Alpha's Fate (Black Moon Saga Book 2)

Chapter 20: Allied Huddle

Kylie looks around the room at all the people who have gathered to discuss the encounter with her father days before and whether and how much it should change things. The room seemed larger the last time she was here, when it was Alpha Mitchell who assembled his allies. Many of the same men have come again, although this time in place of Alpha Byron is Alpha Magnus, and in place of their Betas are some important newcomers.

Other shifters have joined forces with the allies, which was quite a blast from the past for Kylie when a whole group of them arrived the night before. Because she hasn’t seen nor heard from him since the day they graduated high school together, she was surprised to see her old friend Pete among them. He apparently joined up with a band of mercenaries at some point after high school and eventually ended up taking over the leadership position, though she hasn’t had a chance to sit down with him and hear his full story to see how that all came about.

It was not what she expected from her prestigious school’s Valedictorian, though she is not sorry to see him again. He told her of an encounter with Alpha Marcus back home, who told him of Kylie’s situation, which led him to bring his team straight to Tall Pines to pledge their support. And as their leader, Pete now sits at the table with the other allies, here to listen and offer his team’s talents for scouting, spying, hacking, and electronic tampering. He will gladly offer their other, more questionable skillsets should they be needed, though he hopes to not have to explain to Kylie about their aptitude for swiftly and quietly eliminating problematic people for fear of the things he would have to confess to her.

Three new vampires are in attendance as well, representatives for a larger group who will be joining once it comes time to move on Black Moon. Tian has also invited two casters, a brother and sister duo who don’t seem particularly fond of him and who have mostly been quiet and keeping out of the way since they arrived the day before.

That’s not to say that they haven’t been actively observing and learning all they can about the people they’ve pledged to support, however. The warlock in particular, Eramund, seems to have a penchant for hovering just out of sight whenever Kylie is around.

She tunes back into the conversation at hand, an argument that has been circling around for the better part of an hour.

“I still maintain that it would be too risky to hold a public mating ceremony at this point,” Alpha Clayton insists again.  

He is of the mind that since the plan was for him to host it publicly and invite all who wish to attend, rather than singling out only his allies and making it seem like what it is meant to be, a targeted gathering for a specific purpose beyond showing off his new mate, it is too dangerous now that they know Alpha Preston has been monitoring them. If any of his spies were to slip in, sensitive information about their plans and intentions could slip out without them knowing.

“And I still maintain that it’s the perfect opportunity to supply Alpha Preston with a healthy serving of misdirection,” argues Alpha Zane, now the eldest Alpha in attendance since Alpha Mitchell retired.

The others value his experienced opinion. Of the lot of them, he is the only one who has led a pack during any sort of inter-pack conflict even approaching the scope of what they now face, and he has been holding steadfast with his advice to take advantage of any opportunity for subterfuge that happens to present itself.

“To his point, I wouldn’t imagine that Alpha Preston would expect us to fraternize with … others,” Alpha Gregory points out, choosing his words carefully.

It is no secret that he is one of the many who would prefer not involving any casters or vampires, holding fast to the opinion that it somehow makes them seem weak or would corrupt their victory.

“It might confuse his spies to see so many different sorts assemble and lend credence to the claim that it is simply a public mating ceremony for an eager and excited Alpha who has spent too much of his life alone and now wants the world to see him settle down,” Alpha Gregory continues explaining his rationale.

“Yeah, thanks for that,” Alpha Clayton grumbles.

“What? It’s true, isn’t it? If you’ve got it, use it. It makes the whole thing more believable,” Alpha Gregory argues.

“Which is a fair point,” Alpha Jonah interjects, “but I feel like we’re skirting around the larger issue. Whether we decide to go with the mating ceremony decoy or not, shouldn’t we be discussing timing? Alpha Preston seems very aware that we’re coming for him. Should we really be giving him more time to prepare?”

“His time to prepare is also our time to prepare,” Alpha Omar reminds them. “If we’re not ready, and if she’s not ready,” he points to Kylie, a reminder to them all that she is the one who has been assigned the task of taking out her father, “then we gain nothing and potentially lose everything by moving too hastily. How long has it been since you gave birth? Just over a week? And how long until our supplies and troops are in place? Two weeks, last I heard. Moving large numbers of people and large amounts of supplies too hastily is how we tip off the wrong people. And when is your mating ceremony scheduled, Alpha Clayton?”

“In about two weeks,” Alpha Clayton answers him, agreeing with the man on principle while his gut is churning in protest and making him second guess everything.

