The group sat at the table with the two alphas, having eaten dinner and now having coffee and cake.
“You don’t like coffee, Chasen?” Tony asked, noticing he turned the hot beverage down.
“Oh he likes it alright.” Hunter smirked, taking another sip of his hot, heavenly drink. “But his mate doesn’t like it.”
Ander chuckled. “Say no more, my friend. If I come close to garlic, my mate won’t even let me in the house. Especially now that she’s pregnant.”
“I have a question for the two of you,” Freja asked as she studied the two men. They both looked at her, as did the rest of the table. “Why aren’t you afraid of me? You do know what I am, right?”
Tony and Ander both smiled at her.
“We know what you are. Most know about the dhampir demon huntress. Although …” Tony took a light whiff of the air. “I also smell a wolf in you.” He looked at her curiously for a moment but then continued. “You’re wondering why we’re not afraid. I guess the logical answer is you haven’t given us a reason to be afraid.”
“We learned a long time ago that you can’t take what is said at face value. We both prefer to judge a situation for ourselves. Hence why we’re here.” Ander grinned with a small shrug.
“There’s usually more to rumors and stories. And we’ve both had the bad experience of not discovering the truth for ourselves. Since then, we don’t put a lot of stock in what we’ve been told. We have to analyze a situation and person for ourselves.” Tony leaned back in his chair. His father had taken a stranger’s word for how good of a person Alvin was. He didn’t pry into his background at all or investigate him further. That was the first mistake his father made that led to a series of unfortunate events.
Sam walked in through the door and immediately met Hunter’s gaze. “Sorry to interrupt. I have some information about the Briar Coven for you when you have time.”
“BRIAR?!” Ander and Tony said in unison. The group looked at the two men incredulously.
“You know of the coven?” Hunter asked, looking at the two men in confusion. What were the odds of them knowing about these witches? It was unusual for werewolves to be involved with them, let alone know about a specific coven.
Tony growled lowly. “Unfortunately, we do.” His eyes flickered over to Ander. He squeezed his fists together, making his knuckles turn white.
“Easy, Tony,” Ander said gently. He looked at Hunter, his gaze serious. He tapped his fingers on the table for a moment as he pondered what to say. “The thing is … that coven is a problem. We had a really bad experience with them before.” He looked at Tony, a flicker of worry in his eyes. “They’ve caused us a lot of heartache.”
Freja scoffed and folded her arms. “Join the club.” She then narrowed her eyes at the two men. “Their coven leader’s blood is mine.”
“Ours,” Hunter corrected with a smile. He owed that witch a few finishing blows, too. “Well, it looks like they’re enemies of yours, too?” He watched as the two men nodded. “How about we exchange stories then? I’d like to hear how you’ve come to know them.” He then looked over at Sam. “Come in and have a seat, Sam. You can tell us what you know in just a moment.”
Hunter looked across the table at the two alphas. There was a strained tension on their faces. The memories that were just stirred up by the mention of the Briar Coven were not pleasant ones. “Would you like to tell us your story?”
Tony sighed and then ran his hand through his hair. “My father’s beta, Alvin, was the great nephew of the Briar Coven leader … Meryl, I believe. Anyhow, she gave him an enchanted necklace to turn my pack against my father. It was because of him that I was sold to the onis. After Freja freed me, I went back to my pack to find out that my father had been killed. I was viewed as an enemy, but I was able to overhear that Alvin was at Ander’s pack trying to take one of his sisters as a mate. I immediately searched out Ander and we started putting the pieces together. Ander used his information network to find out about the necklace and its connection. So, long story short, we killed Alvin and I got my pack back after destroying the necklace. I still owe that coven for the damage they did. Alvin would never have been able to do what he did without their help.”
Tony sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Life would have been so different right now if his father were still alive. What he went through while he was the onis’ pet … well, there were times it still bothered him. He would wake up in a cold sweat and breathing heavily, expecting to still be in silver chains that he couldn’t break. Alvin was at fault, but so was Meryl. Alvin could never have accomplished what he did without her aid.
“I’m sorry to hear about your father,” Freja said with a small frown. “That damn witch lives to wreck other’s lives.”
“Thank you.” Tony smiled in appreciation. “I guess a positive that came out of it is that it led me to Ander. The two of us were able to become close because of it.”
“Or you could look at it as another negative,” Ander teased playfully, receiving a punch in the arm by Tony. He laughed and rubbed the tender spot. “Alright. You know I value our friendship.” He shook his head with a smile and looked at Hunter and Freja. “So, why are you demanding Meryl’s blood be spilled?”
Freja chuckled. “Which reason do we need here? Hmm … Well, let’s start with the fact that she holds a grudge against me because my mother didn’t take over the coven and left for a vampire. After they died, the Briar Coven put a death curse on me, which almost killed Hunter’s sister when she removed it. Then, the most recent thing is that she injected Hunter with a blood potion that made him want to kill me whenever he saw me. I guess you could pick one or choose them all … in either case, she’s as good as dead.” Freja’s gaze turned cold as a wave of her old self passed over her. She was bloodthirsty and demanding Meryl’s death. The old hag had interfered in her life one too many times.
Ander whistled. “Okay. You win. You get to kill her.” He looked over at Tony and shrugged. She had the harsher experience, and the witch had done these things personally.
“Well, actually … I’m declaring war against the Briar Coven. They injected a blood potion, harming both the King and Queen of the Werewolves. It’s something that the packs cannot stand for. We can’t afford to show any weakness. A united front must be shown in retaliation. All the local packs are already in agreement and are just waiting for my word to engage.” He looked up at the two men.
“If you’re saying we have a chance to battle the Briar Coven, then sign us up,” Tony said in a cold, chilling tone. He needed to avenge his father.
“I agree. We don’t have our full armies with us, but we brought some of our best warriors, besides our betas, who we left in charge back in our packs.” Ander would gladly fight against the witches. As far as he was concerned, he was making the world a safer place for his unborn pup and mate.
“Thank you. We appreciate it.” Hunter then turned to look at Sam. “So, what news do you have?”
“Uncle Reed called and talked to mom just a bit ago. Apparently, all of the covens have decided to join against the Briar Coven. None of them want there to be ill will with the werewolves, what with their king having been attacked. They wish to coordinate a plan with you. They’ve asked that the whole coven not be culled. They have a list of names with pictures of the troublemakers and are asking you to allow at least this much leniency, since not all of the witches in the coven are to blame.” Sam watched as Hunter and Freja looked at one another, deciding how each felt about the idea.
“Very well. That seems fair. In that case, we won’t need all the werewolves to engage. That would be overkill.” Hunter looked at Freja, who nodded in agreement. He then looked at Tony and Ander. “It’s up to you guys. I know you have bad blood with the Briar Coven. If you wish to join us in the battle against them, you’re welcome to.”
