[Raven]


    "Ciao, Alpha Raven. It''s been a while," Draknor, our beta, greeted me with a smile, making his icy gaze feel colder.


    I just stared back, not bothering to return the fake pleasantries.


    "It''s so rare to see you around here. I thought you abhorred this ce," Draknor said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Tsk!


    This man just... pisses me off.


    "Trust me, Draknor, you don''t have to force small talk with me. I''m sure, just like me, you must have better things to do," I replied, crossing my legs and leaning back, daring him to challenge me.


    A vein popped out across Draknor''s forehead. His sardonic smile twitched.


    "Che tu possa avere peggior fortuna e morire, mio signore! (May you have the worst luck and die, my lord!)" he said with a bow and strode to his seat, chatting with Kyrell, our gamma.


    I let out a frustrated sigh, looking at the high arched ceiling that seemed to have merged with infinite darkness. Large gothic chandeliers levitating in mid-air cast a cold, blood reddish glow over the central empty and circr dais.


    Dais was the raised tform in the middle of the circr hall, surrounded by rows of seats that were arranged in a semicircle in tiers around the dais. The tiers started from the ground and reached up to the balconies on the first floor. The hall was ostentatiously spacious with seats carved out of ck wood. The seats were lustrous enough to reflect the lights from the chandeliers hovering above them.


    I sat in the row closest to the dais with Nyssa.


    "What did he say? His tone was so off. This man creeps me out," Nyssa whispered from her seat beside me.


    "Who cares? He probably cursed the hell outta me and had a great time doing it in anguage I don''t understand." I shrugged, folding my arms across my chest.


    Draknor was extremely protective of Asher, so obviously, he hated me. He despised taking orders from me and made his displeasure very clear. But Asher ordered the Alphamittee and the council to treat and respect the triplet alphas equally, and Draknor could never defy his dear Alpha Asher. So he treated me as professionally as he could. At least, he tried.


    But he didn''t bother me at all. Not as much as this meeting did.


    After dropping Xanthea at Helxton, I received the summon crow, and it was only then I realized the disaster one anonymous news had created in the digital world.


    I thought as usual Asher would handle it, but when I got here, I came to know that Ezra was going to handle his case on his own. Ever since I have had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind, this digital disaster was going to snowball its way into a digital avnche.


    It''s not like I didn''t trust Ezra''s abilities. But it was very easy to trigger him and he often made impulsive decisions.


    I red at Vie, who was talking with the elders. Unfortunately, that woman knew most of Ezra''s weakness and triggers and she was going to use it against him.


    I skimmed my eyes across the Council Hall of Sinx. Sinx was the parliament of the Underworld. Or should I just call it Asher''s yground?All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.


    Asher spent most of his time dictating, deciding and discussing the future of every evil and individual in our Prime pack with his Alphamittee and the Elder council.


    Sinx was divided into four main buildings: the Parliament Pce, the Committee Hall, the Council Hall and the Court. There were other minor buildings and branches in Sinx as well.


    The Parliament Pce and the Court were the big deals and were associated with all the major decision making for the entire Prime Infernal pack.


    The Council Hall was for the elders.


    And the Committee Hall was for the Alpha Committee that constituted of the alpha, the beta, gamma and so on. Mainly associated with the pack and Infernal realm security and military decisions.


    The elders sat in rows behind us, their faces hidden behind the dark hoods of their robes.


    The High Elder''s seat was in thergest balcony of the first floor. The High Elder represented all the elders'' voices and was also the speaker of the council.


    The special jury created for the Luna selection sat on the upper balcony, their presence hidden in the shadows.


    It was because of their fear, Nyssa pulled me here even before the meeting began. She wanted to look punctual and have a good impression on them. As funny as it may sound, it was because of these futile efforts she was the top luna candidate.


    And since none of us knew what criterions the jury was judging the Luna candidates on, she had to be careful about maintaining her overall reputation.


    As long as she was beating Vie, I didn''t care what she did.


    Nyssa sniffed ufortably.


    Frowning, I looked at her.


    "Stopining. You''re the one who insisted wee early," I said.


    Nyssa looked away sulkily.


    "I can''t stand that omega''s scent on you. It''s so repulsive I could throw up," she sneered.


    I cocked a brow.


    "Well. It''s not my fault. Today was the busiest day ever," I said.


    "And what exactly were you busy doing to have her scent all over you?" Nyssa red into my eyes.


