Chapter 27

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It was unusual for Roma to find herself alone.

After Alex had walked out she assumed to meet his mate, Sebastian had disappeared on her, where he went she did not know but she was left alone in the house. Strange! It's been long since she had be left to her musings. Felt relaxing. She switched out the TV as the silence in the house was disconcerting and she relaxed on the sofa and rested her head on the edge and before she knew she dozed off.

She was floating in a haze and she thought someone was calling her from far off, the voice was coming from far off.

"Roma" someone was calling out.

The voice came closer.

"Roma"

"Roma" more closer.

And then suddenly she woke up with a start. And then she saw a face staring at her and she was startled.

She jerked back in shock and the guy jumped back in equal shock.

"Jesus!" she yelped as her brain finally woke up.

The guy backed off in a fucking hurry, he looked scared shitless. But she recalled his face, he was one of the Roma guards posted at her door.

"What?" she asked groggily, distracted she looked at the clock on the wall. She had dozed off for roughly twenty minutes, it seemed forever.

"We have a slight situation ma'am" the wolf said politely and a little unsure about himself.

"What is it?" she asked massaging her stiff neck.

"There is a David at the pack borders and is demanding he meet with you. He also has men with him" The guard answered.

"David? Who the hell is David?" She asked her mind drawing up blank.

"An enforcer ma'am" the guard responded.

And it clicked in her mind. David was the head of the enforcers from the world council, didn't Sebastian ditch him back in Canada? Yes he did! So this was one pissed off enforcer.

"What does he want?" She asked.

"Not sure ma'am, he demands to see you...he doesn't seem too happy" the guard added.

She was sure.

"Where is Sebastian?" She asked. Where was that rat bastard anyways, this was his mess to clean up!

"Not sure ma'am the guards could not locate him and the enforcer is getting antsy, we thought it is better to let you know" He added.

She contemplated for a moment.

"Ok, tell he enforcer he can meet me and he can get one of his guys along with him and the rest stay out of my borders. One foot in and you can take them out, am I clear?" She asked.

"Yes, ma'am" he responded crisply, he was a soldier and he was good at following instructions.

"While you are at it...can you find Sebastian, Alpha Nick and Alex? Wait on second thought, let Alex be, but find Sebastian and double the guards around the house." She said. She didn't want to disturb Alex he might be working it out with his mate and the guards were to make sure the enforcer behaved. She wanted Nick to be involved as these were his pack lands.

The guard gave her a crisp salute and disappeared leaving her again in her house. She looked around and looked down at herself. She was wearing a pajamas with little hearts on it and a t-shirt with a cute cat face on it. She contemplated changing for a moment and simply shrugged.

She got up a moment later and went to the fridge and she eyed a can of coke. Nothing like an aerated drink to fuzz up the brain. She picked it up and went back to the sofa and waited, sipping on her drink and waiting.

She didn't have to wait for long. She heard a car drive up to the house and stop and a moment later a frim knock on the door.

"It's open" she yelled out not bothering to get up.

The door opened and a guard walked in.

"The enforcers are here to see you ma'am" he said.

"Send them in" she told him.

He nodded and disappeared out of site and a moment later he came back with two men in tow.

"Gentlemen, welcome, please be seated" She waved in the general direction of the couches opposite to her sofa.

They had not barely sat down when there was another knock on the door and a moment later Alpha Nick strolled in.

"Roma" He greeted her.

"Alpha Nick" she acknowledged him back "Please have a seat, I am sure you know the enforcers." She said.

"I had the privilege of meeting David" Nick said, his tone had no inclination of that privilege.

David said nothing if he noticed the tone.

"Well" Roma started indifferently "Gentlemen, what can I do for you?" she asked the enforcers.

She felt better now that Nick was here and Sebastian should be joining in any moment.

David leaned forward in his seat and started "Roma. You are now the head of the world council and by that norm your safety and protection falls under my authority" he stated.

She cursed the day she went to the stupid world council and how the Russian bastard had conned her in to the council chair position, they still didn't know what his play was. He had come to her with some bullshit about securing his lineage future with Roma and Russia sharing borders but she couldn't be too sure. This was an absolute mess she could have totally lived without.

She rubbed her temples in annoyance "Listen, David right?" She stated "Your boss tried to have me killed, so you can understand if I am skeptical at this point. I don't trust the enforcers let me make that clear and besides I have my own security as you can see." She stated and before she could add further, she heard the door bang open and Sebastian stormed in.

"What is this?" he demanded looking at the room.

"This is enforcer David, he wants to take over my security" Roma told him "take a seat Sebastian, glad you could join us."

Sebastian's jaw tightened but he sat down on the soft next to Roma.

"We can take care of her" Sebastian added "No need to worry"

"Like you took care of her all this while?" David added "How many attacks on her life did she barely miss? Your track record on protecting your monarchs has been poor one" David added the low blow.

