Rejected, Then Reborn
Chapter 47

For a people who despite the advent of technology still tried to cling desperately to the old forms of communication, Alpha King Reed Alderon Winchester had been pretty fast and resilient in his chase, employing all means necessary to get the bullheaded Supernatural Council to grant him a hearing so he could tell them about his Hex’s findings, and after two days of constant badgering, his hard work had finally paid off, they wished to see him.

The B***d Moon Clan’s bone with the Supernatural Council actually dated back to Reed’s father’s rule. His mother, Acantha Winchester had contracted a sudden, strange illness a few years after Anaya was born, the sickness progressing with each passing day, despite the Lyken ability to heal. The Healer Supreme during that time had done everything he could, turning to traditional, and then to Orthodox and when all that failed, Oriental treatments to try to come up with a diagnosis to the Luna Queen’s mysterious ailment, but all his efforts proved futile. By then, Acantha was but a skeleton, her body having wilted away as the illness progressed, and the Alpha King, Bardulf Winchester was quickly losing hope, for while he had been a totally vile man, his wife and the mother of his two children had been the only one keeping his demons away, and he had been desperate to keep it that way.

He had therefore turned to the other members of the council of which he was a prestigious member, seeking support and promising to handsomely reward anyone who was able to heal her or at least come up with a diagnosis.

Luckily or unluckily, Lucius’s father, Percival Smith had had the remedy, claiming that he was willing to put their centuries old feud on hold just so the Luna Queen’s life would be restored… and so excited, and quite honestly, foolishly overcome with relief that there was hope for his wife, the old Alpha king had believed every word, giving away his and her family’s heirlooms away in exchange for her life.

But oh, what a lie it had been.

The Remedy had turned out to be a deadly poison that had lied to all of them at the start, but which only sped up poor Acantha’s symptoms, killing her in a single day instead of the long month she had expected to live without cure.

When Bardulf had found out about the terrible deception, he had been torn with a grief so powerful and a fiery anger so cutting that he had vowed to exact his revenge. An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, right? It seemed like it was only fair that the theory apply to wives too.

And so that was exactly what he had done.

He had bid his time, managing to sneak into the Blue Valley Pack at dawn one day when he knew the Alpha Werewolf would be away on a council errand, and then he had murdered Percival’s wife in cold b***d, holding her severed head proudly, and laughing with glee for everyone to see what he had done.

Revenge had never felt so good.

Fast forward to the hearing, the then First Leader and the Supreme Enforcer of the Supernatural Council who was a Vampire King had turned out to be Percival’s close friend, and he had ruled in the Werewolf’s favor citing Reed’s mother’s death as a medical error, and pronouncing Lucius’s mother’s death a cold, meditated murder. The verdict had been simple really, Bardulf had to give away one of his children to the Alpha Werewolf as atonement, or be killed.

So that was how Reed had been torn apart from all he loved and cared for without a single consideration to his wellbeing.

He had been tortured, he had been enslaved, he barely ate nor drank… basically, his love for his father had f****d him up, and then just when it seemed like all hope was lost, a sudden blast of fire had broken his prison down one night just when he was about to end it all, and his Lyken wolf had helped them escape. The rest was history.

Surprisingly, Reed had learnt to deal with it… because in the end, it was all of these things he had gone through that had shaped him into the dare he say the fine ruler he was today, but Ace held that grudge to this very day.

Nevertheless, that didn’t mean he had forgiven the Supernatural Council. Or forgotten either.

“Ah, won’t you look what the cat managed to drag in today,” Reed heard the low drawl, snapping out of his thoughts even as the hairs on his skin bristled at the voice of his sworn enemy, Lucius Smith.

“Hello, Alderon…” The silver blond evil incarnate smirked, “I would have said what a pleasant surprise it is to see you here, but we both know I’d be telling lies.”

Reed paid the man no mind.

He had come here with a purpose, and he was going to see that purpose through, even if it meant that his fists were never going to connect with the bastard’s face no matter how much he desperately wanted them to.

“I hear you have my wife.” The Alpha werewolf continued even when his comment earlier was met with no response, “It takes an impudence of the worst kind to have a wolf’s wife, and then threaten him with her, don’t you think?”

Reed turned to walk away, not wanting anything to do with this, but the werewolf’s next line of words stopped him in his tracks. “I have bought the Werewolf council and the Supernatural council, Winchester… and I bought their silence with your own family’s heirlooms, now isn’t that ironically beautiful?”

In that moment, Reed was ready to say f**k it and go ahead with his greatest wish, but the sound of the heralds blowing, announcing the arrival of the First Leader instead had him walking away from the bastard before he did something stupid, “All behold, the First leader and Supreme Enforcer of the Supernatural Council, King Resno Granmeyer!”