    "Nothing important," I said, leaning my head on my hand.


    ***


    Last night, I dozed off and woke up in the morning to Xanthea grinding herself against me in her sleep.


    Normally, she would shiver just at the thought of having sex with us, but now her sex drive was so insane she yed with fire as though it would never burn her.


    Since she worked so hard to get me that hard in my sleep, I fucked her harder. I knew I should have held back, but she gave me all the reasons not to. I ran my fingers through my hair.


    Her moans and warmth still lingered on my mind like a hangover.


    The hall containing the hundred most powerful people of the Prime pack rose unanimously and bowed, and I didn''t even have to look to know who entered the hall.


    I cleared my throat,ing out of the memories of the morning sex.


    Nyssa got to her feet while I remained seated.


    I could feel a few res ring into me, and I knew one of them belonged to Draknor.


    Asher silently walked to his seat right across from mine and sat beside Vie. Vie''s hair twisted into ck snakes and slithered across one another, braiding themselves. Asher didn''t even look at her and it had been the same for quite some time and that was why I was losing interest in defeating Vie in the Luna selection.


    And that was also why I had allowed Xanthea''s scent to linger on me for a while. I could have overpowered her scent with mine in no time, but where was the fun in that?


    I knew Asher wouldn''t react, but he knew I had solo sex with Xanthea. Although I wasn''t sure to what extent it would bother him, I knew it would.


    I had still not forgiven him for making a fool of us by taking the omega away right when we crippled the solo sex rule.


    This morning when Xanthea was sober again...


    ***


    "Where did he take you?" I asked her.


    "To the most beautiful ce in this world," she replied in a dazed tone.


    "Looks like you liked it there. Did you enjoy yourself?"


    She shook her head.


    "I hated every second I was there. I wanted to get out of there at all costs, as soon as I could, but the ce was beautiful, nevertheless," she said.


    My annoyance turned into confusion. I wasn''t sure what was the deal between the two, but something was definitely going on.


    When I suggested she join Helxton after her heat, Xanthea...


    "I am going. I am going to Helxton. Today. And I promise I''ll do my best."


    That''s what she said, and her fearless demeanor, maintaining unnerving eye contact with me, didn''t help.


    "I won''t let anything or anyone..." her determined voice turned softer, and I didn''t have to second guess who she was thinking about "... get in my way or my studies."


    I knew she meant every word she said. When she could force herself to give exams with a broken hand, I knew she could do anything for her dreams.


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    Good for her and me. I didn''t have to dy her admission.


    ***


    Asher got to his feet, and the hall followed him.


    What a pain.


    With a heavy sigh, I got to my feet as Ezra entered the hall. Except for Vie, everyone in the hall was on their feet.


    ''Bro, you good?'' I asked through the mindlink.


    I had left him a few texts, which he hadn''t even seen.


    ''Yup, never been better,'' he said, ncing towards me.


    Ezra took his seat between me and Asher with a seat empty beside him.


    Ezra slept around a lot with several women. A few of those women were rumored to be his possible luna candidate, but Ezra neither acknowledged those rumors nor denied them. Therefore, there had been a lot of confusion around his luna candidate.


    But since he had never officially announced anything, the seat beside him remained empty.


    The group of men who hade with Ezra scattered across the hall, doing something with the projectors and tech system in the council hall.


    I looked at Ezra, who sat with an impassive face almost resembling Asher''s demeanor.


    ''You don''t want me to say some words of encouragement to you, do you?'' I mindlinked with Ezra again.


    ''Haha. It''s fun to see you worry, but I got this,'' Ezra''s voice echoed in my head.


    ''Huh? Worry? Why will I be worried? You moron. If you don''t mess this up, I will treat you to your favorite sushi.''


    ''I hate sushi.''


    ''Exactly. Don''t mess it up!''


    Ezra shut his eyes and let out a sigh.


    Vie stared at Ezra with a stinging look in her eyes while Asher''s gaze was fixed on the speaker''s chair on the balcony.


    I looked at the figure approaching the speaker''s seat in the billowing dark robes. Ironically, the High Elder was the youngest of all elders - Isagi Akuma with the highest IQ in the hall.


    He was probably around our age and I liked that man because his IQ was even greater than Asher''s.


    The hall rose once again, this time unanimously, with no exceptions, as Isagi took the speaker''s seat.


    Isagi began with addressing the gathering and putting forth the matter of discussion before us.


