THE WARNING

I smiled as I watched my father command everyone's attention. He had always been Alpha, the leader of our pack, but I had never seen him sitting at the head of the council.

The last time the council was called into session, Merrick and I were both too young to join. We simply watched as the impressive leaders of the supernatural world gathered in our home.

"As mentioned in the letter that Alpha Robert Jackson of the Dark Waters pack sent to all of us, there is a plot to create a rift between the different packs and supernatural races." My father said as he looked around the room.

I knew exactly what he was doing, he was making eye contact with everyone because he wanted to emphasize his point and tell them how important the matter was. Dad did this all the time during pack meetings and he had taught Merric and I how to do it as well.

"How do we know that Alpha Robert is telling us the truth?!" A man around the same age as my Jason said as he stood up and questioned my father.

I felt Jason's hand grip mine tightly, making me turn and face him.

It seemed that he didn't notice his action, because he didn't even spare me a glance. He was listening so intently to the conversation and he was reacting subconsciously. I couldn't help but wonder who this other Alpha was.

"That's Alpha Sean of the Blood Moon Pack." My brother whispered into my ear. He was sitting right behind me, I had planned to make him my beta.

"My cousin." I heard Jason hiss as I looked at him.

He glanced at me and I noticed as his eyes were darker than they were earlier, I knew they had bad blood between them, but I didn't think it was that bad.

His darkened eyes meant that he was furious and that his wolf was almost to the surface.

"Jason." I called out as I Iooked down at our interlocked hands which he was gripping tighter and tighter.

I knew I could take the pain, but I was worried about the anger brewing in him. His eyes told me all I needed to know, if he was pushed any further by the events in the room his wolf, Hercules would come out.

Our wolves were not monsters that you couldn't reason with, but they were more primal, more instinctive than we were. It would be much harder to stop him from making a rash decision.

When Jason realized that he was crushing my hand in his, I saw his black eyes lighten. This made me breathe a sigh of relief, it meant that I was successful in dissipating his emotions.

"I'm sorry my love." Jason said in a tender voice, one that was miles away from the angry one he used to refer to his cousin.

"It will take much more than that to break me." I told him with a grin as he lifted his hand to caress my cheek.

Someone coughed behind us, taking us out of the imaginary world we had created whenever we touched.

"Sorry guys, but I think you both need to pay attention." Merrick said with a silent laugh as he gestured towards Alpha Sean who was still standing.

"Are you willing to take responsibility for the lives we might lose if war were to break out between our races?" My father asked in a commanding tone.

The Alphas of the Shadows Pack always carried with them a unique aura. It was our birth right to preside over these meetings, so all Alphas of the Shadows Pack had a small advantage over the other Alphas when the council was in session.

"Old men like you should not be leading meetings like these. You are too cautious, too afraid of rumors that lurk in the shadows. Ironic, no?" Alpha Sean accused my father as he pointed a finger from across the table.

"I assure you, Alpha Sean, before sending out the letter I investigated my sources carefully." The alpha who had defended my right to be with Jason earlier said as he looked at the younger Alpha.

I assumed that he was Alpha Robert of the Dark Waters Pack. He was younger than my father, maybe in his mid thirties. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, quite attractive, but not my type.

'Yeah, because your type is seated right next to us.' Ares said in my head as she laughed at how witty she was.

'He will be my only type, forever.' I told my wolf as I smiled.

"Then tell me, Alpha Robert," Alpha Sean said as he walked towards the older Alpha. "If your sources are so reputable, where are they and where did they get this information?" He asked.

I watched as Alpha Robert glanced at my father, seemingly asking for help.

I knew that my father would not have a choice but to allow this questioning, no matter how much he disliked Alpha Sean. It was every member's right to question the source, our existence was the matter on the line.

"Alpha Robert?" The younger Alpha asked.

"I'm sorry, Alpha Robert, but you must answer him." My father said in a regret filled tone.

We all knew Alpha Sean was pushing it, this line of questioning was not necessary. It would be unlikely that an Alpha would create a fake threat to scare us.

"They are dead." Alpha Robert finally revealed. "They were warriors from my pack that had chosen to live with their mates outside of our territory. They had stumbled into the hideout of the group who were plotting to seed chaos among us."

"That doesn't explain how they died." Alpha Cain hissed as he glared at Alpha Robert.

It was clear to me from this meeting which Alphas were allies, and which were not.

"Relax, Alpha Cain. Let your fellow wolf speak." An elderly man in fashionable clothes said as he tried to get Alpha Cain to keep quiet.

"I don't need you to tell me that, Mage." Alpha Cain hissed as he looked at the man.

I think Jason noticed my confusion so he leaned down and explained who it was that Alpha Cain had just dissed.

"That is High Magus Theodore, he is the leader of the casting folk, witches, wizards, mages, whatever the world chooses to call them." Jason explained to me.

I simply nodded, surprised at how much more he knew than I did.

It seemed that if I wanted to be Alpha of the Shadows Pack I still had a lot to learn.

"Continue." My father said as he nodded towards Alpha Robert's direction.

"As I was saying, they had stumbled on the lair and had managed to eavesdrop on the occupants. They said they were planning on framing the vampires for the death of a witch and a wolf." Alpha Robert explained as he looked at the three most prominent leaders in the room.

My father, representing the wolves, High Magus Theodore, for the caters, and a dark haired man to Jason's right. I assumed that he was the leader of the Vampires.

"They would be stupid to even try!" The vampire said with a laugh. "We have a process now on how to investigate these matters and whole races don't need to die for the mistake of one."

"They were planning on killing quite high up in the hierarchy." Alpha Robert said as he looked at me.

"No one will harm her." Jason suddenly said as glared at Alpha Robert.

"He is not the enemy." I quickly told my mate, reacting to his defensive nature.

Jason smiled and looked at me, I knew he was proud that I had reacted to his emotions, it meant that the bond was solidifying itself between us even if we weren't marked and mated.

"My daughter is right." My father told Jason. "Go on Alpha Robert." He told the younger man.

"My doctors and even the local casters think that they were discovered in the lair, their lungs had been poisoned even before they had managed to make their way to the pack house." Alpha Robert explained. "As a matter of fact they were practically crawling when they arrived. They delivered this information to us with their dying breaths."

"Do you trust these men?" The vampire leader asked.

"Yes." Alpha Robert responded in a firm tone.

"Do you have any reason to doubt them?" High Magus Theodore asked.

"No. They were loyal and true all throughout their lives. They had no reason to lie." He answered.

"Why were they living outside of your territory if they were your trusted warriors?" A man I assumed to be a high ranking vampire asked as he waited for the Alpha's answer.

"They were both mated to humans." Alpha Robert said with a frown. "They didn't want their mates being exposed to our world, so they chose to live outside of the pack, only coming to our territory for work."

"And what happened to their mates?" My father asked as he carried a concerned look in his eyes. I knew he had a gut feel about what had happened. A wolf barely survives their mate's passing, what more a human.

"Dead." Alpha Robert said. "Dead not because of the paid, but murdered by the very same people that killed my men. They were dismembered and a warning was left for us."

"What was the warning?" Jason asked.

"You cannot stop the inevitable." Alpha Robert said as an eerie silence took over the room. Clearly the matter at hand was not one that could be easily ignored.