Chapter 33

☆ ☆ Beta Morgana ☆ ☆

After hearing from the Ulfric's Beta, I gathered the leaders into the conference room and got Alpha Black on the line. Once settled, I called Ulfric Draven, "We're here, Sir. What did you wish to speak with us about?" 

The Ulfric spoke, his booming voice stood out over all others, "We have three things to discuss: the hotel arrangements, the possible location of the vampires, and an early reconnaissance mission to determine if the location is correct. 

We all sat in silence, continuing to listen to Ulfric Draven, "The four hotels in Black Mountain have been booked; the Hampton Inn will house 190 warriors, the Quality Inn will house 114, the Monte Vista Hotel will house 90, and the Super 8 Motel will house 170. That's 564 total, and the remaining seven will stay with Alpha Black and the others." 

After a long pause, I interjected, "Ulfric Draven, do you want me to divide and assign rooms to the members?" He responded, "Perhaps, but I have something else I need to ask of you and your Alpha. It's not my intention to overload you during this time, so if it's too much, I can delegate the room assignments to someone else." I responded, anything you need, Sir, I'm here to help." 

"Hmm. Where was I?" Ulfric sighed. Ah, yes. My Beta Darius may have discovered the vampire's location while he was searching for hotels for our stay. Can you pull up the Biltmore Estate?" I responded, grabbing a laptop from the back table and the remote for the projector, "Give us a minute, please." He replied, "Take your time."

Alpha Black's thick southern drawl could be heard over the intercom, "You mean George Vanderbilt's old house? It's just a tourist venue now, and to my knowledge, it's still controlled by his descendants." I typed vigorously on the laptop and smacked the remote to the projector, commanding it to come to life. Ulfric Draven said, "Be that as it may, I'd still like to investigate his hunch."

I could see why Beta Darius thought that way, with its French Gothic architecture, which practically screamed, "Vampires live here." I interjected, "Could we determine the vampire's numbers based on this?" The Ulfric chuckled, "Great minds think alike; my Beta and I came to the same conclusion." 

The Beta spoke his voice more sultry than the Ulfrics, "If this is their residence and we know they use it to bring in income, I estimated that they would utilize one-third of the available rooms for housing their own. That would put 285 vampires in the inns, hotels, and cottages on the property. The main house could hold some, but with the tours given throughout the day, they are likely staying in the servant's quarters, meaning 50 or fewer are living at the estate itself."

He paused briefly. " In the worst-case scenario, they could easily house 944 vampires. But that would be the largest coven recorded in our history." I responded, "I see, and the reconnaissance mission is to determine if vampires live on the Biltmore grounds." Ulfric Draven chuckled, "Alpha Gray, would you mind if your brilliant Beta Morgana went undercover, so to speak, with mine?"

Alpha Gray responded, "When do you need her to go, and for how long?" Ulfric Draven continued, "With your blessing, I'll send my Beta down tomorrow so they can start planning. I'll schedule Morgana and Darius's flight out in two days. They'll be back by the first quarter of the moon." After my Alpha agreed, I responded, "I should be able to manage the room assignments and this task with no issues."

"Very well, I love the ambition.", Alpha Draven commented. I smiled at his remark, "If there's nothing else, I need to get started, and I have another engagement that needs my attention." The Ulfric responded, "That's all for now. Expect my Beta's arrival tomorrow." I hung up the phone.

I sighed, mentally prioritizing my tasks, "I'll run through my lists of members traveling to fight and work on the hotel assignments; in the meantime, allow Layla to shower and get her a decent meal, and then I'll come and speak with her in the conference room." I went to leave the room to return to my office but paused at the door, " Allow two female members to guard her; I don't want any of you going near her, especially if I'm trying to undo the damages you have done."

I went to my office and opened an Excel spreadsheet. Ulfric Draven must have thought this would be difficult, but it only took me a little over an hour to complete.

I divided the packs by state and attempted to keep them together within each state. The overflow would come from the entirety of the West Virginia Packs, Ulfric Draven and his Beta, the Michigan leaders, and one fill member from Michigan. That comprised the 14 members who would be staying with Alpha Black in Black Mountain.

The Hampton Inn would house 72 members from New York, 68 from Delaware, and 50 from Pennsylvania. 

