Chapter 46: The Small Print

The lycan king grabbed the phone not even bothering to say thank you to his

Beta. “Gideon,” just hearing the voice of his beloved calmed him down.

“Ria,” he breathed out her name, so happy to hear her that he probably sounded

desperate at that moment. But he did not care. “Are you all right? Did he do

anything to you? I am going to kill him! I swear, if one hair from your head...”

“I am fine,” she assured him, “Really. No one touched me, everything is going

smoothly here. With the exception of Brayden stealing my phone.”

“Goddess Riannon,” he exhaled loudly rubbing his forehead, “For a second there

I was afraid that he forced you...”

“No,” she stopped him, “Braden is a lot of things, but I don’t think that he is

capable of that. I am fine. Trust me on this.”

“I still want to kill him,” he grunted, sitting back in his chair. Just the thought that a

man who called his mate his wife existed was unbearable for him.

“You still can’t,” Ria smiled. It felt nice that he wanted to protect her so much. Or

maybe he was just possessive of her? It felt nice either way. As long as it was

him.

“I still might,” Gideon said.

“I need to tell you something.” Riannon was afraid that someone would interrupt

them and she wanted to give him the important piece of information. Apart from

Maya, he was the only one willing to help her.

“I am all ears,” the lycan king straightened his back, knowing that as long as she

was ready to spare their precious minutes, it was important.

“Remember my husband’s omega mate?” Riannon played with the hem of her

robe nervously.

“How could I forget?”

“Well, the thing is, I don’t think she is an omega anymore,” the Luna was eager to

discuss this with her partner in crime, “Gideon, I just talked to her and was able

to get emotions out of her. Her true emotions! For the first time! And you know

what happened? She let out her claws and her eyes shone red. Red, Gideon!”

“Did she attack you?” he growled menacingly.

“No, but she lost it. Just for a few seconds, but I know what I saw!” Ria grinned,

“She is definitely not an omega! Besides that, it’s what got her to show her true

colors that matters. So, there was this captive prisoner who tried to frame Maya

right before Reid took her back. I some kind of reaction. He escaped again, even

though I made sure that the best guards were guarding him. And then he came

to see me...”

“What?” now Gideon snarled. The desire to shift and get to that damned pack to

get his mate the old fashioned way was taking over him.

“Let me finish first,” she brushed him off, “So, he came to see me and was

waiting on the balcony. We talked and he is also not so simple. And yes, his eyes

also shine red. I didn’t learn much about him. He introduced himself as Everett in

the past and as Axel tonight. Anyway, I simply mentioned him to Roxanne, and

she snapped. Just a bit, but I never was able to do this before. She knows that

man.”

“Goddess, Riannon,” Gideon frowned, “My list of men to kill is growing by the

hour thanks to you.”

“Sorry,” she chuckled to that. “Don’t be,” the lycan , “You are worth every effort.”

She blushed, happy that he did not see her now. With him, it was hard to conceal

her emotions the way she used to.

“I think I am really onto something here,” the Luna said excitedly, “Don’t you

think?”

“I agree. But I don’t want you to do anything about it until you are here with me.

Safe.” he told her honestly. “Your safety comes first before anything.”

“Okay,” she agreed, “I know how to wait.”

“Good,” he praised her. “Now, tell me everything about this guy that you can

remember. How he looks, how he talks, where did they catch him. Any little piece

of information could help. And don’t worry, I already have people looking into that

Roxanne girl. Omega or no omega, there would be some kind of information on

her.”

She told him everything from her both lives and when she was done, they both

remained silent.

“I miss you,” Gideon gave up first. He wanted to see her, he wanted to be with

her, to hold her in his arms and to take her as many times as he could. He

wanted to tell her more than those words. But he did not want to do it like that.

She deserved more than being told that she was the love of his life over the

phone. That it was hard for him to breathe when she wasn’t

close. And that all that he was thinking lately was sinking his canines into her

neck to leave his mark. So that every man around knew she was his. So that he

had the right to kill anyone who

would dare to think otherwise. faster and that she couldn’t stop thinking of how

good she felt in his arm, how safe... That he was the only man she wanted to

wake up next to in the mornings and that she still couldn’t believe how lucky she

had been to be gifted such an amazing mate.

“I can push the summit a day closer,” he said suddenly.

