“Alpha Kai, you ask the impossible.” Rasmus was quick to say the moment Kai had finished presenting his case to the counsel.
“How is it impossible?” Kai asked glancing at the faces of the alpha kings. “This man is acting on his own, joining forges with Lycan and trying to cause a war. And me asking for your judgment is impossible.”
There rose murmurs form the alpha’s. Kai was starting to feel that coming here was a bad idea.
But if he took major decisions without the council, they will brand him an insubordinate. Their double standard was disgusting.
“We don’t even have proof if his plans with the lycans!” Rasmus said. “This is all word of mouth!”
The council murmured in agreement.
Kai sighed and rubbed his temples. This was why he liked to do things on his own. But the time they were done arguing and pointing fingers and talking about pointless things, it would be too late to do anything .
“And besides,” Rasmus did. “Reports reached us that you killed a human.”
“That right.” Leon added, stroking his full beard. “You are aware of the treaty, right?”
They weren’t being serious right now.
“I’m talking to you about something important right now, and you’re asking me about a low life human?”.
“That was a direct violation of our rules.” Keith spoke up. “How do you plead? Did you do it or not?”
“My mate was in danger, held captive by none other than Asher himself.” Kai hoped they would get his point now. “Either of you would have done the same in a heartbeat.”
There was silence.
“Asher is trying to usurp power. We can’t let him walk away with this. And you all know this!”.
“He’s not in violation of any rules.” Rasmus said. “All we have is words of mouth”
Kai glared at him. “So what? You’ll only move when he kills someone?”
“Yes.” Rasmus said with a smug smile. “Does that bother you, alpha Kai?”
Kai smiled to himself. “Not at all. I just hope the dead body he drags in here to show you all how serious he is is one of your loved ones.”
Rasmus narrowed his eyes. “Was that a threat?!”
“Words of mouth.” Kai replied.
“I do support Alpha Kai ” Adrian spoke up. “Asher has been a thorn in our sides for a longtime now. And yes, this does sound like something he will do.”
“That’s true” the rest of the alpha’s agreed with Kai.
Rasmus looked shocked to say the least. The council was divided, something he hadn’t ever hoped to happen.
Kai Rose to his feet. “You can wait until Asher brings his destruction to your doorstep. However, I don’t have that luxury of waiting around to see.”
“We aren’t done here yet.” Leon hissed
“Let this be a fair warning. I will not sit back and watch my pack destroyed. If any of you should try to stop me, be prepared to make enemies out of me for all eternity.”
He was tied of waiting for the old men to do something. Kai had people to protect now. He wasn’t going to give Asher a single Chance at all.
****
Karen stared at the healer, her eyes wide as she replayed what the woman had just said
“I’m pregnant?” She whispered.
The healer nodded. “It’s wonderful new my lady.”
Karen smiled to herself. Yes, it was indeed wonderful news. That came at a wrong time. “I’ll tell the alpha myself.” She told the woman, this time not needed to beg or plead. “Thank you.”
She remembered what happens the last time she had said she would tell Kai hersle. f she had lost contact with him for four years. She knew that a this time wouldn’t be like the last
She was confident about it.
The healer left. Karen got out of bed, putting on her shoes. She looked around, noticing the subtle changes in Kai’s suite. She remembered the times she has to clean it from top to bottom, leaving it squeaky clean
Those days were behind her now.
She walked out of the suite and headed for the gym. Kai had started David’s training and Karen has to make sure he wasn’t forcing a four year old to lift weights.
They had both talked about it and decided it was best to teach him now to control his wolf first. And as he got older and stronger, the physical trainings could not start.
That didn’t stop Kai from waking David up by four am for a morning run
“It’s a simple exercise.” He had said in his defense when Karen questionned him about it. She decided to let him be and even join them on the run.
She got to the gym and it was very quiet. Given that it was night, not many people came to use it anyway.
Karen walked in and spotted Kai and David on a yoga mat, meditating.
She tiptoed over to them, watching father and son. David’s har was growing longer, he now tied it at his nape, trying to mimic his father’s style. He opened an eyes and looked at her, flashing her a charming smile.
“Focus,” Kai said. “Mommy, please you’re distracting us ”
Karen rolled her eyes. “What are you doing?”
