Alpha Ultima

Chapter 14

Our meeting was just finishing up for the time being when the door to the conference room slammed open, making all four of us jump out of our seats. My head whisked around to see Liam, Cole and Xavier walk confidently into the room before the latter stopped dead in his tracks. His gaze met Tyler's and rage filled his eyes like a burning inferno, shifting to the blood red of his Lycan.

In the blink of an eye, Xavier moved from standing in the doorway to lunging across the table and wrapping his hands around Tyler's neck. Their bodies fly backwards from the table to the floor in a weirdly sort of graceful way.

"You fucking bastard! You have some nerve showing your face here!" Xavier snarled.

Xander, Quinn and I remained seated at the table, shocked. Xavier wasn't supposed to be back on pack lands for another two weeks. What on earth could he be back so soon for?

After the attack all those years ago, Xavier spent weeks in our prison cells before the trial for his betrayal. He stood before my mates, his brother, and testified to his wrong doings. All the secrets, lies, betrayals, the whole nine yards.

He was a broken man begging for forgiveness. The pack had welcomed the Lycan's into our homes and had forgave them for their transgressions but my mates, especially Xander, struggled to let Xavier off. The Sire bond had caused nothing but heartache and grief.

Quinn had not gotten past the deaths of his parents and I knew that a large part of him, blamed Xavier for what had happened. Even though Xavier wasn't the one who pulled the trigger, if it wasn't for him breaking Tyler out of the cells, and keeping Viktor informed of what was going on in the pack, we never would have lost David and Serena.

In the end, after listening to all that Xavier had gone through and the pain and heart ache he has been left with, my mates agreed to grant forgiveness. What would it show our pack if we could forgive some, but not others for the same mistakes? They agreed but they weren't happy about it. It took years before their relationship was able to mend fully.

Xavier is now fully responsible for pack relations. He travels to the different packs, to make sure everything is under control. He latest trip was down to the western coast of Canada and he wasn't due back for a while yet.

The sound of Xavier's fist hitting Tyler's face, while satisfying as it was, it was enough to bring me out of my reverie and realize I needed to end this. Tyler remained on his back, not fighting back or even trying to protect himself, while Xavier hovered over him with his fist raised to hit him again when I spoke.

"That's enough." My voice carrying the sheer dominance through it's command.

Xavier grimaced, his jaw clenched as he struggled with whether or not to fall in line. In the end he released a heavy sigh and lowered his fist before standing and turning to address me. Tyler however, remained lying on the ground, now holding a hand over his bleeding nose.

"Xavier, sit down and we can explain." I wave a hand towards the empty chairs around the table. Liam and Cole had already taken their seats around their respective alpha's and both looked incredibly unimpressed.

Well. Let's do this one more time.

****

We had now been sitting at this table for three hours. My ass hurts. My back hurts. My head hurts. I'm starving. The problem with being Luna and as Queen too I guess, was that I couldn't just sit here and flop over with a whine until someone brought me food and a back massage.

Nooooo, of course not. I had to behave myself and operate with professionalism and decorum. Who in their right minds would have thought this was a good idea. You would think that there would be benefits to all this, but the only benefit I have it the love of my mates and the respect of my pack. I guess that isn't too bad.

I can feel Lupin rolling her eyes at my immaturity. My mates tell me that I get hangry. Unbearable to deal with as the more hungry I get, the more angry I get. How preposterous.

"Carter, I understand why you brought him here. Without the information that he brought forward today, we would have all been caught unawares. That being said, I still don't trust him." Xavier growls, his eyes locked in on Tyler. "What are we supposed to do now, just let him walk freely around the pack house? For him to have free reign? He could be planning to gain as much information for his father and then kill us in our sleep for all we know!"

Tyler slams his hands down on the table and stands. His chair sliding backwards before falling down to the floor with a loud bang.

"How does that make any sense? Why would I risk my life to come here, to warn you about the upcoming attack, just to kill you myself? My loyalties do not lie with Viktor Evans. He took my mate!" Tyler yells, the vein in his forehead is prominent with his anger.

"I understand that you do not trust me. I understand that I did horrible, and unforgiveable things while under the Sire Bond. But all of you need to understand this, I am not here for your forgiveness. I am here because what my father is doing is wrong. What I did to you was wrong. I had every intention of staying to fight side by side with you to make sure that my father does not survive this battle, and when that time comes, I will be the one to rip his throat out."

Tyler stands in front of us all, his chest heaving with his ragged breaths. The red tinge of his eyes show his Lycan underneath and his clenched jaw reflect the struggle he is going through to remain under control.

"You say you understand that we are still leery of you, Tyler. What can you do that shows us you are loyal here? You have been released from the bond with Carter, so you have nothing holding you to your word." Quinn asks.

Tyler picks his chair back up before sitting back down. He is quiet as he ponders what my mate has said.

"They have a point here. What happened that night ruined all of us. No one is going to risk that pain and betrayal again." I mutter.

Tyler nods, his eyes unfocused as I'm sure he is trying to come up with a solution. Xavier, while still angry at the situation, was right in the respect that we need to be able to trust him not to stab us in the back. We have too much at stake here.

"Alright." Tyler says suddenly as he stands from the table.

All eyes follow him as he walks around the table towards me.

"Alright, what?" My brows furrow as I watch him as he stops at the empty chair beside me, pulls it out and sits down.

"Alright as in I know what I can do to put your minds at rest as well as earn some trust here."

I let my eyes roam over the other members at the table. Not one of them looks impressed, and I swear that Xavier is going to jump the table and rip his head off if he doesn't start fully explaining himself.

"Good Goddess, man! Spit it out!" Xavier snarls and I pull my lips into my mouth to prevent my smile from showing.

"I'm suggesting that we resort to a good old fashioned blood oath."

The smile on his face is genuine. Not one person in the room speaks. I look back and forth between his eyes, trying to find a hint of deceit but come up empty handed.

The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. A blood oath under the full moon would keep him honest and show his loyalties. This could work.