Page 150 of An Omega for the Lycan Prince

“Easy, Jace,” Elden smiles. “They are only sixteen. They will come around and become more responsible.”

Jace throws him an annoyed glance. “Oh, look at me, I’m Elden, and this is my perfect son,” he says in a high-pitched voice towards Elden before narrowing his eyes. “You have no idea how lucky you were.”

“Oh,” Elden sneers. “I know.”

Liam’s hand rests on my knee, and his touch alone makes me relax. Now it’s time to deal with the real issue with Red Claw.

Chapter forty-four

Chapter 44 Alphas’ Meeting

*LIAM*

Weallsitdown,ready to discuss the Red Claw situation. I have no idea what happened right before I walked into the room, but my father looked downright pissed, Vincent too. Only Annalise seemed to be somewhat amused.

I can feel Annalise’s hand on my knee, her thumb rubbing over it as if to calm me down.

“I talked to Alpha Cedric’s heir, Alpha Celine, right before I came in. She is meeting with one of her informants right now,” I repeat. I don’t know exactly who Celine is talking to. She just swore they can be trusted. We normally never share the names of our informants. News travels fast and could endanger them. So, I have to trust her in this. “She will be here later because she first wants to properly diffuse her traces and scent.”

My father’s old friend, Jace, nods tentatively. He and Dad grew up together and are close allies and friends. It’s good to know we have his support. “I have sent a few of my wolves and Lycans to the smaller packs around Red Claw. Very unsettling what they told me,” he explains.

“Does it match with the information we already collected?” I want to know. “Is it true that women and children are kept locked away?”

“At best, yes,” Jace says. “One of the surrounding packs – Hollow Moon – secretly took in a few refugees. The Alpha there told my men he didn’t want to take them in out of fear of Alpha Marcus’ revenge but seeing the state they were in, he couldn’t send them back. He said one of the young women was missing a finger. They were all so dehydrated they could hardly walk.”

I stare at him in disbelief. This is worse than I imagined.

“What else did young Alpha Celine say?” my father asks.

“That Alpha Marcus is recruiting and upgrading his army. Apparently, every male wolf there is supposed to fight, Omega, Betas, Alphas. They are preparing for a war, it seems.” I pause thoughtfully. “Some smaller packs have been attacked already.”

“A war against who, though? What is he planning?” some of the Alphas want to know. I can see their cool façade dropping slowly. Not every pack is as big as ours. Not everyone has strong allies. And not everyone is a pack with Lycan rulers. Marcus’ army could easily swallow them.

Annalise hasn’t said anything so far, but now she stirs slightly. “They attacked me first and then tried to attack Luna Flora. They probably want to go for Liam and Alpha Elden. If they are wiped out, it will be easy to conquer everyone.”

“They can’t wipe us out,” my father scoffs.

Annalise nods. “You are right. They can’t. But Alpha Marcus believes he can. What Alpha in their right mind would take his pack members’ mates away? Rape their daughters? Kill their children? He believes it will be as easy as walking to Silverlake and killing you. That’s what makes him so dangerous. And he is ready to burn down everything in his way… that’s the danger for the smaller packs.”

“She is right. The problem is not Silverlake,” Jace agrees. He gives my beautiful mate an approving nod, and my heart swells with pride. “The problem is everyone is in Marcus’ way to Silverlake. Silverlake is prepared, and that dunce Marcus faces no chance, but what about the other packs? What about you guys here?”

I lean back a bit. “Celine told me that one of the packs he wanted to attack lit up their whole pack area with fire. They said they would rather lose everything and die than be forced into Marcus’ pack.”

“They did what!?” Jace asks in horror. “They burned themselves? Which pack was it?”

“Two-thirds of them died in the flames. How cruel must the fate in Red Claw be to choose death over it?” I pause. “It’s Crescent Moon.” I notice how a few of my fellow Alphas wince slightly. One Alpha looks particularly sad but not surprised. “Did you know them?” I ask the man directly.

He nods. He looks sad and pale. There is something in his eyes, though, something I can’t quite put my finger on yet. “I had a few friends there. They were a good pack. Rather small, but very progressive. Didn’t have many fighters. Last time I visited, they had just opened the nursery… I, I can’t even believe it.”

“You are Alpha Philipp, right?” Elden asks thoughtfully. “From one of the neighboring packs of Red Claw.”

He nods again. “We are right next to Crescent Moon.”

The others commend him for coming here despite the threat. He doesn’t seem to like the focus on himself much. Maybe the broken look in his eyes is because he couldn’t avoid Crescent Moon’s fate… maybe he wanted to help but couldn’t. Who knows what else he lost there?

Annalise looks at him kindly. “I’m very sorry for your loss,” she says softly. “I’m sure you had lots of friends there.”

He looks at her, thankfully. “Thank you, young Luna.”