The Council

Chapter Five

Was this really necessary?"

Demetri Bozic asked tersely, his eyes never leaving the dais as the new Council was acknowledged and the vampire nation's standard laws were read out as was customary when The Council rotated. He was irritated because he was close to Andrei and didn't like having to ruin his moment.

His friend's words resounded in Caleb's head and he had to work hard not to sigh out aloud. Demetri had made it more than plain that he was unhappy with this course of action but he had relented to do as Caleb asked under quite severe pressure.

"Scent Alexei, Demetri,"

Caleb sighed mentally. "

Really scent him, not a light surface brushing as normal, go really deeply. Then see if you want to ask me that question again."

Caleb could barely contain the rage which was boiling inside him despite his calm exterior. If it wasn't for having his Annie at his side he'd be tempted to leap across the dais and smash his fist into Andrei's smug face. That would be after he had pummelled Alexei into a heap first.

He gripped Rhianna's hand tightly and took a deep breath as he waited for Demetri to do as he asked. It took his friend a little longer than he had expected but he knew the moment he scented what Caleb had detected instantly.

"Sweet Jesus!"

Demetri hissed in shock, the only outward appearance of his shock being the slight stiffening of his body. Mara glanced up at him and he absent-mindedly rubbed her thigh soothingly as he kept his eyes firmly fixed on the dais.

"Is it even possible, Caleb?"

he asked his friend mentally.

"A Were and a vampire?"

Caleb's loud mental sigh resounded in his head.

"It's possible,"

Caleb answered.

"I should have nipped this in the bud last year when I first suspected it but I seriously thought the Romanovs were the very last two of our kind who would ever go down this route. So to answer your question, Demetri, yes this was really necessary. I warned Andrei what would happen if he didn't keep the Hanlon pack out of danger. He didn't listen to me."

Demetri was silent, trying to wrap his head around what Caleb was telling him, what he was scenting from his friend sitting on his other side. Alexei mated to a wolf? The very idea was preposterous.

Alexei had three things he hated most in life, women as a general rule; they were only good for two things, sex and blood. Weres, he absolutely detested any kind of Were. And Younglings, they were nothing to him until they successfully attained Elder status. Now his friend was breaking two of those self imposed biases? Not only was he getting involved

emotionally

with a woman but she was a Were too?

It was so ludicrous an idea he was almost tempted to laugh except he had scented the wolf gene within Alexei. It was so faint it was almost undetectable but for someone as old as he, it could be. The fact it was so difficult for him could only be a good thing. There would only be a handful of their kind who could do so and they were all sitting together at the moment with a vested interest in keeping it quiet.

"What are you going to do about it?"

Demetri finally asked.

Caleb shifted in his chair, an arm wrapping around Rhianna's shoulders as he bent down to inhale her sweet scent and drop a soft kiss on the top of her head. It soothed his rage a little and gave him a moment to gather himself before he answered his friend.

"I am not going to do anything,"

he answered tersely.

"They made the mess; they can bloody well fix it. I'm just letting them know in no uncertain terms that I'm watching their every move and they had better ensure that no harm comes to the pack because of this. If I have to get involved again there will be hell to pay, Demetri. I am not going through what happened last year again. I assume that you have no wish to do so either?"

Demetri felt a low growl start deep within him and worked hard to keep it bottled up inside. Instantly an image came to mind of Mara's body lying broken in Rhianna's embrace. The heart wrenching fear of thinking her dead for that tiny instant crashing through him like a tidal wave. No. He would never go through that again, not ever. Not for anyone.

He suddenly understood Caleb's rage so much better now. He had half a mind to kick the shit out of the Romanov twins himself. They were not even thinking of the potential fallout from getting involved with the wolves.

"Andrei is on the bloody Council,"

he growled.

"He should know what the fallout of this will be. Our people are not going to tolerate an interspecies mating, not with the level of enmity between our two species."

"Andrei's position on the Council can only work in our favour,"

Caleb responded.