“Connecting our inner spirits.” Kai said
David beckoned her closer. She bent down and he leaned into her ear. “I’m thinking of what to eat for dinner.” David whispered to her.
“I heard that loud and clear.” Kai snapped, a playful note in his voice.
“It’s almost time for dinner.” Karen announced.
“It can wait.” Kai replied. “David, back to position. Remember what I told you, breath in and out. If you can control your breathing…”
“Daddy I’m hungry.”
Kai opened his eyes and stared at his son. “Really?”
David nodded. “Yes!”
Kai sighed and rolled his eyes. “You can’t focus when you’re hungry. Let’s go and get some food.”
David jumped to his feet and ran out of the gym first, skipping in excitement along the way .
“Kai there’s something I need to tell you ” Karen said, holding him back before he could leave.
“What wrong ?” He asked, facing her fully.
Karen drew in a huge breath for courage. “I….”
“My alpha” Nicolas bust into the gym, urgency in his voice.
“One moment” Kai said to Karen and turned to face Nicolas. “What’s wrong?!”
“Asher has attached our borders! He and his forces are advancing rapidly!”
“Let’s go.” Kai said gravely. He turned to Karen and kissed her on the lips. “I’ll be back soon okay, and you can tell me what you wanted to say.”
Karen nodded. “Be safe okay.”
“I will.” He and Nicolas rushed out the gym. Karen could hear his voice from outside barking orders an rounding up his warriors.
She made her way out of the gym and to the dining area. It was more quiet there. David was already on his second plate of lasagna as she joined him
“Where’s daddy?” He asked, his mouth full.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” Karen chided him, wiping his mouth with a towel.
“I can do that myself.” He said in protest and grabbed the towel from her. “Where is daddy?”
“He went to fight some bad Guys. He’ll be back soon”
David nodded. “I wish I could go with him and fight bad guys too.”
“You’re too young for that, okay? when you’re older, you can fight with daddy.” She said. She tried to eat but her stomach was in knots. She drank some water.
She had a sinking feeling in her gut. She couldn’t explain it, but it was there. She watched David eating and smiled to herself. Soon he was going to have a brother or a sister.
She couldn’t wait to break the news to Kai.
***
Long after David had gone to sleep, Karen waited in the lobby of the pack house for Kai to return. These sort of things didn’t take much time, but for some reason he wasn’t back yet.
Karen didn’t want to let her mind wander, picking up a book and trying to read it. She couldn’t focus on the words printed inside, her heart racing each time she so much as heard a nosie from outside.
The sounds of the front doors bursting open made Karen jump to her feet. A smile spread on her face, a smile that quickly died. The warriors rushed in, one of them supporting Kai on one side, Nicolas on the other. He was wounded, blood poured form the cuts on his chest, staining the floor.
“What happened?!” Karen cried out, rushing forward to him. He raised his head weakly and looked at her.
“He was injured! And the wounds won’t stop bleeding!”
“Hurry up! We need a healer!” Karen shouted.
She followed them as the reached up the stairs and headed to his suite. The healer came in right after them and quickly went to work.
“What exactly happened?” Karen asked Nicolas as they stood by his side. The healer crushed some herbs and spread it across his chest. Karne. Noticed he was breathing shallow, his eyes going out of focus.
“I think is poison.” The healer said. “But I’ve not seen this kind of poison before ”
Karne burst into tears. “Will he be okay? ”
“If I can get most of it out, yes.”
“Mommy?”
Karen whipped her head to see David. He was rubbing sleep out of his eyes. “Is daddy home yet?.”
Karne rushed to him a. nd shielded his view so he wouldn’t see Kai’s bloodied form.
“Go to bed okay.” She said softly “daddy has a little something to do first.”
He yawned, nodding his head slowly. “Okay….”
He walked back to his room and Karen made sure she saw him go back to sleep before she left. She rushed back to Kai’s side
“I’ve gotten most of the poison out.” The healer said. “He will be fine,”
Karne exhaled in relief. “Thank goodness!” She cried. She couldn’t imagine anything happening to him..
She hadn’t even told him the good news yet
Asher got away.” Nicolas announced. His words made her blood run cold.