Deacon - Nicholas Bella Page 0,74
your word?” Josef said.
“Wolves do crave territory and we need to make sure you can maintain yours without coveting ours,” Akio added.
“Ridiculous,” I cursed under my breath and unfortunately gained the ire of the Alphas sitting around the table.
“You’re an Alpha, if you lack the ability to silence that one,” Josef said, “I’ll rip out his tongue myself.”
I shifted and Julie held her hand up. “He will keep his mouth closed or I will rip out his tongue and feed it to him before you.”
The threat to my person coming from my Alpha… to be honest… didn’t sit well with me. It wasn’t the same as a threat coming from Connor. Julie was far younger than me and if I had not taken her to meet Connor and had rather made her a whore in my brothel instead, perhaps we wouldn’t even be here. Still, she was my Alpha and I had to obey.
“My apologies, Alphas,” I said, then lowered my head as a show of subservience and kept my mouth shut.
They all gave me a warning look before returning to their conversation.
“So, how many wolves am I allowed to make?” Julie asked.
“No more than a hundred in this first century,” Akio said.
“So, by the turn of this century, I will have two-hundred and twenty-three wolves?”
They all nodded.
“That is the price you must accept if you are to take sanctuary in this territory and build your own,” Josef said.
Julie appeared to mull it over for a few seconds before nodding. “I accept.”
“Good. Now, we must conduct the oath,” Selena said. “Repeat after me with your right hand over your heart.”
Julie placed her right hand over her heart.
“‘I… state your name… swear to protect this land with my life and the lives of the wolves in my pack. For an enemy to one is an enemy to all, and as one pack, we will eliminate our enemies from all directions. To betray this oath, to turn on this treaty, is to forfeit my life and the lives of my pack wolves. Now, repeat,” Selena said.
“I, Julie McGregor, swear to protect this land…” Julie began and finished the oath having memorized it perfectly.
The other Alphas seemed please and all rose as did Julie. “Welcome, Alpha of the…” they paused, allowing her to name her new territory.
“Red Blossom Territory,” Julie supplied, which nearly made me roll my eyes. Leave it to a woman to name a pack of bloodthirsty wolves something as dainty as a fucking Red Blossom or Rose Garden.
“Welcome, Julie McGregor, Alpha of the Red Blossom Territory,” the Alphas said in unison.
“Thank you,” Julie smiled.
“This meeting is now adjourned,” Akio said, then he walked off with very little flair.
Josef was the second to leave as if he couldn’t wait to be out of our presence. He did make sure to toss me a look of disdain before departing. Selena gave Julie a smile before leaving and only Benjamin kissed the back of Julie’s hand like a gentleman should have.
“Take care how you choose your new wolves, my dear,” Benjamin said.
“I will, thank you.”
He nodded, released her hand, and left. Julie turned to me once all Alphas and their accompanying wolves had vacated the cottage. I opened my mouth to apologize again for speaking out of turn, but before I could do so, she backhanded me hard across the jaw, snapping my head back.
“Are you out of your mind insulting them? Do you even comprehend how dire our situation is? You foolish man!” she snapped at me.
I tasted my own blood in my mouth and swallowed it before I spoke. “I was out of line, I know, Alpha. It was their disrespect to you that angered me so.”
“I don’t need you to speak for me, Deacon. I can speak for myself. I am putting the safety of this pack first, making sure we have a secure place to call home. You will never undermine me again, do you understand? I will have you beheaded if you dare to challenge me on this,” Julie warned.
For the first time ever, I was looking at her as a threat that an Alpha could be. Connor would have punished me with something harsher than a slap to my face. Still, I didn’t take kindly to being reprimanded in front of other wolves, nor did I appreciate the threat upon my life. Unfortunately, I was not in a position to argue with my Alpha, so I dropped to one knee, head bowed.
“I will never step out of