The Dark Side Of Fate by Karima Sa'ad Usman

93 Finding Some Light

~Sylvester~ This is from NôvelDrama.Org.

The hearing had gone better than I had hoped. Tamia and her friends have come through. They were indeed ruthless.

Seeing how far they went made me realise that the only power their previous mates had over them was the marks they bore to force their loyalty. I made a mental note never to cross my mate.

After asking Joan and Pamela to resign, they got off their seats to beg. They begged so much that Larry and the rest of the council pleaded on their behalf.

"We didn't see it that way, your eminence. We were trying to unite all regions, and since Corrigan honoured the invite, we thought we had ended the feud," Pamela said in tears. Tamia responded with rage in her voice.

"Liar!!!!" she screamed at her.

I wondered where the anger was coming from. It was clear Tamia had severe issues with these women.

"Lady Volkov was there when you taunted me, boasting it might not last. You deliberately withheld the guest list, knowing we would find out. Stop lying and own up to your mistakes!" Tamia warned her, and Vino had to bang the gavel even though I could see he did not want to.

"Until you are wedded, you still cannot speak in this council," Vino said with pleading eyes, and I knew he was right.

I could not wait for the wedding to be done. If they push too much, I might as well claim Tamia before the blue moon, since the goddess has already blessed our union, and leave the Blue moon night to Marcel and Theodore.

"I am sorry, Luna Tamia," Pamela said and went on her knees.

Pamela wasn't a fool. She knew she had gambled and lost, and she knew Tamia would be the Lady of the north. It was the wisest option for her right now.

"I am begging you to not see it in that light. A lot was happening with this petition, so we could not compile the list quickly. I swear on my wolf, Joan, and I did not try to work against your union. Please, Lady Tamia, please believe us. The seat is all we have and the only honour our family has. We are the only women in the council. If we vacate, they will be occupied by men. Please, lady Tamia. We promise never to antagonise or disrespect you again. Please show us mercy," Pamela begged, and Joan joined in. They had successfully put Tamia on the spot. Her decision would shape the way people would look at her henceforth. It would be the beginning of her northern reputation as Lady.

Pamela and Joan were brilliant. They knew people would not accept a Lady that isn't merciful and forgiving, and I knew my mate wasn't any of those things.

"What do you want to do?" I linked Tamia, and she did not respond. Instead, she squeezed my hand for all to see.

She squeezed it in a pleading manner. Tamia was just as innovative as these women were.

She knew what they were doing, and she had outsmarted them. Her actions showed she was pleading on their behalf, and ordinary citizens and the press were there to see it. Tamia was good at publicity.

"Very well, my mate has pleaded with me, but I can't let your transgressions go. Because of Tamia's pleas, I will suspend you two for three months to go and reflect on your actions," I said; Joan went on her knees next to Pamela, and they both bore their necks to Tamia and me. The suspension was better than them losing their seats on the council.

"Since this matter has been resolved, I, as a result, close this hearing," Vino said and banged the gavel.

"I want to talk to the alphas. We need to know how and why they came up with that idea," Tamia linked me, and I smiled at her while we got ready to leave the council hall.

"I will have to question them. It is beyond your office. Please do not be offended, Tamia, but even when you are officially Lady, there are certain things you won't be able to do. It would have been easy to have you question them if they had come to us. It would be a private matter, but this would be done officially, and Alpha Christian is the leader of the north, just as Leo is the leader of the east. I have to treat him with respect," I linked her back, and she looked at me and smiled.

"You need to change some laws, Lord Volkov; I am your better half," She teased, and I smiled at her, glad she took it lightly.

"You know what, I think you should be with me during the questioning; that way, you can accidentally chip in, and I will allow it as a form of indulgence," I said, and she beamed at me.

"Marcel, invite Alpha Christian to our house in the estate. Tell him to follow us along with his friends," I linked Marcel, and he laughed. He knew exactly what I had in mind for the alphas.

We stepped out, and my mother squeezed Tamia's hand. She knew Tamia had a hand in the outcome of the hearing.

"You got yourself a gem," She linked me, and I smiled at her. We did not want to speak out because we did not want people to listen to our conversations and figure things out.

The ride home was joyous, and I was breathing fine.

This was the second time Tamia would do something drastic to save me from the council.

She had come into my life at the right time.

We arrived home and headed to our room to change. The moment we entered, I grabbed Tamia, and she let me.

"I would take you right now; if Christian and his friends weren't waiting for me in my office," I whispered in her ear and grazed my teeth on the sweet spot.

She was aroused immediately, and I could smell it.

Knight was going crazy. I needed to claim her. The mate bond had begun to tug even harder than it did with Susan. I contemplated it but wanted it to be special, so I relented and forced my teeth to retract.

I could not resist the scent. So I put Tamia against the wall while she giggled, knowing what was happening. She teased me, grinding her cute butt against me, and I reached under her skirt and realised she wasn't wearing panties, which made us giggle.

"You are naughty, green-eyes," I said and rolled up her skirt.

I buried myself in her and went to work.

I battled my wolf so hard. Knight wanted to sink his teeth in. I wondered how Marcel and Theo would feel when they found out we were fated.

I needed the union to be unique. Although it was meant for chosen mates, the blue moon ceremonies were extraordinary and more romantic than the claiming of fated mates. I could not deprive both of us of that joy. I also wondered how the claiming would be on a blue moon now that we were fated.

I pumped and felt her come, which made me grab onto her tightly and go faster until I came too.

