ZARAMANNI (BOOK ONE)
PART TWO: CHAPTER TWENTY

Alpha Darren was about to lose it.

His eyes filled with anger, he glared at the wooden surface in front of him, his hands pressing the sculptured handles of his majestic and comfortable chair.

“I am sure he is close by,” Beta Fam spoke, his eyes carrying a look of caution. He didn’t want to piss off the King who looked like he could cause the entire room to face chaos within the blink of an eye.

“This is our first council meeting since the attack, how can Beta Zoey be this late?” Verano pack’s representative, Beta Howli said from the other end of the table where he had tucked himself into. The he-wolf who barely uttered words on a good day surprised others when he further said, “Alpha Darren, please be patient. I am sure Beta Zoey has a reason for this.”

“He has probably forgotten there’s a meeting today,” Sham added and his tone was notably filled with some kind of smugness.

“Let’s not be hasty with our thoughts,” Lord Elias finally spoke. “There must be a reason for his lateness. We all know that Beta Zoey is not a careless wolf. He is disciplined and he would never act like an insane creature.”

”Lord Elias, I get that you and Beta Zoey belong to the same pack, but you don’t have to praise the man as though he is some holy knight,” Sham responded from where he was seated, which was right beside Fam.

Beta Fam and Lord Elias were the closest to the Alpha King.

“Why do you sound so bitter, Gamma Sham? I was just speaking the truth.”

”That’s-”

”That’s enough!” King Darren roared from his seat. The Alpha was already regretting his decision to call a meeting.

If he knew things were going to be so disorganized and annoying, he would have just exercised his power as the ultimate superior and made decisions on his own.

But then, doing that would backfire. If he did as he wished, Zenrada would suffer another war… an internal war.

That was the worst kind of conflict Zenrada could face.

“Alpha Darren, members of the council,” Zoey greeted as he rushed in, his heavy shoes thudding against the ground. He settled beside Lord Elias, “I apologize greatly. I didn’t intend to run late. Something happened at the manor and it involved the King’s guest. It was a matter that needed to be resolved with urgency.”

“Beta Zoey, your apology is useless unless you do it the proper way. You know it is against the rules of the land to be late to a council meeting.”

”Beta Fam,” Zoey replied to the he-wolf with a short, sarcastic smile, “I apologize to the court for my tardiness.”

“That’s enough,” King Darren ordered. He was interested in the incident that caused Zoey to be late, but the gathering had urgent business to attend to.

After clearing his throat and adjusting his posture, he said, “I am sure we all know the two main reasons for which we have gathered this night.”

Sham raised a hand and the king gave the he-wolf his consent to speak. “We are here to revise some of our laws.”

“Yes. And we are going to discuss how to deal with the fairies who have taken more than they can eat.” Alpha Darren clicked his fingers twice and two men that lurked in the dark side of the room walked towards the table, a tray of scrolls in their hands.

The men were saddled with the responsibilities of documenting the affairs of the council, as well as keeping it a secret.

Soon, the scrolls in their hold were evenly distributed among the wolfmen and they returned to their corner.

“Which matter are we to discuss first?” the King asked the room.

“Dealing with the fairies would be a great way to start,” Fam replied, some sort of excitement in his voice.

Alpha Darren noticed the slight joy on the Beta Fam’s face thanks to the heavy lights in the room which was gradually possessing a flowery and relaxing scent.

“Do you have a suggestion, Beta Fam?” Alpha Darren asked.

“Of course, Alpha.” A nod from the Alpha King and Beta Fam continued, “I believe contacting the Great Dragon that resides in the kingdom of The Holies will be of great help in dealing with the fairies and possibly taking our lands from them.”

”But the creatures of The Holies will ask for something in return before the Dragon can agree to help. They always demand physical sacrifice. And, they don’t depend on signed contracts or spoken words,” Lord Elias offered his thoughts on the suggestion while others pondered on it.

“I know a sacrifice will be requested and I have a perfect one in mind,” Beta Fam said, his enthusiasm yet to disappear.