    "Alpha Ezra, please step on the dais. The council is eager to hear your answers and also what you have to say about the news," Isagi finished.


    Ezra got up from his seat and walked onto the dais and stood behind the podium designed like the devil''s skull with wings.


    "Greetings to all and thank you foring here today," Ezra''s voice trembled as he spoke through the mic.


    It wasn''t that Ezracked skill in public speaking. In fact, he was the most eloquent of the three of us. However, the initial phase of speaking in political settings like this had been a challenge for him.


    Maybe it was something psychological - perhaps he felt inferior to those around him.


    "Umm. So... well..." Ezra stuttered, licking his lips.


    "He''s just going to embarrass himself again," I had some elder whisper from behind and soon a faint buzz of such remarks took over the hall.


    Vie smirked. She nned it.


    Ezra looked around, nervousness bing clearer in his eyes.


    Clenching my jaws, I narrowed my eyes.


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    Pheles, my wolf, took over me. Before I could shut them up, a daunting aura radiated heavily from Asher and fell like a crushing gravity across the hall. What followed was a pin drop silence. It was as though he had held everyone in the hall in a chokehold without even lifting a finger.


    But my full concentration was on Ezra, who lowered his head, breathing heavily as he stared at the podium.


    Even though he was a full grown man now, he would always be our stupid baby brother. There was no need for Ezra to grow up or behave like a grown up man, and this was something that both Asher and I agreed upon.


    He didn''t have to change if he didn''t want to. But if he chose to toddle, his brothers would be walking right behind him, crushing everyone who got in his way, breaking every hand that tried to hold him back. ''Imagine everyone before you as sushi.'' I mindlinked with Ezra.


    Ezra looked at me.


    I smirked.


    ''These are just some tuna and salmon bbering. After this meeting, I''ll gift you some of these heads and these elders won''t even realize how they lost it.''


    Ezra''s tense eyes rxed. He took a deep breath and smiled at me.


    I wasn''t good at cracking jokes, but I expected him tough a little. I guess a smile would do for now.


    ''That won''t be necessary, I know I am the best,'' Ezra''s voice seemed calmer in my head.


    He gestured towards the empty walls of the hall and screens popped up across the halls, converging into a one enormous glowing screen that filled the space. ''Raven...'' Ezra called.


    I nced at him.


    ''Thank you,'' Ezra thought to me, smiling a little brighter as he opened hisptop on the podium.


    ''Want me to kick your face?'' I frowned.


    Rolling my eyes, I looked at the screen again.


    I knew that once he overcame the initial phase, he wouldmunicate effectively for the rest of the meeting.


    Ezra shared the screen of hisptop on the wall screen. Clearing his throat, he began.


    "Before I answer the questions of the council. I would like to question the authenticity of the viral news article. We do not know who wrote and published it. We don''t know what was their motive behind it. Since it was published by an anonymous ount, we know that whoever did this wanted to remain hidden. The question is - why would they want to hide their identity?"


    The glowing wall screen turned dark, with codes generating at a speed far beyond mine or anyone else''sprehension.


    "So the first thing I am going to do is trace the news back to its origin and find out who was behind it. In case the honorable speaker and the elders need some help to understand what I am about to do; we have some of the best hackers in the council today..." Ezra said.


    Ezra typed codes faster than they appeared on the screen and I could tell with utter confidence that there was not a single person who could do what Ezra was doing or even fathom what he was doing. Not even our highest IQ speaker, who was almost at the edge of his seat watching Ezra closely.


    Even the hackers were sweating, trying to keep up with his speed.


    I looked at Asher, who peered at Ezra with a faint smile. Someone looks proud.


    I smiled, shutting my eyes, leaning back a little more assured now.


    I understood what Ezra was trying to do.


    This was him. This was the disy of his power - the reason he deserved to stand just as tall as anyone else in the hall.


    This was something only he could do, as though it were breathing. This was where he shined brighter than Asher or anyone else.


    Even though he stumbled initially, he was able to assertplete dominance and take the reign of this meeting into his hands.


    And this time, he did it all by himself.


    "What the hell is he even doing? What did he type now? What are those pop-ups now?" Vie fretted with confusion and annoyance beside Asher.


    She had called this meeting to humiliate Ezra in front of everyone, but he had already turned the tables-and he hadn''t even shown everything he had up his sleeves yet.


    I had a feeling this meeting was going to get a lot more interesting.