Fated To My Lycan Stepbrothers
Chapter 48

Naya Cod.

Zeke gave a small smile. I wondered who it was for. "She is our half sister. My loyal subject."

What the f**k?

"Half sister?" Naya, my wolf nearly caused me a headache with her yapping. She hasn't been in a good mood since yesterday. Today was no good.

"Relax, Naya. You are causing me a headache." I hissed, raising my head to smile at Elder Freya. I still have to pretend I don't know her name yet. What? Was I supposed to tell her that I witnessed Kyle strangling her at the table? She has become quite popular these days. It was hard to miss her name with the way people ran their mouths about the strict, orange-haired Elger. I would be strangled in an instant!

"Half Sister?" Elder Freya gave a mocking laugh. She turned to the rest of the Elders. "Did the slut produce another slut for the late Alpha or something?'

The other woman with reddish hair sighed. "Elder Freya, Zeke just won the victory. We don't have to be like this."

"And I am standing right beside you." Marley gritted her teeth under her breath.

"Speak of the devil." Elder Freya cleared her throat, clearly referring to Marley and me as the sluts of the day.

"Elders, I don't think we should stand here and discuss such tribal matters. I am sure you don't want to get on my bad side after such a long Victory. My blood is still pumped." Zeke growled gently. It was a subtle warning directed at Elder Freya. She doesn't know when to stop talking, does she.

"Alright. Alpha Zeke. We will visit you tomorrow morning and brief you on the pack issues. You should commence your duties by tomorrow evening. There is no time for rest." Elder Freya grinned wickedly. "Now that Beta Brooke is nowhere to be found. I am sure you will do just fine. Or you can just appoint your loyal subject to be your beta for the day." Her laughter echoed in the air as she found her way down the podium. "Come with me, Elders. We have a lot to do."

"Is she the leader?" I asked Naya, who was thinking the same.

"Clearly, she is." Naya grudgingly replied before laying her head down for a nap. I was glad because it seemed like yesterday drained both of our energies. The only people who could explain what Naya did the other day were the elders, but obviously Elder Freya doesn't regard me as anything.

The second female Elder bowed her head in reverence. "I am sorry for Elder Freya's words. She can be a bit." She pursed her lips, looking for the right words to qualify her snarky tone in order not to offend Elder Freya, standing a few meters away with a scowl on her face.

I volunteered to complete the sentence for her. "Rude, annoying, and disrespectful." I clamped my mo ut when all eyes turned to me. Way to go, Naya. You have attracted attention to yourself again.

The reddish-haired Elder turned to me. Her hair was almost like mine. The only difference was that the top of her hair was colored wine. Did they dye their hair different colors every day or something? It was such a beautiful color. As much as I hated to admit it, all the Elders looked good. There was a white-haired, green-haired and even a light blue-haired Elder. Almost transparent and surreal. It made me wonder if their wolves had such beautiful fur coats too.

The elder eyed me from head to toe with curiosity. She stretched out her hands to touch my hair. "Your hair... It's just like mine. Did it go under chemicals?"

I shook my head as a 'no' to which her eyes widened a bit. It disappeared just as quickly as it came. "I didn't dye it." I glanced at Marley, whose hair wasn't as reddish as mine. It made me the center of attraction sometimes and, of course, the target of bullying. Everyone hated red hair. It was a hatred I could never understand why it came to be. Me especially. "Although there is someone better suited to tell you what happened to my hair."

She did not need me to tell her that I was speaking about Marley. A soft smile graced her lips. "I am Elder Rosalie. I watch over the pack." She waved her hands for the rest of the Elders to introduce themselves to me. I never understood why she would do that. She pointed at the white-haired Elder. "Elder Roy is in charge of the babies."

Oh, no wonder his face looked so smooth. I nearly snorted. Babies are so important. They kept the line of the wolf cove alive.

"And Elder Archer is in charge of the warriors, and Elder Derek is in charge of our Territory."

I giggled at him, to which he grunted. It seemed like he didn't speak much. "Explains the green hair." Then I frowned. "What about Elder Freya?"

Elder Rosalie gave me a sad smile. "She watches over the weather. It's a tough job, really, since our feeding depends on her. That's why we all answer to her and you, of course." She bowed to Zeke again. Oh, she was talking to him and Kyle as much as she was talking to me. What a shame. I wanted to ask her so many things. I nearly forgot about the men beside me. However, Zeke's stench of dirt and blood distracted me for a moment.

It was weird to see this kind Elder answering to Elder Freya. What was so special about Edler Freya? So what? She watched over clouds to feed us. That has to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. This woman watches over the pack... "Em.. Elder Rosalie?" She turned to me with a smile. It was gentle, like she knew something I did not. Frankly, I didn't like it. No wonder Elders are respected. They actually dealt with magic, unlike the Alpha, who dealt with the papers themselves. Poor Zeke and Kyle. "What do you mean by you watching over the pack?" I asked carefully. Her power wasn't clear to me.

She sighed, glancing at Elder Freya, who grew irritated the more they stood with us. "Why don't we discuss this over tea tomorrow morning?"

"What? She gets invited and I don't?" Kyle scoffed. He had been watching our exchange since then without uttering a word. It was mesmerizing to talk with an elder.

Elder Archer walked towards me with a frown on his face. His eyes went straight to the open bruise on my knees. "You are injured."

I blinked, shying away from their gazes. It was like they were all noticing me for the first time. It made me Unsettled. "I simply tripped and fell." I avoided Zeke's annoying glare and Kyle's amused ones. Lastly, it seemed like Elder Rosalie was giving Zeke and Kyle the stink eye. She was clearly not happy with them for some reason. She did not even blink at my mother, who shrank away from the group.

Elder Archer, the warrior guy, knelt down. Then he placed his hands on my knees. When he removed his hands, it was just a scar. It wasn't visible unless you looked for it.

"Wow. How did you do that?" I smiled genuinely for the first time. I no longer felt pain. It was gone, just like that. I knew that the Elders wielded magic, which made them slightly more powerful than the Alpha.

Elder Archer shrugged. "I merely fastened your healing process. It's nothing great. Whenever we come back from war, I try to heal the warriors' injuries. It makes me feel great."

"Elders!" Elder Freya's thin patience snapped like a twig. Maybe she was going to make food rain from heaven this time around. I held my laugh in.

Elder Rosalie gave me a worried smile. "Tomorrow, over tea. I have something important to tell you."

I nodded. What was so important that she couldn't tell me now? Damn Elder Freya!

The Elders bowed to Alpha, congratulating him on his victory. I eyed the victory gifts they had dropped by the side of the podium.

"He got to heal you but didn't even glance at my side." Zeke muttered immediately as they left.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You were quite content with that." Something told me he wanted me to clean him up like the last time. We still weren't on good terms.

"It shocked me how the elders were so mesmerized by you. Do you meet them behind our backs or something?" Kyle was the first to attack. I haven't forgotten about the painful flick he gave me on my head.

I, too, was shocked by the events that unfolded. It was as if I was comfortable with them. Except for Elder Freya, of course. However, she seemed like a sulking baby to me, and I wasn't afraid to talk her down. A lingering question kept me standing with the boys as we watched the Elders walk away. "Kyle?"

He sighed exasperatedly, like I was bugging him. "What is it, Brawn?"

I let it slide. "Are there other elders in our realm?" The world here meant other packs. Certainly, they can't be the only ones in this world. Zeke was the one who replied to my question.

"No. They are the last five. In our realm." He added it for effect.

"That's why our pack is the most targeted pack of all." Kyle added with a sigh. It was becoming a habit.

A habit I was beginning to take on too.