“What is that?” Sham eagerly asked.

With an air of suspense in his poise, he continued, “I noticed Zenrada just received a visitor. A visitor that is not from this world. The Great Dragon is rumoured to have a liking for things that are from other realms. We can present this visitor as a gift to the-”

“Which visitor are you talking about?” Alpha Darren’s voice gruffly asked, his eyes almost drilling lasers into Beta Fam.

“I am talking about the girl. That girl with the blue skin and white hair, the one that was shot during-”

“Will you shut your mouth?”

“Are you insane?”

”Are you out of your mind?”

Zoey, Sham, and the King expressed their angry minds at the same time.

Glaring at the Beta of Batani pack, they crushed the he-wolf’s confidence, leaving him no chance to salvage his courage.

Beta Fam’s throat visibly moved as he took a deep gulp. “I was just-”

”Keep that girl out of this discussion. I am not feeding her to the Great Dragon for whatever reason,” King Darren warned while he relaxed his back. “Beta Fam, do not ever make such a suggestion or else your tongue will pay the price.”

”O-of course, Your Majesty.” From the way Beta Fam’s voice wore a slight tremble, it was evident that he was yet to recover from the resounding voices of the men.

King Darren eyed Zoey and Sham and he wondered why they also had flames of fury in their eyes.

It was extremely odd to him.

“Uh…” Lord Elias’s voice penetrated the pregnant silence in the room. “How about we talk about the revisions we have to make to the laws of the kingdom instead?” He reached for one of the scrolls in front of him and his eyes scanned the uncomfortable space. “We can discuss the other issue later.”

”That is a good idea,” Beta Howli replied with a feeble voice while he adjusted the cloak that was about to overpower his small stature.

Putting an end to the subtle stares he kept sending in Beta Zoey’s and Gamma Sham’s way, Alpha Darren cleared his throat and flung a short smile at Lord Elias who gave him an assuring nod.

After signalling to one of the men in the dark to hand him his electronic tablet, King Darren replied, “Let’s do as Lord Elias suggested.”

Swiping the greenish screen of the device, he said, “We will have to make do with the scrolls for now. As you know, we are yet to devise a way to properly ration the fairy juice we have left. The juice powers most of our electricity, so we have to be careful with our usage.”

While Zenrada’s technology was similar to that of Earth’s, it was more advanced and it was greatly powered by the magic in the fairy juice. But the ones that supplied them with that juice chose to become their enemy.

“We need to find a new source at this rate,” Gamma Sham added, the paper in his hand rustling.

“We have sent word to Amok,” Beta Howli replied. “Verano pack doesn’t use much electricity but we are willing to accommodate a source that will power the entire kingdom.”

“That’s good.” Alpha Darren was glad that he had the council members. He was happier that they didn’t use his hard-headedness against him. Setting the screen of the tablet to face the room, he said, “There is a need to ensure that we have new measures that would protect everyone in the kingdom. The loss we suffered in the past is highly painful, but what good will it be if we spend all of our days mourning instead of doing something to stop the past from repeating itself?”

The members nodded their heads in agreement.

Then, Sham said, “The scrolls we all have in our hands are the proposed revision provided by the Alpha King. He has paid special attention to rules that directly or indirectly relate to security matters.”

”That’s right,” King Darren picked up from where his guard stopped. “I want us all to go through the papers in our hands. If there are any objections or suggestions, let me know. We are in this court to resolve and discuss these things.”

Low mumbles that acknowledged the Alpha filled the arched room and as the King watched them place their entire attention on the cursive writings on the paper, he realized that the meeting would be extra-long.

~

“Answer me. Who are you?” Zara’s voice echoed in the strange space once again and a chuckle replied to her.

The chuckle started slow and somewhat low-toned, then, it became loud and it seemed for a second that Zara’s grip was no longer having an effect.

But it was, Zara could feel how the creature’s skin gave in to the force.

Soon, after a cough, the burst of manly cackle came to an end.

