Chapter 23

☆☆ Layla ☆☆

Seated at the conference table, I was filled with disbelief. My husband, a mere pawn in Alpha Kayn's game, was blindly following his orders. How could he not see that the Alpha would be at fault if things went south? The thought of the deceptions and omissions he might be party to only fueled my skepticism.

My thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the other Beta's voice. "What's eating at you?", his intrusion only added to my mounting frustration. I shot him a glare, my anger palpable. He wisely raised his hands in surrender. "Forgive her; she hates flying.", my husband, Liam, interjected. "I'm Liam, Beta to Kayn's pack, and this is my wife Layla." The other man introduced himself as Evan, Beta to Garren's pack, but I was too agitated to pay much attention.

Great. At least now we have our introductions out of the way. I rolled my eyes and sulked. Liam and Evan made small talk as we waited for our respective Alphas to return but I couldn't be bothered by their nonsense. It amazed me how simple-minded my male counterpart was; everything was black and white; an order was an order, and he would follow it to his death. 

The door to the conference room swung open, announcing the return of the Alphas. We all rose, bowing our heads in a show of respect. Alpha Grey took his seat at the head of the table, flanked by Alpha Garren and Alpha Kayn. The Betas and I shifted down, the air thick with anticipation, waiting for our next command.

Alpha Grey pressed the intercom, instructing a werewolf outside the room, "Please retrieve my Beta; they need to be in here when we call the others." A voice replied, "Yes, Sir." The door opened a few moments later. The Beta that entered was a sight to behold, her beauty as striking as her icy blue eyes. She had a beauty mark to the left of her upper lip and long black hair neatly pulled into a high ponytail. Though not unexpected, her presence was a rarity; a female Beta was a novelty. An Alpha female was even more infrequent.

"Meet Morgana, my Beta and also my Luna's twin sister.", Alpha Grey introduced her as she sat next to Evan. Interesting, to say the least; I was skeptical if her position in the pack was earned or given merely because of her relationship with his Luna. Morgana took over the intercom, "Please retrieve the Luna after she is done caring for Jayce. Then, call the other leaders. Once they are on standby, you may patch in The Ulfric Draven so we can update him and devise our plan of attack."

We waited patiently for the Luna to return and for the conference call to begin. Ulfric Draven was the Ruling Alpha from the North East. Of course, it was an honorary title, but he held the most power and influence in our region. Suppose you were to draw a line down from the center of Michigan to the base of Tennessee and then straight across to the Atlantic Ocean, that essentially covered his domain in the United States. All the packs within this region answered to him in the long run, but he typically let packs work things out amongst themselves unless there were issues. 

Of course, this situation would involve his input, though I don't recall him being on the phone earlier when I spoke in Kayn's office; perhaps his Beta was there by proxy instead. The Luna arrived within 10 minutes or so; she looked identical to her sister, the Beta, except her hair was platinum blonde. I assumed that she was the firstborn of the two. She nodded and seated herself away from us at the other head of the table nearest the door.

"I hope this doesn't take too long; I must return to check in on Jayce within an hour.", she acted bothered about being pulled away from her nursing position. The ceiling speakers sputtered as other pack leaders' voices entered the room. Beta Morgana spoke, "Silence, everyone; we are awaiting Ulfric Draven to enter before speaking on the situation." The others listened despite their higher rank. Based on that interaction, I surmised that she had earned the position. 

We all waited patiently in silence before hearing a booming voice: "I'm here; you may begin." Morgana spoke again, "I will be the emcee during this conference call. Please wait to be called on before speaking to avoid interrupting the current speaker and causing confusion and delays. Questions will be allowed at the end, so please hold them until then. Our time is limited and valuable, and I expect that everyone follows these guidelines." 

Her rules of engagement were acknowledged without anyone uttering a sound. She continued, "Let's begin with Alpha Grey's Luna, as she needs to return to patient care and only needs to give an update on the wellness of the werewolf in her care. The Luna looked at her sister and mouthed a silent thank you before clearing her throat to speak.

