"Thank you all for joining us. As you know this meeting is long overdue but we do wish it was under better circumstances." Silas started.

"You mean before your beautiful mate murdered the entire council?" Kelsie asked. "I'd have to disagree. I rather enjoy knowing they are dead."

"Rylan did not kill anyone. All she did was punish them by taking away their wolves. Blake did the rest." Logan said.

"Wait she what now?" Sanders asked sitting up fully in his chair.

"She removed their wolves. It was a spell cast with the intent that if they showed they were worthy, they would have redeemed their wolves by the next moon." Silas explained with a sigh.

"If she is this powerful why are we concerned about this Alpha meeting?" Sanders asked.

"There can be no blood shed at this meeting. It will cause a war, which is exactly what we are here to prevent." Actaeon spoke up.

"He just said that she can take their wolves and if they're worthy then they get them back in a week." Sanders said.

"And by example the council has shown us how well that tactic works." Thane added sarcastically. 

"If you want to see war by all means lock them in a room and strip them of their fur, see how well that works out for our world... We'll be extinct within the decade." Kelsie agreed and rolled her eyes.

"I'm not saying she has to do that. All I'm saying is the perception of power can be a significant tool." Sanders clarified. "They will feel like they have to listen to what she has to say."

"Rylan will in no way be present at this meeting." Silas said firmly.

Everyone at the table turned to look at Silas. Their expressions ranged from confusion, shock, and surprise to all out anger. Even I was surprised and angered by Silas's assertion. There was no way that I would allow him to step into this kind of meeting alone. Allies or not we were in this together.

I shifted in my seat to look at Silas. Silas turned to meet my gaze. He had a hard, serious glint to his eyes that I had never seen before.

"What did I miss?" Aaron asked warily as he came into the room and took the chair to Silas's right.

"Our queen is about to murder her mate." Kelsie said.

"What?" Aaron's brow furrowed and he turned to look at the stare down between Silas and I.

"Oh..." Aaron sighed and rubbed at his forehead.

"Why?" I signed.

"Ry, I need you here." Aaron interrupted before Silas could answer.

~Emily needs you here not me. You don't have your wolf so you're just as vulnerable as I would be.~ I said through the link.

~I don't need my wolf to fight this fight.~ Aaron replied back and my mouth dropped.

~You've been able to link this whole time?~ I asked.

"No." Aaron said out loud. "Not as easily as you do. And I'm not asking you to stay just for Emily's sake. Amelia needs you here as well. I need you here to know that they are all safe and Silas needs you here so that he won't make a stupid mistake while worrying about you. You are not even supposed to stand for any length of time. Stepping onto a battle ground right now is suicide and you know it."

I cringed and glanced back over at Silas. His eyes had already softened from before. Now it was more of a pleading look than anything and it wrenched at my inside. I couldn't fight off a look like that. Not as easily as I could anger or stubbornness.

"I thought we were going into a meeting not a battle." Sanders spoke up reminding us that we weren't even remotely alone at the table.

"Devlin has made it very clear he will be in attendance." Aaron sighed warily.

"So we end him and be done with this." Logan said sitting back comfortably in his chair.

"And start a giant war in the process? Did you miss the part about no blood can be spilt?" Kelsie snorted.

"So we wait and kill him after. I don't see the problem." Logan shrugged.

"The problem is Silas." Aaron said. Everyone, including myself, turned back to look at Silas again.

Silas looked over at Aaron for a moment and then turned his gaze back to me.

"The second Devlin walks into this meeting he's dead. Silas will kill him. And he knows it." Aaron said.

"Because of what he did to you?" Kelsie asked curiously.

"It's more than that." Thane spoke up. "Even after what he did to all of us we were trying to do this peacefully. Minimal deaths. Minimal impact. With careful planning and not with violence. That situation changed with what Devlin did to Rylan... He knew who she was and what she was to Silas. He may not have predicted the severity of the consequences but the damage was intentional. It was..." Thane paused to shake his head. "It's to personal now."

"You would start a war over this... this vengeance?" Sanders asked. 

"Devlin will die by my hand even if I have to burn the world down to do it." Silas said calmly.

Sanders blinked several times as he stared at Silas as if he couldn't quite process his words. He glanced around the room at the others with a similar dazed blinking stare. Everyone else still seemed to be watching Silas while contemplating their own reactions. Logan was the first to break. His face splitting into an almost murderous smirk.

"We're over due for a war anyway." Logan said.

"Mmm." Thane hummed in agreement. Though he didn't smirk like Logan his eyes held an unmistakable glint.

"My streak does enjoy blood." Kelsie sighed wistfully.

"You can't be serious." Sanders said looking at each Alpha that had spoken as if they'd lost their minds.

"Have you not yet met your mate Sanders?" Actaeon asked.

"I have not." He agreed begrudgingly.

"Then your hesitance is understandable." Actaeo said.

"You truly believe that a mate is worth starting a war over?" He asked.

"I do. And I believe that one that does not agree may not be worthy of having a mate."  Actaeon replied.

I felt the air shift before Sanders could even push out of his seat. He was midrise as was I, when my hand shot out, catching ahold of his link, and freezing him in place.

~Jason, though Actaeon's words may have appeared harsh he only meant to imply that you cannot fully understand the bond until you have one of your own. Please do not take offense.~ I said through the link. Sanders eyes shot to me and narrowed.

"Rylan sit down and let him go." Silas said quietly his hand rested against my arm in an attempt to grab my full attention.

~When he's calm and sitting down I will.~ I said not taking my eyes off of Jason Sanders. I wouldn't allow for a fight to break out here among supposed allies. The last thing we needed was to start fighting before we even reached the main meeting.

"Sanders sit the hell down or I will make you." Silas growled.

Sanders eyes flickered to Silas and then back to me before he slowly lowered himself back into his seat. Once he was down I released his link. Silas arms wrapped around me and instead of helping me lower back into my chair he pulled me down into his lap. I did struggle or offer up any form of argument. I'd stood up way to fast when stopping Sanders and my entire body ached from the sudden movement. I dropped my head against his shoulder. Trying to focus on the forest and coffee scent instead of the pain burning through me.

"I suppose that explains why she can't come to the meeting." Sanders huffed tapping his fingers against the table as he observed our interaction. "So you kill Devlin, all hell breaks loose, and then what? We're bloodied and still in the same position with no council, no king, and a lot of pissed off Alpha's."

"I think you misunderstand what this meeting is for. We're not asking what they want. We are telling them to choose a representative from amongst their pack, someone that will occupy a seat on the new council. If they choose not to provide a representative then they are choosing to not be represented or acknowledged as a pack." Aaron explained.

"Jesus." Sanders said shaking his head. "What if they demand a king fight?"

"Then they will get one." Silas rumbled quietly and I had no doubt that if it came down to it and they packs demanded a king instead of a council, Silas would be able to step in and take that role. He would win in King fight and he would be a worthy king. The only problems were that he wasn't the real king, he didn't want to be king, and he certainly didn't want to murder half the alpha's in the name of some unborn king.