Chapter 16

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"It's begun" Sebastian declared to Alex and Roma after disconnecting his call and came and sat down in the couch as both Alex and Roma looked at him to elaborate his cryptic statement.

"Lockbourne declared an emergency session of the world council" he said and added "You are obligated to attend" He said looking at Roma.

She gave him a curt not of acknowledgement "When and where?" she asked.

"Thursday, twelve in the morning, the council is in Ontario, Canada" He informed. The council meetings happened usually at midnight or early in the morning, safe from human eyes, less attention that way.

"Ok, how do we do this?" She asked looking between Alex and Sebastian.

"Do we even do this?" Alex asked both of them "I mean, we know what's going to happen at the council, what if Lockbourne and his lackeys aka David want to take her in to custody or some shit like that?" he asked.

"I don't think it's possible, they can't simply take an council member in to custody...it sets bad precedence, what they do today can be done to them sometime later...so I am guessing that would not do that...at least not in the council...She is safe at the council." Sebastian countered. They would not be that suicidal.

"Ok" Alex conceded "But you know that Lockbourne has a strong case against us and he might coerce us in to a corner...might coerce her in to a corner...Lockbourne is a sly one and maneuvering the council can be tricky for the best of us" Alex said looking at Sebastian. What he was really saying that Evelyn might not be politically savvy to navigate the council politics.

"Our absence will weaken our case and I think Roma is more than capable of handling the council members" Sebastian said giving a side glance to her.

She kept quite in all this conversation.

"What if they try to take her out?" Alex asked worried.

"They won't, same argument applies. Sets a bad precedence and would turn the entire thing on to Lockbourne's head, he might be an idiot but by any stretch of imagination he is no fool" Sebastian said with unwavering confidence.

"So we go?" Alex asked.

"Yes we go" Sebastian confirmed.

"It will be me and Sebastian" Roma added breaking her silence.

"What?" Alex asked confused.

"Sebastian and I will go to Ontario, I need you to stay back" Roma said.

"What? Why?" Alex asked confused.

"With all eyes on the council no one would expect and attack...I think it will be the perfect time to take out Lockbourne's family." Roma told Alex.

"You mean..." Alex trailed just to confirm if she was serious about her plan.

"Yes Alex...we need to take out Serine Lockbourne and it needs to be during the time the council is in session." She added.

"Why?" he asked her.

"Because, that will unnerve Lockbourne and will force him to do something rash in front of the council members...something he cannot undo...we need to bring Lockbourne down" she explained her thoughts.

"Rash like what?" Alex wondered.

"Like attack her in a fit of rage" Sebastian added, he figured out what Roma was going with this. She was not interested in a prolonged war, she planned to take Lockbourne out for good in the council meeting. He could not help but be at awe of her plan.

"Yes, something like that" Roma added.

"And within the council her safety is assured" Sebastian added. It was brilliant.

"So, we need her gone at the precise time or at least have her in our custody...so will you do it Alex? Or do you want Sebastian to do it?" she asked him looking straight in to his eyes.

Alex was torn...a wave of conflicting emotions ran through him, she knew how he felt about her plan on taking out Serena Lockbourne and so maybe she was giving him an out by offering him a choice. But if he refused now could she ever trust him again to do what she wanted? Could he afford to second guess her every step of the way? Could she afford to have him second guessing her every time? That would create problems and eventually could be exploited. No, they need to be unwavering in their cause.

He took a deep breath and looked back at her determined "I will do it"

"Thanks Alex" She whispered out to him and he just nodded.

"So that's settled then" Sebastian said "Alex will plan an infiltration in to California to take out Serena at the precise time of the council meeting." Sebastian summarized and looked at Alex and added "You need to prepare on war footing, take a small tactical team armed to the team, quick entry do the deed and fast exit before they can mobilize a larger response.

"Got it" Alex said "I will draw up a plan in a few hours and we will go over it Sebastian" and then he looked at Roma "and once I and Sebastian agree on the plan we can go through it" He told her.

"Ok" she agreed and added "Sebastian, let's make preparation, I need your help on prepping me up with the council, we don't have enough time. And also I want you to go through the plan about cutting funds to the council, I want this to be done as late as possible on Thursday so that the council gets to know it but only in the last moment."

"Can do, banks close by eight PM and we can send in a message thirty minutes before closure, that would be enough to cause panic." He said.

"Good, want whatever agenda Lockbourne prepared to go up in smoke and then we hijack their agenda and make it ours...and for that we need to have a sold plan"

"You got it Roma" Sebastian said.

"What about moving Max?" Roma asked, for the first time in the conversation her voice held worry.

