Deacon - Nicholas Bella Page 0,73

offered a sweet smile. “A challenge issued that did not end in our success.”

“Apparently, and that was the vagueness I was referring to,” Josef snapped.

“I would have to second my fellow Alpha in his concern. I, too, would like to know how you lost your former territory. Leaving a whole country is a rather drastic step,” Akio stated.

“Need I remind you that you don’t have sanctuary yet. It is contingent on this meeting if we can move forward. Now is not the time to show pride where it is obvious that you have been humbled,” Josef added, and I wanted to rip his heart from his chest. I had to suppress the growl that I wanted to release to warn the impish Alpha that he was crossing the line by speaking to my Alpha with such disrespect. I hoped Julie wouldn’t take the verbal abuse passively.

Julie squared her shoulders. “I would reckon that you would understand our dire situation. As I will explain, our former territory was being encroached upon by dragons. Over the years, they had moved closer to our borders. It was of the mind of my husband to attack first, if only to warn the dragons to stay away. But we did have hopes of killing them and taking over their territory.”

“Dragons are a tricky foe,” Selena said, and I could hear a bit of compassion in her tone.

Julie nodded. “We went from a pack of nearly four-thousand wolves to only the hundred and twenty-three I wrote to you about in my letter. We had to seek new territory as the dragons did not give us time to petition for territory in Great Britain. I was able to send letters to your ambassadors before we set sail and upon landing in New York. You four were the only Alphas that offered us sanctuary.”

After speaking, the four Alphas were quiet. Even Josef, the one with such bluster, seemed to feel for our loss. The tension in the room died down… just a little.

“To have lost your mate… you have my condolences,” Selena said and reached over, covering Julie’s gloved hand with her own as a show of the sympathy I thought she was feeling.

“Thank you,” Julie said, then swallowed. I knew she was trying to keep from crying. It wasn’t easy for any wolf to admit defeat, but to have to admit it on such a grand scale, having lost everything… even I didn’t want to think about it.

“Your current situation is most unfortunate,” Josef said.

“Indeed,” Akio echoed. “Let us move forward. Our territory is also on the verge of enemies unknown to us.”

“We once had a pact with the vampire who presided over it, Alexander. He was defeated by an army combined of vampires and dragons,” Benjamin said.

“Most unorthodox,” Josef added.

“They took it over and divided that amongst themselves. It was at that point, we four agreed to cease our differences. If we are attacked, we must act as one pack, not each for themselves. If the vampires and dragons attack one of us, they attack all of us. You must swear an oath to join this Treaty of Alliance,” Akio said.

“Who are the new rulers of that land?” Julie asked.

“A vampire King by the name of Ara and a dragon King by the name of Evander. Rumor is that the vampire King has a vampire in his kingdom that is also a dragon. Théoden—something or other,” Akio said, waving his hand to dismiss the vampire’s name.

“If that is true, then it is easy to see why the two have worked together,” Julie stated.

Selena scoffed. “Hardly. Dragons detest abominations like this Théoden. A half-breed like him should have been killed on sight. The fact that he lived to become a vampire only proves that their alliance was before he came to be.”

“Regardless, we have to remain united, because their very presence is a threat to us,” Benjamin stated.

“I will gladly take the oath,” Julie said.

“Don’t be so rash, my dear, for you have not heard our own stipulations,” Josef said.

Julie tilted her head. “Stipulations?”

“It’s only a precaution as you are new to us. We don’t fully know your intentions, so therefore, we have stipulations on how quickly you may regrow your pack,” Selena said.

Julie scoffed. “You speak to me about concerns regarding the vampires and dragons across the border. Wouldn’t it be imperative for me to grow my pack as quickly as possible?”

“And say that you do? Who’s to say that you will not go back on