A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter Eighty–Two 

*Swear your oath,” I said, my eyes marrowing at the man before me. 

His body still lowered in submission, he placed a hand over his chest in respect. 

“), Alpha Tristan Green, of the Onyx Rock, hereby pledge my pack to the alliance offered by Alpha Ariadne of the Winter Mist. May our packs continue to prosper together under your guidance and protection.” 

Good. 

Satisfied with his words, I stood up and walked over to clasp my hand in his. 

“I accepi.” 

And with thai, another pack had joined the alliance. Though, more accurately, another had sworn to continue their alliance. Something that was seemingly slow going lately, the days dragging out. 

So much so, it was hard to believe that two months had already gone by. 

Two months since I‘d killed Tytus, imprisoned Aleric, and became Alpha of the Winter Mist. 

And things were... okay. 

Not to say I was doing anything wrong. On the contrary, I had the pack running like clockwork, making us more efficient than ever before. 

No, the issues were laid more externally. Specifically, other packs, 

I had been prepared for opposition to my rise in rank however, it seemed I‘d miscalculated just how many would be against pledging to an alliance with a female Alpha. 

The ways of our kind were apparently still too archaic, too set in stone with old beliefs. 

But I‘d been wearing them down slowly. 

Little by little, I was showing them why it was in their best interest to continue, proving I was far more fearsome than most had believed. Not the helpless Saintess I‘d initially built my brand to be... but rather a foe you didn‘t want to find yourself suddenly facing. The only issue was there were still so many packs left to go. There wasn‘t one simple way to get them all to agree at once so it had been a painstakingly slow process. 

“You‘ll have access to your supply route again within the day.” I continued to the Alpha, my lips slowly twitching into a triumphant smile. “Pleasure doing business with you.” 

“Now they‘ll never forget how easy it was for us to cut them off. How much they still need our support,’ the voice said inside. 

And I agreed. 

The Alpha didn‘t stick around for much longer once the requirements for the alliance had been finalised. Not that I blamed him. I was far too busy to care though, needing to focus on other problems. 

Behind the scenes of my new operation these last few months, Iris had been utilising her network of followers across the country to support me but, since hardly any of those extended to the ranked members of those packs, the results were not instant. Not to say those contacts didn‘t have their other uses though. Uses like uncovering information for me on their packs‘ weaker points. 

It hadn‘t been hard to figure out that most of these Alphas were never going to respect me unless I forced them into some sort of submission. Proof that I really was as formidable as the new rumours had hinted a 1. All they had wanted to see was a young, naive girl... right up until I suddenly had their whole pack in a 

checkmate. 

Some were still trying to play a waiting game though, holding off to see if I would crumble under the new responsibility. They wanted me to prove them right, prove that I wasn‘t cut out for this. A gamble that some were even now risking their own packs for. Though soon they would start to feel what the loss of our alliance meant. 

I wasn‘t entirely ignorant though. I knew under the surface that even my own pack was somewhat divided. They were forced to respect me because of the Alpha bond but I knew what some of them were thinking deep down. Or, at least, what some of them were hoping for. 

...Hoping for the rising of their Alpha heir. 

The one who had been living within a cell these last two months. 

If only they knew the kind of person he really was. 

“This is going too slow,” I grumbled to Elder Luke as we entered back into my office. “At this rate, we‘ll start declining too far in status if we can‘t make enough progress.” 

“I don‘t disagree,” he said, grabbing a few documents from the desk. 

of people joining. Except it‘s stayed about the same. It‘s almost like … like they‘re dragging their feet. I get that they‘re waiting for me to slip up but this is just getting ridiculous.”

than you might believe,” he said, raising an

wasn‘t of any comfort to

for the documents he‘d been looking after for

list of packs still pending for the alliance that I frowned,

saw. 

asked sceptically, continuing to flick through the pages to ensure it hadn‘t been mistakenly written in the

Alpha,” he

couldn‘t be right... could

Silver Lake pack still hasn‘t sent word about

“That is correct.” 

why? mean... have they provided a reason? I didn‘t think they, of all

seemed so petty to bring in personal problems when it was both of our packs at

something far

turned downward. “Well, after Caius was imprisoned here for so many months, to the

to free Cai that entire time. I was

olet Enghe two 

that may be true,” he said slowly. “However, and forgive me for saying this, but, were you not the reason why he was imprisoned to begin with? Was it not due to

the inside of my cheek, knowing he

war,” Elder Luke continued. “If we were to fall in status now, they would just stand to gain becoming the next powerhouse pack within our region.

already know what you‘re going to say,” I interjected. “I know what path

far worse than

push back to join the alliance right

to see if the Silver Lake would rise up, challenging us for our

if the Silver Lake refused to join now, we‘d be looking at a power struggle between us. The other packs within the previous alliance would need to choose a side and, in doing so, they would be

really did fail to regain

request to fall under the umbrella

of an alliance to strengthen us, we wouldn‘t be able to maintain our status for long. It meant putting ourselves in the hands of Alpha Tobias to decide

the death of our pack.

for us. I saw what Elder Luke did.

us now... or we‘d have to implement an approach that had the best chance of success. A path that reduced

...War. 

since, if we failed to acquire the numbers within the alliance, it

a clear victor. It would be only during that moment that we would still be able to utilise the entirety of the alliance network we still had. Because once everyone had abandoned us, the battle would already be lost

On 

could convince the Silver Lake

“Has anyone had any official

has been busy these days, handling rogue disputes

Cai,” I replied. “He is able to represent the

lo realise this won‘t benefit either of us S katter everything we‘ve been through, he

in fact,” Elder Luke started the response was that he didn‘t want to

almost five

such a nerve

children?” I asked, incredulously.

on the best of terms, but making excuses to get out of dealing with something so

the other hand though, I wondered if this was because of his mate. Because she

verify,” Elder Luke said. “Though I would agree that this does appear to be... a less than ideal response.”

by the window, thinking of what to do in this situation. However, there weren t

could also represent the pack if they were available. The only problem was that this indecision of theirs was due to personal history so my

from me. Tell him... tell him that I need his help,” I said. “I want

his head,

consider, Cai had been willing to leave his mate for me. Now it seemed that I needed to exploit his affection a little. I still could vividly remember how he‘d looked at me eren once I‘d try to scare him away. We might not

Lake business now dealt with, I moved to return to my paperwork. However, Elder Luke remained seated, almost as if he had more matters to

asking for you again today.”