"Why do you think I haven't done anything to block his elevation this last year? We need to change, Demetri. We are stagnating as a people because we hold ourselves superior to all other species. We don't learn therefore we cannot evolve. The changes have started but they are slow because we are so long lived. While I'm angry that this brings a threat to my family, I also see that we need it as a people. Andrei isn't as far into the process as Alexei is but he will be. Loretta has chosen him as her mate. He will succumb but it will be hard for him. Once he realises the futility of fighting against it, he will be in the perfect position to bend the Council to his will and prevent an inevitable civil war among our people."

The mention of a civil war almost had Demetri gasping out aloud. A civil war among the vampires? That must surely be an over exaggeration? He turned his head slightly and looked at the completely blank mask on Caleb's face and almost shivered. He had never seen his friend look so emotionless before. Always he could read something on his friend's face having been around him for so long. His eyes flickered to Rhianna who was also looking up at Caleb with a little frown marring her perfect features. She was also detecting something from his friend that was concerning her greatly.

Demetri turned his eyes back to the dais as the Ceremony wound to a close. He knew Caleb would do anything to protect his woman. He knew how pathological he was about the little redhead and could even understand it because she was almost as special to him too. But start a civil war? Would his friend really go to those lengths to protect Annie's family who were by default now his family?

Mara's hand brushed his thigh and he automatically turned to her seeing a touch of concern in her big brown eyes. He gave her a reassuring smile and placed his hand on top of hers. What would he be willing to do to protect his Mara? He would be willing to do anything and he knew it. He had told Caleb once that he would go up against the Council to protect her and he had meant it at the time.

Yes, Caleb would be prepared to start a civil war if things turned out badly for the Hanlon pack. And Demetri would be at his side as he always was. The Romanovs had a lot to answer for. They had better fix this before it blew up completely and all hell broke loose.

*****

Alexei followed his brother back to his nightclub in his own car. The cold, hard expression on Andrei's face had been enough to make him decide that he didn't want to ride in the same vehicle with him. When he got like this he was usually best left alone but Alexei knew his brother needed to vent at someone and it was preferable that he did it at him. There was less chance Andrei would physically lash out at him where he may be tempted to do so with someone else.

His brother was livid at Caleb Cullen. The little scene at the Council chambers had most clearly been a message of some kind though Alexei had no idea exactly what the message was supposed to mean. He had a feeling his brother knew though and that was why he was so angry.

Andrei was already down in the office by the time Alexei got to the club. He entered the room but hovered near the door as he watched his brother gulp down a large glass of chilled blood. Hopefully that would soothe his temper a little; feeding usually had a way of dulling the edge of their anger.

"Should I tell Pietro to keep the club closed tonight?" he asked dryly. If Andrei's mood didn't improve it would be risky to open up. If he really lost his temper then he could do some serious damage.

"Why don't you close the door instead and then you can fucking explain to me why you reek of a fucking wolf bitch!" Andrei ground out furiously pinning him with an icy glare.

Alexei rolled his eyes and closed the door. So it was going to be like that, was it? "Why don't you calm down and stop acting that a spoilt child?" he countered with a low growl. "Just because Caleb fucked with you doesn't mean I'm going to stand here and take the shit that you're too scared to dish out to him."

It was the wrong thing to say and he knew it the moment the words left his lips but he objected to hearing Cedar being referred to as a 'fucking wolf bitch'.

His twin flew across the room, slamming into him so hard he flew backwards and crashed into the wall, making a sizable dent in it. Alexei reacted instinctively driving his knee hard into Andrei's groin even as he swung his powerful arm up and punched him on the side of the head.

His brother dropped to the floor and Alexei moved away to put the desk between them. "Stay down, Andrei," he said in a low, hard voice. "If you come at me again, I'm going to hurt you badly and you know I can do it. DON'T make me hurt you."

Andrei hissed loudly, taking a few deep breaths as his body healed from the two crushing blows Alexei had gotten in. His head was still ringing from the punch but it'd had the desired effect. Some of his rage had evaporated, enough to know that Alexei meant every word he said.

If he didn't back down the two of them would most likely wreck the place before they finally hurt each other so much they would be incapable of swinging another blow. It wasn't often that they actually fought but when they did, neither was willing to concede so it usually ended in a bloody mess and a lot of cleanup afterwards.

