JEOPARDY: The Cursed Soldier.

43. Meetings

A thick tension filled the Lunarheart council hall.

An emergency meeting had not been called for over 18 years. An emergency meeting had never been good news. It meant always death. It meant always change.

Every council member wondered who had killed, or would be killed because of that meeting.

Kayla stood in the shadows with the other guards. This was her first time attending a council meeting. And it felt strange to see all the important pack members and think about what might have happened if she had shifted yesterday.

Would they have accepted her as their Alpha? Would they have welcomed the change? Or would they have fought her because she was a stranger and a child?

"Hello, everyone." Beta Landon, who was sitting on Sienna's right hand, started. "Thank you for coming and we're sorry for the short notice. We've called you here because we have a situation--"

"Stop beating around the bush, boy. Just tell us what has happened already," A lanky, greying man asked from his chair at the far end of the table.

Sienna glared red, glowing eyes at the man before she growled. "Don't test me, Sabin. Nobody talks to my husband like that."

Landon's face remained calm but slightly grim as he added, "Vampires have infiltrated Soleria and attacked Angela."

Several gasps filled the room and a new tension and dread pierced the air. Several council members shared terrified looks.

"How do you know it's a vampire? Vampires went extinct a century ago." A beautiful platinum blonde woman asked and several heads nodded in agreement, while others still looked too scared to form an opinion.

"Vampires are not extinct. They were hiding, bidding their time until they attacked us," Sienna answered, glaring at the woman. "Now that they have, we'll fight back and finally annihilate them."

Gamma Andrei stood up from his seat and faced the other council members. "I agree with the Alpha. The vampires have provoked us. They have declared war. They attacked our future Alpha. My epsilons are ready for war say the word, Alpha, and we will match to every street in Soleria and tear each one of these leeches into pieces."

Half the council members nodded, their anger rising and vibrating the halls. But some still seemed unsure.

Sienna inclined her head once. "You have my approval. March out first thing tomorrow and kill them all. I don't want a war, Andrei. I want a massacre. I want them killed like the parasites they are. Let the world know that no one messes with my pack, and exactly what happens to those who do."

Hesitant nods spread throughout the room.

But the oldest man in the council (probably one of the pack elders) cleared his throat. " Are we going to jeopardize our treaty with the humans because of a rumor? We are hearing about a vampire that attacked your daughter. But your daughter sits unharmed beside you. What happened to this vampire, where is it right now?

"I have lived through an era of constant wars with the vampires. If a vampire had attacked a werewolf, there would have been signs. Your daughter couldn't have survived a vampire attack and yet look so unharmed. Something doesn't add up."

An elder woman sitting next to him nodded. "It's no secret that Angela can't defend herself against an ant. How did she survive an attack from one of the most cunning and dangerous creatures on earth?"

Murmurs broke through the room. No one talked loud enough to be heard by the entire gathering, but everyone mumbled to the person closest to them, in agreement with what the elders had said. Somehow, they ignored the fact that they all had hyper-sensitive ears.