Ezra POV

"The Councilman has arrived." Says Savannah, a glare on her full tan face. I'm sure her expression mirrors my own, because I am not looking forward to a chat with the one and only Councilman Cole.

The Guard wants more involvement in the case of the Red Alpha, more information. Apparently they claimed they need to have a face to face interview versus small conversations over the phone.

When we got the message that they're planning on barging in, Veiler was anything but happy. One of the many things I've learned from the guy is that he doesn't like outsiders coming to his pack. Not to mention his hatred for the Council, but that's a whole other story.

He likes being secluded deep in the woods. Our Alpha doesn't want any more people knowing our location, and that's why the Councilman is being picked up and brought here by Veiler himself, and while blindfolded of course.

Once Savannah relays the information I'm up and out of my chair and heading for the front porch. I run a tired hand over my face as I take a deep, settling breath of the cold mountain air. This place reminds me daily of the place I was raised.

It's been months since we arrived, months since my mating ceremony. It's almost the end of May, but the weather is still cold. That's the North for you. Everywhere else is already bright with Spring, but not here. There's still snow everywhere.

The past few months have been the best of my life. I never thought I could be as happy as I am now. The same could go for our fourth in command, though he doesn't seem that way at the moment.

Ryk stands as still as granite in front of the small cabin, his robust pale arms crossed. He wears an ultra big scowl trying to hide his anxiety that's burning underneath the surface.

I'm no idiot, the guy is nervous.

And who wouldn't be? He's committed countless crimes at the demands of the notorious Red Alpha, that's definitely enough to put you in a perilous situation.

Everyone knows of Ryk's attitude change once he met Tressandra. She's all he can think about, and he's terrified that the Guard will drag him away from his mate. I understand his hesitation, I feel it for him just knowing the Councilman and his harsh attitude.

The dark suburban rolls up along the snow, glinting in the morning sun. The door to the vehicle slams as Cedric Veiler clambers our and strides to the back door and pulls out a disheveled Councilman.

His red hair is a mess, the blindfold long enough to hide his mustache.

Once he's front and center, Veiler tears the scrap of fabric away with a little more force than necessary. The lycan stumbles to the side, his green eyes narrowing through the rays of sunlight. His hand goes up to shield himself to the change.

When our gazes clash I know this will be an interesting day.

"Here we are, you bastard, ready for our meeting?" Savannah calls from behind me, her voice lilting heavily with venom, though when was she not streaked with enough fire to melt the snow around her?

"I would show some respect to your superiors." Cole seethes, but one glare from Veiler shuts him up quick. He has the nerve to gulp and take a leaping step back.

Even the bravest of us have some sense of self preservation.

"Let's get to it, shall we?" I ask, raising my eyebrows at the Councilman as he makes his way carefully up the icy stairs. He wears a suit and tie, not quite dressed for the occasion. Our group wears the usual casual clothing. Jeans, flannels, big boots.

We're in Montana for Goddess' sake. It's 20° fahrenheit.

"He's joined your pack? Him?" The Councilman's whole face scrunches up when he catches sight of Ryk standing there.

"Yes, him. We'll talk more on it inside if you don't mind." Veiler explains, opening the creaky front door. "My pack is asleep and we wouldn't want to bother them, would we Cole?"

"No, sir. No, certainty not." The Councilman scrambles for words and it's a pathetic thing to have to watch. He knows who's in charge here.

"After you." Replies Veiler, staring down at Councilman Cole with something akin to disgust and impatience.

Cole steps around him and staggers into the cabin, Savannah and Ryk follow behind and I reluctantly go along as well. I'm not exactly looking forward to this meeting, but the sooner it's over the sooner I can breathe again.

When this is finished I can go crawl back into bed with the only person I want to talk to. She's still fast asleep under the covers. It is 5:30 in the morning after all.

It was hard to leave her when she was so tempting laying there asleep this morning. Not in a sexual way, oh no, all I wanted to do was pull her to me and close my eyes. The tingling grasp of the mate bond always calms the deepest, darkest parts of me.

And yet, I have committed myself to this job, this life. I am the Gamma of the Slate Penumbra Pack and I have things to worry about, chores to do, an agenda to fulfill.

My whole time at the Guard left me wanting when it came to being busy and fulfilled with my work, and now I have little downtime. As much as it stresses me out, I love it. I have purpose now, but most of that purpose is because of Klepto.

When we reach the conference room, Cole glances around nervously while his fists clench at his sides. Veiler claims the large leather seat at the head of the table. Our Alpha's eyes never leave the intruder while we all sit in our seats. The long table has many chairs, but conveniently the Councilman sits right across from me.

His upper lip twitches while he flicks his gaze to Ryk. The albino lycan sits remarkably still, not sparing Cole a single look, his blue eyes are instead focused in on our leader.

Since joining the pack, Ryk has fallen in line with the rest of us. You never would be able to know his past with how he acts now. Even though he's rough around the edges, he's remarkable with the pups of the pack, enough to where I trust him to be alone with our boys... which is saying a lot.

"Have you found her yet?" Asks Veiler, cutting straight to the business side of things, skipping all pleasantries by throwing them aside.

Councilman Cole clears his throat.

"As much as I'd love to jump on in to that subject, there are much more... pressing matters to discuss, your majesty." He shifts his head to gesture at Ryk with his chin. "The Guard has issued for his arrest."

Ryk pales at those words, his jaw working. His worst fears are coming true. But I know something he doesn't, Veiler will never let that happen.

