Bloodbound [Alpha-series (II)]

Chapter 9

"It seems the Council already informed the Councilors of your mating", June speculated. "Now, most of them will try to kidnap you so they can blackmail the Sire, order him to do their bidding."
"Not that they'd have any chance to succeed!", Hamid confidently added, his chipper tone in stark contrast to June’s unemotional one. "So don’t worry, poppet."
"He is right", June agreed, speaking the he with as much contempt as possible. Apparently, something was going on between the two. It was obvious she held some sort of grudge against her fellow guard, but instead of backing away, Hamid liked playing with the fire, provoking her even further.
"Lín, Badu, Hamid, and I will watch over you twenty-four seven. We won’t let anyone close to you”, she stated.
“Why would they go through the trouble to kidnap me?”, I thought out loud. “It’s not like the Council has any feelings for me.”
Or for anyone else. That man was an emotionless demon, and the only one he truly cared about was himself. He might fool the humans with his prince-charming act, but certainly not a vampire, a fellow Councilor at that.
“He probably wouldn’t even bat an eye should they succeed. What is it to him if I rot away in some vampire dungeon?”
June’s features darkened at my harsh comment.
“Is there any werewolf that wouldn’t care if its mate would be taken?”, she retorted.
“That’s different!”, I insisted. “A werewolf can’t choose his partner. Our mate bond is fate. You vampires, on the other hand, can mate with whoever you like, no matter if you love each other or not. You can’t deny that lots of your kind only mate to increase their power, form a union solely based on political interests.”
“You are right, the Council doesn’t love you, and he most likely never will.” No sugar-coating. “He does, however, care about you in his own way.”
“For over five centuries, he stayed without mate when he could have simply mated any human woman he fancied”, Hamid elaborated. “But he preferred to deal with the schemes of the Councilors instead who tried to win him over by pushing him into a political mating. Why do you think he did that?”
I shrugged.
“You tell me.”
I honestly had no idea what they were trying to get at.
“The Sire waited for someone he actually got along with, someone whose company he enjoyed. Yes, he didn’t aim for love – but he aimed for friendship.” Hamid flashed me a smile so blinding and straight from the heart, doubting its genuineness was close to impossible. “And out of all the humans and vampires he met throughout his long life, it’s you he chose to take on that part.”
Hamid’s words sparked a memory. When we rode out together and the Council had first told me he considered to mate with me, he had said something similar.
“I am confident we will develop a friendship over time."
"And that's enough for you?"
"It is."
“Without any care if I felt the same!”, I reminded them. “What … what kind of ,friend‛ would do such a thing?”
“Alpha Caleb also brought you to Paris against your will”, the guard argued.
“You are comparing apples with oranges! Caleb acted out of concern, and his acts never hurt me – the Council acted out of selfishness, and taking my wolf could have killed me! That man has neither a conscience nor a single drop of kindness or empathy in him. How can you ask me to befriend someone like that?”
“The Council’s acts may seem cruel at times, but he never harms, punishes, or kills because he finds amusement in it”, Hamid calmly replied. “He does it because he deems it necessary to keep things in order.”
“Like he wanted to keep me in check by smashing the bones of an innocent servant?”, I bitterly countered.
“Having all the bones in your limbs shattered … It must be very uncomfortable, don’t you think?”, the Council had wondered, features and voice devoid of any emotion. The memory still haunted me.
June and Hamid exchanged a knowing look as if silently agreeing on something.
“The servant had stolen a precious, old cup from the castle kitchen”, June eventually confessed. “He received fairly good pay, so he was not in any financial trouble, and he knew what awaited those that betray the Council, knew what he was getting himself into by signing a contract with a vampire. Yet, arrogant as he was, and driven by greed, he thought he could get away with his deceitful act.”
That certainly did put things in a different perspective. When it came to punishments, we werewolves weren’t the squeamish kind either, especially when the crime undermined the authority of an Alpha. To claim otherwise would be hypocritical. If what June claimed was true, I couldn’t blame the Council for what he did to the boy.
“In other words: The Sire played you”, Hamid summarized. “Hence the gagging. He didn’t want the boy to spill the beans.”
“Even if that’s the case, it still doesn’t excuse that he forced Caleb to throw me out of the pack and turned me against my will!”
Nothing could ever excuse such horrible acts!
“No laws were violated”, June reminded me with the cold reasoning that was so typical for her kind.
As frustrating and infuriating as it was, she was right about that one as well. No matter how cruel and selfish he had acted, strictly speaking, he hadn’t broken any laws in doing so.
“What’s done is done, you can’t change the past. You are the blood mate of the Council, whether you like it or not, and you’ll spend at least several centuries by his side”, she continued. “You can mold how you want to spend these centuries, though. So, ask yourself: Would you rather be filled with hate and resentment for all those years than even consider the possibility of a friendship with the Council?”
“If you let him, he will provide you with a comfortable life”, Hamid took over again. “He is generous, he’ll buy you whatever you want – that man is filthy rich, he can literally afford everything! – and for the most part, he’ll let you do whatever you like. You are no prisoner in this castle.”
Yet, I felt like one. All I ever wanted was to grow old at John’s side, surrounded by our children and grandchildren. I loved the life in the pack, loved that we were a tight community where everyone was cared for, loved to roam the woods in my wolf form, loved spending time with my friends – I even loved working at our farm. By a cruel twist of fate, one accident had taken all of that from me. Now, I was stuck in the world of the vampires, a world so foreign to me it seemed impossible that I could ever feel comfortable in it, let alone find anything close to happiness here.
“Why me of all people?”
The question wasn’t aimed at anyone in particular. “Unrestrained Control” was all the Council had answered when I had asked him the same question back in France. I still had not the slightest idea what that ominous statement was supposed to mean.
“That, my dear Maya, is something you’ll have to ask the Sire yourself.”
"Should we get mated, it goes without saying I will answer all the questions still lingering on your mind”, the Council had once offered me himself. Could I really take him up on this offer? Only one way to find out.