Destiny's Choice (21 page)

“So what changed?” Phillip asked.

“The Alpha pair was killed,” Cole answered. “As all of you are aware of what happened with Sasha and Jenna, this same event occurred 750 years ago. Only neither of the Alpha’s or their murderer survived. The Alpha male in training was just a child and the Alpha female had yet to be born. The only ones with any authority or knowledge to lead the Pack was the council.”

“Ah.” Phillip nodded grimly. “Got a taste of power, did they?”

“Absolutely.” Cole chuckled. Roan couldn’t help but grin himself at they play on words. It was no wonder Cole was such a sought after teacher. He made learning interesting and fun. “Those ten council members set in motion
the status the Montblanc’s and the other nine families have today by making sure the next elder to be appointed was from their own family.
Seven –hundred and
fifty years
later, those ten families still think they have all the power. Too bad the original ten didn’t put their ambitions into Law though. With no one to tell them otherwise, they made up their own agenda and went with it. Of course, the original appointing of council elders is a Law. One that is still on the books if anyone had a care to really look for it.”

“Yes. One that the ten families have been breaking for…how many generations, Carlyle?” The man blanched under Roan’s pointed glare.

“You really don’t expect us to believe your little history lesson, do you Roan?” Darren’s tone was dripping with condescension. “Regardless of these findings, none of us has heard a word about any elder council. It all seems like a ploy to topple the ten families from the power we’ve rightly held for so long.”

“Of course not, Darren. That council made sure from that moment on, their version of history was the right one. But what they didn’t know about was the Alpha journals.”

“There’s no such thing,” He said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

“I’m happy to say that there are.” Roan grinned. “When my father went back to the old country to follow some leads on our history, he stayed in one of our predecessors homes. The house that stands there now was built over the original structure. Doing a bit of snooping, he found a tunnel in the basement that lead to a warren of other tunnels. After several weeks of exploring, he stumbled into a room containing four wooden chests. Only two were still intact, their contents undamaged. Inside them were the usual old clothes, jewellery, and baby items. But the real pr
ize was the journals. Thirty
in all, some were extremely ol
d and crudely fashioned, some
made
of
thick paper and resin, and others bound in fine leather. All a daily account
of twenty
two generations of Alpha’s. There were even three hand written copies of our original Pack Laws.”

“And we’re all just learning of this now?” Darren’s eyes narrowed. “Convenient.”

“My father spent years putting into motion what I have done today,” Roan’s voice was harsh with anger. “Wanting
this Pack put back on the right path. Before those ten council elders got power hungry and sent us down the road to destruction.
H
e died before he could see this day. So
,
I took up the reins, continuing his work for the good of the Pack. 
I
f you think for one moment I’m going to let you
,
or those other fools interfere with his plans, you really have underesti
m
ate
d me.”

Darren gave him an oily grin. “A pretty speech, Roan. But I seriously doubt you comprehend the true power the ten families have. The wealth we’ve accumulated along with the prestige isn’t something you can
just
wrest away from us with a history lesson and a few parlour tricks. Our power runs deep, boy
.
N
ot even both Alpha’s can take that away.”

Roan folded his arms over his chest, feeling Sasha vibrating beside him.

“You’re about to drop a bomb, aren’t you?” She asked with glee. “Please tell me you are.”

“Indeed.” He grinned with wicked delight. “Dane, if you would be so kind.”

He let loose a shrill whistle as Cole and Tristan took up position on each side of Roan and Sasha. Then, in a blink, fifteen men seemed to
Mate
rialize out of the forest and surround them all. The three real timber wolves melting out of the shadows and coming to stand beside Roan, Sasha, and Tristan was definitely a nice touch.

“Oh, Roan. You were able to get them all here.” Sasha had a look of pure joy on her face.
After learning of Omega Squad, she had made it her mission to meet every one. They had made her their den mother, of a sort. Though these weren’t all of Omega Squad, they were the ones from the States. “I’ve missed my guys so much. This is going to rock!”

“
Alpha
man
discipline Pack?
” The Alpha male asked Roan telepathically.

He looked down at the very large wolf and grinned, responding aloud. “Yes. But they aren’t happy about it.”

The wolf sniffed disdainfully. “
Not for lesser wolves to question Alpha
man
. Lesser wolves must obey.
”

“They will, my friend.”

The male sat regally next to Roan, his large grey head held high. “
Good.
”

“Hello, Beauty,” Sasha said to the smaller Alpha female beside her.

“
Alpha female help Alpha man
discipline lesser wolves. Is good.
”

“Why, thank you, Beauty.”

“
Lesser female needed put in place.
” She snarled, showing a hint of teeth.
“
Alpha female did good.
”

Sasha merely laughed at that.

“
I chose well,
” the male said smugly as he looked over at his
Mate
.

“Yes you did, my friend.” Roan chuckled.

“What is the meaning of this, Roan? Who are these men?” Darren asked angrily. “And just who are you talking to? I demand an answer!”

The Alpha male sprang to his feet with raised hackles, growling low and showing an impressive array of teeth. “
Lesser wolf challenge Alpha
man
. Take lesser
wolf
down.
”

Roan slowly reached out to gently lay a hand on the male’s ruff. “It’s alright, my friend,” he soothed. “This lesser wolf would never challenge me. He doesn’t want to die.”

