CHAPTER 201: _DONE PLAYING THE MERCY CARD

"High priestess Althea." Kaelos blurted as soon as my aunt stepped in, nodding curtly at her. "Nice of you to join us. I don’t know if you saw that broadcast as well but—"

"Well, well, well..." Delta Axel suddenly got on his feet, spreading his arms and pointing at Althea. "Nice of you to join us indeed, witch. What are you doing here though? Here to gather info that you can give to your Lord puppet?"

There was a tense silence after he said those words and I was forced to use the fingers of my right hand to rub my forehead while trying to keep my emotions at bay.

The Elders of the Luminari Coven had given me a six-month ban on using my magic and my werewolf abilities in public. Meaning six months of me hiding my true nature from everyone around me.

I couldn’t afford any slip-ups.

"What in the triple goddess’ name are you talking about?" Aunt Althea asked, fluttering her eyelashes with confusion. "Neither I nor any of my sisters in the Luminari Coven have any dealings with that madman."

Kaelos slowly withdrew his grip on my hand underneath the table before facing Delta Axel.

"Delta, that’s enough."

But the man seemed to inherit Gamma Zane’s stubbornness after his death and shook his head, clenching his fists.

"The military advisor and I tried reaching out to the other Elders of the Luminari Coven as well as the other high covens of North America after the broadcast." He said with a scoff.

"None of them responded. They’ve all given me reason to believe that a witch or a group of witches helped with the hijacking of the World Alliance Television Network’s towers around the continent."

I parted my lips to speak when Elder Davina remarked from where she sat. "Your belief, unfortunately, holds no substance without evidence, Delta. You can’t go around pointing fingers. That’s exactly what the Lord hoped to accomplish with that broadcast."

"Oh, please." The military advisor chimed in, waving his right hand dismissively. "As if witches and werewolves haven’t been pointing fingers at each other for centuries even before the war."

"Does that mean we should follow suit?" Layla asked just then, placing her hands on the table. "I saw the broadcast too. I communicated with the packs close to the transmission towers that helped fight back against the enemies who hijacked them. They were rogue werewolves. Not witches."

Delta Axel stared at her with disdain, obviously not taking her seriously. "It still doesn’t explain the magic pulses that jammed and distorted the signals. They took over the towers in North America but how did they manage to disrupt transmissions at a global level?"

There was silence after he said that as everyone glanced among themselves with tense expressions. This whole thing was confusing and I didn’t want it to become yet another mystery that would have witches as the main suspects.

"If I may, Delta..." Aunt Althea stepped closer, spreading her arms with a calm expression. "I got word from—"

"No, you may not, witch!" The Delta barked, his pot belly jiggling in sync with his rage. "Not until you get your witches to answer our calls or face justice."

"I didn’t realize I made you the new Alpha King, Delta Axel." Kaelos’ voice instantly lost its previous diplomacy, and I could feel his Alpha King aura threatening to burst out like a raging river beside me. "Stop disrupting this meeting and allow high priestess Althea to speak."

The Delta clenched his jaw as he begrudgingly sat down, folding his arms in front of his chest before mumbling under his breath. "Maybe we need a new Alpha King."

Oh, gods, no...

’Odessa, you gotta calm Kaelos before he snaps.’ Sirena spoke in my head just then but then sniggered mischievously. ’That’s what I’d say if I didn’t personally want to chew off the Delta’s head.’

"What did you say, Delta?" Kaelos didn’t hold back anymore and let his Alpha King aura burst out.

But to my shock, it wasn’t invisible like before. This time, it manifested in the form of a silver aura that surrounded him like a miasma first before shooting up to the ceiling like a furnace.

Things didn’t end there as his aura spread out, engulfing the entire room and causing everyone to shift back in shock and fear.

"K–Kaelos?" I called out to him but he ignored me as he slowly got on his feet.

His aura was suffocating, making breathing feel like a chore and forcing me to clutch my chest. Everyone else had the same reaction... Until Kaelos focused the silver aura into a single burst that was directed only at the Delta.

"I brought down my own uncle because of his mutiny," Kaelos remarked with a chilling voice, staring directly at the Delta. "What makes you think I’ll be merciful to you?"

The Delta couldn’t bring a response and instead trembled in his seat, his fingers on the table shaking as well as he tried avoiding eye contact with Kaelos.

At that moment, I glanced over at Elder Davina who surprisingly had her gaze on me, her eyes glinting with a knowing light.

She gave me a small nod and I knew instantly what she wanted me to do.

I brought my gaze to Kaelos and drew in a deep breath before I stretched my hands to him, grabbing his arm. He froze at first before swerving his head toward me.

’Don’t stoop to his level.’ I said through our mind link, subtly tightening my grip on his arm.

His silver eyes, which were already glowing with a subtle light of the same color, softened at that moment, but his jaw was still clenched with anger.

’I’ve become too soft, Odessa. How else would you explain my uncle and Celine daring to betray me and now this asshole testing my patience?’ he responded.

But a small smile curled up the corner of my lips. ’It’s not softness. It’s a strategic show of diplomacy. It’s proof that you’ll be willing to gain the people’s trust in you without leaning much into violence. Let the Delta off the hook for now.’

There was a flicker of hesitation in his eyes and his aura slowly withdrew from the Delta. I was still confused about how it manifested in a visible form, but shrugged it off mentally as yet another boost from the mate bond.

’If the Delta or anyone acts up in a traitorous or malevolent way again, I wouldn’t hesitate to rip their heads off.’ Kaelos finally said mentally before he turned his gaze to everyone else, speaking physically this time.

"I am done playing the mercy card. If you have a problem with my rule, kindly exile yourself far away from the pack and the continent. Or I’ll be more ruthless than the rumors that have defined my reign suggested."