Sebastian seethed. His entire body going rigid.

She put her hand on his which was gripping the sofa in a death grip, trying to control himself not to launch at the smug bastard.

David backtracked "Sorry that was not fair. But please understand the enforcers are not your enemies, we could offer you and additional layer of protection. Would you want to turn that down? We can also play emissaries on behalf of the world council and help you achieve peace faster, isn't that want everyone wants?" He knew pissing contest would get him nowhere and he had a job to do and so he softened his stand.

He paused for his words to be absorbed "As enforcers and members of the world council we will act as your eyes and ears on the ground and we could look at threats that you potentially miss" He reasoned.

"Why would you do that?" Roma asked straight out. How could she shift loyalty overnight?

"Roma I will be honest, my loyalty is only to the chair of the council that too with limitations. I understand your skepticism but despite what Lockbourne did to you enforces was never involved in any incidents. Enforcers would never take sides and would never to anything illegal they are to protect the interest of the council and the chair of the council could use the enforcers for that purpose alone." He added.

Everyone remained silent.

Roma slowly added "all right" she said and added "But, trust is to be earned, so we will do this slowly and we will do this my way, is that clear?" she added.

"I understand" David added. She was giving in, that was all mattered.

"Sometimes I am chair of council and sometimes I am Queen of Roma and there will be times when these too roles conflict and in such situations I want enforcers to remain neutral and not interfere" She stated further.

David contemplated.

"If you take sides then I cannot function like two different entities like you guys want. I did not want this damn job, it was thrust on to me so I am going to make the best of it and I expect you to do as well." She stressed.

David nodded, giving in.

"Good, there will be times I will ask you to back off, there will be locations you will not be allowed to come with me. There will be meetings in which I will want privacy and you will respect them." She added.

"But, if a situation could be dangerous..."David started to add.

"Advise me and let me make a call..." She told him.

He nodded for now.

"Now about security, your enforcers can be around but my team guards me, you can add inputs to the security detail but my team decides how the setup is going to be, the details you can hash it out with Sebastian here" She said.

"Ok" David agreed.

"Good, now since you are here I have one more task for you that I believe falls under your perview" Roma told him.

He looked at her curious.

"The American wolves. They might want retribution and might get adventourous, I want you to get the American council to a meeting table here, they safety will be guarentted but I don't want any further bloodshead, as head of the world council I want peace restored. Sounds reasonable?" She asked.

"Yes ma'am" David answered.

"Good, I recommend you get on this task immediately. Also you should know that Lockbourne's granddaughter is mated to one of my men and we expect her pack to comply with the change in guard. Communicate this to the American wolves would you?" She stated as a matter of fact.

Davids eyes widened but he kept quite. She was sending him in to the lions den with an C4 explosive.

She smiled dismissing the enforcers "Give us a moment here and Sebastian will join you shortly for ironing out the minor details.

"Thanks Roma" David and his minion got up and exited.

Nick, Sebastian and Roma sat in silence for a moment processing the events of the day.

Sebastian looked at her with an unknown emotion.

"What?" she asked self-conscious.

"Day by day, you sound like the old Roma" He said with a ghost smile.

She just gave him an awkward smile "good then you will listen to me when I say David is your baby"

He groaned as if in pain.

"You toyed with him back in Canada and had your fun, now it's time to suck it up."

"Alpha Nick" She said looking at him "We might need to accommodate a few enforcers here"

"Do you think it's wise?" Nick asked skeptically.

"Yes" She told him "They could act as deterrent against attacks and besides if they turn out to be our enemies we follow the old age saying to keep our enemies closer. We keep them close but I never said anything about trusting them." She said looking between Sebastian and Nick.

"You want us to keep an eye on them?" Nick asked.

"Yes, your pack can do that, my Roma wolves would be too conspicuous and would arouse suspicion another think whatever we do we need to do it carefully and secretly and under their noses. It's going to be difficult but a necessary precaution." She added.

"How ready are we if we get attacked?" She asked looking at them again.

"This pack is a fortress Roma" Sebastian added "Nothing gets past us and we have electronic and sensor surveillance at least sixty miles in all directions. We are also planning to use drones to extend the surveillance at least to hundred miles out. We are planning to fly out at least another three hundred Roma wolves in the coming weeks. We will be moving our weapons stash from Loveland in to the pack, I will have trucks ferry them in to the pack in the night where we will have minimal prying eyes." Sebastian added.

"The enforcers might notice" Nick cautioned.

"All they will see is boxes and we will say its security equipment. We will use the houses we commandeered as storage and enforcers will not go anywhere near them." Sebastian assured.

"Are the wolves combat ready?" she asked.

"Our guys are and we have been training Nicks pack in using modern weaponry and work with us in groups. We have also extended out to the rest of the Colorado wolves in training them in war tactics but we can't give those weapons out in case they fall in to the wrong hands." Sebastian explained "Besides we asked them to run if they face major odds, no point in lives going in vain. They live to fight another day."