"Alpha Garren's son Jayce is stuck in his shift, and thus far, no methods have returned him to his human form. Due to this, we have determined that it is best he remains caged to prevent him from further injuring himself trying to get to his mate. His paw pads show signs of stage 2 frostbite, which I am treating for him; I estimate that we should be ready to go into battle within 9-13 days. I will update Alpha Grey immediately once he is well enough to be transported.", She looked around; if that is all, I will return to my patient. Alpha Grey waved her off, and she left hurriedly.

Morgana said, "If the maximum number of days is required, that would leave us with three days to go to Asheville, North Carolina, with him to scout and plan our attack before the night of the full moon. Alpha Garren, do you have anything to add?"

Alpha Garren said, "If we release my son, he will be able to find her; his inner beast is pulled to follow a thin red line that we believe is leading him to her. I agree that it is best to restrict him until we are closer to her location, as his primal drive to find her has fully taken over him. I can use our mind link to communicate with him in North Carolina as we have done here. Jayce is fully aware of the situation and the perils we will face if he is unsuccessful in battle."

Ulfric Draven interjected as he was the only one allowed to do so. "How many are willing to travel?" Morgana opened a manila folder; I assumed she had brought it with her but was so stunned by her appearance that I failed to notice the plain object. She spoke, "According to my calculations, we have 578 members who have voluntarily taken on this obligation. There are roughly 5,000 members in your region who could be conscripted; however, many are females with children or elderly members, and we didn't anticipate their participation anyway. It could be more detrimental to our cause to have them there." 

Morgana paused briefly, waiting for a response, but there was none. She continued, "But If you need the breakdown of that 5,000, you have 27% who have not turned or fully mastered their ability to shift yet. 25.6% are between the ages of 22-40 and are considered at their prime; of that percentage, you have 578/1280, about 45% that have volunteered, as I said, and the remainder of your members 41 and older make up the other 47.4%." I smiled; I loved how informed she was about the situation. I was sorry that I previously doubted her abilities or position. 

"Hmmm, I see.", Ulfric Draven's voice boomed again, commanding our respect. He paused momentarily, thinking the numbers over, "We know little of our enemy's resources, Alpha Kayn. What information do you have?" My pathetic Alpha spoke, "As far as their true numbers, I'm unsure. When we met, it was in a public institution, not their lair. Sylas is old and powerful, and he brought 20 or so vampires that I sensed in the shadows. I doubt he needed them against one Alpha and a werewolf that had not shifted before, but he was wise to be cautious." I rolled my eyes; the disdained smirk told everyone in the room how I felt about him. 

He continued, "I have done everything you asked regarding my daughter Ulfric Draven." We sat there awaiting another response. After a long pause, Ulfric Draven said in a solemn tone, "If we see that things are not looking favorable on the battlefield. We must all take a stance to ensure that this Dhampir-Were hybrid is never brought into this world. I'm sorry to say, but that means we will focus our remaining efforts on murdering your daughter. The words spewed from my lips after his statement. "No, you can't do that." Alpha Gray shot a quick glare at his Beta Liam, and he swiftly removed me from the room as I flailed my arms and legs in protest. 

I heard the others agree before the door closed. Tears streamed down my face as though I had lost one of my own children. How could they do this to her? Did her life mean nothing to anyone other than myself? "If you aid in her demise, I will never forgive you, Liam. Never." I screamed out, still pounding my fists ineffectively on his back. Alpha Kayn slammed the door shortly after following us out. "How could you do this to your daughter?", I howled. He never even looked in my direction, "Alpha Grey will allow us to use the basement and keep her chained up until this is over. We fear what she could do if left to her own devices. And, make sure to gag her before taking her down there so she doesn't put thoughts in Jayce's head." 

Liam, again without question, obeyed his Alpha's orders. I was left sitting in a cell of my own, bound and gagged. All I could do was curl up into a ball on the hard cement floor and sob to myself. I noticed the eyes of Kara's mate lingering on me, and I heard Liam's voice before he closed the door and left.