Chapter Six: Trouble

Xavier walked slowly, but confidently down the spacious corridor of the seventh floor of the pack house. His body face was stoic to fit the dangerous aura spewing from his muscled body. With every movement he took, his muscles flexed, straining at his tight, black shirt. 

His heavily tattooed arms constricted as he clenched he clenched and unclenched his fists.

His jaw ticked and eyes darkened as he listened to the beta's report on the agenda of the meeting they were headed to.

More pack problems that he had to attend to. He would rather ignore each and every one of them, but that may cause worse problems, like a rebellion from the conjoined packs. He wasn't scared of any rebellion either and could vanquish whoever tried, but he didn't want more unnecessary blood on his head. The blood from the past had soaked his fur and perhaps oozed from his pores, and he was sick of it. Alas, he still kills everyday.

"Alpha," Ezekiel called carefully. His face was without an ounce of fear when he met the alpha's pitch black eyes. His beast was surfacing again.

Xavier turned away with an annoyed sigh and shut his eyes briefly, before they returned to their normal blue ones.

Ezekiel has been Xavier's closest friend and second in command for the past hundred years. He knew how Xavier's temper ran.

They turned left to another spacious hallway, and Ezekiel continued his report.

"The rogue attacks are still ongoing at the borders. Some were caught early this morning and after the interrogation, we found out that it's been Demitrey, the alpha of the shadow pack that has been hiring rogues to attack us." Ezekiel paused, but when Xavier said nothing, he continued, "there are still appearances of vampires close to the borders. They are hiding from the warriors, alpha, but they still attack at intervals."

Xavier growled deeply when he heard this. He had sent a clear warning to the leech king to keep his bloodsuckers away from his territory, but he just won't be submissive. He'll take care of him later.

They arrived in a short hallway, the door to the meeting room was at the end of it. Two warriors stood on each side of the door with the gamma casually leaning on the wall. Once they sensed the alpha's presence, the warriors stood straighter and the gamma gave a lazy smirk.

Xavier passed through, each warrior bowing low in respect. The beta and gamma joined him behind and Zain turned to Ezekiel and asked in a grumpy voice, "why are we both dressed up and he isn't?"

"Shut up," scolded Ezekiel as he shot the gamma a glare and walked into the meeting room.

As soon as Xavier entered the room, five strong looking men quickly stood up at once and bowed low in greeting. They were the different pack leaders of the five packs incorporated into Xavier's big pack.

Rohan, the oldest of the five and leader of the former full moon pack. It was the only peacefully conjoined acquired pack. The two alpha's had come to a mutual agreement which benefitted Rohan more. It was the smallest and easiest pack for outsiders to attack, therefore, the alliance was the only option.

Kayden, the leader of the former blue moon pack. Kayden and his pack members had surrendered after Xavier had attacked his pack. It was a great bloodbath and their number had reduced significantly, so Kayden had no option than to surrender, or have him, his mate and the entire pack vanquished.

Kennedy, the leader of the former shadow pack, had been made the new leader after Xavier had killed his former alpha, luna, and the entire family. The whole pack had surrendered which was a betrayal and bitter memory to their late alpha. They had to survive for the sake of the next generation.

James, the leader of the former dark night pack was also made a new leader after the alpha and luna were killed by Xavier. A division arose and the pack split in two; those that were ready to surrender and those that swore to fight to the death rather than be under Xavier's rule. It was admirable, Xavier had thought, but was still a foolish thing to do. The opposition was quickly wiped out.

Lastly, Trent, the youngest and perhaps the most inexperienced leader of the former red fang pack. He was the spoiled, only son of his parents and when he became alpha, the first thing he did was wage a senseless war on Xavier's pack, with the silly idea of conquering it and making history. However, as soon as Xavier had killed his parents, Trent threw himself at his feet and surrendered.

Ezekiel and Zain stood on both sides of Xavier's chair as he sat down, signalling the leaders to take their seats as well. The white long and wide table put a fair distance between them. The leaders were strong and built, and had alpha blood running through their veins, but they were nothing compared to Xavier's form or the dominant aura from his body. 

Even with their hot blood, they involuntarily bent their necks slightly when Xavier's eyes fell on them. The aura was more evident today than before.

They were not alpha's in this pack; Xavier had made it clear that he was the one and only alpha as far as the pack was concerned. In order to keep their heads, they stepped down.

"Begin," was the short and clear instruction, and Kennedy rose.

"Greetings alpha Xavier and my fellow leaders," he began, "the number of vampires lurking around the borders of my territory are…"

"MY TERRITORY!" Xavier roared in a guttural voice. His eyes had turned black and his canines had elongated. Tension filled the room like thick smoke, enveloping everyone in fear. The beta and gamma exchanged worried looks with each other but said nothing.