Andrei pulled himself up to his feet and moved around his desk watching his brother move in the opposite direction, his eyes intent as if waiting for him to attack again.

"Oh, sit down," he growled rolling his eyes and throwing himself into his chair.

Alexei relaxed, seeing a calmer expression on his twin's face, the wild glint having disappeared from his eyes. Andrei was once more in control of himself. He opted to retrieve a bottle of whiskey and two glasses before he sat down across from him and poured them both a drink.

"Her name is Cedar Alexander, not

'fucking wolf bitch',"

he remarked dryly as he pushed a glass across the desk. "As long as you remember that I won't be tempted to beat the living daylights out of you."

Andrei picked up his drink and took a large swallow trying to place a face to the name. He never forgot a face once he'd seen it. An image of long blonde curls and legs that went on forever came to mind. The wolf was very attractive and had a lot of arrogance about her. She was someone he could see his brother being attracted to and maybe playing with for a while but to actually let her bite him, infect him with her wolf gene?

"What the fuck where you thinking of, Alexei?" he asked almost wearily. "You let her bite you, infect you? Since when did you start thinking with your dick? That's usually my job." His brother frowned slightly and sipped at his drink.

"I let her bite me because it was pointless to deny her," Alexei finally answered after a little pause. He was trying to work out the best way to ease his twin into accepting what had happened between him and Cedar and what was going to happen to him with Loretta.

"What does that mean exactly?" Andrei asked irritably, a puzzled expression on his face. "Pointless to deny her? You should have just told her no and let that be the end of it." He stared impassively at his twin, waiting for him to admit his foolishness.

"Andrei, I couldn't tell her no because I wanted her to bite me," Alexei admitted quietly. "I didn't just want it, I needed it." He watched shock ripple across his brother's face and took a deep breath. There was no point putting it off, he had to tell him everything.

"I've just spent a year's exile in bloody Ecuador because of what I told the Weres last year," he explained. "I had a lot of time on my hands to think about my actions, to question them. I did some reading up on pack life, their rituals and stuff. What I read shocked me but also answered the question I was trying to answer. The reason I did what I did was because I was reacting to a Were mating pull. Not just any Were either, Cedar Alexander to be exact."

The colour drained out of Andrei's face and he sat there stunned as he looked at his brother and tried to digest what he was telling him. Alexei thought he was the mate of a wolf? Did he have any idea just how insane that sounded? He tried to speak and couldn't find any words.

"Believe me, my reaction was just like yours at the start," Alexei continued with a rueful smile. "I didn't want to believe it either but the longer I was away, the more I craved my wolf. I read everything I could get my hands on and this craving seemed to be a typical reaction to being separated from a mate. I couldn't go to her quickly enough when I came back. I almost went looking for her before I even came to see you but I managed to contain myself somehow."

"Weres and vampires can't mate," Andrei managed to grind out, his tone incredulous, his thoughts in utter chaos. What would this mean for his brother if The Council found out about it? His eyes hardened as he glared at Alexei.

"We're a different bloody species, Alexei. Our bite is instantly lethal to a Were so how can we bloody mate with them? Have a little fun with the wolf by all means but you can't mate with her. You'll kill her if you try."

Alexei frowned deeply, a strange expression crossing his face. He knew the mating was incomplete; that it was one sided because he couldn't complete the ritual, couldn't bind himself as irrevocably to Cedar as she had to him. Just thinking of it made a sharp pain rock through his body so he tried his hardest not to.

"She's mine, Andrei," he said quietly. "Whether or not I can complete her ritual is a moot point. She belongs to me. The one sided bond is just going to have to suffice if it's all we can hope to achieve. I will not leave her, ever, so there's no point in you thinking that this is just going to go away."

Andrei saw the determined look on his brother's face. He also so the brief flash of pain which crossed it when he mentioned that the mating couldn't be completed. He tried to wrap his stunned mind around it. This couldn't be happening. There had to be some other explanation for why his twin was acting so out of character. Alexei hated Weres. Hell, he didn't particularly like women as a general rule either.

