Dr. Luna
Demon War: Rise of the Alpha Chapter 41

The group sat at the table with the two alpha's. They had eaten dinner and now were having coffee and cake.

"You don't like coffee, Jason?" Tony asked, noticing he turned the hot beverage down.

"Oh he likes it alright." Wyatt smirked and then took another sip of his hot heavenly drink. "But his mate doesn't like it."

Xander chuckled. "Say no more my friend. If I come close to garlic my mate won't even let me in the house. Especially now that she is pregnant."

"I have a question for the two of you." Freya asked as she studied the two men. They both looked at her as did the rest of the table. "Why aren't you afraid of me? You do know what I am right?" Tony and Xander both smiled at her.

"We know what you are. Most know about the dhampir demon huntress. Although..." Tony took a light whiff in the air. "I also smell a wolf in you." He looked at her curious for a moment but then continued. "You are curious why we are not afraid... I guess the logical answer is you haven't given us a reason to be afraid."

"We learned a long time ago you can't take what is said at face value. We both prefer to judge a situation for ourselves. Hence, why we are here." Xander grinned with a small shrug.

"There is usually more to rumors and stories. And we have both had the bad experience of not discovering the truth for ourselves. Since then, we don't put a lot of stock in what we have been told. We have to analyze a situation and person for ourselves." Tony leaned back in his chair. His father had taken a stranger's word for how good of a person Alvin was. He didn't pry into his background at all or investigate him further. That was the first mistake his father made that led to a series of unfortunate events. Sam walked in through the door and his eyes met immediately with Wyatt. "Sorry to interrupt. I have some information about the Briar coven for you when you have time."

"BRIAR?!"

"BRIAR?!"

Xander and Tony said in unison. The group looked at the two men incredulously.

"You know of the coven?" Wyatt asked, looking at the two men in confusion. What were the odds of them knowing about this coven? Werewolves were not super involved with witches. Let alone to know about a specific coven. Tony growled lowly. "Unfortunately, we do." His eyes flickered over to Xander. He squeezed his fists together making his knuckles turn white.

"Easy Tony." Xander said gently. He looked up to Wyatt with a serious look. He tapped his fingers on the table for a moment as he pondered what he wanted to say. "The thing is... that coven is a problem. We have had a bad experience with them before." He looked at Tony with a semi-worried expression. "They have caused us a lot of heartache."

Freya scoffed and folded her arms. "Join the club." She then narrowed her eyes on the two men. "Their coven leaders' blood is mine -"

"Ours." Wyatt corrected with a smile. He owed that witch a few finishing blows too. "Well, it looks like they are enemies of yours too?" He watched as the two men nodded. "How about we exchange stories then? I'd like to hear how you have come to know them." He then looked over at Sam. "Come in and have a seat Sam. You can tell us what you know in just a moment."

Wyatt looked across the table at the two Alpha's. There was a strained tension on their faces. The memories that were just stirred up by the mention of the Briar coven were not pleasant ones. "Would you like to tell us your story?"

Tony sighed and then ran his hand through his hair. "My father's Beta, Alvin was the great nephew of the Briar coven leader... Meryl I believe. Anyhow, she gave him an enchanted necklace to turn my pack against my father. It was because of him that I was sold to the oni's. After Freya freed me, I went back to my pack to find out that my father had been killed. I was viewed as an enemy, but I was able to overhear that Alvin was at Xander's pack trying to take one of his sisters as a mate. I immediately searched out Xander and we started putting the pieces together. Xander used his information network to find out about the necklace and it's connection. So, to summarize the long story we killed Alvin and I got my pack back after destroying the necklace. I still owe that coven for the damage they had done. Alvin would never have been able to do what he did without their help."

Tony sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Life would have been so different right now if his father was still alive. What he went through while he was the oni's pet... well there were times it still bothered him. He would wake up in a cold sweat and breathing heavily, expecting to still be in silver chains that he couldn't break. It was Alvin's fault but it was also Meryl's fault. Alvin could never have accomplished what he did without her aid. He directly correlated his experience with the oni's to Meryl.

Tony sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Life would have been so different right now if his father was still alive. What he went through while he was the oni's pet... well there were times it still bothered him. He would wake up in a cold sweat and breathing heavily, expecting to still be in silver chains that he couldn't break. It was Alvin's fault but it was also Meryl's fault. Alvin could never have accomplished what he did without her aid. He directly correlated his experience with the oni's to Meryl.

"I'm sorry to hear about you father." Freya said with a small frown. "That damn witch lives to wreck other's lives."

"Thank you." Tony smiled in appreciation. "I guess a positive that came out of it is that it led me to Xander. The two of us were able to become close because of it."

"Or you could look at it as another negative." Xander teased playfully and received a punch in the arm by Tony. He laughed and rubbed the tender spot. "Alright. You know I value our friendship." He shook his head with a smile and then looked up to Wyatt and Freya. "So why are you demanding Meryl's blood to be spilled."

Freya chuckled. "Which reason do we need here... hmmm. Well let's start with she held a grudge against me because my mother didn't take over the coven and left for a vampire. After they died the Briar coven put a death curse on me which almost killed Wyatt's sister when she removed it. Then the most recent thing is that she injected Wyatt with a blood potion that made him want to kill me when he saw me. I guess pick one or because of them all... in either case she is as good as dead." Freya's gaze turned cold as a wave of her old self passed over her. She was blood thirsty and demanded the death of Meryl. The old hag had interfered in her life one too many times.