We got ready to head downstairs to join Alpha Christian and his colleagues in my office. I knew Inkabod was with him and along with two other Alphas. Marcel had already linked me.

I entered the office with Tamia and found only Theodore and our guests waiting.

"Where is Marcel?" I asked Theodore.

"He had to take Avery to the hospital. She is running a fever," he said, and Tamia giggled.

I wondered what was amusing about that statement but kept it to myself.

I went to sit on my chair and asked Tamia to sit on my lap. Tamia's presence made the meeting look less serious.

"Alpha Christian," I said, and he bowed his head in shame.

"I can't believe you were the one that championed that petition, yet you had the effrontery to ask me to help you find your mates. Why couldn't you wait for the democratic government you were pushing for to find them?" I asked him, and he was silent.

"Do you think ruling is easy? I have to put up with a lot of shit every day. Do you know the amount of nonsense I deal with? My peace is taken from me daily to keep you safe. In my time, there has been no war. Do you think it is that easy? Do you not know history? Have you forgotten what happened when something like that was in place? The head of the council was regarded as lord. The governors fought for that seat, creating a serious war, forcing my family, the Sidorovs, the Orlovs, the Belyaevs and the Lawrences, to wage war and reinstate the autocratic rule of the royals, which formed the lordship. Why will you want to return to such a time, Christain? Have I not been lenient? Have I not allowed everyone to rule their packs as they see fit? Why?" I asked him, sounding genuinely hurt because I was.

I felt betrayed; I felt like my kindness was thrown back at me.

"We did not mean to either," Christian said and looked up at me with tears.

"I am content with your rule. I was forced to back that petition," he confessed, and I frowned at him.

"My first son and my only Alpha heir went to study in Gad. A group of people kidnapped him and forced me to raise this petition and back it up," he said, and I frowned at him.

"Why would you send your son to school in the west? It might be under me, but you know how my father acquired the place and took out their leader. They might be civil, but we all know it is unwise to roam about the west unprotected. They have only started accepting my rule. What were you thinking?" I said, and he shook his head.

"I sent him there against my better judgement. My mate forced me to do it," he said.

I wondered who the kidnappers were and how they reached him.

He was a significant man in the north, and taking his son was a strong move.

I did not know his family very well, so I made a mental note to better get to know the Alphas and their family members.

"How did they reach you?" I asked him, and he took out his phone, checked some things, and handed it over to me.

"That is how," he said, and I was stunned.

It was video footage of Liam Bricks, the same Liam Bricks I had extradited from the west and had locked up in a dungeon at the estate. The very Liam Bricks working for the uprising. The same man that accepted the money transfer that I could trace. The bloody traitor.

In this footage, he was tied to the chair in silver chains. I could tell it was silver because his wound was bleeding.

"So they sent you this footage?" I asked him, and he nodded.

"What did they tell you they would do?" I asked, and he took his phone from me and showed me an email.

"If you do not raise and support that petition, we won't only kill him, but we will come for the rest of your family," it read, and I was surprised.

"Did they take your wife?" I asked him, and he shook his head.

"Those people were different. They just wanted money," He said, and I realised he had to choose between his wife and his son, but I knew that the video of his son was acted out because his son was one of them.

I planned on keeping that information to myself.

The group was a lot worse than I thought.

Picking Gezel up was very important now. I needed to drill Liam to know how deep he was in the organisation.

"So you had to choose between your mate and your son," I asked, and he shook his head.

"I could come up with that money they asked for, but I realised I was a traitor when I spoke to you at the game. You do not deserve what they wanted to do to you, and my colleagues could not come up with their ransoms. I decided to gamble and let Liam go for the sake of peace," He said, and I could see the resolve in his eyes.

I could also feel his loyalty and the depth of his determination. He must have thought about it hard before making up his mind.

"You have done well because your son is part of a criminal group planning an uprising. Their headquarters is in Gad, and we are trying to trace him because he received a huge sum of money a few weeks ago," I told him, not wanting him to know I had him in custody.

The man gasped in disbelief, and so did Inkabod and the other alphas.

"How are you sure?" He asked me, and I checked my phone to pull up the email with Liam's ID. I showed him, and he was speechless.

"You are the lead Alpha of the north; it was the best and fastest way to push their agenda," I told him and collected my phone.

The man had tears in his eyes.

"Liam Bricks?" He said in disbelief, and I knew there was more to the story because his last name wasn't Bricks.

"The petition stated that the council leader would be head of the council, which is the only seat that would not be decided via election. Could it be that the council leader is involved? Because I found that clause baffling," Christain asked; I smiled and shook my head.

"It is a norm. In the case of democracy, the council will vote for who will occupy the top seat, and they will have to choose the top five families. The Volkovs, Sidorovs, Orlovs, Balyaevs and Lawrences. It can be either of us. The current council leader might not be the leader in the end. I think they are after something and need us out of the way. Right now, everything goes through me. Imagine what would happen in that type of setting," I said, and his eyes showed understanding.

"Well, Kappa Levi is on the case, and your mates will be found and returned to you; meanwhile, when I catch your son, I will let you know so you can question him. I won't release him to you because he has committed treason. Am I clear?" I asked him, and he nodded.

"His ID says he is twenty-two. How old is he?" I asked him, knowing there was no way Christain would have a twenty-two-year-old son, and that guy did not look it.

"He is seventeen, my lord; he just turned seventeen," Christian said. I could not believe the organisation was recruiting minors. Whoever was running this thing was desperate. Somehow I believe the arrest of Gezel would shed some light on the matter.