Tian’s phone starts vibrating in his pocket, and he discreetly slips it out just enough to see who is calling. His brows knit together in concern and confusion when he recognizes the identifier of a call placed from his own home. It’s odd, to say the least. The only person who makes calls from his home is himself, and only rarely. It’s not so easy to do and he has to be careful about how and when he does it to avoid notice from the wrong people.

“I’ll be right back,” he whispers to Kylie as he steps out in the hall, driven by curiosity edged with worry.

“Hello?” he answers uncertainly.

“Tian, it’s me,” Dorian greets him, though his tone is all business.

This is a shocking development. First off, Dorian has never used a phone, to his knowledge, and secondly, it’s a great risk he is taking. He knows Dorian knows that, so he makes a point of not wasting what little time they have with too many questions about the hows and whys of this call.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” he questions instead, knowing that it must be something dire or important provoking this call.

“You are or will soon be in a meeting with Kylie’s allies, yes?” Dorian asks for confirmation of what he has seen in his dreams.

“I am, just now as you called,” Tian confirms. “Why?”

“Oh, good. I hope I am not too late, then. You must tell them to stay their course. Don’t alter the plan. Whatever has happened, it wasn’t meant to be so. It changes nothing. Do you hear me? Stay the course.”

“I hear you. I won’t even ask what you’ve seen. I know it must be terrible if you’re calling me.”

“It is. I am beginning to suspect that there is another with this gift, someone still too new to realize the risk of tampering with the fates, or who has a greater goal and has abandoned caution to make it so. It feels as though things have been changing in ways that only make sense if someone with foresight is manipulating fate. Lately it has been feeling as though I’m battling with this other force, but that is not important. It bothers my sleep with how often the dreams are coming these days, but it is not as if that truly matters. What is important is that this person has changed something, recently, and I know it has affected your allies. I saw the way before, and it must stay that way. You must not let them be swayed.”

“I hear you,” Tian repeats. “I will inform Kylie. She has been quiet so far, letting them argue amongst themselves, but if anyone can convince them, it is her.”

“Good. I must go. Give her my love.”

“Will do,” Tian returns as he hears the sound of the line disconnecting.

As he opens the door, he steps right into a heated argument, seemingly between Alpha Zane and Bria, the most vocal of Tian’s own progenies.

“It is obvious you have never spent much time gazing into the faces of the ‘foul scum’ you speak of,” Bria argues with the Alpha. “Have you never noticed their red eyes, or their hollowed out, expressionless faces? We are not them, yet we have come to help you fight them. They are mindless, unable to think past their base desires, and because of this, we are more of a threat. To them. Not to you. Despite the venom you shout at us, we are only here to help. I would urge you to remember that.”

Alpha Zane is grumbling something under his breath as Tian returns to his seat, but seems to have lost his will to argue any further with the vampire.

“I would like to remind you that everyone in this room is a guest of mine,” Alpha Jonah speaks up. “And we’re all on the same side, working toward the same goal. I understand that you have feelings and may hold prejudices, but we must let all that go here. Bria and her team are offering to help train our warriors to fend off vampire attacks. We need that. We appreciate that, or at least I hope we all do.”

Kylie puts her hand on Tian’s arm, questioning him with her eyes.

It was Dorian on the phone, alerting me about one of his dreams, he explains, and then quickly summarizes their call and what Dorian is demanding of them.

He said the encounter with your father wasn’t meant to happen and hinted at there being another with the foresight ability. My guess would be the dark witch, and if so, she’s probably your father’s source of intel.

In which case all of what the Alphas are worried about doesn’t even matter, Kylie completes his thought. She might see it, no matter what we do. Alpha Omar is right. Our best bet is to make sure we’re ready, and to run with the assumption that we won’t have the element of surprise on our side.

Tian nods, and then gestures toward the gathering in front of them. Kylie nods in return and then rises, stepping out of the room for a minute to retrieve something.

Tian hadn’t expected that, and now wonders what she is up to. He looks to Adam, who only shrugs.

“Where did she go?” Alpha Clayton asks, seemingly the only other one to notice that Kylie left the room, having spent enough time with her to become attuned to the difference between being in her presence and not.

“She’ll be right back,” Tian assures him.

“She’s probably just fed up with us sitting here bickering like children rather than making a decision,” Alpha Gregory comments, remembering back to when she chewed him out. He is of the impression that she has little patience for weakness, excuses, petty squabbling, and failure to be useful.

She returns a moment later carrying the leather-bound books that Alpha Magnus gifted to her. Setting the stack of them on the refreshment table at the side of the room, she picks up the golden-gilded book of prophecies and flips to a page she has marked near the end.

“Alpha Magnus, would you care to read this passage for me?” she requests, setting the book before him.

