Guess what?!
My book is about to hit 10K+ votes, I love you all so so much and thank you for voting!!!! This chapter is dedicated to all my supporters <3
***Update: I just skyrocketed to 11k, please excuse me as I faint!
*The song is by Alina Baraz- Fantasy.
•••
The conference was going by very smoothly. Layton had reserved two special seats next to him and Anne where Rayne and I could join him while the defense officers sat on the opposite end. The room was pretty nice as well. The floors were gray tile, with cerulean blue walls and steel accents to balance out the color scheme. In the center of the room was a long, rectangular steel table with plush office chairs all around it. To liven up the room, there were large glass windows that revealed the well groomed, evergreen terraces of the estate. The decor was quite lovely indeed.
However the attendants of the conference were what caught my attention the most. The defense officers were graying men, but still held that familiar vibrancy from their prime days. They all looked really good for their age, that's all I'm saying. Anne looked stunning and pinched Layton when he spoke for too long. She was wearing a creme silk blouse with black fitted trousers and a peep toe Louboutin heels to give the look a classy edge. Layton wore a white dress shirt with khaki pants and boat shoes. Casual chic, I thought.
Rayne and I however, were dressed for some serious bidness(yes I spelt it like this on purpose for emphasis ya'll.). I wore a white shift dress that hugged me in the right places, navy blue suede Manolo kitten toe pumps, and diamond stud earrings to match my ring. My hair was pulled back into a low bun after the incident on the way here. Since I picked out his outfit, Rayne's colors correlated with my own. He wore a white dress shirt with navy pinstripes, navy blue dress pants, and camel dress shoes to match his belt. With his gelled hair and clean shaven face, he looked like he walked off of a cover of GQ.
"Alpha, I insist that the best plan of action is to attack him head on. Shall we let him continue to kill and torment us? We're practically sitting ducks." One of the generals said. Personally, I thought it wasn't a good idea. Jason wants us to come to him, he knows that if he provokes us long enough, we'll act on anger and fall right into his trap.
"Absolutely not." Rayne and Layton said at the same time. Anne and I snickered, Rayne shot me a pointed look so I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Michaelson, care to share your thoughts?" Layton insisted, leaning forward on his forearms.
"I do actually." He continued. "Here's the thing, he wants us to come after him. The murders, the hostages, are all pawns of his game. He knows that if he continues to provoke us we'll break. That is not happening." He adjusted his collar in a way that made him look like he called the shots, which was h-o-t.
"I agree. Marshall, please come up with a better strategy that won't get us all massacred." Layton said, glancing at the four men opposite him.
"How about luring him into a trap? There must be something that he wants, yes?" I froze, the revelations of earlier threatening to make me sick again. Rayne placed his hand on my thigh, easing the edge a little. "Land. He wanted his territory back, so let's schedule a fake negotiation and have our best stealth fighters finish up the job from there."
"You know for a fact that he won't be meeting with us alone. It'll be too obvious that we brought backup." Another general chided in. The whole two hours that we sat here proved to be meaningless as all that was going on was middle aged men arguing back and forth about what to do, rather than asking for insight. It was like a competition and very childish in a way. There are hundreds of lives in danger and yet they bickered among themselves like children. Something has to be said.
"Excuse me, gentlemen." I said sternly. Alright girl, make some magic. They all snapped their heads at me with their mouths parted mid-sentence. "Instead of arguing, we should be helping one another come to a decision on how to protect ourselves. We are a pack, we need to think for the greater good of our peers." Layton nodded in agreement, and the generals stared at me for a while, before doing the same.
"I agree with you." Anne looked as fed up as I was.
"What do you think we should do then?" Layton asked, focusing the spotlight on me. I suddenly felt scrutinized under the gaze of these powerful men. Taking a deep breath, I crossed my hands while resting my forearms on the table.
"I think we should integrate the packs now, rather than after the war." Shock wasn't a good enough word to describe their expressions. They all looked at me as if I hadn't thought over what I had just said. I was completely aware of what I was proposing. If we integrate the packs now, that means we'll have more wolves to defend our territory and hopefully, no more wolves will have to die at the hands of Jason's cruelty.
Attending this meeting and hearing these men speak, more like argue with one another made me realize how divided we truly were. Yes they were our allies but once Rayne agrees to step up, they'd be a branch of the Raven Pack. It was agreed upon years ago when Jackson made the pact. It may sound scary to the existing Alphas but together, we can develop rules that allows them to retain their status but the only difference will be is that they will have a sovereign leader to report to. It's basically the same agreement, but tweaked around to accommodate the pace of the war. I straightened up in my seat to mask the effect of their intimidating stares.
