Hunter was so furious that he opened his mind link and asked his warriors to find Hector as soon as possible. Five of his top warriors immediately rushed out to find Hector. It was very late and Hunter grew uneasy. His gaze slid to River and she looked disappointed. He felt terrible about it. How could Hector slip out so easily?
River ***in a sharp breath. She clenched her teeth and closed her eyes. She was so busy in all of it that no one noticed that Hector had escaped Surely, there was someone involved in his escape. She had to form a counsel of her trusted men. In the meanwhile, she ordered a dozen of the former warriors to search for Hector.
“Now that we all know the truth behind the war against the Lycans, I don’t want any member of my pack to participate in it. If I come to know that any one of you has gone against my order, the consequences will be severe!” she said in a cold voice that created a ripple of fear amongst the pack members. River was sure that there were some who must be knowing about the war, but obviously no one will come forward. She was going to hunt for them in her own way.
River dismissed all of them and went back to her room. Victoria was taken back to the dungeons amidst all the protests and cries. Lena came the next day
“River!” Lena hugged her old friend. River was so happy when she heard that Lena had come that she didn’t wait for her to come to the hotel and meet her. Along with Hunter she ****to Lena’s house and the two friends couldn’t help crying after meeting after so long “Girl, how are you?” Lena said as she assessed River from top to bottom. “Goddess, you look so beautiful! Don’t tell me that Alpha Hunter is showering all his love on you!” She tilted her head and glanced at Hunter. When he blushed, she winked at him.
The two friends sat down on the couch as Lena’s parents came over. Her mother Fiona and father Jack were as usual very warm and welcoming “We are so happy to see you back, River,” said Fiona as she offered her coffee. “And who would have thought that our little River would become the Alpha of the pack?” She looked proudly at her and River beamed under her gaze
River barked a laugh. “Yes, Hunter has this effect on me and then some more. But where have you been all this while?” Lena took a deep breath and said, “Ever since you left, I didn’t feel like staying here. I had gone to the human world where I learnt various combat skills. “Boxing, Ju-jitsu, karate, judo, kickboxing and Sanda and-”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” River said to her friend with wide eyes. “Stop there, tiger!”
Lena laughed and then shrugged.
“How did you learn all that so fast?” River was astonished.
“You forget that I am a werewolf and that I was one of the top students of our high school!”
“So what is next?” Jack asked, interrupting the conversation as he sipped coffee and as his eyes darted between River and Hunter. There was something about both of them that he couldn’t point his fingers at. They both looked like they gravitated towards each other. Like mates. But Jack didn’t speak it aloud. He wasn’t sure and even if they were, they must have reasons not to reveal. Though he had to admit that he was looking forward to the fact that they were mates. River had curled up her legs beneath her knees and was sitting comfortably on the couch. Her demeanor was that of extreme comfort. She rested her head on Lena’s shoulder and sipped her coffee. Hunter gathered that Lena and River were very close to each other and that made him respect Lena all the more because despite what River had gone through, she stuck to her.
“I have to make the counsel, Uncle Jack,” River said with a soft sigh. “And that is one of the reasons I have come here. I have decided to make Lena my Beta.”
“What?” Lena squealed, jumping high in the air.
River shrugged. “Well, why not? You know boxing, Sanda, kickboxing and what-not? You will be my perfect Beta.” Lena’s eyes became moist. “Are you sure? It would be such a great honor for me, River.”
“Of course!” River said. “It would be a great honor to be your Beta.”
They both hugged each other again tightly. “Thank you, Lena, River murmured as she inhaled her friend’s comforting smell.
In the next two hours, River talked to all of them and selected the candidates who would be in her counsel. She trusted Lena and her parents. Once they gave her the names, Hunter sent his men to check about them. The council members were informed about their positions by the evening. As soon as that happened, River called for a meeting of all the council members the next morning.
There were seven members in the council and all looked eager to start their jobs. After River assigned them their roles, she said, “I want you all to invite the Alphas of other packs in a neutral territory. I want to hold a meeting with them about the stupid laws that are restricting Lycans and werewolves to mix.”
There was a silence amongst the council members. The feud between the lycans and werewolves was so old that the
sudden idea of resolving it was difficult to digest
River gauged their reaction. “I want to start with the talks. These would be the first of many
That seemed to dissipate the tension that hung in the air. Geoffrey, who was given charge of external relationship said, “1 will look to it, Alpha. By the end of the week, the meeting will be arranged”
“Great!” River nodded.
She dismissed the meeting and as she was going back to her room, Geoffrey said, “Alpha, you must stay in the Alpha’s house and not this hotel.”
River smiled at him. “I will move over there as soon as the manor is cleaned.” She didn’t want the smell
of the old family to linger over there. Geoffrey bowed to her and left. She looked at Lena. “I would like it if you can oversee the cleaning of that
manor.”
“I will,” Lena replied. Lena had taken an oath in the Moon Goddess temple to be her Beta just this morning
At the end of the day, River was completely exhausted. Along with Hunter, she went for a drive throughout the pack. They came to stop at the peak of a hill from where they could see the entire pack. Tiny lights glimmered like stars on the ground as silvery moonlight hung over the dark trees.
Hunter gave her the flask in which he carried hot coffee for her. “I have to go back, River,” he said. He hated to part from her but he had been away from his pack for a long time.
“Hunter…” River gave him a sad look, her chest aching. Separating from him was like separating from her soul. The thought made her eyes wet. Silently, a tear rolled out of her eye.
He pulled her towards him and kissed her temple. “Love you. I will come back before this week ends, and will join the meeting. Okay?”
She nodded and leaned her face over his shoulders. She knew that he had to go back and that he had spent a lot of time out of the Veil. “Okay…” she breathed out.