"I'm…I'm sorry alpha. It was a mistake. Your territory I meant, forgive me," Kennedy rushed to apologize and bent his neck low. He wondered at Xavier's outburst just like everyone else, but he mostly wondered how he could make that mistake. On the contrary, it was the ruthless alpha of the blood moon pack he was talking to; anything could offend him.

Xavier shut his eyes hard and struggled to keep his wolf in. It had been scratching at the back of his head since this morning, and hearing Kennedy claim territory made it very angry. His canines slowly retracted to its normal size and Xavier took successive breaths to calm down. He needed to get it together and not ruin the meeting.

Xavier opened his eyes to reveal their normal colour. "Continue," he managed to say to a slightly embarrassed Kennedy. The alpha's wolf may be calm for now, but it was still angry and waited for another opportunity to break free.

"Yes alpha," Kennedy conceeded.

"The number of vampires lurking near my pack is rising. They are now feeding off our pack members. Just this morning, we found a dead child, bitten and drained of blood close to the borders. The child hasn't shifted yet so was completely defenseless and vulnerable. Alpha, if this keeps up, there won't be mat…"

Kennedy shut his mouth quickly when he realized that he had almost said the word 'mate' in front of Xavier. He watched with dread, Xavier's eyes flash from blue to black, and his jaw tick.

"There won't be what, Kennedy?" The alpha asked in a deadly tone, and his eyes flashed from blue to black.

"There…there won't be warriors to train to protect…and fight in the future," Kennedy corrected, his senses at alert.

"Sit down, Kennedy," Xavier commanded and with a silent sigh of relief, Kennedy took his seat. That was close.

"Greetings alpha, fellow leaders," Rohan began. "My pack members recently found a few unconscious members a few kilometers away from the borders. It is very strange, alpha, because the border patrols and warriors didn't notice any movements in or out of the borders. 

There weren't Invaders of any kind lurking around and no one had noticed this situation until reports of missing persons came to me. Things are getting very dangerous, alpha Xavier, and I feel that we are dealing with something bigger here."

'That's also strange alpha. We have a case like that here. Two people were picked up during parole. The warriors found them unconscious, so they were taken to the pack clinic for medical attention.' Ezekiel's eyes glazed over as he mind linked the alpha.

'Why didn't you tell me this before?'

'I'm sorry Xavier, I dismissed it as not so serious.'

Xavier leaned forward and placed his arms on the table, drawing the attention of everyone. He watched everyone in silence, his face devoid of emotions, but inside his head, his beast banged its head against the walls of his brain. It was completely against the decision Xavier was about to make. 

"I'm reinstating your titles as alpha's," Xavier declared. Their eyes widened in great surprise as they processed the words of the alpha; they were taken aback by this sudden decision. However, their surprise quickly faded away and was replaced with grateful smiles and bouts of thanks. They never thought that this could ever happen. 

'Did I just hear right?' Zain mindlinked the beta, surprise in his voice. 'Yes, you did.' Ezekiel replied just as surprised. 'Huh…something is wrong with Xavier' Zain said. 'Shut up.'

Moreover, Xavier clenched his jaw in an attempt to fight back the displeased wolf that was trying to knock some sense into his brain. "But!" Xavier growled, cutting of the joyful vibes in the atmosphere, "you must swear your allegiance to me and answer only to me alone."

"We swear our loyalty to you alone, alpha Xavier," they chorused solemnly.

"You will handle trivial matters concerning your various packs and will not disturb me with your chain of endless problems," Xavier charged them in a serious tone. That was the only reason he gave them back their titles. 

"Double the training of warriors in your packs and make sure they are up to the task to attack and defend like ruthless warriors. If they are not, you will have yourselves to blame. This is a pack of savage killers, not a one of foolish weaklings," he ended with a warning growl and the alphas nodded firmly, the message loud and clear.

Xavier shut his eyes and mentally sighed. His beast had stopped torturing him, but still prowled the back of his head angrily. That was enough relief for him.

"You will each organise a party of your strongest warriors and trackers. We meet by sunset in the courtyard of my pack house. We'll patrol the borders for any threat whatsoever…"

'Alpha…'

'What?!' Xavier growled angrily in the mind link with his gamma.

'I'm sorry to interrupt you, but…the witch is here to see you,' Zain informed.

'Why?'

'I don't know, alpha. She wouldn't say the reason, but she stresses that it is very urgent. Life or death situation in her exact words.'

Xavier abruptly cut off the mind link and said curtly to the alphas, "this meeting is dismissed."

He quickly stood up to leave, his beta and alpha quickly following suit, leaving behind the confused alphas.

The men ascended another flight of stairs to the eight floor of the building. Xavier opened the door and stepped into the room. The witch stood beside the window behind his desk. She looked out at the scenery, her red hair blown softly by the wind.

Slowly, she turned around, grim faced and said, "there's trouble."