Chapter 157

Alaric’s POV

There was a television hanging along one wall of the meeting. While it had been off while the elders met and while I spoke, we turned it on now. John found the correct channel and immediately, Melinda Bedford’s face filled the screen.

She’d dyed her hair again, black now instead of red, and wore clothes more fitting of her. Other than that, she looked the same as the last time I’d seen her, when she attempted to seduce me in that hotel lobby, pretending to be Cara.

“What concerns me more than the kidnapping, which has been thankfully resolved and those responsible apprehended, is our Alpha King’s dedication to a woman and her children that do not hail from DuskWood pack,” Melinda said.

“You can’t be inferring that Lilia was correct in any way, in her actions,” asked one of the reporters.

“Her actions were deplorable, I’m not arguing that,” Melinda said firmly. “But perhaps the fears that drove those actions were not quite as detestable. Lilia knows our King’s true feelings better than most. She saw that his feelings for Cara Auburn were exceeding those of friendship. Her actions were the result of a desperate woman trying to get her home pack to hear the warning bells of what’s to come.”

“And what, do you believe, is about to come?” another reporter asked.

“I fully believe that our Alpha King intends to marry outside of the pack. His intentions for Cara Auburn are clear. Let’s not forget that for months, he abandoned his own pack to pursue her in BloodyMoon. How can we trust someone like that to have our best interests in mind? His priorities are clearly elsewhere and not focused on DuskWood pack.”

“What is this?” I growled, watching the screen.

“It seems to me,” said the junior elder, “like the last-ditch effort of a woman desperate to save her own reputation by throwing yours into question.”

Ah, yes. I could see that now. By calling me out like this, she was repainting her own narrative in an attempt to save herself.

Maybe the people would be fooled by this tactic. They might even start to believe her that my priorities were divided. But I hardly saw how taking care of my own family limited my capacity to lead. If anything, it should show that I take all things seriously.

A threat against my family mattered as much to me as a threat against the pack. Neither would be allowed.

“John,” I said. “Arrange for my own press conference.” I would put an end to all of this right now, before it could fester further. I would not allow these people to continue to stew this kind of needless animosity and hatred toward BloodyMoon or Cara or my children.

“Yes, Alpha,” John said and started for the door.

Before he disappeared through it, I stopped him. “Wait.”

“Yes, Alpha?”

“When you’ve arranged it, draw up the necessary paperwork to have the Bedfords exiled.”

John nodded at once. “Yes, Alpha.” This time, I allowed him to disappear through the door.

An eerie quiet fell over the rest of the room.

“Melinda Bedford had a hand in convincing everyone in this room to allow Lilia to return,” I said. “Does anyone have any objections to this action?”

For a few moments, everyone remained quiet. Then, after that pause, one of the elders spoke up. “I believe you should do whatever is necessary to protect your family and our pack.”

The others more or less agreed and I was pleased at least some reason seemed to take hold within the group.

Though this did escalate my plans to handle the Bedfords, this wasn’t against the course of action that I had been thinking of. Melinda had clearly been Lilia’s biggest advocate, and had even taken her advice in coming to BloodyMoon in an attempt to seduce me.

Now, it seemed as if she intended to run a smear campaign against Cara. None of this could be tolerated.

One of the elders, a more timid, pensive man, asked, “Do you still intend to pursue Cara Auburn, Alpha?”

When I had come here today, after cleaning house, I had intended to convince the elders to accept Cara with an impassioned speech about love. I hadn’t rehearsed anything, wanting my love for Cara in the moment to shine through and hopefully convince them all that she was someone worthy of being Luna.

Now, I was so irritated by everything that had happened, with those six elders for siding with kidnappers and attempted assassins, to Melinda for attempting to smear Cara and me even now after the fact to try to save herself from punishment.

No longer did I feel any need to try to compel anyone of anything. Instead, I simply decided to tell them how it was, no question.

“Cara will be my wife,” I said. She was the only one I truly needed to convince. Everyone else could either deal with it or get over it, the elder council included.

To my surprise, most of the elders seemed pleased with that. The ones that didn’t smile at least seemed pensive. No one voiced any dismay over this decision.

“The BloodyMoon pack have been good allies to us,” said one of the elders. “This match would help strengthen that alliance.”

“Despite what Miss Bedford seems to think,” said another elder, “these alliances help make our own pack strong. If you can marry an Auburn, I think you should do it, Alpha.”

I nodded, accepting that advice. Cara wasn’t just a good match for me personally, she was a good match politically as well. I was pleased that the elders who remained could see that.

Though even if she wasn’t a good political match, I would still want to marry her.

Gods, I was exhausted. The day was only half-over and already I would have given anything to be back in my bed with Cara asleep, resting against my chest.

I half-wanted to rush home just to see her for lunch. I could only imagine what she might be thinking if she caught sight of Melinda’s press conference. Hopefully her brothers were shielding her from it. There was no need for her to become upset over a problem that I am actively dealing with.

With luck, Melinda would be exiled before the end of the day, and everything could go back to being peaceful around here. After all the excitement that had been going on lately, I was looking to relaxing with my family, becoming better acquainted with the children, while working on pursuing Cara.

I just needed things to stay quiet for a little while.

Cara’s POV

After showering and changing, I went searching for the kids. I found Ethan down in the living room playing with his action figures while cartoons were on in the background. There was no sign of Mia though.

“Have you seen your sister?” I asked.

“No,” Ethan said, only half paying attention to me.

I tried to peer into the kitchen where my brothers were. They all said hello but Mia wasn’t among them either.

After not finding her there, I went back up to her room to search for her. Opening the door, my stomach dropped.

She was still in bed.

“Mia?” I asked, approaching the bedside.

Mia blinked her eyes opened. They were red, as was her face. She had sweat running down her forehead. “Mommy, I don’t feel so good.”