"I hope it doesn't come down to war" She said hope in her voice "But it does not hurt us to be ready."

"Good, thank you gentlemen" she said dismissing them.

Nick nodded and walked out and Sebastian hovered around.

"What?" she asked him, knowing he wanted to say something.

"It's about Alex" he said "He went to meet his mate but apparently she slammed the door on his face so he bolted, I was with him.

Roma sighed and asked "She kicked him out of the house and didn't talk to him?" she asked worried.

"No...I mean he was walking to the house and she came out and then ran inside most likely" Sebastian said, not sure about it himself.

"We need to get those two to talk!" Roma said frustrated "Get Alex to dinner tonight I will ensure Serena is there as well." Roma said an idea forming in her head.

"Do you think it's a good idea" Sebastian asked.

"We will find out, wont we?" she said tiredly.

Sebastian nodded and walked out of the house leaving her in her thoughts.

***

Alex had stumbled in to the house sometime in the afternoon and holed himself up in the room. Roma and Sebastian let him be and hatched their plan and also discussed the readiness of their men and Nick's pack further, Sebastian had outlined in detail the logistics and support requirement. She did not get it to the details but she knew enough to know that a company they owned in the USA, American Avionics was supplying them with weaponry which would give them advantage over the numbers American wolves had.

At dinner time Sebastian went up to Alex's room and dragged the reluctant wolf to the dining table. Roma was already waiting.

"Aren't we a cheerful bunch" she said as Alex unenthusiastically sat at the table.

No response from him.

"We are having a guest over" Roma said cheerfully.

No response from him, he stared at the white plate on the table like it was the most interesting thing on the whole planet.

As if on que, there was a knock on the door and Sebastian leapt to the door "let me get that he told"

A moment later Alex froze. She stopped breathing and his eyes turned wide, he looked questioningly at Roma and then he whipped his head to the entrance where he saw Sebastian and Serena trailing meekly behind him.

The moment Serena entered the kitchen she froze as well, she had known he was there before she saw him. Their eyes met for a moment and both of them looked away.

"Come on" Sebastian nudged her to the table and she sat next to Roma facing Alex and Sebastian sat next to Alex facing Roma.

"Shall we eat?" Roma.

Alex looked at her ridiculously, the last thing he wanted to was eat and it looked like the girl would have preferred to be anywhere but here.

"Here" she said passing around the bowl and soon the only should was the scraping of fork and knife on the plates.

"So Sebastian" Roma broke the silence "Where are we on the Lockbourne pack?" she asked

Serena froze, her muscles tightened but she refused to look up and look at her or any of them. She simply stared at her plate and Alex glared at her.

Unfazed at the glare Alex was throwing at them Sebastian answered "We sent David out as our errand boy, the pack will know tomorrow that Serena lives and that she has a mate...beyond which I am not sure which direction this would go." Sebastian added.

"Will the pack accept her and her new status?" Roma asked.

"Depends" Sebastian said "On how loyal they are to the Lockbourne blood. Best case scenario they accept but are extremely unhappy. Worst case scenario they get rid of her and her mate and internal struggle decides who the new alpha will be."

"Who is in charge of the pack?" She asked.

"The beta" Sebastian informed.

"And what do we know about him?" she asked.

"Was Loyal to the old alpha will be continue to be loyal? I don't know." He informed.

"What do you think Serena, do you think the beta is a threat?" she asked Serena.

Serena recoiled as she was suddenly pulled in to the conversation.

"Um..ah..."she stumbled gathering her wits and unnerved at three intense stares at her.

"He was loyal to my grandfather the rest I don't know" she mumbled.

"So you clearly can't go back and they will demand you to be sent back and the only thing that can stop you from going back is if you have a mate and have accepted him." Roma added.

"It looks like you both have twenty four hours to figure it out. I am sorry you don't have a lot of time but the world does not work on our timetable." Roma said looking at Alex and Serena. Who were busy staring at their respective plates.

"So here is your chance...to talk it out, me and Sebastian are staying in the pack house tonight." Roma informed. Leaving the house empty for the new mates.

"I don't expect you to kiss and make up but I hope we will have some progress" Roma added and got up.

"Shall we, Sebastian?" She said getting up and Sebastian joined her.

"Good night, people" Roma whispered and started to walk out with Sebastian and she suddenly stopped at the end of the room and turned around.

"Oh and if you do decide to kiss and make up, the guest bedroom has condoms in the draw next to the bed" she said.

Serena turned red and shrank in to herself while Alex glared at her outrageously.

"What, you don't think I will extract payback for all the grief you gave me and Max?" Roma winked at Alex and before he could react she disappeared. A moment later they heard the door close.

They were utterly alone.

Well shit! What should he do now? Alex wondered.

For the first time in his life Alex felt utterly clueless.