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Madi’s eyes widened, understanding what I was telling her now. “And if she takes out Nyte, that removes anyone who could fight against this ancient vampire guy.”
I nodded. “We will need the entire pack and all the other packs still left to go up against them. They have an army of vampires.”
“They won’t follow a witch,” Chase said and sighed, shaking his head. “Even though we’re here and the pack followed, it was for the baby, not for you. They still won’t accept you as their Luna.”
“They have to, or none of this will work if they don’t trust Nyte and me to lead them. All the packs have to be united under Nyte. Otherwise, it will all be chaos, each looking to find who they should follow.”
“You’re certain of this?” a voice behind Chase asked; all but Nyte were jerking their heads in that direction.
Alpha Alexander stepped into the light; his eyes locked on me as his Beta stepped up behind him. My mouth hung open, uncertain whether I should answer him or not. He had never spoken to me. I had only seen him once when I arrived at the packhouse with Nyte when he forced a vote and had Nyte choose between me and the pack.
“Are you sure? There is no mistake in what you saw in your vision?” he asked again, walking past Chase and coming closer to Nyte and me.
Nyte didn’t turn towards his alpha, although he watched from the corner of his eye. The hairs along his arms were standing on end while his body coiled with energy ready to explode. I pressed my hand to his, looking back at the Coronado Alpha.
“Yes, I understand my vision completely. The fates gave me all the information needed to win this, but we need the packs. They must accept Nyte and me, even if it’s only for the night.”
“A pack can’t simply give themselves over to an Alpha for one night. If they all agree to follow him, he will be taking on the mantle of a Wolf King. There would be no turning back for either of you,” Alexander stated, looking back at beta Jose. “If you are certain that this is what the fates have chosen for us, I will help to turn the vote. The Oceanside Pack has no current Alpha now; the Coronado pack and all the under packs were expected to follow Nyte before he claimed you as his mate.” He turned to Nyte to say, “Your uncle will have no issue following you either. He has lived most of your life waiting for the day he will bow to you. Ever since it was revealed that you were a Werewolf King.”
I narrowed my eyes now, my grip on Nyte’s hand tightening to help control myself. “Are you telling me you could have turned the vote all along? That Nyte never had to choose between me and his pack?”
Alpha Alexander shrugged. “I could have, yes. However, I prefer allowing my pack to have some democracy. Call it the old patriot in me. Nevertheless, the safety of our kind supersedes allowing them their choices. Nyte can start by taking the Alpha position of the Oceanside Pack. Then we will turn over the others; we only need to find where the vampires are keeping the stolen packs.”
I looked at Nyte, watching the war in his eyes. He had always acted like he didn’t want to lead, as if he could care less if he was Alpha or not, but I could see the excitement of leading in his eyes. He wanted this more than he allowed himself to know. It was in his soul. A king needed a throne, and he was about to have his, although a side of him seemed to be holding back.
“I can help with that as well,” I told Alexander, keeping my gaze locked with Nyte’s. “Finding the packs, I mean. The witch has been hiding their scents, covering every trace of their coming and going, but I can find them. In my vision, I made a connection. I only need a pendulum and a map to show you their exact location.”
Nyte’s head tilted, his brows creasing. “A pendulum?”
I nodded. “Yeah, you know. A crystal hanging from a chain. My family has a few I can use; we just need to go by there.”
“No,” Nyte shook his head. “I know what it is. I have one back at the packhouse. Your father gave it to me. He said that your grandfather gave it to him to give to your mate…we would need it, but he never told your father what we would need it for.”
I let out a laugh, covering my mouth. Of course, the fates had this planned for years since before either Nyte or I was born, it would seem. My grandfather had been a powerful seer like me. It was rumored that he even knew about the mateship between Orion and Diana and he was a friend of the Crete witches before their fall all those years ago.
“You lead us to them, and I will make certain that you have the packs you need to go up against the vampires,” Alexander stated. “Now, Nyte needs to go and claim this pack as his, then we will bring them along to Point Loma. Meet me in my office; we will begin transferring the pack over as soon as you have the location of the missing packs.”
Alexander turned and left the room, and then Beta Jose, giving us all one last look before following the man he had dedicated his life to following—the man who would be handing over it all to Nyte and me in a matter of hours.
I looked at Nyte, bringing his hand back to my lips again. “I’m at your side,” I promised him, scooting to the edge of the bed. “We can do this together, or I can step aside to allow you to do this on your own; but no matter what, I’m with you.”
His hand tightened around mine, pulling me to stand with him. “They will have to accept you no matter what. You and I will claim the pack as ours together.”
Madi and Chase followed us down the stairs, Madi taking her place as our Beta within the pack. I could see on their faces they didn’t like being claimed by a witch Luna, but I no longer cared how they felt about me. That wasn’t what was important anymore. They had to accept us; their lives depended on it. The future of all werewolves depended on it.
There was a reason why Alpha Orion’s pack was untouched by the vampires. Their connection to powerful witches protected them. Their kinship with the coven within their city saved them from the touch of the dark magic of the witch working with the Ancient vampire. I was exactly what they needed.
“The fates always have a plan,” I said to myself. Madi smiled over at me as the Oceanside Pack approached, baring their necks to Nyte and me and pledging to follow us as their leaders.
“The Fates are tricky beasts, aren’t they,” Madi sighed. “I hate to see what they have in store for me.”
I smiled back at her, giving her a wink. “Hair of fire and eyes of the earth. That’s what they have in store for you.”
I turned back as Markus’s beta approached, his head bowed. He dropped to his knee, baring his neck to us. “I pledge myself to Alpha Nyte and his Luna, Paige. I promise to serve and protect you both, as the pack's future depends upon you.” He looked up at us, trails of tears evident on his face as he mourned his fallen Alpha.
A whisper echoed in my mind, telling me that there was something he needed to hear – a message that belonged to him through me. I stepped forward, Nyte growling at my movement but not moving to stop me. Thompson looked up at me, uncertain, daring not to move in any way. I bent toward him, tipping his chin with my finger and searching his eyes.
“You are a loyal man,” I said. “Even though you knew that something was wrong with Markus, you still followed him as only a Beta would. I respect that, and for that, I will offer you answers. You only have to survive this coming battle, and then I can tell you why Markus changed.”