Xander whistled. "Okay. You win. You get to kill her." He looked over at Tony and shrugged. She had the harsher experience and the witch had done these things personally.

"Well actually... I am declaring war against the Briar coven. They injected a blood potion harming both the king and queen of the werewolves. It is something that the packs can not stand for. We can't afford to show any weakness. A united front must be shown in a retaliating force. All the local packs are already in agreement and are just waiting for my word to engage." He looked up at the two men.

"If you are saying we can have a chance to do battle against the Briar coven then sign us up." Tony said in a cold chilling tone. His father's death was directly because of them. He needed to avenge his father.

"I agree. We don't have our full armies with us, but we brought some of our best warriors with us. Besides our Beta's who we left in charge back in our packs." Xander would gladly fight against the witches. As far as he was concerned it was making the world a safer place for his unborn pup and mate.

"Thank you. We appreciate it." Wyatt then turned to look at Sam. "So, what news do you have."

"Uncle Reed called and talked to mom just a bit ago. Apparently, all of the covens have decided to join against the Briar coven. None of them want there to be ill will with the werewolves with their king being attacked. They wish to coordinate a plan with you. They have asked that the whole coven not be culled. They have a list of names with pictures of the troublemakers. They asked you to allow at least this much leniency. Since not all of the witches there are to blame." Sam watched as Wyatt and Freya looked at one another. They were deciding how each felt about the idea.

"Very well. I think that seems fair. In that case we will not need all of the werewolves to engage. That would be a bit overkill." Wyatt looked at Freya who also nodded in agreement. He then looked up to Tony and Xander. "It is up to you guys. I know you have bad blood with the Briar coven. If you wish to be in the battle against them, you are welcome to join us." Wyatt could see that Jason wasn't pleased hearing this. But Wyatt felt like they deserved this opportunity if they wanted it. The Briar coven had wronged them too. "We want in... I need this." Tony said quietly. He needed to feel like he did more on behalf of his father. Helping in the destruction of Meryl was something he needed to do in order to heal.

"Very well then. We will take your numbers into account as we move forward." Wyatt then looked at Sam. "Tell you uncle we agree and that we should meet up to go over the plan. I don't want to draw this out. As far as I am concerned Meryl has already lived past her expiration date. I want her dead yesterday."

"Very well then. We will take your numbers into account as we move forward." Wyatt then looked at Sam. "Tell you uncle we agree and that we should meet up to go over the plan. I don't want to draw this out. As far as I am concerned Meryl has already lived past her expiration date. I want her dead yesterday."

Freya smiled and rubbed Wyatt's back. He was sounding just as blood thirsty as she was feeling. And while she selfishly wanted to slice the throat of the coven leader on her own, she also knew it was something Wyatt needed as well. She also knew that Wyatt would not let her out of his sight during this battle which would be minorly annoying. She was used to fighting alone. Coordinating with others was not her thing. She never took orders during a fight. She attacked with her ferocity and instinct. On the other hand, it was probably best that Wyatt stayed in her sight at all times. She would be worrying about him the whole time if not. As if she really needed to worry about him. He was the Alpha king... king of the werewolves and was now even stronger as a hybrid. Something they still needed to test out. He had also unlocked his powers when he broke the blood potion. She could feel his strength and power radiating off of him. And she was sure the others could sense it as well. He might be the same Wyatt personality wise but not when it came to strength. She wondered if he ever got serious if he would be able to fight with Jason evenly now.

"This will be my first battle. I am sort of excited." Jin said as she tucked her feet under her bottom on the chair.

Jason let out a low growl. "You don't need to fight. There will be enough in the battle already."

"What do you want me to do? Just wait here for you all to return?" She frowned as Jason nodded his head. "That's not fair Jase. That's not why I came here. I came here to help out Wyatt. You are telling me I can't fight."

"Speaking of you fighting. What are you exactly?" Xander asked curiously. He could tell she wasn't a werewolf but wasn't sure of her scent exactly.

"I'm a wind demon." Jin said as she studied the two men's eyes. However, just like with Freya they didn't show any fearful emotion. They looked excited and intrigued.

"Wow that's amazing. Wyatt, you have quite the powerful group around you. Of course, I guess I expect nothing less from our king." Tony said in excitement. With Wyatt and his strong allies, the werewolves would definitely be heading into a future of prosperity. "As I was saying..." Jason said, redirecting the conversation. "I don't want you fighting in this battle. I want you safe."

"Well, I want you safe too. I want to be next to you and fighting by your side." Jin leaned her elbows on the table and pouted.

"No one wants their mate or family in danger." Freya said quietly. "But Jin is strong. You shouldn't deny her from being by your side. What if something were to happen to you and she wasn't there. She would live her life in regret. She would always wonder what if. If only she was there... You can't do that to her."

"What about me? What if I made her stay home? What if she hadn't fought? Those would be my questions if something happened to her." Jason snapped but looked away from everyone.

"Jason..." Wyatt said in a gentle tone. "I understand how you feel... completely. But it isn't fair of us. It isn't fair for us to go into battle and leave them behind. Especially when they are both strong. We wouldn't want to be left behind, now would we?" Jason sighed and nodded. "I know..." He turned and looked at Jin. "I just can't lose you."

Jin smiled. "I can't lose you either. We will protect each other." She met with his chocolate eyes and the two lost themselves in one another.

"Alright everyone. It is getting late, and we have a big day planning tomorrow. I would like to be ready to attack by tomorrow evening at the earliest or the day after at the latest." Wyatt wasn't going to let this drag out. Within forty-eight hours the coven leader would be dead. He still had something important to do.