"Who's going to challenge me now?"
I asked, a huge grin stretching across my face, silence settled over the room, no one dared to speak or react.
The waiter lay motionless on the floor, her breath was coming in shallow, I barely spared her a glance, I didn't need to because Niko already knew what to do; before I even gave the command, he already moved into the kitchen, he returned with a cup in his hand and I didn't have to look but my hand already instinctively reached for the cup, my fangs immediately emerged and I bit into my wrist, a sharp pain gave way to the warm rush of my dark blood spilling into the cup, when it was nearly full, I lifted it as I turned my gaze on the council "so…You think you can dictate my life now?" My voice was calm, too calm but I felt a storm build up in my chest "You seem to have forgotten who I am, your king."
I took a step forward, raising the cup slightly, "I have the power, I AM THE ALPHA…my bite is lethal and my blood is the only cure, hell my BLOOD is the cure for any infirmity and you all bear witness to that! that's part of what makes me your Alpha, That is power."
My gaze swept over the council, daring someone to challenge me but no one spoke.
I turned to Darius, the elder who had shouted at me earlier, now avoiding my eyes like a coward, I smirked "You want to talk to me about rules and laws? What about the rule that states you must not defy your Alpha? You broke that!" I scolded, stepping closer "I should have you killed right now." and without breaking eye contact, I turned the cup over and poured my blood onto the marble floor, the thick liquid spread slowly, "If you try to test me again Darius…next time, that'll be your blood."
the room was deathly quiet and I knew that message was clear.
I handed the near-empty cup to Niko, and without hesitation, he walked over to the barely-conscious waiter, her body trembled violently and she was near death, Niko crouched beside her and tilted the cup to her lips, "Drink." and for a moment, as my blood touched her tongue, nothing happened but after a while, a strangled gasp escaped from her throat, her body jerked up and her eyes shot open with life.
Seeing this, the entire council, alongside my mother exhaled softly, they all exchanged uneasy glances, shifting in their seats, fear lingered in their eyes, Good.
I wiped the blood from my wrist against my shirt and turned back to them, "Now that we've established who holds the power here, this conversation is over." I turned my back on them, "Get out of my house." and one by one, the council members lowered their heads and filed out, alongside my mother who was calmly escorted out by Niko.
I walked upstairs and collapsed onto my bed, what a terribly long and dramatic day.
───── ⋆⋅☆·⋆ ─────
THE NEXT MORNING
My head was still heavy from last night's events, I slowly opened my eyes and found that a figure stood over me with arms crossed, it was my mother, she didn't look pleased and I knew she was clearly upset about last night's events. I groaned, "Isn't it too early for dram—?"
Mid sentence, I saw a girl seated on my couch, my gaze fell back on to my mother, "Who the hell is this?"
She didn't even flinch, "This is Anastasia."
I blinked. "Anastasia?"
"Yes, Anastasia."
"Who is Anastasia, and why is she in my room?"
Mother acted like this was completely normal, "She is the most worthy woman to be your Luna and rule alongside you, you can make up for last night's events by hearing me out"
I laughed, shaking my head. "You have got to be kidding me." I gestured toward the door, "I love you mother but I need the both of you out, I have to freshen up."
They exchanged a glance and left without protest, the moment the door clicked shut, I grabbed my phone and dialed Niko, "Come rescue me from my mother's insanity."
"I'm on my way," he said without hesitation.
After a quick shower, I threw on some clothes and stepped into the sitting room and there they were, mother wasted no time, "This is your Luna, Rafael, her name is Anastasia Malakai."
a laugh escaped me before I could stop it, "Who made her Luna?"
"It was a political decision," she said firmly, "Once you take her as your bride, you'll mark her, and we'll all accept her as Luna."
"Who is 'we'? Have I not already taught the council a lesson?"
Mother pulled me aside and whispered, "Rafael, the elders and stakeholders are secretly plotting to back out of Voss Pharmaceuticals AND THE PACK, I fear the do not trust your leadership anymore" my jaw clenched, "Then they know nothing about loyalty, loyalty is honor!"
"You are NOT Alpha without a pack Rafael, this marriage will solidify your rule." She stepped closer. "Remember, rival packs want NEW PORT, this territory, YOUR territory and If we show weakness now, we invite war."
I exhaled slowly. "Even if I agree, what about my…" I hesitated, "My impotence?"
"We'll use a sperm donor," she said smoothly. "He will relinquish all rights to the child."
I scoffed, "I thought you cared about bloodlines."
"This isn't about blood anymore son, this is about power; Without this, the pack will fracture, your position reflects this family's hard work, the Voss bloodline has ruled Nightbane for hundreds of years, we cannot fail history."
her words settled heavily in my heart, there was no room for argument; "think about it!" she hits my chest as she calls to Anastasia and they leave together.
After they left, I sat down on the couch and for the first time in a long while, I was riddled with great angst;
"You're not really thinking about it, are you?" Niko asked,
I hesitated, "maybe I'll take a bride…but definitely not Anastasia" I knew that If I was going to do this to protect my company, the pack and my family name, it had to be on my own terms, Anastasia will NOT be my bride.
Niko smirked, "Good…because If they're forcing her on you, she's definitely a pawn, the council wants a means to have control over you",
his face suddenly changed and I could tell that he was instantly swarmed with worry, "Rafael, whatever bride you choose to bring, what if you fall in love with her? things could get ugly if the curse—"
"Don't worry about the curse, nor the bride…I WILL NOT fall in love, I have no intentions of ever letting that happen" I cut him off,
"great, we must find a bride who is easy to control" Niko said,
"I agree" I responded.
After a short moment of silence, he stepped closer to me and dropped the iPad in front of me, it contained infographics for an event, "Remember the club opening I told you about yesterday? It's tonight" he said,
I scoffed, "I'm not going"
"Too bad," he grinned, "I already reserved us a VIP section"
I shot him a look, "I don't need distractions"
"well, you're going either way" He smirked
I chuckled "You're impossible"
"You're worse, brother" he responded
"I'm making sure you drown in alcohol tonight," Niko grinned.