Darren had the good sense to back down, his complexion pasty. The strong scent of his fear was enough to mollify the Alpha male. He regained his seat beside Roan with a snap of his jaws at Darren. The man jumped.

“
Lesser wolf weak,
” the male said with clear disdain.

“Yes, he is.” Roan chuckled as he looked at Darren. “Regardless of the so called power you and the others think you have, I am still Alpha of this Pack.” He sent a tendril of power toward Darren, wrapping it around his throat. Then began to slowly squeeze. “And as such, I will have the respect my position deserves or I will take your outburst as a clear challenge to my authority. Are we clear?”

His hands were scrabbling at his neck, trying to breath. Roan let
him
go.

“Yes…yes, Alpha. I…apologize.” He sucked in more air,
his
eyes wide with fear.

Sasha snorted. “Not a total lie. But then he’s probably too attached to his head.”

“And he’ll keep it,” Roan quipped. “For now.”

“Hmph.”

“As for your questions, Darren,” he began. “Sasha and I were greeting our friends.” He pointed to the male and female wolf. “These are the Alpha pair from the local timber wolf pack. The other is their beta.” Roan nodded to the big male beside Tristan. “Our Alpha abilities allow us to communicate with the Alpha’s of any species. As for the men around you. May I introduce, Omega Squad.”

“Omega Squad?” Carlyle snorted with contempt. “Those faggoty little Omega freaks are part of a squad? Ab-“

Carlyle finished that sentence with a scream as Roan rippe
d the wolf from his body. Kyle
raced to his side, giving Roan a hate filled stare.

“That will be enough of your insolence,” Roan snarled. “And don’t
think you can’t join him, Kyle
. I’ve had more than my fill of disrespect this day.”

Kyle
had the good sense to lower his gaze. Roan could still smell the anger, but the boy wasn’t stupid. Well, more than he usually was.

“Omega Squad, huh?” Phillip mused. “I always did wonder why my cousin Joey got shipped off to Scotland after his First Transformation. He’s an Omega like these guys?”

Roan nodded. “Because your cousin showed traits before his First Transformation, he was watched closely. An Omega’s abilities manifest not long after their first shift.”

“Abilities?” Darren scoffed. “No offense Roan, but Omega’s are lesser. Hell, our history says they were banished and even killed because of their predilections.” His tone was completely dismissive.

“I think I’ll let you handle this, cuz.” Roan looked to Dane, confident he could handle it. Plus, he needed a moment. He was beginning to feel the faint signs of his separation from Rivera. He was going to need to move things along quicker than anticipated.

“Cuz?” Darren’s eyes went wide.

“Oh, didn’t I mention it?” Roan asked with mock innocence. “My apologies. Everyone, meet Dane LeGuer. The youngest son of my father’s uncle and Squad Leader for the Omega’s here in America.”

The guests who were able just gaped. Roan so loved dropping bombs.

“The reason our history says that, Darren, is because the Alpha’s and other Omega’s made it that way to protect us.”

“Protect you? Why, other than being weak and gay, would you need protection?” Darren scoffed.

Dane gave him a mischievous grin. “Because I can do this.”

He held out both hands toward Darren. In moments, Darren was rising high into the air amid panicked shouts from his
Mate
.

“Don’t hurt him. Please,” she pleaded. “Haven’t you done enough?”

“Not really, Muriel,” Roan stated coldly. “But Dane is the one who has your
Mate
suspended in mid-air, not I.”

She looked at Dane with confusion. “Dane? I don’t understand.”

Dane lowered his arms as Darren slowly came back down, being dropped a foot from the ground and landing heavily on his ass. Darren grunted with the impact, his
Mate
rushing to his side. They both gave Dane a murderous glare but he simply smiled.

“You’re lucky I didn’t drop you
from
higher than that,” Dane quipped. “And on your head.”

Darren wisely kept his mouth shut as his
Mate
helped him regain his feet, her small hands fussing over him.

“Omega Squad was formed a century after the ten families grabbed control of the Pack. Aft
er the Alpha in training
stepped into his role, he knew something wasn’t right with the council. But seeing as the council had been responsible for most of his education about Pack Law, business, and responsibilities, he had no basis for comparison.
Thank
fully, his father’s
Beta
took
matters
into his own hands and waited
for when
t
he
child could
finally beco
me Alpha himself
,
instructing him
. Those instructions encompassed the journals Roan’s father discovered and the Alpha’s real role in the Pack. You see, the council had the old Alpha’s inner circle swear a blood oath of secrecy and for the one’s who wouldn’t, they were killed.
T
he Beta
did this just
to bide his time
because even though he swore the blood oath to the council, the one to his old Alpha superseded the councils. But the new Alpha had to tread carefully. No one but the old Beta knew about any of this or even his Alpha abilities. Keeping his gifts a secret was one of the few lesson’s the Alpha had remembered his father drilling into him before the man was killed.
But how to use his powers for the good of the Pack? Simple really. Gather those that share similar abilities and police the Pack until a solution to the council could be found. Because even though they had
only
ruled for a century, the council had moved swiftly to garner as much control of the Pack as they could.
By the time the Alpha had learned the truth, his hands were pretty much tied. So t
he Alpha’s only recourse was to use those like him and bide his time
,” Dane explained.

“Police the Pack? What is he going on about? And what similar abilities? Can
all the Omega fags lift people?”
Darren sneered.