Destiny's Choice (20 page)

Mikeal turned to Arianna. “Would you like
to have
their ashes or have them scattered at sea?”

“At sea,” She choked. Maurice was still in no condition to do more than lie there and pant.

Nodding
, he went to
Steven
, talking with him briefly.
Steven
laid a hand on his shoulder, then Mikeal came up to Roan. “If it would be alright, Roan, I would stand with my brother, Nicolai.”

“Of course
,
” He
agreed
solemnly.

Roan was glad Nicolai was there actually. It was bad enough Mikeal was going to see his middle brother executed. It would have been even worse if he
’d
had to witness it alone.
H
aving your friends around when something tragic happens can sometimes help, it’s exceedingly better when you have family with you.

When Mikeal reached Nicolai, they embraced
.
Their
foreheads touch
ed
briefly before they broke apart. The
y
st
ood
side by side,
wait
ing
with almost identical grim expressions.

“I believe you owe us an explanation, LeGuer.”

Roan turned to the owner of that comment. “I owe you nothing, Truesdale. But seeing as it’s to my advantage to do so, I’ll humour you.”

“You arrogant, bastard!”

“Put a sock in it, Eli,”
Darren snapped, his
Mate
huddled close in his arms. “We want to know if it’s true about you finding your True
Mate
and how you made Maurice and Boone shift.”

Roan smiled, just the thought of Rivera m
ade
him happy. “Yes, I have. She is my match in every way.”

“Please.” Carlyle scoffed. “That abomination can’t even shift. Ian and Lillah should have killed her at birth.”

“You will watch your mouth, Carlyle.” Roan growled. “Rivera is my True
Mate
and as such, will have the respect that position deserves. Are we clear?”

The man blanched, nodding his head.

“And just where is your…True
Mate
?’ Eli asked snidely.

At first, Roan wasn’t sure he should let it be known. He wanted to keep Rivera safe any way he could. But by letting these fools know that she was soon to shift, it would definitely give her better standing in the Pack.

“She is in the Pre-Transformation
coma.” That statement caused a few raised eyebrows and indrawn breaths. Even Phillip seemed less bored. “Flynn is with her now. Joel Tanner will be arriving soon as well to assist Flynn.”

“Don’t worry about my new sister,” Sasha interrupted, effectively silencing them. “She’s strong.
Much s
tronger than any of you here. So
,
don’t worry your pretty little heads about her. You boys have bigger fish to fry.”

“How…quaint.” Eli’s expression was of clear distaste.

He ignored Eli
, giving Sasha a look of thanks. She merely grinned, her eyes on those assembled. “As for making Maurice and Boone shift, it was quite easy really.”
To prove it, he gazed
at Eli until the mans tie was found. Reaching out his hand, Roan pulled. A wet pop and scream rent the air as a du
ll shimmer faded around Eli True
sdale in wolf form
, his dark fur wet as he whimpered on the ground.
His Mate ran to him, crying over his prone body.
“As Alpha, I was born with abilities. Abilities that mark the true Alpha of this Pack,” he explained. “Eli felt first hand what that ability is. I can rip the wolf from your body. 
A
s you can see, it is quite painful. But very effective in getting my point across.”

“And just what point would that be?” Carlyle had his arms crossed
in an attempt
to look formidable. It didn’t work. Roan could
smell
the fear
.
From
them all.

“That every
one of you has underesti
m
ate
d me. You’ve let your own greed and arrogance blind you. Let your positions and status poison
not only yourselves but the next generation.” He nodded toward the terrible trio. “Boone went feral, attacking and killing a young human female. And thinking he would get away with it because of who he is.”

“She was a whore,” Boone shouted. “Nothing but trash.”

“Regardless of your opinion, that still doesn’t alter the fact you ended that young woman’s life,” Roan said. “One of our most sacred Laws, the attack or murder of a human is death. There are no appeals, no protests or negotiations. You forfeited your life when you ended hers.”

Walking with purpose over to Boone, Dane, Tristan, and Cole flanked him, more than ready should anything happen.

“So that’s it? Because he rid the world of some piece of human waste, he has to die?” Darren’s tone was incredulous.

“No one is above Pack Law, Darren. No one.” Roan looked down at Boone. “I, Roan LeGuer, Alpha of this Pack, have found you, Boone
Reynard
, guilty of attacking and murdering one Carrie Ann Hoyt.” There was a slight commotion, but Roan ignored it. He knew Sasha and the others were more than capable to take care of it. “As dictated by Pack Law, the penalty for such a crime is death. Due to the severity of the crime, it is my right as Alpha to carry out this sentence. May your soul find redemption and peace in the Sacred Forest.” Li
ghtning fast, Roan reached down and twisted Boone’s neck, snapping his brain stem. It was quick and more than he deserved.

“I, Mikeal
Reynard
, have witnessed this execution. It was merciful and just according the Laws of Nature and the Pack.”

Hearing that caused a pang of sadness for Roan. He thought for sure that Rafe would have been witness again. But Mikeal was never one to shirk what he thought as his duty. As eldest of the
Reynard
brothers and their parents absent, it fell to Mikeal to be the strong one.
Sometimes duty and strength were highly overrated.

“Aye,” Nicolai said.

“Aye,” Sasha repeated.

Roan sighed sadly, somehow knowing Nicolai would follow his brother. They were too much alike for it not to happen.

When Roan took his place beside Sasha, he noticed Darren, Carlyle, and Elise dangling in the air. So much for them trying anything. “Sasha, Dane, you can let them down now.” He then turned to Mikeal.

“At sea.”

He nodded solemnly.

