The Dark Side Of Fate by Karima Sa'ad Usman novel Chapter 28

~Leo~

Protecting what was left of my territory from Bane's invasion was hard, but I had to.

These were times when I would have loved Tamia on my team.

She knew exactly what to do and how to act.

I was leaning on Max and Kyle, and our odds didn't seem great.

When the lesser Alphas joined with Bane, it didn't hurt.

I felt it was their choice.

They wanted to go after the wolf lord and get their daughters back; some wanted revenge for their loved ones. I could understand their pain. However the Wolf Lord tried to justify his attack, his actions were wrong. Attacking the entire East because a pack from the East dared to attack him was wrong.

I knew it was cowardly to accept defeat and urge the East to rebuild and move on, but I did not want us to lose more than we had already.

The northern soldiers were strong, and they had a larger army.

Combining our strength with the south would have evened the playing field, but I did not trust Bane's intentions, and I still don't.

I had called a meeting with the remaining Alphas under me, and they answered.

When the alphas arrived, they were angry and scared at the same time.

Everyone blamed Kyle for our misfortunes because he was the one that brought Bane to us.

What pissed all of us off was Bane wanted us to join up by force.

It was as if the part of the East that willingly went with him was not good enough. He wanted Kyle, Max and me on his team too.

During the meeting, I watched the alphas argue and push blame around, which wasn't why I called the meeting. I called the meeting because I needed to find the best solution for peace. Joining Bane was out of the question.

"We need to call a truce," I said, and the hall went quiet.

"We can't do that, Alpha Leo; the man is mad. I heard something about him calling himself the rightful Wolf lord because he killed Maurice Volkov," Ramsey said. I was surprised about how ambitious Bane was.

"We need to find a way to tell him we do not share in his views and we won't go to war against the North," I told them, and they agreed.

"How will we do that? We have already told him we maintain a neutral stance. How else can we tell that bastard that we are not interested in his promises and helping him further his cause?" Alpha Christian said.

"Since you told us Luna Tamia spoke highly of the Wolf Lord, and that he has been treating our sisters and daughters well, we have made peace. How many more do we have to lose?" Timothy said, sounding as frail as he was.

He was one of the Alphas that did not bother fighting. He just handed his granddaughter over as tribute because his daughter was already mated. I could understand his fear.

"I say we take the war to Bane and let him know he has his limits. What he took from the East isn't the best of the East; we can take him down," Gaston said, and I shook my head.

"Luna Tamia was one of our best strategists, Luna Avery dealt with welfare, and Luna Linda dealt with shelter protection. With those three aspects of our society unattended, we stand no chance. The north crippled us already by taking the three most powerful Lunas of the east. We have to rely on strength, and as my wife always said, smart beats strength any day," I said, remembering Tamia, and we were silent.

"We can still manage with what we have," Gaston said, and I nodded.

"Of course, we can, but we do not want any more bloodshed. I suggest we have a peace talk with him," I said, and they began to grumble.

"The man is mad. He will not answer us or anyone. He is greedy and covetous. He won't stop until he gets what he wants," Gaston argued. It seemed the Alpha had made up his mind about fighting Bane.

"I will try and have a peaceful meeting with him," I said, and Ramzey refused.

"This is Kyle's mess. He brought the bastard upon us; he should have a peaceful meeting with him. Why should you risk your life?" Ramzey said, and I nodded.

"I understand your anger, Alpha Ramzey, but this is beyond pettiness. Yes, Kyle brought him, but we all agreed. Even though Tamia warned that the Wolf Lord wasn't bothering us, we still chose to Join forces with the south to protect ourselves. Kyle did not force us to accept the alliance; we did it wholeheartedly; it can't be his cross alone to bear. As the leader of the East, I am to have that peace talk with Bane," I said, owning up to my responsibility, and everyone was silent.

"If anything happens to you, we will go to war with Bane. It is as simple as that. He wants us for the army he is building, and going to war with him will cripple the size and strength of his army. We might not win, but we will do damage. I rather hurt the bastard and die than take orders from him," Max said, and I realised he, too, had it in for Bane.

Max claimed he had written several letters to Avery in the north but never got any response. He tried to insinuate that Tamia wrote her letter under duress, but I had to point out the difference to him.

Other than breaking my promise to my wife, I never maltreated her for Amanda's sake.

I never lay a finger on her and I performed my duties as a husband towards her.

I refused to give her up and would have laid down my life for her sake; he did the opposite.

If anything, he should take her silence as moving on. She was probably enjoying herself there and had moved on.

Knowing that it was a tradition in the north to split Lunas among the top officers, she was probably with the Alpha, Beta, Gamma or Delta and having the time of her life.

Any life would be better than what she and Mia had with him.

During our community full moon walks, I saw the silver scars on Mia's white fur several times. I ignored it because it wasn't my business.

Although I had been pleading with Max to let go, he didn't want to, and now he wanted to go to war against Bane. All I could see was a desperate alpha looking for a thrill.

He never loved his Luna enough to treat her well.

I looked at Kyle.

"Set up a meeting with Bane for tomorrow evening, to take place on Hill valley land, where it shares a border with Krane. He will feel safe meeting me there," I said and ended the meeting.

Amanda buzzed my phone throughout the meeting, so I decided to rush home to see what the problem was.

I arrived and found northern warriors at my home.

Although they did not seem like they came to fight me, I had to be on my guard.

They took my wife away the last time they were at my home.