"Yes, I am well aware. I'm sure you know of my refusal?" Alpha Veiler drawls, sounding remarkably bored.

The red haired lycan looks flustered. Then his nostrils flare in anger.

"Of course, but you can't just harbor a fugitive in your pack!" He demands, motioning to the male in question. Ryk still refuses to look at him, instead he watches Veiler silently.

"It would seem that's not your decision to make." I say. The Councilman jerks slightly in his chair, whirling his head to me so he can stare at me. His eyes are like daggers. The look he gives me tells a strange story, like he wants to tell me something but he can't.

It unsettles me.

"I can, and I will. Ryk is my Delta now. Part of my council, you won't take him from me so easily." Veiler explains simply, shrugging his enormous shoulders as if that's that. Councilman Cole lets out a growl.

"No, you can't. He helped the Red Alpha, he's hurt people, he's killed people! How can you let him into your home so easily?" Cole demands, slamming a fist on the table. The crackling sound of it echoes through the room.

Now it's Veiler's turn to growl, it's much more bone chilling when it's coming from him.

"Who doesn't make mistakes, Councilman? I'm sure you have your fair share." Cole sobers at that. "The Red Alpha used manipulation and dark magic to control Ryk. When he found his mate everything changed. I know I can relate to that."

My eyes widen. Apparently Veiler found his mate after all. I wonder absently where his mate is, and what happened with that. Now's not the time to think about it.

"He regrets his past, wishes he could've done better, wants to make a change. Does it matter the thing he's done if he's not that person anymore? He's here on my property in my pack. If he has repeats there will be consequences, believe me, but that doesn't mean it's any of your business."

Ryk lets out a huge breath of relief, a smile on his face. His whole body relaxes substantially. He shoots a thankful look to Veiler.

Cole looks like he has some more arguing to do, but instead changes the subject.

"Alright then. We still need to discuss his involvement with the Red Alpha and any information we can possibly get on her." He uses the female pronoun like it doesn't taste right in his mouth. "The CPO is breathing down our necks trying to figure out what's going on. It's not their job to hunt criminals, but they want to protect civilians as much as they can."

"Yes, yes. We've discussed that too, Cole. He's given us all the information he possibly can and we've turned it over to you." Savannah replies while she examines her fingernails, her bitch tone loud and proud.

"Are you sure? He can be holding back information. He probably knows where she is. The safety of all supernaturals is at risk." He continues to prod, and I huff in exasperation.

"He told us of all the places she hid, all the houses she lived in, all of them were empty. I'm sure even the Red Alpha has some tricks up her sleeve, she may be crazy but she's not a complete imbecile." I grumble. By the time I finish my little rant all eyes are on me.

Veiler shakes his head at the same time that Cole speaks up.

"You met her?" He asks, completely incredulous. I realize my mistake and why my Alpha is staring at me with his lips pressed together in a firm line.

He hadn't told the Guard any of that. He had been trying to protect me from the Council, and I just ruined all of it. I spot Savannah out of the corner of my eye as she rubs at her temples.

I'm in for it now. I have a lot of explaining to do.

"Yes, I fought her." Those few words cause a ruckus as Cole nearly leaps across the table trying to get to me.

"And you didn't think was important enough to share you insolent, useless sack of..."

"That's enough!" Ryk demands, his crystal eyes boiling into a deep black as he sneers at the Councilman. That's enough to shut him up. "Let Ezra explain if that's what you want, but if you act like a pompous idiot one more time I'll shove your head further up your ass."

Cole is shocked to his core, he looks to Veiler for some type of reaction or punishment, maybe even protection against Ryk, but he doesn't get any.

Instead Veiler just nods his head.

"Alright then. Explain." Cole says after a moment of terse silence. He eyes Ryk warily.

"I fought her. She fought me. There were things said." I try my best to use as few words as possible, not wanting to entertain the guy any longer. The sooner he's gone the sooner I'll be happy.

"What did she say?" He demands, his expression alight with curiosity and a heavy dose of anger. I think for a while before replying. I need to make sure I don't screw things up any more than I just did.

"Said she was trying to end a bloodline among many other crazy claims. If I remember correctly she wanted revenge." Cole pales the slightest bit.

"Do you know her?" I tilt my head at his question. "Before you fought, before she attacked the pack. Did you know her?" He clarifies.

I shake my head adamantly at him.

"I've never met her. She acted like she knew me, said my name even."

Called me brother, but I don't add that in.

As much as Veiler can protect Ryk from the Guard, I doubt he could keep me here if I'm related to the biggest threat to shifter kind and she's still on the loose.

"What did she look like?" He whispers. It's now that I notice that his eyes are ghost like, his voice soft but somehow desperate.

I glance at the King himself to gauge his reaction. I don't really know what to expect since he's almost always expressionless. The slightest tilt of his eyes tells me everything I need to know.

There's quite a few things he left out when in contact with the Guard and the CPO. I don't know what his motivation is, but I know he has good intentions and that he knows what he's doing. The guy is over 1,000 years old, after all.

I raise my eyebrows at him in question, asking him what I should do. I can't go against his choices even if I don't know the reasons behind them.

Veiler inclines his head ever so slightly. I have the go ahead.

"Red hair. Yellow eyes. Short for a lycan, almost as if she hasn't matured yet. She hasn't shifted either. She can't shift, I could tell by her scent alone."

All the color in Cole's face slowly leaks away, replaced with a white shade. The dark slashes of his facial hair stick out against his skin.

He looks miserable.

"You know her?"

He somberly nods his head, his eyes wide and unseeing.

"Tea. Her name is Tea."

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