The Alpha’s Wild Princess

17

I was being sarcastic. There were ten Outborder posts and even larger factions, and knowing that it could have been any one of them making an attempt on my life did not narrow it down and it did not cool my unease either.

“Douglas is sure it has to be the same faction that Phoenix joined. No other faction would be so bold. He must have promised them something from his father’s accounts.”

Ryland’s voice trailed off as I stared at the enormous painting on the wall. The frame was lined with gold, and the painting itself was hideous; some would have called it majestic, but I was never really a fan of the arts. The painting was of a terrifying wolf with blood dripping down the sides of its mouth.

It was 3D, so it looked especially real. I could not believe it was the first time I let myself really look at it. There were a lot of similar paintings gathered around the house, and I had a mind to take them all down. But my thoughts went first to Prairie. We had already done so much to change her life, including taking over her childhood home. I did not know how she would feel about a general overhaul of the entire thing.

“Nicholas? Nick? Are you listening to me?” Ryland asked.

“You were talking about the faction that attacked being the same one that Phoenix joined?” I told him, still staring at the painting. I heard his frustrated sigh.

“Say what you have on your mind, Ryland. I know you did not wake me up just to tell me about your speculations.”

He finally took the seat opposite my desk and set his hands on his lap,

“We received word from a rebel faction from the outpost.”

That got my attention, and I glanced at him forgetting the painting. We were once a rebel faction, so I knew all about the challenges of being one.

“What pack?” I asked,

“The Bayou pack,” he answered.“It’s the same one rumored to be the one that Phoenix joined, they have requested a meeting with you.”

The Bayou pack weres could be cunning and unreliable. Or at least, that was the general knowledge about them.

“And they want us to meet at a neutral point,” he added,

“Did they say what the meeting is to be about?” I asked Ryland, but he shook his head.

“Well, if they are from the Bayou, it would not surprise me that they would want to meet,” I said.

“Everyone knew Malcolm had taken to killing just like Alexander had. He had become a tyrant just as Alexander was, maybe worse. He was still young. It would not come to be a surprise if the rebels were trying to oust his position as Alpha.”

“I think they want an alliance with us.” It would be the only reason they would want to meet. “It would make sense they help us with Phoenix, and we help with their Malcolm problem.”

“Do you think it’s wise to interfere in other faction’s problems?” Ryland asked.

“We’re not interfering if they’re the ones that attacked first,” I said to him.

I was now more sure than ever that it would be the Bayou pack that attacked. At any other time, this would be a declaration of war, but

it had not been long since my men had suffered a huge loss. Some of the injured were still being treated, and others were still mourning. Phoenix knew this and he also knew that I could not afford another war right now. I had promised the Chandra peace, and going to attack the Bayou blindly was far from peace.

“If I’m right and this is a meeting asking for an alliance, then I will assess the situation,” I said to Ryland.

“Give me a few minutes, I need to get showered and changed. Gather the men, I need the meeting point inspected,”

“On it,” Ryland answered. An hour later, we were on our way to the meeting point. A host of other men lined our cars, two in front and one in the back. It would seem wasteful, but even I knew that things were no longer as they should be, and security was a priority. I had kept a small army of men at the house to oversee Prairie and Lucas’ protection.

“What do we know about this their leader?” I asked Ryland. He told me that the leader of the pack was Marcel, a name I’d never heard before.

“Not much to be honest. He grew up outside the Bayou, just like you. But not because they were in hiding. His mother was from a different pack out of the West. He grew up without a father. He’d returned to the Bayou to be among his people, but joined the rebels.”

“Is that it? So, he what? Rose among the ranks to become their leader?” I asked.

“Malcolm killed his younger sister. She was among the children kidn*pped who were expected to be used as tools to force the rebels to surrender. When they refused, he killed them all.”

“For f**k’s sake, they’re killing children now,” I said to no one in particular. I’d heard rumors of Malcolm’s atrocities, but knowing they were true seemed to be a different thing.

The drive to the neutral meeting point took over an hour. It was an abandoned warehouse from the looks of it, but it still looked pristine. Like it had only recently been abandoned. The cars were parked and we walked into the building to find two seats had already been arranged, and Marcel was seated in one of them.

I had never met him before, but there was no doubt that it was him when the rest of the men stood to the side and watched with tense shoulders. He watched me closely while I watched him.

“Mr. Northwood?” he said, standing up and stretching out his hand. I stared at him for a few seconds before taking it. He had long dreadlocks pulled behind his head and a rough beard that looked like he could not decide whether he wanted to keep or shave off.

He was tall, much taller than I was, something I had not seen in a while since I was a good 6’3.

“Marcel,” I answered and noticed his shoulders seemed to relax as if he had been holding his breath.

“I wasn’t sure you were going to accept the meeting.”

He looked at Ryland and nodded. From the corner of my eye, I saw Ryland nod back before Marcel continued,

“Your second in command said that you’d agreed to meet, but I wasn’t sure it was true until I saw you in person.”

”We take our word seriously in the Chandra pack. When we give it, we don’t do so on a whim,” I said to him. He looked away for a second before meeting my gaze.

“Of course. We rebels take our word seriously as well. I want to assure you of that personally going forward.” I nodded accepting his words.

“I heard, y’all must have been wondering about the rumors that Phoenix Lonsdale has joined hands with the Bayou Pack. Those rumors would be true,” he announced. I tried not to show any emotion.

“Phoenix is a guest of Malcolm McAllister as we speak. It will not come as a surprise what an alliance like that would mean to your position as Alpha of the Chandra.”