IN FULL COLOUR - Dark Fantasy
Chapter 18

Axel

After Jarryd had left and the rest of the warriors started to disperse, I marched out of the arena with a heavy heart and simmering veins. Defeat and frustration haunted me. The feeling of having my hands tied with no authority while unjust happened right in front of me was something I despised. It seemed like the Beta was out to replace new ways of making me dislike him.

I was sure there must have been someone else who could have taken over the Beta’s border patrol. What about one of the sentries? Why didn’t he go to them first? They hadn’t been training with me, why couldn’t he ask one of them to do it?

John briefly gestured towards the main building and since I didn’t know anything about the meeting or where it would be taking place, I had no other choice but to follow him, like a little fucking lapdog.

I didn’t know what the story was between Jarryd and John, but it was pretty obvious that there was some unresolved history, not that I wanted to get involved in any of it.

After all, Jarryd was a big guy, he should be able to take care of himself, even if it meant going against the pack’s Beta. From what I have seen today, he was a good fighter, better than most. On the other hand, though, I should probably not be thinking that way since I have yet to see the Beta’s skills in the arena.

I followed John in silence as we moved through the little village. He had nothing to say to me and I certainly didn’t have anything nice to say to him either, so I kept my mouth shut.

Even IF Jarryd was the biggest asshole in the pack, the way he had been treated seemed unfair, not to mention reckless. If something happened to him in his weakened state during the patrol, who would to take the blame for it? The Beta?

I huffed a laugh and saw John glance back at me over his shoulder.

I couldn’t care.

If I had been in John’s shoes, I don’t think I would have asked even my enemies such a harsh punishment, let alone a fellow pack member.

Whatever Jarryd had done to him, must have left quite a tender bruise.

“This way,” John stated, turning away from the main building, “we are meeting in the informal conference room.”

I merely nodded and followed behind as he led me towards the opposite end of the little village.

As we approached, I could hear laughter and lively chatter floating from two large open sliding doors. The olive-green curtains lining the entrance blew gently in the wind, almost beckoning us to enter.

I hated surprize meetings such as these. What could have been so important that it couldn’t wait for a second longer? It certainly didn’t sound like there was any reason to suspect danger.

John entered ahead of me, his large frame disappearing around the curtain into the friendly, well-ventilated room. Welcomes and chatter followed, but it was short-lived. The moment I pulled the curtain aside and stepped in, every single voice in the room went quiet and eyes locked onto me.

The only people who didn’t look fazed by my presence was John, the Alpha and his Luna.

Luckily, Dorian sat close to the entrance and stood up abruptly, breaking the awkward tension. He extended his hand towards me, “Axel, welcome, you are right on time,” he said, that friendly, genuine smile once again playing across his face.

It was the first time I had seen him again after he had led me into that trap of a beating yesterday. But I shook his hand and didn’t miss the subtle glance he gave my self-splinted hand. I guess it wasn’t hard to miss, since the pencils I had used that morning were now sticking out of the front in odd angles and the fabric of the bandages had turned from a pure white to a disgusting deep brown. All thanks to six hours of training in the dusty arena.

His smile didn’t falter, however, although it seemed like he was trying to suppress his laughter as he scanned the purplish-blue colouration around my left eye.

Bastard.

“Please, sit down,” he said as he pulled a chair out next to him. The insides of the room were a monotone of whites and greens. Everything, shiny and clean. My eyes swiftly scanned over the pristine room in comparison to my filthy, dust-covered, sweaty exterior.

“Thanks, I’d prefer to stand,” I replied, my voice sounding gruff.

The Delta smiled and nodded as he took his seat once again.

“Welcome, Axel,” Alpha Blake greeted and gestured for everyone to take their seats.

I decided to linger by the entrance, not wanting my stink to enter the room as I had been given no time to shower before coming here. Still dressed in gym shorts, a loose-fitting t-shirt and sneakers, I leaned against the doorway, arms crossed over my chest and golden hair falling in damp strands over my forehead.

As I looked up, my eyes met with hers and for a second, I couldn’t look away. She had me locked onto those caramel orbs, mesmerized by their beauty, caught in a trance.

Gabrielle was the first to break eye contact and look away, jerking me back to reality. I had been staring and she caught me.

Shit.

“As you all know, the fae celebrations are scheduled for next month, and we have yet to finalize our preparations,” the Alpha spoke, handing out stapled heaps of paper to everyone in the room.

He gave mine to Dorian and gestured for him to hand it to me, which he did with that warm smile of his.

The bold heading at the top of the page read; ′Fae Fest Logistics’, and before I could help myself, a chuckle had escaped my mouth.

Every single face in the room snapped towards me, waiting for an explanation. They all looked surprised and unbelievably serious.

“This is a joke, right?” I asked, flipping the front of the page towards them so that they could read the heading.

Not a single smile. Not even Dorian looked amused.

“Fae?” I asked sarcastically.

“Fae,” the Alpha answered confidently.

All eyes remained on me as I scanned their faces for any signs of treachery. The only person who didn’t look at me with confusion was Gabrielle. In fact, she avoided my gaze entirely and scribbled with her pen on a piece of paper lying in front of her.

“Are you expecting me to partake in the planning of some party for imaginary beings?”

“Oh, they are not imaginary, my dear child,” Luna Enola replied in a tender, caring voice.

I couldn’t replace words to reply as I scanned the rest of the wolves’ faces. I could not believe what I was witnessing. They all seemed to believe her. They truly believed fae, or well, fairies, if you will, existed.

My mouth was still hanging open when the Alpha continued, “as I was saying, we still need to decide on a few important details.”

He spoke on and on, but I just couldn’t take any of it seriously. Fae were imaginary creatures, made up to stop kids from destroying little birds’ nests and breaking branches off trees for no apparent reason. We had told them stories about fae people who lived outside and protected the world around us. Protected nature from all things evil.

There was never any truth behind the matter, hell, I even made some of the stories up myself.

Something was terribly wrong here. Either these Dire Mountain folk were extremely naïve and unstable, or their minds have been poisoned by lies someone had carefully spun to make them bow to their command.

But who and why? Why make a bunch of wolves believe in fairies? It didn’t make any sense.

Around the table, people were making notes and nodding as the Alpha spoke, all of them focused and serious. Maybe this meeting was some kind of test. A test of what exactly, I wasn’t sure, my mental stability perhaps?

I chuckled on the inside. As if a bunch of fairies could ever influence my lack of mental stability.

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