“Blessed by the Moon Goddess?” Ava snorted. “I could literally feel the black magic rolling off of him. You seriously cannot believe otherwise.”
I didn’t feel it. Which was why I was sure that no one else did either.
But Ava wasn’t just a werewolf or only a vampire. She’s a Faye, she has different powers.
“Black magic?” Heath was the one who asked. Now this put him in a dilemma.
Ava nodded. “He probably did some spell just like casted a spell on those poor witches and made them into zombies.”
“Zombies?” He murmured.
“Yes. He got a spell casted on us because of which the souls of our ancestors took control of our bodies.” Arrow stepped out of the crowd. “He is the reason the witch population of Jivan had been dwindling in the last decade.”
There was a look of pure shock on Heath’s and the other wolves’ of Mystic Lupus’s face.
“Are you seriously telling me that being the Beta of the pack you didn’t know any of this?” Anna hissed. That’s when he took in the large witch population, all of whom looked furious.
I understood. Adrik was good at putting up a nice front. Excellent, in fact. He only showed people what he wanted to show. And this time, he had fooled his entire pack. And I was sure it wasn’t the entire pack. Some had to know, surely. And I had to weed out those corrupt wolves before they do any harm. They were the ones who would do anything for money and power.
“Apologies,” Heath said, his eyes lowering. “I swear to the Moon Goddess, we didn’t know anything. I will accept any punishment you deem fit, Alpha Nikolai.” And then he fell to his knees. He was followed by the rest till every wolf of Mystic Lupus was kneeling. The other wolves murmured in agreement, deep shame filling their forms, all their previous pride vanished.
“Punishment will be served, Beta Heath. You are the Beta. It is your goddamn job to know what your Alpha is up to and what’s happening inside the boundaries of your pack. First, you will find out the wolves who did know about this and bring them to me. Some surely did to have executed an operation this large. Once that is done, you will dedicate your life to find Adrik.” Regardless of the secrets, he was the one who knew Adrik the best, having grown up with him and worked together since a century. “And until you do that, you are to not return to the supernatural island, not unless it is required to find him.”
He lowered his head in acceptance.
“Alpha Nikolai,” An aged witch called and I turned to look at him standing in front of the thousands of witches. “On behalf of all the witches standing here, I would like to say something.”
I nodded, motioning him to go on.
He proceeded to kneel on one knee and he was followed by the rest of the witches.
“Alpha Nikolai,” he started, “we would like to apologise for all that we did while in the influence of Adrik’s power and the souls of our ancestors.”
“You have nothing to apologise for.” I replied. It really wasn’t their fault. They had been a victim just as much as we were.
“We would also like to thank you, Luna Avalyn, and the rest of the Volkov family- especially Beta Dimitri and Beta Natalia from the bottom of our hearts. And if you would have us, we would like to join the great Soare-Luna Pack. It would be an honour to call this land our home and you, our King.”
“It would be our pleasure.” I replied for the entire pack.
“We had been misguided by our elders and it is because of your family that all of us are alive today and our race will continue to live on.” My heart felt full upon feeling the depth of their love and loyalty. He then placed his hand over his heart, “I pledge my life to you.”
“I pledge my life to you.” His voice was followed by an echo of the voices of thousands of the witches kneeling behind him. “And every single witch from here on, will remain loyal to the Volkov family.”
I saw Jeffry Malone, who was standing on the side, wipe a tear from the corner of his eye. Most of the witches kneeling here would’ve been his students, he had known most of them for all their lives. It must be surreal to see them all together, well and live again.
He looked at me and gave me a shaky smile before he too knelt down and placed his hand over his heart, “I pledge my life to you.”
The great Headmaster of Scholae Pythonissam, the mentor of the entire witch race was kneeling in front of me and pledging me his life and loyalty.
I had to have done something right.
Ava’s fingers threaded through mine. I looked down at her and saw her smiling tearfully at me.
‘The power of love and loyalty triumphs the power of fear and brutality, Mi Amor.’ She said through the mind link.
There was a time I used to believe that people need to fear you to follow you. But that was my father’s teaching that had cultivated into my belief. I had been proven wrong today.
If I had not loved and cared for my people, for the people of other packs and Kingdoms, more than half of the supernatural race would have been dead today.
Ava is right. She usually is.
Hate cannot kill hate. Only love can.
“Rise.” I said and all the witches stood up. “The wolves of Mystic Lupus too.”
Once they did, I carried on. “It has been my greatest honour to have all of you pledge your life and loyalty to us.” It really was. “In return, I pledge to always protect you, care for you and love you, as an Alpha should. And it would be my pleasure to have you call Soare-Luna your home. This goes for you too,” I looked at the Mystic Lupus wolves, “you will not be treated like slaves or omegas just because you surrendered or belonged to Mystic Lupus. You fought for your Alpha and for your pack, there is no shame in that, there would be no punishment for that.”
I could feel the relief flowing from them and the rise in their respect, especially once they saw what we had done for the witches and their love and loyalty towards us.
“As far as I know, there is no Mystic Lupus anymore, only Soare-Luna. You will be treated like any other pack member. And as a result of that, you will be expected to learn and follow all the new, progressive rules of the pack, unlearn all the old, regressive rules of your previous pack. I also demand utmost respect and loyalty from each and every one of you. These are the only conditions to be a part of Soare- Luna. Anyone who doesn’t want to be here is free to leave. The only punishment for treason will be death. And pass on this message to the rest of the pack. Heath will stay and take care of the transfer and the people, announce the new rules and reforms that will be sent to you before I come there and take charge myself.”
“And all of you will officially be inaugurated into the pack after everything is in place. Understood?”
I know it won’t be for another few days. I needed to pay a visit to Bellehaven and rip apart a few hearts.
“Yes, Alpha Nikolai.” Heath replied, lowering his head in compliance.
“Yes, Alpha Nikolai.” Malone replied.
“What now?” Ava asked, turning her head to look at me.
“Now we take care of our dead.” I whispered, sadness creeping into my heart at the thought of Javier, Sofiya, Vladimir, Valeralyn and the hundreds of other dead we didn’t even know the count of yet. “And pray to the Moon Goddess to be forgiving enough to excuse this war and bloodshed and accept them in heaven.”