White Rose Pack (Chapter-53)

Colin

Colin could see the tension in Adina’s shoulders. He itched to place his arm around her, to comfort her and make her relax. But this was not the time. She needed to look strong. That meant that he needed to step back. And it was killing him.

They were walking down the hallway, Cernack was leading their way. Adina walked behind him, and Colin and Sean flanked her on each side, half a step behind her. Their warriors were surrounding them.

As they arrived at the conference room, Cernack went up to the two warriors guarding the door, a werewolf and a vampire.

“Open up” was all he told them.

“Who are we announcing?” the vampire said.

“You are just going to open the door,” Cernack told him.

“We need to announce any guests and wait for a response,” the werewolf told them.

“I have the Beloved One with me. You are going to open those doors and then you are going to leave the guard duty to these gentlemen,” Cernack told them, nodding toward the warriors they had brought with them.

Both guards looked at Adina in wonder, bowed their heads, and opened the double doors without hesitation. Sean indicated to two of their warriors to take place outside the doors. As they walked inside, a group of nine magical creatures looked at them.

“The Beloved One,” Cernack said, taking a step aside to let Adina walk on ahead of him. He then took his place amongst the other council members.

“Take a seat,” Adina told everyone. There was a large conference table and Adina took the seat at one end. As the other settled down, Colin and Sean stayed standing on each side of Adina. 

Colin could see how the members of the council all looked at the mark on Adina’s shoulder, his mark. He couldn’t help himself, but smirked, satisfied.

“Is that a mate mark?” a witch asked Adina, sounding outraged.

“We will come to that, Jasmine, but I have other questions first,” Adina said.

“Let’s start with why Markus is in this room? This is a pack meeting. He is not a pack member and I have received no notice of his presence,” Adina said, looking at a werewolf sitting further down the table.

Colin looked at the man. He remembered all too well that he had asked Adina if he could take her mate in a fight. Looking at him now, Colin fought the will to laugh out loud. The man was thin and looked unusually frail for a werewolf. His hair was combed back in a slick hairstyle. He had glasses and gave of an air of thinking he was important.

“Markus was invited by us,” the witch said.

“Who is us and to what purpose was he invited?” Adina demanded to know.

“Me, Cleatus, and Mirabelle. I can’t see why it would be a big deal. He’s not the only non-pack member,” Jasmine pointed out, looking at Colin.

“Colin is here as my consort. He will be taken up in the pack in due time. I’m going to ask again why Markus is here and I want an answer this time,” Adina said. Her tone was sharp and hard.

“I think it’s best Cleatus explains it. He hasn’t arrived yet,” a vampire said. Colin assumed it was Mirabelle.

“He won’t be coming. Cleatus has been arrested for treason. He plotted an attempt on my life and he divulged sensitive information to an outsider, and will be executed before the end of the day,” Adina said. She sounded like she was talking about the weather and not ending someone’s life.

Colin was impressed by how well she played the game. She was a natural leader.

“What?” several members of the pack had stood up and stared at Adina.

“That can’t be,” Mirabelle exclaimed, looking even paler than she had done a few minutes before.

“Are you questioning my decision?” Adina asked.

“What proof do you have?” an older werewolf asked.

“We will come to that. I intend to explain everything. But no one has answered my question. I’m going to ask again, if I don’t get a reply, I will assume there is more than one traitor,” Adina said.

“We invited him as we have come to a decision about your future,” Mirabelle said.

“You have? I didn’t know a decision was necessary. Can you tell me what the decision was?”

“It’s time for you to have an heir,” Jasmin said.

Colin was surprised by the answer. Was this Markus a fertility doctor? But Adina had told him that the only one in her pack that knew she had met her mate was Cernack. Why had they then invited the doctor?

“It is?” Adina said, not sounding pleased. “And this is your decision to make?” she asked.

“It’s our responsibility to ensure the continuation of your line,” Mirabelle said. She didn’t sound confident.

“It is? Since when? Your responsibility is to create a magical balance in the world. Not to meddle in my private affairs. And why would you need Markus for that? He’s an immunologist,” Adina angrily said.

“He’s the best candidate,” Jasmin had explained. Before she could continue, Adina had jumped to her feet so fast that the chair she was sitting on fell backwards. She let out a fierce growl.

Adina had connected things that neither Colin nor Sean had, but they both reacted to her behaviour and stepped forward, closing the distance between them.

“You did not bring him here because you thought I would take him to bed! I am not a show dog that you can breed on command!” she roared.

When the meaning of what she said hit Colin, he let out a growl that caused the windows to rattle. Sean wasn’t far behind him. It was followed by a complete silence as everyone looked at the three of them.

Colin took satisfaction from the amount of fear that showed in Markus’ face. If that man so much as looked at his Adina, Colin would rip him into pieces so small he would need a microscope to find them.

“Adina, calm down,” Cernack gently said.

“I will not,” she growled.

“I want to know if this was something that was decided by the entire council or just the three members that invited Markus? But before we discuss that. Markus get out. It’s for your own safety to be far away from both Colin and Sean at this point. Go home, forget what happened here today,” she commanded.

Markus stood up, looked around to see if anyone was going to say anything. The room was silent.

“Adina, listen to them. They have a valid point,” Markus had apparently summoned some courage.

“Markus, get out,” Adina told him. Both Colin and Sean growled to add extra weight to her statement.

“You know where to find me,” Markus said.

That made the last part of Colin’s self-constraint disappear. He was in front of Markus before anyone could react. He grabbed the thin man around his neck and pushed him against the nearest wall, making Markus’ feet dangle in the air. 

“If you as much as look at her I will end you,” Colin snarled in a low voice. His wolf was just below the surface.

“Adina,” Markus pressed out in a wheezing voice.

“I warned you, Markus, you provoked him. I’m not interfering. I told you he would beat you in a fight,” Adina said in a calm voice.

Colin had never loved her more. She trusted him to handle this scum on his own. A wicked smile creped over Colin’s face.

“Do you think you have the right to someone else’s mate? What kind of wolf are you?” he asked a trembling Marcus. 

Markus just hung against the wall, not saying anything, looking down at the floor.

“You are not even worth killing. The cleaning up after would be too much work. I’ll just see you out,” Colin smirked, lifting the doctor from the wall, dragging him to the door and tossing him out.

“Make sure this thing leaves the area,” he told a warrior. The warrior nodded and took a firm grip around Markus’ neck and walked away with him.

Colin returned to his place by Adina.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Anything for you,” he replied, lifting her hand. He kissed it and then let it go.