Chapter 17
Gradel
One minute I was getting ready to find my mate, the next I was in the courtroom, my ass glued to my seat with the other elders, my twin, and my father whose expression was troubled.
“I told you that lady is a witch. A few hours of escaping and she has already been kidnapped by our worst enemy? Why don’t you listen to me, Gradel?” Father yelled at me and banged his fist on the table.
“If we had ignored the fact that she was his mate and killed her as we planned we won’t be in the mess. We aren’t even ready for war,” Simon, the head sentinel replied angrily before I could respond and fury spiked within me.
Blinded by rage, I couldn’t tell when I flew across the room and grabbed his neck. He didn’t expect my assault so he was unable to defend himself from my endless punches. By the time I was dragged away from him, his face had turned to a puddle of blood.
“How dare you suggest killing my mate while I’m here?” I roared through my clenched teeth, struggling to break out of the grip of the men who held me back.
“I’m… Sorry, Prince.” He pleaded with trepidation in his eyes while I scoffed and shrugged their hands off.
“Sit down everyone,” Father commanded and the chaos automatically ceased as no one wanted to be in the bad book of the Alpha.
He was riled up and everyone in the pack could sense how agitated his wolf was within him.
I was a privileged one, the same as Devin. Speaking of him, I passed a glance to Devin who had been silent since he came into the courtroom. For the first time in a while, he seemed unbothered by the chaos going on which couldn’t have gotten me worried if I wasn’t nonchalant myself.
“It’s a shame that you all don’t respect me enough to keep your fists to yourself in front of me. We won’t find a solution to this fix by trying to kill each other,” Father scolded us.
My anger was yet to recede. Remembering that the head sentinel wanted to kill my mate pushed my wolf to the surface, and even the punches I threw at him weren’t enough.
I felt like breaking his head.
“If he hadn’t disregarded my mate, I would have kept my fists to myself like you wanted.” I retorted and he shook his head.
He stood up from his throne, put his hands behind him and cleared his throat. “The Red Sea pack has always been our enemy even before our generation emerged and making peace with them isn’t an option. At the same time, we aren’t completely prepared for the war. If we give in to their demands, we’ll be putting ourselves at their mercy so here’s my judgment…”
Apprehension filled me up, not because I was scared of what his verdict would be but my reaction to it.
I clenched and unclenched my fists a good number of times, hoping that the action would ease the edginess that clung to my chest like a second skin.
The feeling was strange and though my mind didn’t want it, my wolf reveled in it. The urge to protect its mate and possess it.
It was something I’d abhorred since I was against having a woman who would hold such power over me, a woman who didn’t even have a good reputation.
“We can’t save the woman, Gradel. If we try to do that, the people will be put in danger and I don’t want that-”
“You don’t want that or you don’t care?” I cut in.
He huffed and returned to his throne as I cast glances at everyone present. Some of the elders returned the glances while the others who were afraid of me looked away.
If that was how they would react to a simple stare then they weren’t ready for war.
“Head sentinel Simon,” I called and he mumbled a response because of his broken jaw which was slowly healing. “You have a mate, right?”
“Yes, I do,” He answered tersely.
“What will you do if your mate is kidnapped by the enemy of our pack and the options laid out are either to save her and put the pack at risk or allow her to die and have the pack be in peace?”
His eyes darkened for a moment as if he envisioned being in my shoes, then took a deep breath and peered at my father.
I watched him intently, knowing that I’d put him in a difficult spot but even before he spoke I already guessed what his answer would be.
“My mate is my other half. She’s the only woman the moon goddess has destined for me to be with till I die. I don’t think I’ll be able to hold back if she’s in danger without doing anything, so against all odds I’ll do everything within my power to save her,” He said quietly.
Then I added, “Even at the safety of the pack?”
He swallowed nervously then raised his chin, training a confident stare on me. “The pack should ensure their safety, that’s why we are stronger than the non-changelings because we are always prepared for anything. And I don’t think that the pack will be happy a member of the pack sacrificed his mate because of them.”
“So you are encouraging him to go against me?” Father pointed a finger at him, visibly pissed.
“He’s not encouraging me to do anything, Father, and I’m sorry that I won’t be able to obey you this time,” I smirked and sprang to my feet. “My mate is in danger and for the first time in my life, I won’t think about anything else but her safety. I will go and save her then decide what will be our fate. As Simon said, the pack should be ready for the outcome because this is just the beginning of the war.”
His lips parted as if he wanted to speak then he clamped them shut, watching me in amusement as I stormed out of the hallway with Hegar trailing behind me eager to save my mate.