No Mercy

Chapter 3

"So the day has finally come, huh?" My dad laughs loudly as he strokes his hand along his beard.

I don't say anything, glaring at him from the opposite end of the table.

My foot taps restlessly on the ground while the rest of my body remains eerily still. My arms are crossed firmly across my chest as I try to remain calm.

How can he be laughing at this? Not only is my position as Alpha in jeopardy, but also the stability of this pack may be as well! And he thinks it's funny?

"Honey," My mom warns as his smile broadens.

My dad chuckles as he abruptly slaps his hand down onto the surface. My glare deepens at his continuing laughter. "We've known this was going to happen since the day you were born. We've prepared for this. Why are you so upset?" My mom places her hand on my father's trying to get him to calm down and hopefully stop pissing me off.

"This is not what I expected. And this is not what we prepared for." My hand curls into a fist in my effort to remain calm. "We weren't apart of The Alliance before so we never had to worry about what would happen when this day came. We would have been able to keep it in-house. I'm afraid that our entrance into the Alliance hasn't been as accepted as we had believed. The other Alphas are suspicious of our sudden appearance, and even more upset that I am the Alpha of our pack." I clench my teeth and release them. I shouldn't have to tell him this. He should already know. "I already know that some of them are trying to figure out a way to force me out of power. If they find out that I have found my mate, they will use this to their advantage."

"It has already been written into the bylaws of our pack that only a true Mercy can be the Alpha," my grandfather butts into the conversation, leaning forward with his elbows on the table. "Regardless of what The Alliance tries to enforce, our own laws and regulations come first."

"No disrespect, Grand Alpha Mercy, but the laws we agreed to when we became a part of The Alliance directly contradict our own bylaws and may even take precedence," Silas finally speaks up. "We are still trying to determine which laws are superior or how we can get around this."

Everyone directs their attention to Silas. He leafs through a couple of pages of the book in front of him and places his finger on a line. "According to the laws of The Alliance, if enough of the members feel that one of the Alphas is no longer fit to run their pack, they can cast a vote to forcibly remove that Alpha from power. And since Rylan's mate would be considered her equal, he would automatically become next in line to take over the pack regardless of what laws we have in place to appoint the next in line to the throne."

I turn my glare down to the table. I knew something like this would happen. All of the precautions we took don't mean shit when this asshole named Murphy proved everything that can go wrong will.

"What reason can they give for the Alpha being unfit?" I ask.

"It doesn't say. At least not in this law book." I stomp my foot on the ground in anger.

I take a deep breath and gather myself. I'm not acting like an Alpha right now. I'm acting like a spoiled little brat who's not getting her way. It hasn't even been two days since I found my mate and everything is already changing for the worse.

I sit forward in my chair and press both of my hands flat to the table. "So what can we do about this?" I ask quietly, my gaze travelling to every person sitting at the table. It doesn't take long, since there are only 10 members that make up the board.

The representative for education and culture speaks up first. "Our own laws should take precedence over any laws that may be enforced by The Alliance." The distaste is plain in his voice as he practically spits out the name. "It shouldn't matter that we are no longer at the Empire and are now interacting with other packs. We have our own laws for a reason. We have to protect our own culture."