The Women Between

Chapter 11: Council Meeting

“She has anger towards packs and alphas.”

“Your mate is impulsive."

“The Luna Queen is a dignified position. Your mate is a human without a wolf or any power.”

“The pack she hails from has marks against it."

“She was abused by that pack and will be prejudiced against other packs.”

“I’m surprised that she has not already rejected you and your brother after forcibly marking her.”

A roar ripped through this gold-colored room trimmed in pearl-white marble. It silenced the men’s comments as the building trembled. They, too, trembled in their seats as they looked at Gregory’s cold, red eyes piercing them. A few shifted uncomfortably under his gaze in their high-backed, brown-wooden chairs. They can see the anger marring his face with their mouths partially opened to speak, their minds. Air is pushed out, instead, like they are frozen with their hands on top of the brown folder that is Cassandra’s file.

Gregory did not miss the tapping of their fingers on the polished brown wooden table. It is almost shaped like an oval with points at the ends, where the Kings sit to hear the Council. He wanted to ram their heads into it, feeling the encouragement to do so from Callus, who was equally angry at them. He knows that all the things they said are true, but she needs a chance to prove herself. She needs a chance to let them heal her old wounds with the help of the mate bond. It ticked him off to no end that these men would judge her before she even took a step into power.

He took a deep breath, though, and released the thoughts that made him see blood spilling all over Council Chambers. He looked over at the lights gleaming through the three windows onto the table, seeing the blue sky. How he wished that he could be with his mate right now and in her arms. The thought of her hair curtaining his shoulders and her eyes looking at him with that fire made his blood boil differently, sexually. He wants to enjoy her company even with this morning’s jab, but he is stuck in a meeting that is criticizing her.

If it is not about her grades as a child, then it is about the pack that abused her physically and mentally towards others of their species. He has heard enough from them about her inadequacies to make him want to rip their hearts out. Her words from this morning, though, were ringing through his ears.

Are they right about their worries? Is she well suited to be queen of the wolves and govern them fairly? He is not sure. His feelings about her are all over the place, from anger to care to worry about her needs and wants. Thomas and he hurt her by giving her no choice about becoming mated to them. Will he hurt her more if he agrees that she cannot be queen?

The answers circling in his mind are confusing and disheartening to him. He wants her by his side, but he wants her to be fair to his wolves. She had already shown her dislike this morning to the Head Gamma with a curt answer and a flash of anger in her eyes. She already shows that she is willing to buck against his authority when he was just trying to ensure her health. This woman has shown that she is a force to be reckoned with. If she were on their side, then she would be good as a queen, but he was not sure that he could persuade her to his side.

“Gentlemen,” Gregory said finally, breaking the silence after a long pause. “You have concerns as do I, but I just remembered how I laid beside my mate and made sure she was well. I used the mate bond to help her through the forced marking Thomas and I had done. Which brings me to my point, the mate bond can do the most interesting things to people. It can make a woman go from hating a man to loving him. A man can go from despising a mate to wanting a mate. As I sit here and hear your concerns, I must ask- are you really that worried or is there something else you have in mind?”

“She is a human,” a brown haired man pointed out sharply with his blue eyes hardening at the fact.

His angular face is hardened while his lean body is relaxed. He leaned back in his chair like he had no care in the world, which Gregory knew was false. This man is just waiting for the right time to strike his point. It showed from his white button-up shirt covered by a grey jacket with a black belt in his pants to hold them up. He wanted to take it and whip him with it for showing disrespect to his mate, but he sat calmly and listened to him.

“Humans are known for not letting themselves enter into the mate bond easily. She has already had trouble with a pack, which means that she can break packs. Specifically, I am referring to alphas that she detests. It says so in her psych evaluation after the Red Moon Pack’s twin alphas were caught hurting her. The power she will wield gives her the ability to do anything, especially swindle her mates.”

“And you believe that she is downright dirty enough to do this, Councilman Ruppert?” Gregory questioned sharply.

No one missed the anger tainting his voice at the accusation this man was throwing at his mate. They flicked their eyes at each other before settling on him and the councilman. Even Andy looked dismayed by the subject of the Luna Queen becoming powerless. He knows that she is not the greatest woman to rule at their side, but no one is giving her a chance.

However, he knows that he must operate quickly, or they will remove her from the position. They do have the power to do something like that or worse.

“I believe,” Councilman Ruppert responded, speaking slowly so not to agitate the king, “that she is someone who will not give fairness. I believe she will let her hatred of wolves undo all the good we have done, even with the mate bond in place. And as mates go, you and your brother will favor her words over someone else’s, because mate bond blinds mates to their true intentions.”

“Well spoken,” Gregory hissed as he stared this man down, who looked down while flicking his eyes up occasionally. “I would agree, if there was an up-to-date psych on her and if I could be with her now. Thomas is going to be with her while they go shopping to get a dress for the Luna Ceremony tonight. I hope you will all be there to say hello to Her Majesty and keep your prejudice to yourself until you know her. I, myself, do not know enough about her other than what is in the file.”

“We will all be there to support Luna on her big day,” Andy jibbed in, hoping to ease his anger. The others nodded their acceptance of this.

“As such,” Gregory went on, feeling a pang in his heart for what he was about to say, “I do not believe in being unprepared. I want a woman per week to go to packs with the royal guards protecting her. I want it to look like…”

“Your Majesty,” Andy shouted, sounding angry. “I must object.”

“I want it to look like she is becoming a figure head,” Gregory stated sharply as he stared the old man down. He quickly looked down, realizing that there was no bargain in this. “She will be either a daughter or a granddaughter of your lineage. She will be acting as the queen without the authority given to her or the title and without telling anyone what it is about. She will be given a chance to prove herself by how she conducts herself amongst the packs. By the end of the month, my brother and I will make a decision regarding the women and our mate as to whom gets the position.

“However, if she reveals the intentions of the crown, then she will be put to death. If this woman decides to further herself in any way to become that figurehead, then she will die. If she thinks we will accept her as our mate, she will die. And if any of this gets to my mate before I can speak with her, then I will put to death the person or persons who tells her. She will be oblivious to what is going on and I will take the fall for it all.

“But know this: my mate means the world to me, and until I see that she is unfit to rule, she will rule. There will be no question about it now or ever until my brother and I agree that she is unfit, especially as I can see your prejudice towards her species.

“Understand?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Their chorus was a mixture of high and low. He cannot blame those that sounded dismayed or angry about his decision. He is upset with himself for speaking the words, feeling a pang in his heart for his mate. In fact, he feels ill thinking of the woman, who will quietly pose as the Luna Queen. Even Callus is upset with him for allowing those men to railroad him into this position. He could not help it when the evidence presented was almost credible. This morning’s agitation did not help his decision either. He does not want her to rule by their side if she is going to hold a grudge against them or the wolves.

“Next on the list,” Gregory clipped, looking at each of them. “I want to get back to my mate before the ceremony begins.”

He barely even listened when someone spoke about the rogue problem, feeling hatred for himself develop. His mind dwelled on his decision, wondering how mad Cassandra was going to be about this. He hopes that she does not reject him for ensuring the kingdom is ruled fairly. He hopes that she understands that they must put the welfare of the kingdom, first and foremost, no matter their feelings for her. Even as hope is blossoming inside him, there is also the dread of her finding out the truth before he explains it.

The Moon Goddess would not have given Thomas and him this mate, if she could not rule well. He is not so sure.