The surprisingly smallish, quite ugly looking immortal walked through the small crowd of about thirty, his head held high as he made his way to the large throne and then took a seat, seemingly lost in the huge chair of authority. “Good day, fellow members of the Council,” He boomed loudly, his voice surprisingly a startling contrast to his body, “I welcome you all here today,” His gaze shot across the room, his bloodshot eyes finding Reed with ease, “And a special welcome to the Alpha King of the B***d Moon Clan, His Eminence Reed Alderon Winchester, who has finally decided to grace us with his presence after so many years of being away.”

Reed stood up, leisurely walking towards the huge throne room, his gait, his structure, and his confidence almost mocking the First Leader, as though Reed wanted to show him how it was truly done, but in all honesty, Reed was in no mood for pleasantries, he just wanted to get to the f*****g point. “Allow me to get straight into the reason why I’m here, Resno,” He drawled lazily, eating up the loud gasp that shot across the large room. To think that once upon a time, just the mention of the name of this man sent shivers down his spine, and now he felt… nothing.

“A portal has appeared at the human end of the dark forest, inviting them in. As a matter of fact, they have already started traipsing in.” Reed didn’t tell them that it was his agreement with a human girl who had happened to be his worst enemy’s wife that was causing all this. No, they didn’t need to know that.

“I don’t see how this concerns us, Lyken King,” A werecoyote pitched in, his voice breaking slightly when Reed’s stormy blues locked in on him. “It concerns us all because, I have been able to keep them away from my territory, leaving them to wonder the dark forest, lost and desperately looking for a way out. The way I see it,” He smirked confidently, “It is only a matter of time before they stumble into any of your territories, and with the general information they have of you, and their superior weapons which keep advancing by the minute, it is only a matter of time before they turn you all into their slaves.” Vampires hissed, Werecreatures growled, Faefolk gasped, and Reed chuckled in amusement. “We all need to come up with a way to close the portal, and this is something that would require everyone pitching in. This here isn’t a matter that involves just one territory. This involves us all, and we would better come up with a way and quickly too only if all hands are on deck, so I ask, who is in?” All hands were up except for two even before Reed was done with his sentence, but the Alpha King wasn’t even bothered. The Vampire King’s hands were practically tied with the unanimous vote, and as for Lucius Smith, well… he could go f**k himself.

Reed got off the podium, lost in thought as the unnerved Vampire King continued with ‘other business’. While he wanted nothing more than to leave, he needed to interact with other territories to see what could be done, and so he still sat there, practically tuning out of everything else until that segment had come to an end. Reed moved about, interacting with leaders, describing how the portal had looked like to curious listeners… at one point, the Vampire King approached him, quite invested in the situation himself, and Reed had patiently answered his questions, despite the undead’s involvement in his mother’s death, his eyes a glow-y red even as he used all of his energy to rein in Ace who wanted nothing more than to claw the vampire’s dead heart out and rip it to shreds.

Now was so not the time to be violent.

Reed sighed in relief when the First Leader finally left him, grateful that it was all over. Now, he could go home and put all of this behind him. He didn’t even have to see anyone on his territory, they could all work directly on the portal without coming to him for anything. He had showed them where it was after all, now, every one had to figure it out on their own.

“You know, you never said anything about your family’s heirlooms, Winchester. My guess is, you’re alright with what I did with it?” There was that taunting voice again. Reed turned to shoot the irritating Werewolf a glare. “You can f**k off.” He said calmly, walking off again.

“Ah, ah, wait.” Lucius had the nerve to hold onto the Alpha King’s arm this time to stop him. Ace let out a warning growl, but the werewolf only chuckled. “You seem more docile than usual… your mighty acclaimed wolf even more so.” He said, “I think I know why… perhaps you consider me as family now since you’re probably f*****g my wife.”

“She’s no longer your wife.” Reed seethed angrily, sadly rising to the bait, and Lucius’s eyes twinkled with delight. “Ah, she has charmed you too, hasn’t she? I met her in the woods five years ago, and I just couldn’t help it, I wanted her all to myself.” He shrugged nonchalantly, “But she quickly lost her appeal, and practically forced me into the arms of another woman, one that I’m convinced is the right Luna for me, leaving me with no choice but to get rid of her. But I’ve got to admit, I do miss her sometimes… Lacy’s warm, slick cunt was, and still is the tightest I’ve ever sunk my c**k in… it would be nice to take her again—”

This time Reed couldn’t control his rage, the punch came so fast that Lucius was barely expecting it, it landed square on his nose, snapping the hard bone with a satisfying crack… oh, but Reed was just getting started. He landed another, and then another, and then another in rapid succession, his heart heaving at his suppressed rage and the fact that he wanted nothing more than to end the bastard currently sprawled on the ground’s life. “Never let me hear her name come out of your worthless mouth again.” He stormed off, walking right out of the building even as he ignored the curious looks that followed him.

“I SEE SHE HAS YOU HOOKED TOO, WINCHESTER!” Lucius Smith practically yelled; his voice nasal due to the fact that his hand was pressing down on his nose. “TRUST ME, YOU’LL PAY FOR THIS!”

Reed only smirked, both himself and Ace quite satisfied at getting some punches in, even though they were a few.

In that moment, all hell could break lose for all man and Lyken cared.