"Ash...we can't. It's too soon." Rayne said, glints of fear in his eyes. It was rare to see this emotion coming from him.
"Yes we can, you all must realize that together, we'll have all we need to defeat Jason. The fighters, weapons, supplies and most of all, a more than capable leader." I paused, looking at my Mate. "I remember that night when I was almost kidnapped, by Jason. Never have I ever seen such organization, leadership, and so much passion being poured into rescuing me. Even before that, at the pack meetings when you took charge and gave out orders to the patrol, you were in control and displaying your capabilities as a future leader. Yes the position won't be easy but you have your mother, father, close friends, and me on your side." His facial expression was a mix of awe and pride, awe for the fact that I believed in him so strongly and pride for the way I took charge of the meeting.
"This is outrageous! Are we really going to listen to a human, a female at that?!" One of the officers shouted out. Rayne shot out of his seat and snarled, leaning over the table and stopping in front of the man. His pale face was red and wrinkled with age, while his robust figure made him look even older. If he looked this old, that probably meant that he was 90 in Wolf years. Yup, hella old. I wasn't phased by his sexism, I was more worried for him because of the way Rayne was staring at him. If looks could kill....
"Watch your fücking mouth grandpa. That is your future sovereign Luna you are speaking to. Disrespect her again and I swear to God you'll be calling LifeAlert." He threatened. The man looked back and forth between me and Rayne, trying to mask the fear in his eyes. My eyes were bulging out of my head as I held in my laugh, why'd Rayne have to do him like that, Lawd?
"Well then, excuse my poor choice of words but I don't think we should consider-"
"Kennedy, you are dismissed from the meeting." Anne said, leaning back in her chair with a try me look on her face.
"Luna I-" A low growl erupted from her throat and he rose out of his seat, bowed his head, and exited the room.
Girl power.
"As outrageous as your idea may sound, I'm willing to test it out only if we discuss how exactly to execute this. No offense to you, but I've been the Alpha of this pack ever since my father stepped down I'm not in any position to want to give that up." I nodded as he spoke to me.
"Well because it's an idea, we don't have to integrate all the main ally packs now. Let's start with you, the others in Oscala, and we'll expand from there." Layton pondered my words and whispered something to Anne.
"Michaelson, your thoughts?" We both turned to face Rayne whose brows were furrowed in deep thought.
"I believe if I step up now, then it will be too great of a responsibility on shoulders. But if I don't, more lives will be lost and it'll be my fault for acting like a coward." I smiled as I knew where this was heading.
"So...you'll go through with it!?" I didn't bother to tone down the eagerness in my tone.
"Rayne Michaelson isn't a coward. I'm in." Looking around the long table, I was pleased to see the officers along with Layton and Anne nod in approval.
"I'm in too","I second that,", "Yea", The remaining generals called out.
"We're in." Anne said as Layton wrapped his arms around her with a genuine smile. Rayne held my hand, kissing my cheek as we bathed in our success. It wasn't just me, if it wasn't for my faith in him I would've never suggested such a plan.
Another win for today!
•••
"What do you think my father will say, the pack?" He asked with uncertainty. We were currently walking back to the SUV as the conference concluded after we discussed further preparations. A new pact will be drafted and signed by our prospective allies, each ally will get their own storage facility supplied with weapons and food, and border patrols will be doubled by transferring voluntary members of each pack throughout the regions. Other minor negotiations will be executed by Jackson himself as once Rayne takes his place, he'll be an advisor. The spec about the border patrols should've been done ages ago in my opinion.
"Your father will express how proud he is of you, that you're finally accepting your position. Technically, you were supposed to accept the position on your last birthday," He chuckled, encouraging me to go on. "As for the pack, they truly love and respect you. I've never seen such a large mass of people so devoted and loyal to a single man, full of promise and exemplary leadership. You got this, you don't need to worry about them not accepting you. It isn't an option." I finished, scooting over to my seat and fastening my seat belt. I meant every single word of encouragement and pure truth that I have spoken today. Rayne is going to be a fantastic Alpha, he was born for it. As for me, I think being Luna will be challenging but if I think about it, it was something that I was destined for.
"Do you think I can really do this?" He asked warily. "Without a doubt." I reassured him. He grinned to himself and I appreciated how his beautiful, masculine features lit up.
