Chapter Forty-One
Ronnie rolled his neck. “While this is amusing to watch two grown men almost piss themselves. I’m exhausted.” Ronnie moved to Yarrow and used silver cuffs on him. The sizzle on his skin as the cuffs clicked into place was accompanied by his soft gasp.
Ronnie just kicked the back of his knees, causing him to drop to the ground before moving towards Theo with a second pair. Theo tried to move, but Rowan pressed the point of the spear harder into his skin. “I wouldn’t move if I were you.” Rowan’s threat hung there.
“You can’t do this. We are the council.” Theo tried to argue, but everyone in the office laughed.
“You think that holds any weight now?” My father moved around the desk as Ronnie snapped the second pair on Theo’s wrists. “You forfeited any power you might have held the moment you moved against the royal family.” My dad grabbed Yarrow from the ground.
“Please.” The man tugged away from my father. “I know nothing.”
My dad leaned over to look at Yarrow’s face.
“Well, then, I guess you will have to endure a lot of pain for no reason. Because after everything that you all have done, do you think any of us here would believe you? None of you have any honor. Not only did you turn your backs on the King, but you turned your backs on the Goddess, our race, and even each other. None of you are trustworthy, and until I am confident that you know nothing…” He smiled as he tightened his hold on the captive wolf. “I guess you will just have to endure.”
Ronnie grabbed Theo’s arm, and Rowan stepped back. “I’ll join you later. But we can’t kill them until I address everyone.” My father nodded and then tried to open the door.
“Amy?” He turned to me with a smile. “Care to release the door.”
“Right.” I ran back around the desk and clicked the button to release the door.
“Wait…” Silas turned to me. “You used magic to seal the room from sound, and to block us from using our mind-links.” I nodded and waited.
“But you used that button to lock the door…” Silas scratched his head.
“I’m just confused.” My dad and Ronnie left the office, dragging their two men out of the room.
I laughed. “Why use magic when werewolf strength steel will do the same thing?” I shrugged as my dad opened the door. “Half the time with magic, it’s knowing when you should or shouldn’t use it. It’s not a fix-all.”
Silas nodded. Then he dropped to his knees in front of Rowan. “My King.” He bowed until his head was on the floor. “I don’t think I can apologize enough.”
Rowan tucked the spear away before he walked over and dropped to a crouch next to the man on the ground. “You did nothing to apologize for.” He grabbed him and gently pulled him to his feet.
“But I was part of the council.” Silas sighed. “I failed you.”
Rowan shook his head. “While I didn’t always agree with what you had to say, I always appreciated your opinion. And you supported me when it counted.”
Silas shook his head. “I helped push you towards Verity and Nina.” He looked down.
“I didn’t feel right doing it, but they always had an argument.
And I was too afraid of the attacks getting worse and not having an heir to step in.
” A tear slid down the old man’s face. “I unintentionally helped them kill the royal family, the lycans, our kind.” He shook his head.
Rowan grabbed his shoulder. “You didn’t know.”
Silas shook his head. “That’s no excuse. We killed your entire race.”
I wanted to say something, but everything that had happened today made me hold my tongue.
I watched as the star above his brow flared to life again.
Nix’s soft chuff was reassuring as she pressed against the barrier.
Her smoky voice called to me. The Goddess wants you to trust him.
Maybe he has a part to play. I thought about her words before I decided.
I stepped up to him. “No. You didn’t.” I hoped this wasn’t a mistake. “Some Lycans got away. They have been hiding for the last twenty-plus years, and eventually we will have to find them.” Rowan turned to me, his hope for the return of the Lycans glowing in his eyes. “But that’s not our path.”
Silas’s eyes took on the same hope that Rowan’s did. “They got away?” I nodded. “I’ll do whatever I can to find out anything.”
An idea formed in my mind. “After everything is handled here, you will be the only remaining council member.” I nodded to Rowan. “He will still need an advisor. And we will still need you to train the royal guards. But I think I have a better job for you. You and Rick.”
Rowan turned to me fully. “Silas and Rick…what would they do together?”
“Silas knew the rest of the council the best. I know for a fact that they were looking for the Lycan encampment. You can find everything they have. And Rick can help decipher it all.”
