Moonbound: The Rogue's Second Chance-Chapter 110: DISCUSSION (III)

Serena had never seen a person look so ugly, it was what she could describe how Ryker looked in that moment. The beta stood there for a few seconds before his body relaxed.

"Yes, of course, Alpha," Ryker said, each word clipped like he had to force them through his teeth.

The harsh scrape of wood against stone filled the air as he dragged the chair out and dropped into it with a weighty thud. He slapped his palms onto the desk, fingers splayed, as if to make some kind of point. Serena turned her head slowly and gave him a cool once-over,

Inwardly, she was smiling to herself, her chest felt light. Ryker had gotten on her nerves so much, at least she had left Silas stunned with her comeback back in Ficus. A minor victory, but a victory nonetheless.

Darius placed his hand over his mouth to stop himself from smiling. He cleared his throat and arranged the papers back into a stack.

"Are we waiting for Emmett?" Serena asked.

"Hm?" Darius turned to her. "Oh, yes and a special guest."

Serena brows scrunched up. "Who?"

Darius perked up like he had heard something. "Oh, you will see alright."

Serena opened her mouth to ask another question when the doors were opened again and she turned. Her eyes nearly fell out of her head, there was the Moonseeker who dwarfed Emmett. Her white hair was left into an afro and her fingers were adorned with various silver rings of different designs.

Emmett tugged on his ear lightly and then his brother Cedar appeared from behind them all smiles. He took a seat next to Ryker and Emmett next to him. Iris and Livia paused their conversation and sat next to Silas.

The Moonseeker stood in front of the crescent table and then Darius rose and everyone followed suit. Serena kept her hands off of the table and looked forward at the ethereal woman.

She smiled at them, "It has been a long time for you since we have gathered together. Today we even have a lovely addition."

The priestess gave Serena a pointed look and Serena nodded slowly. "You may sit."

Serena flattened her dress and cleared her throat. She looked at Darius who made no move to rise or take control of the meeting. Just how much power did the Moonseeker hold in Ironshade, Serena was fairly certain she was older than everyone in this room, perhaps twice over.

The priestess remained silent and then Darius finally placed the stack of papers on the desk.

"This is our final meeting before the Dawnbreak delegation arrives," Darius began. "There will be no room for contradictions in our accounts. What happened under my father will remain in this room unless asked directly, and even then, our story holds."

Everyone nodded in agreement excluding Serena, she looked between Darius and the Moonseeker discreetly. What had happened under his father’s rule?

"And that account will be as follows: Serena Evers, a pristine warrior, serves as a high-ranked delegate from Crimsonclaw," the Moonseeker began. "My memory fails me every now and then but somewhere buried deep in our history books there was some sort of alliance we had with the South and East. Julian?"

"Er, yes, that is true," Julian spoke, pushing his glasses up with a crooked finger. The old man’s face was set in a mask of boredom, his voice as disinterested as if he were reciting a weather report. "Distance is one of our enemies, as well as our little rogue problem."

"That is another thing we will not speak about," Darius said, his tone clipped.

"Agreed," Iris chipped in.

"Easier said than done," Cedar muttered with a sigh, slumping back in his seat. "We can keep our lips tightly sealed, but there are many affected families by what happened."

"That is why we will keep a tight leash on the delegate. We finish the talk as quickly as we can," Silas said, tone dry.

"Our treatment of this delegate reflects on what we stand for, we are not caged animals," Cedar argued.

Serena remained silent but one issue bogged her down, they would have to discuss the details of her being here, or at least the contrived reason.

"What were the details of the former alliance?" Serena spoke up.

Every head turned. Silas raised an eyebrow and then barked a laugh, short and cutting. "What would you care about that?"

"It is important to see what angle I can come from," Serena said firmly.

"A wise thought, my dear child," the priestess said warmly, nodding. "You may check for the exact dates as I do not bore myself with such. But the alliance happened in the days when the East strained their snow with spilled blood. Crimsonclaw were ruthless, but dwindling supplies and money would mean they’d be wiped off the map before they could make their mark."

Serena lips parted slowly and she nodded to the priestess’ words.

"And who better to align with than the steel-forged wolves of the West? It was easier then, transportation and communication. But so decades passed and we have all had issues of our own."

"I see," Serena nodded. "Then I will propose a suggestion, I am here mostly on sightseeing but I am here to breathe life into our former alliance."

Elder Julian stroked his chin, eyes narrowing in thought. He muttered something low under his breath that Serena couldn’t catch, then spoke up. "Yes, yes. It could work. Especially with our new discovery of special ore... Our old alliance may yet return to us."

Iris hummed in agreement. "On paper, it would benefit us and Crimsonclaw, perhaps. Logistically speaking, this is a very expensive expedition."

"It was a lovely idea to have finally introduced her to the people," Cedar said, drumming his fingers lightly against the table, "and that vague but powerful speech... Everyone is left to speculate what we intend with Crimsonclaw. Our history is closed off, even Dawnbreak might not have an idea."

Darius tapped on the table and looked up. "It is quiet, too quiet for them. It would be a surprise and would be in our favour. Imagine it like this, the delegate arrives, all form of arrogance would be stripped away when he sees we are in talks with Crimsonclaw, another cardinal that can not be overlooked."

A murmur spread in the room and everyone seemed to be in agreement before Ryker stood up abruptly. "She is a rogue, this can not work."