What am I missing? Indeed. What about his brother Sasha? How does he fit into all of this? It finally came to me in the middle of the night. His brother Sasha has always been a hothead, a wildcard of sorts. Where is he in all this new Western Kingdom business? How does he fit in or does he fit in at all? That is the question.
I was finally able to get some restful sleep after I figured out the missing piece of information. That is after I woke up with Austin to feed and diaper him when he needed it. Anthony bless his heart slept through most of the night. He was dead to the world last night which was okay because we have a long day ahead of us today.
Day finally broke and it was time to get up. We all met Uncle Vladimir for breakfast before we went to the castle to meet with Sophia and Mason. Everyone seemed to be in a pleasant mood today. Our conversation was centered around what might be in store for us today.
I didn’t mention Sasha to anyone because I didn’t want to have the conversation more than one time. He is not a topic of conversation I want to have more than once today. He is not the most pleasant of people if you know what I mean.
We all made our way to our vehicles to go to the castle. We met with Sophia, Mason, and Uncle Friedrich at 10 AM in the conference room.
“Good morning everyone. Okay, let’s discuss helping out Alpha Pushkin. Now that we all have had time to sleep on it. I’d like to hear everyone’s thoughts on the subject,” Sophia declared as she looked at everyone in the room.
“I’d like to know how his brother Sasha plays into all of this. He’s the wild card here. Does anyone know his whereabouts or his status?” I inquired as we all got comfortable.
“Ah yes, Sasha Patrizia. The younger brother of Pushkin Patrizia and third in line for Alpha of the Surinda Pack behind a sister Mina. Sasha has a temper. He’s not known for thinking things through and always being extremely violent in nature,” explained Uncle Friedrich. “His last known whereabouts were in Russia but nothing specific. Last I heard, he had his own pack.”
“Do you think he was one of the pack Alpha’s who tried to force their will on others?” asked my Dad.
“Could be. I wouldn’t put it past him to try and overthrow his brother. He always did consider his brother to be a threat to him,” declared Uncle Friedrich.
“Well, I think we need to find out where he is before we start to help Pushkin with anything. If he is an Alpha of his own pack, he could be dangerous if left unchecked,” observed Danny.
“I agree. We need to know all the players involved before we begin to help Alpha Pushkin with forming his kingdom. Uncle Troy, your interactions with him seem to be very valuable. What can you tell me about him?” demanded Sophia.
“Melanie could probably tell you more about him than me. She’s read his name on more After Action Reports than I have and she’s talked to him more than I have,” suggested my Dad.
“Alpha Pushkin is a cunning man. He’s decisive. When I’ve dealt with him, he listens very carefully to all sides before he takes action. He doesn’t gamble with the lives of his pack. But he doesn’t play it safe either. Like I said, he listens to every possible aspect, and every possible outcome before he makes a decision. I’ve read many reports when the commander was frustrated that they had to propose multiple scenarios to him in order for him to choose a course of action. Which some of our commanders were not so happy to do. Let me tell you,” I carefully explained to everyone in the room.
“Hmm. Okay, so he likes to view all sides of a problem and a possible solution before he acts. He wants what is best for his pack-what leader doesn’t want that for his people? Sounds like someone I might like to do business with. What do you all think?” questioned Sophia.
“I agree. He sounds like someone who we could do a lot of business with,” agreed Uncle Vladimir.
“Okay, so first things first. We need to find out more information about his brother Sasha. We need to know his whereabouts, his status. Do we know who the Alpha’s are of the packs in Western Europe?” inquired Sophia.
“We know most of them, yes my Queen. And those we don’t know, I’m sure Troy can probably give us the names of those,” assured Uncle Vladimir.
“Very good, let’s get to verifying that information right away. We need to know who is who in the zoo, so to speak. This will also give us a heads up of who the troublemakers were,” revealed Sophia with a smirk.
“As you wish, Your Majesty,” replied Uncle Vladimir with his own smirk.
We all chuckled at the banter. We all knew that Sophia thought she wasn’t cut out to be Queen, but she is proving to everyone including herself that she is.
Uncle Vladimir must have mind-linked someone because he announced, “I have one of my assistants working on verifying every pack and their Alpha’s name. We will have it shortly.”
“Very good. The next item of business is the trial of Michael Halstead. It will begin tomorrow at 10 AM. Melanie, we wanted to get this trial over and done with as quickly as possible. We didn’t want it to linger any longer than it had to. Are you ready?” Sophia asked me softly.
“Ready or not, let’s get the trial done and over with. I’ll be ready My Queen,” I assured her.
“Really? My Queen? It’s just us in the room Melanie. But I’m glad to hear that you will be ready to get the trial over and done with. We will help you through it,” declared Sophia as she got up and made her way over to me to give me a hug and a kiss.
“Thanks, Soph. I needed that. Is there a possibility of getting some chocolate ice cream? Knowing that I will be facing him tomorrow is a little upsetting,” I declared as Anthony picked me up and placed me in his lap. I inhaled his scent. I did calm down a little bit, but I still needed my ice cream-chocolate ice cream to be exact.
“We need to take a break. How about an hour so that Melanie can have her ice cream and feed Austin? Sound like a plan?” inquired Sophia.
“Sounds like a plan,” we chorused in unison.
We filed out of the conference room. I was led into the room I was given at the castle so I could take care of Austin. Mom was already there with Austin. She was taking care of him and he was ready to be fed.
“Look Austin, there’s your Mommy. See, I told you she was coming,” my Mother cooed to Austin as I made my way over to him.
“Has he been a good boy this morning?” I asked her with a smile on my face. I can’t help myself. I love this little boy. He is my miracle baby.
“Yes, he has. He just started fussing when I sent word that he needed to be fed. Oh, your chocolate ice cream will be here in a few minutes. I heard that the ‘trial’ starts tomorrow. Daddy and I will do everything we can to help you through it. You know that right?” Mom assured me as she handed me Austin to feed.
“I know Mom. I just want the ‘trial’ to be done and over with already. It’s bad enough I have to say what happened to me again but now I have to say it out loud in front of a room full of people,” I mumbled as tears gathered in my eyes. I didn’t want to cry.
I am not a weak person but Michael made me feel weak. He raped me when I was unconscious. I mean who does that? Why would you … Is that why my wolf fought him when I was unconscious? My wolf fought them even in my unconscious state?
Mom didn’t hesitate. She wrapped her arms around me and stated vehemently, “You are stronger than you think Melanie. He will not defeat you because you won’t allow him to. You look him in the eyes and face him down like the coward he is. You have always been my brave little girl. I am so proud of you Melanie. Never, ever forget that.”
“Thank you, Mom. I needed to hear that. You and Daddy have always been my biggest fans next to Danny, of course. What would I ever do without you? I love you very much,” I cooed as I tried to squeeze her and hold Austin at the same time which wasn’t easy.
“Now, feed your son before he begins to give you ‘what for,’ for not feeding him. He’s got to be hungry as a horse by now. No pun intended,” chuckled Mom as she got situated in the chair across from me.
I chuckled at her pun even if it wasn’t intended. We sat in silence for a few minutes until we heard a knock at the door. I knew what the knock meant; my ice cream was being delivered. Mom went to answer the door and I was right, my ice cream along with other snacks was being delivered.