He grins at her, happy to see her turning to his texts and honored that she would ask him to perform this task.

“Gladly,” he eagerly agrees, taking a sip of his water and clearing his throat before he begins.

As the battle looms nearer, my task grows ever more burdensome. It seems that the visions come every night and every time I try to close my eyes. On this day it goes one way, but the next it turns the other. I ask myself, ‘How can I ever see the way when it is so muddled before me? What now does the Moon Goddess ask of me? What does she try to show me night after night?’

And then I realize that the answer has been before me this entire time. The answer is that the possibilities are too endless, and the reach of this one person too limited. My ego has grown so large as to make me think that because I can see, I should act. No, these things I see, they are warnings. Signals. They are to help me brace for all the possibilities before me. What they are not is asking me to try to change things. The true gift that has been bestowed on me is wisdom, this awareness of the vastness of existence and my insignificant place within it.

My true gift is time. Time to prepare. Time to accept, and the wisdom to see that the more I try to tamper with destiny, the stronger it comes barreling toward me. But truly, my desperate actions have changed nothing, for the fates always right themselves in the end.

“Thank you, that was all I wanted you to read,” Kylie stops him as he reaches the end of the passage.

She turns to address the room, explaining, “These words are what we must keep in mind now as we finalize our plans, because I have received insight from a trusted source who assures me that my father showing up here the other day was nothing more than the result of another who has been ‘gifted’ with this foresight. It takes a powerful caster to catch glimpses of the future, and there’s only one I know of who could achieve it.”

“The dark witch,” Alpha Raymond realizes aloud.

“Exactly,” Kylie confirms. “The dark witch. It seems that my father’s spy, the birdy who whispers in his ear, is his pet witch. The bad news is that this means that no matter what efforts we make to evade notice, she might catch glimpses of what we’re up to. That’s not to say that we should abandon caution, but it is a reality check for us. The fact of the matter is that we must assume that we’ve lost the element of surprise. They know we’re coming, and they could even know when, where, and how before we do. That’s why we must be ready, as Alpha Omar says. We must take our time and consider all possibilities. We need to be strong, and smart. Moving sooner than planned is not going to serve our best interests.”

“What is the good news then?” Alpha Clayton wonders, hoping that since she started with bad news that means she has something encouraging to tell them now.

She smiles at him reassuringly. “The good news is you should keep your mating ceremony on track exactly as planned. We have no need to change anything, because as the prophetic words of wisdom caution us, ‘desperate actions have changed nothing, for the fates always right themselves in the end.’ Alpha Preston reacted to information that he thought he could use to his advantage to gain some insight on us. He failed. Sure, he’s probably back home preparing, but he probably has been for as long as we have. He didn’t gain any new information or any angle that would inspire him to openly declare war. Him coming here changes nothing, and let’s not react desperately and carelessly. We stay the course.”

Murmurs of assent can be heard from around the room as Kylie returns to her seat. Jonah turns to look at her appreciatively and then returns his attention to the meeting before him.

"Alright then," he resumes leadership of the meeting. "We should probably discuss the training schedules and work out the specifics for lodging and supplies for when the warriors start to arrive."

Kylie reaches out both hands, one for Adam to take and one for Tian, before leaning back in her chair and releasing a breath, and with it, the tension she had been holding. She zones out of the conversation before her when she realizes it's meant for the Alphas who already have packs to lead.

She catches Pete's eye from across the room and he smirks at her knowingly, his eyes twinkling at her. It reminds her so much of being in class together in school. Part of her wistfully misses those simpler times, but not when she thinks of everything she has gained since then. Most recently, her daughter.

I need to see Margot, she tells Tian through mind-link.

We can go there directly after the meeting if you wish, he responds, returning her smile to her face.

For two weeks, she adds, turning to smirk at him, knowing he will deny her that. He has to. They have too much to prepare before the mating ceremony.

Two nights, he offers, returning his own warm smile.

Deal, she agrees, switching to a conversation with Adam to tell him the news.

He squeezes her hand and leans over to kiss her cheek, just as excited at the prospect of holding Margot again. There was a moment during the meeting when he hoped the Alphas would decide to move on Black Moon sooner than planned, inspired solely by how much he misses his daughter and wants to go back to living a normal, stable family life. This conflict with Black Moon is a giant hurdle in the way of that, and he just wants to get it over with.

But he knows the wait is necessary. They need to be ready, and they must strive to prevent as much blood shed as possible on both sides. The training and preparations the other Alphas are discussing will be vital to their success, and making sure everything about that mating ceremony goes off without a hitch will be key. But for now, all he cares about is that his little girl will be in his arms again by the end of the day, thanks to Tian.