The Super 8 Motel would house 52 members from Tennessee, 46 from Ohio, 42 from North Carolina, 18 from Connecticut, 10 from Kentucky, and two from Rhode Island —170 in total.

The Quality Inn would house 36 members from Maine, 34 members each from Virginia and Michigan, and 10 from Vermont—114 in total.

The Monte Vista Hotel would house 36 members from New Jersey, 26 from Massachusetts, 24 from New Hampshire, and four from Maryland—90 in total. 

There were 44 packs under Ulfric Draven, all varying in size; some packs only sent two or three members, while he could spare 66, not including himself and his Beta. He was impressive and earned his title, even if it was only in name. 

I popped my fingers after emailing the spreadsheet to Beta Daruis. After standing up from my desk, I stretched and then went back down to the conference room to try to convince Layla to aid us so that Kara wouldn't have to die.

Recalling our conversation the day before, I knew that Layla viewed Kara as her own daughter and that she was too emotionally attached to think rationally.

I would have to play on her emotional attachment to sway her back to aid us. I hated manipulating her, but if I didn't, her Alpha would probably leave her in that cell to rot.

Two of my pack members were waiting just outside the conference room doors. "Good afternoon, Beta.", they replied in unison. I nodded in their direction as they opened the doors for me.

I found Layla scarfing down the food in front of her. The poor thing hadn't eaten in several days. The shower had helped, too, because she looked energized despite her living conditions.

I sat across from her at the table and sat in silence, allowing her to enjoy her meal. I knew it would likely be her last if things didn't go well between us. 

Once Layla finished her food, she wiped her mouth and chugged a glass of water. I started speaking, "I just wanted to start by telling you how sorry I am of your treatment here." 

She looked at me warily; I didn't blame her, though. "I would have spoken to you sooner, but with last night being the new moon, we had to tighten our defenses just in case of an attack.", I said.

I continued, "I can understand your attachment toward Kara, and I know that the last thing you want is for her to perish during this battle." 

 Layla cut me off, "You don't know what that child has been through; Kara's mother, my best friend, died during childbirth, and her father shunned her and had the rest of the pack do the same. I was like her mother when we were in private; she trusted me. Now, I have betrayed her trust." 

She breathed in deeply, trying to hold back her tears, "She will choose that vampire over all of us, and it's the Alpha's fault for putting her through that. She won't trust us werewolves after her treatment. Why would she?"

I let her finish, trying to gain her trust, "I understand your concern, and that is why I wanted to talk to you." I paused, gathering my thoughts before I spoke, "In two days, I will be going on a scouting mission; Ulfric Draven's Beta may have discovered where the vampires are staying."

I continued, "Trust me, we are taking this very seriously, and our intentions are not to harm her. Killing her would be a last resort to prevent a Dhampir from being born." 

Layla sat and listened to me, digesting the information that I was giving her. "I have talked to the others about your harsh punishment, and I think having you at the battle would help us.", I said.

Layla looked at me curiously, so I continued, "Kara obviously trusted you, and I think that if you are there, you can convince her to follow you out of harm's way even if the fight isn't in our favor. The prophecy will be broken as long as she doesn't complete the blood bond before the full moon. Meaning that even if we were to lose the battle, she wouldn't have to perish." 

Layla sat up straighter, "How do you propose we accomplish that?" I smiled, "I'm glad you asked; I want to take a small team in from the sidelines while the others are battling and causing a distraction to sneak in and see if we can find her and remove her." 

Layla retorted, "If I do this and anyone tries to attack her, I will defend her to the death." I empathized, "Any good mother would kill or die to defend her pup. But I hope that it doesn't come to that." 

Layla stood up and shook my hand, "You have a deal then." I nodded in agreement, "Unfortunately, you will have to return to the cell, even if only temporarily, until I can convince your Alpha that you are on our side."

I paused, "As a sign of good faith, I will have a mattress brought down with some linens, and you will be given food and water at your request; in return, please don't speak to her mate. If all goes well, you will remain ungagged and free to move about the cell. 

I went to the door and explained to my underlings what I needed them to do. I gave them time to complete their task before escorting Layla back to her cell.

I left her under their watch and discussed things with the other leaders. Once we reached an agreement regarding Layla, I went to bed to catch up on my rest; today was exhausting, and Beta Darius would be here tomorrow.