The three dropped to the ground
, but Elise, angry and grief stricken, didn’t stay down for long.

“You bastard!” She lunged toward Roan. She didn’t get far.

Sasha’s hand was out, the way Roan had taught her. Her head was cocked to the side, a look of concentration on her face. When she smiled, Roan knew she had found Elise’s tie. Sasha balled up her hand into a fist, causing Elise to gasp.

“No, please,” she pleaded.

There would be no mercy with Sasha. She simpl
y
yanked her fist down, tearing Elise’s wolf from her body with a wet splat and a keening wail. Elise’s brown wolf appeared through a dull grey mist on the ground. She was panting heavily and whimpering in pain.

“That was a bit harder than I thought it would be,” Sasha said.

“Like all your other abilities, practice makes perfect,” he replied.

She nodded, the small smile telling him she was pleased with her first attempt. Roan had to admit that he was pleased as well. Not being raised with her powers, she was extremely adept at learning and harnessing them.
But then, the woman was terribly single minded. When she got a notion in that head, nothing and no one was going to stop her. Learning to control her powers
was just such a notion.

“How have we never heard of the Alpha’s having these powers, Roan?” During everything, Phillip St. Paul had remained silent. Even during his sister’s execution, he said not one word. Until now.

“Simple really. The Alpha’s before me didn’t see the need. They were Alpha. The position was enough to keep the Pack in line,” he began. “Other’s thought the Pack knowing would be too much for them to accept. A few were even paranoid to think if the Pack knew, it would lead to the Alpha’s powers being used in some way against the Pack.”

“But now?”

“None of those reasons apply to today’s Pack. The times have changed and so has the Pack’s members. Some more so than others.” He gave a pointed stare to Kyle and Morgan. “For example. Kyle and Morgan followed Boone blindly. Even helped him dispose of and cover up the murder of that young woman. Now, they think their wealth and status are going to exempt them from any sort of punishment.
”

“It won’t?”

“No, it won’t.” Out of respect for Mikeal, he didn’t mention Boone. It would just add salt to an already open wound. But the smile he gave Phillip was as cold as he could make it, letting him know that retribution was at hand.

“You aren’t going to execute my son, are you?” Muriel Montblanc’s voice quavered with the question.

“Morgan and Kyle won’t forfeit their lives. But they were an accessory to this crime. That’s a punishable offense, Muriel,” He
told her. “An example must be made.”

“What sort of an example?” Phillip’s tone held curiosity.

“As of this moment, all ten high ranking Pack families are hereby stripped of their titles and status.”

Silence reigned for a split second before the clearing erupted into chaos. Phillip, oddly enough, was the only one out of those gathered that remained calm.

“Enough!” It didn’t take much power to have everyone quiet again. But then, they didn’t exactly want to end up like Elise and Eli. “You don’t seem all that surprised, Phillip.”

He shrugged. “As you’ve said, the positions have poisoned some and caused others to be fools. Still, to take away from them all because these two were too stupid to know better does seem rather extreme.”

“And yet, you’re still not upset about it.” It was an odd reaction considering he was next in line. Roan didn’t know what to think of it. But then, he didn’t really know Phillip all that well. He was one of those that was quiet and unobtrusive.

“Not really.” He shook his head with a small smile. “I have my own pursuits that don’t involve alliances and scaling the social ladder. Which is why my father will never pass on the title to me. Our views have never quite meshed
on such things.”

“I see,” Roan mused.

Before he could blink or think more about the oddity that was Phillip St. Paul, he was interrupted. And rudely so.

“You can’t just arbitrarily
take away what has been in our families for generations, Roan,” Darren demanded. “Those positions are our birthright.”

“Wrong on both counts, Darren.” Roan motioned for Cole to come to his side. “This is Cole Trelaine. Like my sister, brother-in-law, and father was, Cole is a historian. For the last fifty years, with my father’s help and that of my sister and brother-in-law, Cole has finally finished mapping out the Pack’s entire history.”

“There are a few very small gaps, of course,” Cole interjected. “It happens over such a long and varied time span.”

“Of course.” Roan nodded, smiling at Cole’s cheekiness. “Why don’t you explain about Darren’s so called birthright.” If the little shit wanted to speak, Roan had no problems with it.

Cole gave him a big grin. “Be happy to.”

A couple of groan covered coughs sounded behind him. Roan
just
shook his head as Cole reached in his pocket and
pulled out four flash drives, holding them up.

“These contain the Pack’s history from when it was first written down to now. Everyone will be receiving a copy tonight. As for the high ranking Pack families, that position is a construct that come about around 750 years ago.”

“Absurd,” Carlyle sneered. “
The Montblanc’s have been a high ranking Pack family for fifteen generations.”

“Sorry to
rid
you of that
false
notion, but no, they haven’t.” Cole chuckled.

When Carlyle opened his mouth to say more, Roan held up his hand. “Let Cole finish.”

“Thank you.” He nodded to Roan, getting a murderous glare from Carlyle. Not that Cole
seemed to
care. He simply continued with the history lesson. “You see, the positions that you and your families have coveted for all these years were never meant to be yours in the first place or hold the power and prestige all you have made them out to be.” He put the flash drives back in his pocket. “About two thousand years ago, one of the Alpha’s thought it would be to his advantage to form a council of elders. Those that still retained their sanity would impart to him their wisdom, knowledge and life experi
ences so he could better lead the Pack. And it worked. For centuries, each Alpha had his council. When an elder succumbed to the insanity, another was appointed and so on. The role was never passed down nor was it kept in that elder’s family. It was for the Alpha and his council to appoint a new elder.”