Chapter 95: Chapter 95
Kane POV
“Why should we trust anything you say?” I ask Braden. “Aren’t you the vampire High Elder Gustav warned us about?”
I do not remember much about Gustav’s visit, but I vividly remember him warning me about a vampire around our territory. But we have not heard anything else about vampires since Alice fell pregnant. Why has he reappeared all of a sudden? And almost at the exact same time that Katie arrived?
“Am I already hallucinating or something?” Braden asks weakly, looking from me to Katie. “Why are you two acting like you don’t know who I am?”
“Because we don’t,” I say, looking at Braden as if he is crazy. “Why would we know a vampire?”
“Maybe because I helped you save your mate’s life?” Braden coughs out an incredulous laugh.
What the fuck is he talking about? Is it the poison from Mason’s bite that is turning him insane?
“Alice?” I ask. “Don’t tell me you knew her, too.”
Braden tries to push himself into a sitting position, but he groans and slumps back down. To my surprise, Katie pushes her hands underneath his armpits and helps him up as if he were the size of a child. Holy shit, she is strong.
“Thanks for that,” Braden says, wincing against the pain. “And no, I’m not talking about Alice.”
“Why is everyone pretending like Elara doesn’t exist?” He looks from Katie to me.
Katie makes a strangled gasping noise, and even Mason seems to perk up out of his catatonic state.
There is that name again. What the fuck am I missing?
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I demand.
“I’m talking about your mate,” Braden replies, his face a mask of confusion.
“Alice was ...”
“Alphas,” Monroe shouts from the living room, interrupting me. “High Elder Gustav is here to see you.”
Ah, fuck! Speak of the devil. Even though Gustav wanted the vampire problem dealt with, I seriously doubt Mason mauling him to death is what he had in mind.
“Oh, shit,” Axel mind links me from the other room. “We must get out of here before they come in.”
“Sir, is everything alright in there?” Monroe calls.
“Yes,” I shout. “We’ll be out in a minute.”
“What’s a High Elder?” Katie looks at me with huge eyes.
“Just a regular Elder with a different colour rope,” I smile comfortingly.
“Thank Goddess,” she sighs. “For a minute there, I thought it was code for the grim reaper.”
“Well, he looks the part,” I snort. “Take care of Stella, and don’t worry. Axel and I will sort the rest.”
“I’ll stay with Katie,” Mother says behind me, and I swing around.
When did she come in?
“Uhm, I’ll be with Stella,” Katie nods in Mother’s direction and rushes to Stella’s room.
“Ma, we can explain,” I begin, but she holds her hand up. “Go see Gustav. The twins are safe with Mindy. And in the meantime, wash your hands. You stink.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I nod, casting one last glance around Katie’s mess of a room before I dash into the bathroom, scrubbing my hands raw.
“We will ask Gustav what he wants and get him out of here as quickly as possible,” I mind link Axel.
“Agreed,” he replies.
I dry my hands and meet Axel and Monroe in the living room.
“The timing couldn’t be worse,” Axel says as we walk to our office. “Dad is gone, Mom surely will kill us later, and we have a dying vampire stowed upstairs.”
“Just perfect,” I grunt sarcastically.
Gustav spins around when we enter our office, his all-white robes flowing behind him. An angry frown wrinkles his already heavily lined face.
Shit. He is mad at us, and we have not even said a word to him yet.
“What can we do for you, Gustav?” I ask, keeping my distance. I cannot risk Gustav sniffing out any vampire whiffs that might have floated down from upstairs.
“Why don’t you tell me?” Gustav replies, a wicked grin spreading across his face, clasping his bony hands behind his back. “Your father sent me here. He tells me you’ve broken one of the Council’s most important rules.”
Axel POV
That fucking asshole. We should have known Father would not leave this place without a fight.
“What rule is that?” I ask carefully.
Kane catches my eye, and his face pales slightly. I know what he is thinking because I am thinking the same thing. How the fuck does Father knows about a bleeding vampire in the mansion? It is impossible; it just happened. Do we have a spy?
“The rule stipulates that you must respect your elders,” Gustav seethes.
So, Father ran off and told Gustav that we yelled at him? How fucking pathetic.
“If there isn’t peace among your family, then how will there be peace in the pack?” Gustav demands.
“My relationship with my father is complicated,” I reply. “And private.”
“The Constantine pack is the most powerful pack in the region, and the Council would like it to stay that way,” Gustav said icily, shaking his head. “Which means nothing that goes on behind these doors will stay private.”
He looks at us pointedly, his grey-blue eyes unwavering.
I try to keep my expression stony, but my anger is rising by the second. I should have let Kane kill Father last night. We do not need this on top of a dying vampire. We need to get Gustav out of here and then take Braden as far away from the mansion as possible. Something tells me Gustav will be back sooner rather than later. And so will Father, I am sure of that.
“You know,” Gustav steps closer, but I stand my ground. I will not bend the knee. “Our pack was the most harmonious it’s been in decades when you two took over, and now it seems that everyone walking down the street is restless and looking for a fight. We can’t have that.”
“One more slip-up from either of you,” he points a bony finger at me and Kane. “And you’ll be under Council investigation. Your days as Alphas might be numbered.”
And with a swish of his white robes, he is gone. But his threat looms over us like a heavy storm cloud. We are so fucked.