And yet the expression on Alexei's face told a thousand words. "You're in love with her," Andrei whispered shocked.

His brother's words hung on the air for a fraction of a second and then Alexei remembered that he needed to breathe. He sucked in a deep breath as his heart hammered loudly in his chest. He had never consciously thought of it, never let the words even enter his brain, choosing to use the term mates or mating instead. But once they were out in the open there was no hiding from them. He was in love with Cedar Alexander.

He didn't answer Andrei, didn't admit the words out aloud. For some strange reason he didn't want to utter those words for the first time to anyone other than their intended recipient.

"Do you know how much of a headache this going to give me?" Andrei sighed wearily suddenly feeling the last of his anger drain away as he realised he had no choice but to accept what his twin was telling him. Alexei really believed he was the mate of his wolf, to the extent that he had allowed her to infect him. He would never have allowed that to happen unless he was utterly confident in his own mind that it was the right thing to do.

Alexei pursed his lips and then took a drink from his glass. "A big one?" he chuckled softly, suddenly feeling as if he had a huge weight lifted from his shoulders. It was as if admitting he was in love with his frustrating little wolf had lightened his spirits, set him free somehow.

Andrei was already thinking ahead, trying to work out how to protect his brother. The Council would probably ignore the odd sexual relationship between Weres and Vampires but they wouldn't condone an open mating. They wouldn't accept their species being polluted with the wolf gene. It would be effectively creating a hybrid species in their eyes.

The vampires involved would be shunned from their society. And there was no telling what would be done to the wolves. This could lead to open war between Weres and Vampires. A war that would make last year's one look like child's play.

Andrei could actually understand why Caleb had done what he had done now. The Ancient obviously knew what had occurred between Alexei and Cedar. He would view this as Andrei failing to protect the Hanlon pack. He was warning him that he knew what was going on and he wasn't pleased about it.

This also made it doubly surprising that the Ancients had disappeared from the ceremony immediately after it had concluded. He had expected Caleb to come looking for him and Alexei once the formalities were over but he hadn't. Only he had expected it to be because they had dallied with a couple of the wolves, not because his brother was mating with one of them.

"You seem to be taking this rather calmly," Alexei said when he didn't speak for a long time.

Andrei snorted. "Believe me, calm is the last thing I feel right now," he answered with an edge to his tone. "I'm trying to work out the ramifications of this, Alexei. So far what I'm coming up with isn't good. Not for the Weres or for you."

A sudden thought crossed his mind and he blinked slowly. "How long has Nors had that little wolf living with him? You don't think he's mated with her too?"

The question surprised Alexei because he'd completely forgotten that the huge redheaded Ancient had taken a wolf under his protection. Nors was such a secretive person that most people knew nothing about his private life as a general rule so it was easy to forget about the wolf because she was never seen with him in public .

"It must be nearly a year now," he answered thoughtfully. "I don't think he's mated with her because Caleb brought him to the ceremony. If he's pissed at us because of the wolves, I think he would be equally as pissed at Nors too if there was anything going on between him and a Were."

"You can find out," Andrei said quietly seeing a frown appear on his brother's face. "If Nors is attached to his wolf romantically he will be more likely to talk to you about it, Alexei. He's Ancient. All of them would have sensed the wolf gene in you tonight despite it being so faint. Their skills are more advanced than everyone else's so it's foolish to think they wouldn't. Nors doesn't like me so he's hardly going to answer any of my questions. He may yours if you have something in common with him."

Nors didn't like most people so Alexei wasn't keen to go looking for him. He was one of the few people who Alexei wasn't confident about going up against and despite Andrei's words, he knew Nors didn't like him anymore than he liked his brother.

"Why does it matter if Nors is mated to his wolf?" he asked with a disgruntled note to his voice.

Andrei's brown eyes began to twinkle slightly, his lips curving in a slight smile. "Because if he has then Caleb Cullen is going to have to get involved," he answered slowly. "At the moment it looks like he's dumping this whole nightmare in my lap but if one of his own friends is knee deep in shit along with us then he'll have to act." The thought of how irritating it would be for the Ancient to get involved when he obviously didn't want to actually made Andrei feel a lot better.