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“Your intuitive response is pretty flawless, Willow,” Milo praised, looking far too intrigued. “That has to be another Alpha trait of yours.”
“Huh?” I looked over at him while my hand was still gripping Dimitris’s neck. “It is?”
“From what I’ve learned, it is,” Milo replied. “Don’t you agree, Alpha?”
Scowling, Dimitris had returned with vengeance, and the look made me cringe before I let go of his neck and nervously laughed.
Then hid behind Jayce who still had his gun out.
“Jayce. Cover me!” I urged.
“I can’t protect you from Dimitris’s wrath.” Jayce laughed but lowered his gun. “I could slow him down, but you know he’s faster than me.”
“Boo,” I huffed. “Just burn him or something.”
“I’m right here, you know,” Dimitris pointed out the obvious but gave up on arguing as he returned to the question. “When Arthur kidnaped Willow at the club, I was threatened by a secret organization that basically wanted me to step down as Alpha.”
Now that was fucking new.
That got our attention as he slowly slipped his hands into the pockets of his black joggers as if to hide from our reaction to what he was revealing.
“I’d sent Neo and Jayce to aid the others in locating Willow, which seemed to be the perfect opportunity for a representative of that organization to pay me a brief visit.”
“He came to your office?” Jayce sounded appalled with a dose of anger. “How did he breach security?”
“Was he fae?” Milo inquired. “That’s the only race I can think of that can get through Jayce’s security system. But it’s still a pretty bold move.”
“Why didn’t you tell us until now?” I asked with seriousness because I hated being left out of something so vitally important. I was his Beta after all. I deserved to know about these things before the rest of our pack.
I was sure he sensed my hurt regarding the situation which was why he answered my question first.
“You got kidnapped on a night that should have revolved around celebrating all you’d accomplished and would achieve by the end of the year. It shouldn’t have led to you being taken. You shouldn’t have died or been thrown into more chaos at Saint’s expense. You’re finally resting and attempting to recover from saving your kidnapper from the Vile Queen’s clutches and experiencing the invitation of two new packmates, which affects the Beta as it does the Alpha. Let’s acknowledge how our house is fucking surrounded by these fiends who dare to walk upon our property that I pulled a lot of strings to claim, and now I’m supposed to dump the news on you that some unknown organization not only threatened me if I didn’t step down as Alpha but was going to kill every single one of you with the press of a button if I refused?”
The summary was already overwhelming, and I could feel the heaviness of Dimitris’s emotions as he once again reminded me why he was indeed Alpha of this pack.
“What kind of Alpha would I be to do that? Just because you show that you’re moving forward doesn’t mean the trauma that happened to you in the last twenty-four hours isn’t going to finally hit you and leave you feeling numb, Beta De Luca,” he sternly emphasized. “As Alpha, I have to ensure your mental well-being is as secured and in a state of peace as your physical, emotional, and spiritual states. Yes, you’re my Beta and you deserve to know about certain things, but it’s all about timing, and this wasn’t the time I would have approved of to reveal such prime information. However, I don’t wish for you or the others to believe I’m suddenly switching sides and abandoning my pack after Klaus’s brief arrival and introduction.”
I really couldn’t argue with his words. I felt a bit like a bitch for emotionally reacting first instead of analyzing the information given to us and thinking through the possibilities as to why he hadn’t yet disclosed it to me.
This was simply another prime example of what I had to work on in order to be a proper Alpha of our pack.
There’s so much I still have to learn.
“In terms of the shifter race of the man who tried to blackmail me, I have no clue. He had to have either used some sort of magic spell or eaten a specific fruit that hid his shifter traits and magic perfectly. Either way, my first hope was to reach out to the royal family for their assistance, but I’d need to physically be present which wasn’t luxury I had in this case,” he elaborated. “That left me with two options. Take a risk and hope the fucker was simply bluffing, or use my other resources that don’t need me to be present to request immediate assistance.”
“So, was the guy bluffing?” Milo decided to ask.
“He was not.” Dimitris’s voice was emotionless now, and I could only imagine what was running through his head. “He did have all our locations. Every single one of you. He had a device that showed what you were doing at that moment. None of you would’ve noticed being tracked or targeted when all our focus was on finding Willow. The timing was absolutely perfect for them, meaning they had to know what the Vatican was up to in order to jump on the wagon with a counterattack.”
“What do they get from you stepping down as Alpha?” Jayce questioned. “How would that benefit them?”
“If I stepped down, my Alpha rank would have automatically gone to Willow,” he reminded us. “Willow was unconscious and being taken to the Vile Queen. Whether their intention was to get Willow killed anyway or for her to fall into the Vile Queen’s clutches, the result would be the rest of the pack feeling Willow’s demise. If Willow died, every single one of you would have felt it far more intensely than anything you’ve ever experienced. If she did survive, she’d be a prisoner to a villain we know enjoys torturing shifters in odd ways. She’d ensure Willow not only suffered, but that her connection to all of us would lead us down a path of insanity.”
“They wanted the rest of the pack to go crazy,” I muttered under my breath.
“It would most likely happen to all of us if that were the case. Endangered wolves are unpredictable but we’re also very dependent on our leadership and connections. The Vile Queen knows just how deeply connected you are with each of us in the Forbidden Pack. Don’t you think she’d eventually attempt to use you against us?” Dimitris pointed out. “It may have been a different enemy hired by the Vile Queen as a backup plan, but I have a strong hunch it was her rebound shot to ensure we all suffered from Willow’s potential fate. And it wouldn’t matter if it was death or captivity.”
None of us could say anything as the lull of silence hummed through the room.
