Page 67 of Knot All Is Ruined: Part 2

Chapter twenty-nine

Through the bond, I could feel how nervous Dani was even though she had her shoulders back and head held high. This woman never ceased to amaze me, and even more so at seeing her soften under the attention of the other guys. At the same time, I’d never planned on having an Omega in my life, bonded or otherwise. The bigger thing I wasn’t prepared for was having a pack—now I suddenly had both.

Our start was less than desired, and we were far from being a family, although we were working on it. Now that matters between Cris and I had come to light, giving me a better understanding of where he was coming from, I didn’t hold it against him. Fathers could really fuck shit up in your life; I knew that from years of personal experience. Where he was struggling though, was the fact he’d idolized his father only to see the curtain lifted and see the man for who he truly was. I had more suspicions about the man, but I wouldn’t voice them until I was certain. No need to cause more emotional damage for the Beta if I didn’t need to.

Branko led us into the town hall and up a flight of wide stairs to the second floor. The building had a vaulted ceiling, providing a roomier feel as well as adding more grandeur to the space. We headed down a hall past doors leading to what I might guess to be offices. When we reached the end, there was a set of double doors that a guard was standing in front of.

“I’m here with the pack members they requested,” Branko informed the guard, then stepped to the side. “This is where I leave you. I’m not allowed to be part of this discussion. Just know that I spent most of last night and all this morning talking with them, so I’ve had the chance to share my peace.”

Reaching out, I offered the man my hand. “Thank you for doing this, Branko. I know we didn’t give you much choice initially, but you’ve gone above and beyond on this.”

The Beta seemed shocked by the gesture but shook my hand all the same. “I’ll take your thanks, but just know that Dani is why I’m doing all this. She made a lot of good points and showed me some truths about myself I didn’t want to acknowledge. If it had just been you guys, we’d have killed you right then and there at your camp.”

I couldn’t help but smirk, as I knew exactly what he was talking about. “Trust me, I wouldn’t be here myself rubbing elbows with the Southern heir if it wasn’t for her either. The woman has a gift for throwing your biggest character flaws in your face and making you take stock of your life.”

“Yeah, it’s a little brutal, isn’t it?” Branko chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

“The council will see you now,” a woman said, interrupting our conversation to scowl at us. “Bran, you know better than to keep your mother waiting.”

“Of course, Ida, I’ll be going now,” Branko told the woman, giving us all a parting nod before heading back the way we came.

“Follow me,” Ida ordered, turning sharply on her heel like a practiced drill sergeant.

The room we were led into was nothing special, just rows of chairs set up before a long table with three people sitting behind it dressed in red robes. It would seem one thing never changes no matter what kind of civilization you create—those in power want to be noticed. A woman sat in the middle with two men on either side of her. They all had graying hair and harsh wrinkles on their faces showing the hardships they’d endured. They reminded me of Babaka and her commanding energy even in her old age. That woman had been one of the fiercest women I’d ever known.

“Greetings to you, I’m Councilwoman Nadeja. To my right is Councilman Filip and our final member Councilman Libor.” She introduced, gesturing to each man. “It has been brought to our attention that your reason for coming to us is to make a rather bold request.”

Last night, while the others were sleeping, Sorin and I agreed that I would take the lead. Out of the two of us, it was going to take more convincing that I was serious about making changes. These people had been living under the tyranny of my father and his predecessors for decades. It would stand to reason they’d need some reassurances from the horse's mouth.

“That is correct,” I answered, taking half a step forward. “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Lucian Bakal, son of General Rasvan and heir to the Northern territory. With me is Sorin Dragomire, son of President Dragomire, heir to the Southern territory. Between the other four members of our pack as well as the two of us, we have the honor of being bonded to our Omega Danella Holstad. She is originally from Oscad but was brought into Northern Asturg three years ago as part of the treaty agreement that has since changed.”

Pausing a moment, I allowed everyone to exchange greetings and the room to fall into a natural silence before I continued.

“Councilwoman, you mentioned our request being rather bold and I would agree with you. I believe that Branko has shared a bit about what we hope to accomplish, but he wasn’t given much time to fill us in on what he covered. If you could tell me what he shared with you or what questions you have, we’d be happy to answer what we can,” I said.

It had been trickier than I thought to word things, so they would have to tell us what exactly Branko told them. Now knowing that this woman was his mother, he would know the best way to approach this matter, and I hoped to do the same.

“He is under the impression you wish to remove your father from power, end the war, and create peace among our people,” Councilman Libor divulged, his callus manner of speaking telling me he thought it was all bullshit.

“All of that is true, and we plan to nurture an alliance between us and Oscad as well. It would benefit all involved to partner with them since their strongest asset is their skill with infrastructure. The North will need to be rebuilt, and it would be rather impossible without their assistance,” I added.

The three of them just stared silently at us for a moment, completely caught off guard. It would seem that while they trusted Branko to do his job and perform as a soldier, they didn’t take his word seriously regarding political matters.

“I’m sorry, but I find it hard to believe that something like this is even possible,” Councilman Filip said, breaking the silence. “We have been working for years to figure out how to remove the General and his men. The bastard is so paranoid he’s got himself surrounded by his own militia, who are all blindly loyal to him. There’s no possible way to get close. We’ve tried just about everything we can think of.” The councilman finished waving his hand as if to brush the whole idea off, as Councilman Libor nodded in agreement.

However, Councilwoman Nadeja leaned forward. “When you say, plan to work with Oscad, is there even a possibility of that? Would they add bodies to this fight, or are we left on our own to take all the risk for them only to come in, pick up the pieces, and claim to be our savior?”

“The last time I spoke to the Head Speaker himself, that wasn’t the agreement we were working on,” I answered, making her eyes widen as she picked up on the point I was trying to make.

“Are you saying that you’ve spoken to Head Speaker Marius himself?” Councilman Libor blurted, half rising out of his chair.

“It would seem that my half-brother Savo is part of Marius’s pack. Like Sorin and myself, they found themselves in love and bonded to the same Omega. Through Savo, we were able to make our request known and, to our complete surprise, he wanted to speak to us directly on the matter. We haven’t had the chance to check in with them. However, our last contact with them made clear they agreed to the terms and would help us,” I explained. “So the final piece to the master plan we have is you and your people. We need those who want this change as much as we do to help pull it off.”

The two men leaned forward, muttering something to each other as Councilwoman Nadeja studied the three of us. “Mr. Dragomire, you’ve remained rather silent through all this.”

Sorin shifted to clasp his hand behind his back, falling comfortably into his military stance. “Is there something you wish me to add to the information being provided?”

A smile tugged at the corner of the woman’s mouth. “Merely an observation, is all. Do you typically defer to Lucian's leadership in matters such as these?”