"I spoke to Adrian Roma" Alex said "We can move him to alpha Ryan's pack, he is loyal as they come and has helped us in the recent purge of alphas." Alex said.

"Can we move him soon?" She asked.

"Yes sure it can be done...but is there a specific reason for hurrying?" Alex asked.

"If we take out Serena Lockbourne they might retaliate at trying to take out Max, can we move him before the council meeting?" she asked.

"Will be done, will get on a call with Adrian and get things moving" Alex assured.

"What about his security?" She asked "how do we ensure he is adequately protected?" if there was a traitor he could be anyone.

"We use new units we have never used at the palace before. Fresh out of Roma academy, the usual units protecting Max will continue to be at the Palace and only the top leadership will know that Max has been moved." Alex stated.

"How reliant are the top leadership?" Roma asked. She was not taking any chances when it came to Max.

"It is unlikely the top leadership is the leak Roma. But just in case we assume one of them is, we will deploy enough units in alpha Ryan's lands to repel any attack. These units will be Roma's elite military forces. Either ways if there is an attack on Max's location we will know it was the top leadership and we can flush out the rat" Sebastian added.

"Are you sure we can safely repel an attack?" She asked.

"Yes Roma" Alex said "nothing short of an army can take us out"

"Then get it done. Thanks Alex I am counting on you and Adrian to keep Max safe" She added.

"Consider it done, Roma" Alex assured her with unwavering confidence at the same time realizing the responsibility on his and Adrian's shoulders.

"Alex, can you meet with our group commander here? You need to form a team to work out a plan on infiltrating California."

Alex nodded and got up and walked out of the house.

Sebastian and Roma sat in silence for a few minutes each in their own thoughts, assimilating the information they just discussed.

"Did you notice it, he started calling you Roma" Sebastian said breaking the silence between them, he was referring to Alex who always referred to her as Evy but not by her title and now he was referring to her by her title without any effort on his part.

"That's the least of my worries Sebastian" she said but nevertheless her wolf was pleased.

"True but that proves that you are becoming a true leader" He added.

"Yes, let me get out of this mess alive and then we can talk about leadership and all" she said leaning her head back on her sofa and closing her eyes.

"Sebastian, how do you see this playing out...the council meeting?" she asked her eyes still closed.

"Lockbourne is going to come at us, that's for sure" Sebastian said and after a moment he added thoughtfully "Roma...if Lockbourne attacks you in the council chambers in a fit of rage, I need you to be able to defend yourself...there might be a chance everyone else might be too shocked to move or perhaps unwilling to..." It would be a poor idea to hope someone would come to the rescue.

"What do you have in mind?" she asked him.

"I will give you a gun, with some specially modified bullets...I need you to keep it on you...just in case" He told her.

"A gun? Can it stop him?" She asked him.

"This gun can" he told her "The bullets are specially modified keeping werewolves in mind, with a right shot you can kill him."

She just rubbed her temple in deep thought.

"Won't they check us?" she asked him.

"You? No." he told her. Werewolves had egos and the higher in the hierarchy the fragile one's ego. Nobody would be patting her down or checking her for weapons...she was the most powerful werewolf in theory.

She thought about it for a moment "Ok" she conceded.

"Good" he told her.

"Just in case I don't make it Sebastian...I need you to promise me to take care of Max, tell him that I lov..."

Sebastian cut her off with a furious response "Tell him yourself!" he spat "Do you think he will live in this condition without his mate?! Do you think he would make it...no Roma, if you go down the whole Roma family crumbles around you and with that the Roma Empire would be thrown in to utter chaos...do you want that?" He admonished her.

"If it comes to that...you can take up the mantle...you have the blood" she told him hesitantly. She was one of the very few people who knew his origins. Knew why Maxim Roma went to great lengths to find him and pull him out of the shit hole he was living in.

He gritted his teeth in absolute fury "Never...never I want that to happen...I promised my mother that I will keep her family intact and I will die before anything befalls it" he said, he was referring to the previous Roma as his mother, he had always considered her as his mother.

"You are a part of that family as well...when she asked you to protect her family, she was including you as well." Roma added.

"I know" Sebastian said. He had no doubt that that woman loved him as much as she loved Max.

"So we better ensure we don't fail on Thursday" Roma said.

"Yes Roma" Sebastian added "Failure is not an option"

"Good, then let's begin" Roma added sitting upright with renewed vigor.

"What?" Sebastian added.

"Planning Sebastian" She added. She could not walk in to the council without an plan. A plan that would ensure the outcome they needed.

"Let's plan the downfall of Gordon Lockbourne."