“It could take years.” Silas offered.
Carly flashed into my mind. “That’s what I’m hoping for.”
Rowan nodded once. “The one who is supposed to find them is still a child.” He turned to me. “Are you sure about this?”
“Not at all, but the Goddess chose her for a reason. We have to respect her decision.” I clicked off everything on my father’s computer, and the desk turned dark once again.
“When did your father have time to design that desk?” Rowan knocked on the top for a second before I started for the door.
“I can only assume the man was bored out of his mind at the Agora.” I headed out the door, and the two men followed behind. “He probably took a few years to make it and moved it back here when they moved back.” I looked back at Rowan. “Why? Do you want one?”
Rowan grinned. “Heck, yeah, I do.” I smiled as we headed down the stairs.
“Me too.” I laughed as we headed out to see the damage.
“Checking on everything?” Rowan offered as we hit the ground.
“Yeah. I want to check in with everyone. Have them start to move back to the pack house and their homes. Plus…” I trailed off as I walked up to Greyson. “How have they been?”
He turned to me and smiled. “Everything has been quiet. Just like you said, as soon as they were caught, they shut down.” The Elites were all standing around the Council guards that survived the attack.
I nodded once as we circled those on their knees. “I figured.”
Rowan went to one of his teams, and they whispered back and forth for a second before he pulled back and called out over the men on their knees.
“The council has been disbanded. All except Silas have been or will be executed.” His voice carried over the clearing.
“Those of you who followed Silas, please stand.”
My father, Silas, and Ronnie stepped out of the house and hurried over. “My King.” Silas rushed over and dropped to his knees. “I know that trust is understandably not given freely right now, but my men…I trust them with my life.” Silas bowed to the ground again. “Please spare them.”
I crouched and helped Silas to his feet. “We wouldn’t act recklessly, Silas.” I smiled as I pulled him over to where his group of guards now stood. I turned to the men gathered there. “It is an honor to have your leader speak so highly of your dedication.”
The men there all dropped to one knee. But it was the man closest to me who bowed his head that spoke up. “It is. Thank you Alpha, for helping him.” The man looked up, and I felt something ding in my head.
“Who are you?” I asked before I could think. His chocolate skin and dark eyes weren’t familiar in the normal sense, but I knew instantly that he was important.
“My name is Sequan Derant.” He bowed his head again.
“You are an Alpha. I can feel your aura. Why are you bowing to me?” I crouched to be level with him.
“When we enter the guard, we give up our official rank so we aren’t involved in secession battles. Our focus is fully on the people we are meant to protect.”
I looked up to Rowan. “Really?”
He nodded. “All of our guards agree to this. Most are not in their pack’s line of inheritance. And it saves them from sometimes lethal situations.”
Silas held his hand out to Sequan. “His family was attacked twenty years ago. He was the only survivor of his pack.” Silas turned to me after helping his guard up. “He chose to become my guard instead of trying to start a new pack. He wanted to learn. Rowan allowed him to make that choice.”
I nodded once. “Good.” I turned back to the guards still on their knees. “What exactly should we do with the others?”
Rowan sighed as he rubbed his face. “I have no idea.” He looked over the men and shook his head. “I don’t want to execute everyone, but with everything going on…we have no way of actually knowing who is a traitor or not.”
“Command them.” My father looked at us confused.
“What?” I turned to him.
My dad looked at us as if we had grown three heads. “You are the King and Queen…command them to tell the truth.”
Silas shook his head. “It won’t work. Our guards take an oath, and unless they are released from it, they can’t move against the one who swore them into it. Even if the oath holder is dead.”
I turned to my father. “What about a truth spell?” I flipped through the book in my mind.
“It won’t work.” Silas shook his head. “The oath itself was created by the Goddess to hold against magic, and wolf command alike.”
I threw my hands up. “Well, unless the Goddess herself wants to fucking help figure out who is a traitor and who isn’t, what are we supposed to do? Kill everyone?”
Silas looked down, and I felt bad for snapping. But it was the soft tsking from behind me that had me turning. “You would think that your father would have taught you not to talk about the Goddess like that.”
I smiled as I walked over to my grandmother. “Well, I was frustrated. I think she would understand.”