"You killed it in there Ash. You'll have no problem being an amazing" I smiled and looked down at my lap. "Thank you-" I stopped when I caught a glance of a familiar blonde pulling into the estates driveway. Blair. Then it all came rushing back. That night, her spiteful words...now my mood took a deeper plunge into the dark world of negativity. I was trying my best to push this morning into the back of my mind for the meeting but it wasn't happening.
"We need to talk, now." He looked puzzled by my request but he still followed me to the spacious area in the back of the car. I pressed the button that enabled the privacy screen and I turned to face him.
"I'm speaking first. Not once this morning did you allow me to get a word in and I'm not having any of that. I kept that secret from you because I was afraid of accepting the truth about the situation. I failed to keep you out of harms way as Jason still wants you to this day. I was afraid that you'd see me as less of a Mate as it's my main duty to protect you, with my life." I carefully listened, studying his face as he spoke. He looked pained, almost defeated. It broke my heart to see him like this and I felt guilty because I shut him out for almost of the whole day instead of letting him explain himself. I was just so anxious about the conference and overwhelmed that I didn't embrace the person that I needed the most. I braced myself for a question that I needed the answer to, desperately.
"Why does he want my blood?" I felt a cold shiver run down my spine as I saw his knuckles turn white.
"I have no idea. Your father was the one who told me not to tell you by the way."He said trying to change the subject.
"Rayne-"
"I don't know Ashlyn!" He snapped, and I shrunk back in my seat, alarmed by his tone. "I don't know why but I don't care. He's not taking you away from me, he'll be dead before he can lay a finger on you." I didn't realize that I was panting, not from exhaustion...but from arousal? Rayne's angry outbursts really did a number on me because I found it pleasing to see his protectiveness of me take over, even if it was in an inappropriate situation. Psycho...
"I just wish...you would've told me sooner." I breathed out, he looked at me with his darkened eyes and I looked away, feeling my pulse skyrocket when he leaned over to my side.
"You like it when I'm angry, don't you?" He asked in his deep baritone.
I do. Please touch me por favor!
Oh my goodness this day was an emotional mess!
"Stay over there pretty boy, I'm still upset with you." I said, trying to stop this before it too late.
"I'm so,so sorry Ash. Tell me what I have to do in order for you to forgive me."
Kiss me...touch me...give me some of that good good...wait...no...yes?
"Fine, I forgive you but I need some time to-" He shut me up by kissing me passionately, earning an immediate response from me. Pushing me up against the window, the coolness of it against my exposed skin made me gasp, allowing him to swoop in and claim my tongue. After a few moments of exploring each others mouths, I realized what was happening as I snapped out of my dreamy haze when he stroked my pulsating core. Oh no you don't! You deserve blue balls for hiding things from me!
"-fully accept this." I finished my sentence once I pushed him off. "You're not getting any of this, as punishment." I crossed my legs for emphasis.
"Ash, please. I need you." He said, placing my hand on his hardness. I smiled at my effect on him, wanting to toy with him longer before I got what I wanted. I wanted him as much as he wanted me, I wouldn't deny the way my body reacted to him. As far as the Jason drama goes and my stances over it, I'm hopeful that the plan will be a success and that I'll never have to meet him in person. I finally understood why Rayne kept it a secret from me. He was desperately trying to fix the situation before it affected me, but once he realized he couldn't do much about it but wait, that's when things took a turn for the worst. One thing I knew most definitely about my Mate is that when he apologizes, he means it from the depths of his heart, there was no refuting that. My negative feelings towards him slowly dissipated as I came to my conclusion of where to go next.
"How bad do you want to make it up to me, hm?" I asked slyly, running a hand down his chest.
"Badly, very badly. Let me make it up to you, please." I've never heard him use 'please' so many times in a day. I looked around the private area, noting the tinted windows and padded walls. Hmm... I suddenly feel very adventurous.
"Are these walls soundproof?" I asked once I lowered the privacy screen.
"100% soundproof. All of the travel cars for the Alpha and Luna are designed for efficient and complete privacy, Ms.Black." One of the guards answered. I thanked him and put the screen back up.
Sitting back down on the plush leather seat, I smirked at my Mate. His lips were parted as I hiked up my dress, kicking off my heels. He tried launching himself at me but I stopped him by placing a hand on his chest, pushing him back down onto his seat.
"You don't get to call the shots anymore, babe. Especially after today."
"Fair enough-" I shushed him, straddling his lap. "The only sounds I want to hear from you are the ones when I make you cüm."
Maybe or not to be continued...;)