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Mickael is surprisingly compliant about meeting with me. But maybe, like me, he's realized he doesn't want the war, or one of the other factions has stepped in to intervene. OrmaybeMickael thinks he has some sort of negotiating power that will allow him to persuade me to give him what he wants without making him work for it. Or maybe this is a set-up, a trap so they can kill me off so my pack won't have their alpha to direct them.
It's an old and predictable battle strategy, but Mickael is an old and predictable man. So, I decide to take two of my best people with me just in case I run into any trouble and need backup. Gregory is my second in command, and a force to be reckoned with. He is loyal to a fault, and I trust him with my life. Renna is a good friend who is almost like a younger sister to me—a wild, feral younger sister whose bite actuallydoesmatch her bark. I would no sooner be on the opposing side with her than I would with Gregory. Both are devoted to me, and both are strong fighters. Both would lay down their lives for their alpha, and I would do the same for them. That makes my small traveling party mightier in strength than it is in size.
When we get to the vampire's club, I'm disappointed but not surprised to see Tala standing at the door.
Gregory makes a small snorting noise beside me, which indicates that he isn't surprised either.
"Betrayal doesn't suit you," Renna hisses at Tala.
Tala simply smirks in response and then stares at me with a jealous vehemence. But when she opens the door wider, I'm shocked to see that she's not the only wolf here; several other members of my pack have bitten into the apple of treachery.
"Snakes," Gregory growls when he sees the men and women who swore allegiance to our pack yet were so quick to turn on us. "Whatever power or spoils Tala promised you are nothing but empty lies."
"Maybe," one of the other wolves retorts. "But thevampireskeep their promises. Mickael is a more powerful leader than Lucian will ever be."
I can't help but chuckle at his insult. Powerful he may be, but Mickael is no leader. He is a self-serving, sniveling scoundrel who would throw his clan into oncoming traffic to save himself. Whatever he's offered these wolves so they'll align with him won't be enough. Mickael will use these wolves as cannon fodder, running them into the ground and using them to fight his battles for him while giving them only scraps from his table in return. It won't take them long before they realize and regret the foolish mistake they've made. And by then, it will be too late.
"I'm here to see Mickael," I say, not giving them the satisfaction of seeing how bothered I am by their disloyalty. Of course, they already know why I am here. I'm guessing Mickael made a point of ordering them to greet me at the door so I could see how many of my pack have betrayed me.
I follow Tala deeper into the club. Out of all the traitors here, she is the most vile.
"So, what, you decided that usurping my position as alpha was too hard?" I ask in a taunting voice that visibly grates against her nerves. "You knew any attempt to overthrow me won't work, didn't you? So you resorted bringing a small group of traitors from my pack here with you to gain some sort of power for yourself?"
"I decided to takecontrol," she says through gritted teeth. "Something that you have never been good at, Lucian. I decided to side with the vampires, make a secret alliance, and take wolves from our pack with me who are also fed up with your weak leadership."
"And what about the rest of the pack? Do the rest of them mean nothing to you?"
"Powermeans something to me," she answers with stout indifference. "And I don't have any space or respect for anyone without my ambitions. You are a poor excuse for an alpha. You could have decided to fight against the vampires long ago and gained more territory and control for your pack, but instead you tried to keep the peace and play diplomat. Howsadfor an alpha to be led by puny diplomatic decisions instead of the feral instincts we are meant to use."
"Then why instigate the fight in the alley next to the coven building if you were in league with the vampires this whole time? Was that just a rouse to throw everyone off the scent so they'd think you were still a loyal and obedient wolf?" I ask as I try to piece together the puzzle that Tala has created.
"Glad to see you still have the intelligence of an alpha, if not the following," Tala says with a smirk. "This has been going on right under your nose for much longer than you could possibly expect. You've just been too foolish to see it. You've been blinded by the expectation that your wolves would always remain loyal to you, but there are many who don't share in your same visions of peace. There are many who much prefer war if it means gaining power instead of hiding in the shadows to keep the peace."
"I'm not hiding in the shadows," I growl at her. "I'm protecting my pack. A war means damage and casualties. A true leader puts his people before himself. Just wait, you'll soon see—what you have condemned as weakness on my part has kept you and the others safe for years. You'll have yourstrong and selfishvampire clan leader, but you won't live very long under his reign."
Tala rolls her eyes at me and lets out a laugh, but there is a nervousness to it that indicates she might be questioning if I actually know what I'm talking about. But she's in too deep now to change.
"Ah,Lucian." Mickael grins widely as we step into the large, open room where he is sitting atop a highbacked stone chair that resembles a throne. He has no shortage of ego. "So glad that you accepted my invitation and decided to join us. Please, sit."
He motions to a much smaller chair on the side of the room, and I refuse to indulge his excessive pride.
"I prefer to stand."
"Suit yourself," he says with a shrug. He wastes no time getting right to his reason for calling me here. "I want you to call off the war."
"I'm not the one who called it," I remind him. "You are."
"Oh, yes I supposed that is true." He chuckles. "Well, in that case, let me be a bit more specific with my demands."
The fact that he thinks he is in a position to demand anything of me is a sign that he has something up his sleeve. Just as I expected.
"I want you to call off the war, step down as alpha, and hand control of your pack over to Tala. I'm sure you're aware by now that Tala has aligned herself with us, so with her as alpha, vampires will have free reign over werewolf territory. Which, as I'm sure you know, has always been a desire of mine."
I let out a burst of laughter, making it as obnoxiously loud as possible. I want Mickael to know how ridiculous I think his demands are.
"You're either insane or your arrogance has finally caused you to overestimate your reach," I scold. "There's not a chance in hell I'll step down and hand over my pack." I reach into my pocket, rooting around for the vial of potion Elspeth made for me.
I'm about to open it and douse him with it when he says, "I think now would be a good time to bring in ourleverage." Two vampires appear behind him, flanking a struggling body between them—Elspeth.
