The Alpha's Omega Mate-Chapter 59: The games people play.

~Zarek’s POV~

For the nth time, I twisted the large ring on my pointing finger absentmindedly as I listened to Orion and some Elders blabber on about the awakening of Nyx’Zariel and what should be done about it, but surprisingly, none of the things they said made any sense to me. There was no real plan whatsoever, no solution of some sort; just unnecessary arguments.

I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration when an Elder suggested setting traps, and as if sensing my discomfort, Orion turned to me, his eyes hopeful. He asked;

"You seem dissatisfied with his suggestion. What do you think we should do, Alpha?"

I froze and swallowed a thick lump that had suddenly formed in my throat. My eyes snapped up to his just then to see him watching me with skeptical eyes, but there was something else there. Something that closely resembled recognition. My heart plummeted.

Does he know?

Does he think I’m doing all of these to shy away from my duties?

Of course not!

An Elder’s cough— the notorious Samwell— snapped me out of my reverie and I turned to face him just in time to see him smirking in my direction. He snorted; "The Alpha isn’t fully recovered now, I wonder why you’re still so hopeful that he has anything to say to us, Beta."

His words were crisp, not rude... carefully selected; But something about his expression was everything but that. His eyes flashed with a kind of mischief that I haven’t seen in them before, and that seemed to also not be lost on Orion because he drawled;

"Samwell, there’s no harm in trying."

"But... it’s just a waste of time!" Samwell argued, not even bothering to hide his sudden but weird contempt towards me, and that surprised me so much, I glared pointedly at him.

"Obviously, with or without his memories, the Alpha is a wise man, and I noticed how he was dissatisfied with our plans! And I think he has better ones."

"He’s probably dissatisfied with his clothes right now as well! And they’re what he wears regularly!" Samwell snapped back, stunning everyone in the room—well, besides me.

I balled my hands into fists by my sides as I managed to appear as undisturbed by his words as I could. But it was pretty difficult, especially when he continued by saying;

"He’s lost his spark. Usually, I’ll never be able to say words like these in front of him and go Scott free, but I just did! Relieve him of the burden that comes with his position and find someone else to take over from me! Personally, I think Ms Jennifer isn’t such a bad idea!"

If I was mad when he said those words, do you know what made me madder? When two Elders behind him nodded in agreement. Even Orion didn’t bother to argue too as he appeared too stunned to speak. I saw red. My rage sizzled. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"Nyx’Zariel is a powerful entity. One as strong as the moon goddess herself—if not stronger. And yet, you think that setting mortal traps would do anything to tame her?" I drawled indifferently, causing everyone in the room to turn to me with wide eyes.

I saw Orion smile softly at me, but I was unaffected by that as all of my attention was on Samwell and the deep frown on his face. "Then what do you suggest we do?" He snapped in a tone that came off so sarcastic, you could literally hear the sarcasm in every syllable.

I smiled. "Find out what she wants, and why she chose this pack. And also, do not forget to try to pacify her when you know these things. She can be a blessing or a curse— depending on the level of wrath she awakened with."

"And how do you know this?" This time, it was Orion who asked and I couldn’t help but notice the knowing smile on his face.

I shrugged. "I’ve been reading... I’ve been trying to regain my memories."

More Elders around the room nodded their heads in agreement but just then, Elder Samwell rose to his feet, his rotund stomach bobbled as he pointed one fat finger at me, and then he snarled; "You all would take advice from a vegetable?"

"And from what I’ve read so far, I am still Alpha."

Anger like madness tethered towards the surface of my mind but I reigned it in. It was so much better to hit such men as trifle as Samwell slowly, concisely... and with this thought in mind, I flashed him a smile; one that he responded to by baring his teeth.

"And?" Now, he was growling, his face red with rage.

"And I still have the power to kick you out of this pack with or without my memories. I also have the right to strip you off your titles and brand you as an enemy to the pack." I seethed, my voice cold.

Elder Samwell’s anger flared. He stepped closer to me— a little too close— as if daring me to do something; and without a thought, I rose to my full height to glare intimidatingly down at him.

He cowered.

"Let me give you an example:" I seethed, "...Henceforth, you’re stripped of all your titles, Samwell Tudor Cazacu." I drawled slowly, calculatedly, causing everyone else to gasp in surprise. "I made you an Elder in this pack, and right now, I am undoing that."

"You all would not pwatch him do—"

"You’re also now branded as an enemy to the pack, and if by the end of the day, I learn you’ve not left, I’ll kill you myself." I finished, and almost laughed in his face when he gulped, taking a fearful step backward.

I turned to the others in the room then, and allowing my voice to rise by a few octaves, I added; "And if I learn by chance that any one of you helped him, you’ll suffer the same fate as him."

The room went dead quiet, so quiet that I could hear the sound of heartbeats thumping around the room, and while everyone seemed stricken by shock, Orion seemed to be enjoying this little show so much— a little too much that I had an irresistible urge to punch the smile off his face.

"Now that this pest has been settled, let’s move to other better things like the Nyx’Zariel." I drawled, earning myself nods of agreement. I smiled.

"And like I said earlier, there’s been a pattern. She attacks those she deem guilty of crimes— rapists, slavers, thieves. The only different case is the last one, a guard— and we all still do not know his crime."

"What if he committed no crime?" A silver-haired female asked— Elder Sorina— and I flashed her a grin before leaning into my chair.

"Well I think he did," I said quietly, "... and if he didn’t, then he’s the only different case. However, what I am driving at here is that I think she attacks only those she finds vile... and punishes them."

"Now, that’s something I’ve never thought about." Orion said excitedly but I ignored him, focusing instead on the conversation at hand.

"We need to confirm these suspicions, and if they’re proven true, we’ll need to lure her out. Find out why she’s doing it and pacify her, or perhaps, send her on her merry way out of our pack."

The room erupted in wild cheering and I turned to the door just then to see Elder Samwell still standing there, his hands slapped together in a pleading gesture.

I frowned, yelling; "Get out!"

And he did. He rushed out of the room just as another entity stepped in, and when I saw who it was— the familiar short blonde hair. I groaned.

This was going to be one hell of a day.

"Welcome Pius!" Orion greeted too excitedly, and then he turned to me with a smile. "Since he’s the head warrior, I thought it was reasonable to invite him to this meeting to discuss the pack’s security!"

But between us, we knew the truth.

We knew that he didn’t invite Pius for any damn reason besides getting me all riled up; and that goes further to prove that he has his suspicions about me. And that he was testing them to be true just like I’d advised them to test Nyx’ Zariel’s.

And trust me, I didn’t like the sound of that.