Zaramanni’s illuminated eyes watched as the hood that prevented her from seeing the face of the creature gradually came off.

Once, that covering disappeared, the light that clouded Zara’s eyes suddenly began to flicker. The revealed sight of the person startled her so much, her grasp almost loosened.

After taking a deep swallow that was strangely loud enough to be echoed, Zara’s lips moved in accordance with the confusion on her face.

“G-Gavin?” she stuttered.

But there was no way Gavin could have found her in that universe.

There was no way he was really in front of her receiving the wrath of her threatening grip.

A groan from the man wearing the face of her bully made her realize that she was applying more pressure to his neck.

That squeeze was enough to assure her that the person was real. He wasn’t an illusion.

But the face she was frowning at was not one she expected to ever see.

Someone had to be playing a sick game with her.

Her many thoughts came to an end when the creature said, “Don’t worry, I am not him.”

Though the response soothed Zaramanni’s worries, she noted that the voice she had just heard wasn’t like Gavin’s which was majorly sweet despite the deceit and wickedness the guy had inside him.

The voice she had just heard was the type that would haunt a person’s sleep.

Spine-chilling and intense, it was the kind of voice that would audition to be in a hardcore horror movie.

Of course, it would get the role.

“Then, who are you?” Zara questioned.

“A shapeshifter,” he replied, a touch of indifference in his tone. “I am an assassin and a creature of the dark.”

”A shapeshifter… You are the one that has been trying to kill me.” Zara’s left eye began to twitch. “Show me your real face.”

”I do not have a real face.”

Zara was about to pursue the topic of his face when it occurred to her that there were other pressing issues. Surprisingly, her super strength was still present, she was still able to pin the man to the wall.

“Why do you want to kill me?”

“I wasn’t trying to kill you,” the creature replied, his voice still extremely creepy.

“You shot me with an arrow.”

”And I stuffed your face with a pillow. I also told the rogue vampires about your special ability.” Zaramanni was about to sarcastically appreciate him for listing the evil he caused when he concluded with, “But, I was not trying to kill you.”

Zara became confused. “If you were not trying to kill me, why did you do those things?”

“The ones that sent me have their eyes set on the Alpha King.”

”King Darren?”

“If I successfully kidnap you, luring King Darren would be easy for them.”

”You have definitely done a terrible job so far,” Zaramanni remarked, and he wore a deep frown. “Who are the people that sent you?”

”You know the answer to that.” Wearing a blank look, her hold tightened and the assassin began to make choking sounds while slapping the air to beg for mercy. When Zara loosened her grasp a bit, he hurriedly confessed, “The fairies sent me. Lord Haggard sent me.”

”Lord Haggard…” That had to be the name of the old fairy, Zara reasoned. “That’s all I need to know,” Zara said, her tone solemn.

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“No.”

“What?”

Gathering more strength, Zara smashed his head against the dark brick wall.

Her fingers dug further into the skin of the creature which was beginning to feel more like nylon.

And, her fingers attempted to find the very point that would ensure the life of the creature would be taken.

The depths of her eyes wore an ominous look, she looked unlike herself. That look settled on her face and her lips wore a tight, serious tug.

Seconds later, blackish liquid began to trickle down her fingers. Though it was an odd sight, it was evident that the man was close to losing his life.

Soon, the assassin gave a shriek, the loudness of his voice ruining the quietude in the strange space.

That sound also disturbed Zara’s ears as she released the creature and watched his lifeless body fall to the ground.

The muscular body began to deflate like a punctured balloon.

But before she could see more of that scene, a light flashed, and Zara was dragged out of that large space by a strong force.

She had no idea what happened during or after the drag, but she became aware of herself when her feet landed on a surface.

Before Zara could adjust her sight to the new room, the surface beneath her crashed.

She held on to something to save herself from whatever doom was waiting for her, and locked eyes with Alpha Darren.

Zaramanni was more than startled.

Loud murmurs entered her ears, and she looked to her right.

Seated there was Lord Elias.

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