane, and Mason under her complete mind control. Orion figured out what was going on and bravely confronted her, and she had her mates kill him.”
Tuck Mason said. “They’re painting Orion as a martyr”
“And there is no better way to get people to rally together than behind martyr,” Charlotte said. “They’ve essentially made all four of you into targets. You wont be able to go anywhere without someone trying to haul you back to the High Council Braden gave up head a gran shake ‘Or worse take you out themselves”
Xander–
They were all tossing around my father’s name like it meant nothing. My fingers curled into fists, my wolf claws coming out just enough to scrape the palms of my hands. Not enough to draw blood. Just enough for Hunter to let me know he was there.
My father had been an as shole, yes. But he was still my dad. I felt Zane reaching through the mind link, offering support.
Not pity. I wouldn’t have stood for it.
But out of all the people in this room, he was the only other one who’d known my father almost as well as I had.
Or hadn’t, I reminded myself. Considering the s hit my father had pulled. It didn’t matter, though. Blood was blood. I didn’t have to forgive him for what he’d done, but couldn’t let myself forget we shared the same blood.
“People are scared. They haven’t started turning on one another yet, but they could, if the Council doesn’t watch itself,” Braden said.
Zane nodded. “Right. You can’t put out the idea that hidden hybrids have infiltrated the entire community without people starting to get suspicious of each other.”
“So far, though, they’ve managed to get everyone worked up to unite against vampires rather than being upset with the High Council for keeping secrets.
They’re all victims together, Braden said.
Lanie shook her head firmly. “There were guards there when Malachi killed Orion. Witnesses. They know the truth!”
“The guards are all dead. Anyone wolf-shifter other than you all who was there who could tell the truth has been eliminated.”
Braden sounded grim.
My lip curled. “Let me guess. They were hybrid vamp sympathizer mind controllers?”
“Something like that,” Braden agreed. “All very clever All very pointed “All very selfish, Lanie said with a hitch in her breath Her eyes were fleshing over and over as her wolf rose to the surface Her cheeks were flushed, too.
Charlotte reached for a small bell in the center of the table between her and Malachi She rang it lightly and some staff and to take away our plates A few more brought in a coffee cart with steaming mugs they i poured out for everyone didnt really want coffee but they werent offering whiskey, so i took one Something scoured to me Has at room t Malachi looked around. “Technically, it’s a library.
But, yes. You wolves would consider it a war room.
Does that offer you comfort?”
“If we are going back to war, maybe.”
To my surprise, the old vampire and I shared a smile Mason was looking concerned. “So now the High Council gets to rally their army to fight for them, and when the word gets out about that hybrid testing facility-and it will-all the packs will be fine with it because they’ll have been told hybrids are vampire monsters who were sent to destroy them.”
“That’s f ucked up,” Zane said.
Lanie gave the table a soft slap. “It’s wrong. Our babies were in that awful place. Other peoples’ babies are probably still in there. They’re not monsters. I’m not… I’m…”
Mason got to her before I could. He enfolded her in his arms and pressed her to his chest. His gaze met mine over the top of her head.
‘She’s suffering. Are we really going to stay here? Can we trust these vampires? Who’s to say Braden isn’t full of sh it?” he thought privately to me.
“I felt at home here as soon as we arrived. I can’t say exactly why. But, yeah. I guess I do trust them.
Malachi’s her grandfather, and he’s already shown he’ll be there for her. We’re her mates, which means he’ll do the same for us.”
“I knew Gustav was a complete di ck,” I said aloud. “I just didn’t think that all of them would be such a pack of utter pr icks.”
Malachi chuckled lightly. “You know they only did this because your merry little quartet has pushed their noses against the wall.
They have no idea whatsoever where you all got off to or where you could possibly be. A Luna with two Alpha mates, plus a Beta. A former Luna, the widow of the martyr, and three small children. They’re pulling out their fur about it, I guarantee.”
“They even sent people to comb through Stillwood,”
Braden added. “Couldn’t find a single hair. You have good friends there. You’re very lucky, Lanie, to be so loved”
There was a strange tilt to his voice when he said that.
I didn’t like the way he was looking at my mate. I knew she and Braden had dallied. Nothing serious:
And I couldn’t blame him for wanting her, of course Still, I didn’t like that weird little ring in his tone Larue lifted her face from Mason’s chest The glow in her eyes had faded. “So we can stay here and just live our lives for a bit 972
pter 32
Lanie–
“For now.” I repeated Charlotte’s words in a slightly dull voice. “But not forever?”
“Even Brightsky cannot keep you in its embrace forever, granddaughter. Malachi sounded a little sad.
“No sanctuary is eternal.”
“Is that a threat? Mason said sharply.
“It is simply the truth of things. You cannot hide forever. Even behind the sanctity of these walls, we acknowledge that there is a great, grand world beyond them. It’s no life for you and your children to be locked away for your whole lives, is it?” Malachi tutted, shaking his head.
“Others do it,” Melina said gently. It was the first time I’d heard her speak since we got into the room. She lifted her mug and took a delicate sip.
Malachi narrowed his eyes at her. “Others who are not my granddaughter.”
“Eventually, the truth is always discovered,” said Jacques, Melina’s husband. “It’s not feasible to think that nobody would ever figure out you’re here. You’d be putting Brightsky, and everyone here, at risk.”
“It is also not feasible,” Malachi said sharply, “to think that none of you would ever desire to go out somewhere and get found out.
That is not the life I want for you, any of you. But for now, yes. Enjoy your time here in Brightsky. Rest. Rejuvenate. Replenish.”
“Get ready,” Xander muttered.
“That too,” Malachi agreed.
Braden made a noise low in his throat. “There’s nothing you all really can do until we get more information, anyway. The High Council is acting fast and striking hard, but they’re still scrambling. They might screw up.”
“We have no ‘High Council’ here, but those of us with more years here do our best to make sure we keep everything running as smoothly as we can.”
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?