“Don’t,” she regretted it the moment she said it. But they had a plan... “I still have

to convince a few people,” the Luna confessed, “Even with your support, I want

to play it safe. Lives depend on this.”

“I know,” he groaned painfully, “But the next time we meet is final, Ria. I will never

let you go again no matter how it goes.”

“I really don’t mind that,” she smiled. But the smile dropped when she heard

footsteps behind the door.

“I need to go now,” she whispered, “I will call tomorrow. Tell Maya to text me your

number and I will learn it by heart.”

She switched off the phone and hid it in a secret compartment that no one but

her knew about. Not even Brayden. Not even Maya.

The next day, Brayden ordered her to stay inside of their house while he left to

talk to his Alpha buddies about her new law. He also ordered Ash to make sure

that she doesn’t leave on pretence of caring for her safety and it felt as if she was

a prisoner.

However, it was good. Because as long as her husband felt that he was in

control, she had the opportunity to work from her end.

She was calling all her father’s friends and old allies, telling them about her

project and dropping Gideon’s and Brayden’s names occasionally. Then she was

sending files to them with what they prepared, knowing that some Alphas would

oppose that after seeing some of the clauses. However, this was the law. She

had to give them full information prior to the Summit.

Brayden came home late at night and she pretended to be asleep. It surprised

her when he sat on the edge of her bed and she felt him brushing her hair with

his fingers softly. The way he did when they just got married. It used to make her

toes curl but now had hardly any effect at all. Lies. She was repulsed slightly.

For her, he lost the right to touch her, and she counted seconds until he left her

room. Probably to go and check on Roxy. Both her and Brayden were on their

phones in their offices, trying to persuade people to support the law changes.

Ria just ended a call with one arrogant Alpha who believed that women had way

too many rights already and that once they got married, it should be their final

decision. Somewhere in the middle of the conversation, she just started to look

for ways to end this. He was one of those she’d never get on her side. So, there

was no point to waist time.

The door knock interrupted her thoughts and to her surprise, Brayden walked in

with a very unexpected guest.

“Ri,” he beamed at her, “Alpha Zack Morgan wanted to personally talk about our

project. I hope you have a minute.”

When did it become their project? Riannon did not comment on the audacity of

her husband and just gave the two alphas her most beautiful smile, suppressing

the wave of protest in her.

“Of course,” she pointed at the two seats, “I am happy that you spared us your

precious time, Alpha Morgan.”

“The pleasure is mine,” their guest chuckled. She recognised him as one of the

men who were after her attention at the Alpha Ball. He had a folder in his hands

which she personally had sent to him the day prior. His opinion was important

since Zack was gaining influence rapidly among the newest and youngest

alphas.

“How can we help you?” Brayden went all the way to her and stood behind her

chair, placing his hand possessively on her shoulder.

“It was a very interesting read,” Alpha Morgan smirked and placed the folder on

Riannon’s desk. She stretched her smile a bit, not knowing what to expect. She

was about to say something when her husband interjected.

“I am happy that you think so,” he said with pride, “We’ve been working on all that

for some time.”

“So, you read this?” Zack looked at him, quite bemused.

“Read it?” Bray snorted, “I helped writing the most of it.”

Riannon realized that he was taking credit for it. Probably just out of spite for

Gideon since she mentioned that the king needed that project. This was her

husband’s little revenge, the only one he thought he would be able to get on the

mighty lycan was respected as the strongest werewolf Alpha and a warrior. And if

he said that he was

behind all that would they even be reading all that? All the sixty pages of boring

text filled with elaborate phrasing and terms. Ria and her mate made sure to bury

everything important deep in those papers. And not in the small print, because

they knew that Alphas would pay special attention to that.

“Is that so?” Zack Morgan in front of them sounded impressed but his eyes

landed on the

Luna as he nodded slightly, “Well done.”

“Thank you,” Brayden sounded so natural as if he really had a hand in all of this,

“We really want for this law to pass on the first Summit. As you know, for that we

need the majority of votes. May I ask where you stand on this?”

Their guest gazed at Riannon again and his lips curled into a soft smile.

“You have my vote. That’s for sure. I just wanted to make sure that I understand

everything correctly, but now seeing you two together, I think I can relax. This

matter is in good hands.”

“Brilliant,” Brayden walked all the way to him to shake his hand, “Thank you for

your cooperation. I plan a big dinner right after the summit for our allies. I hope

you could join us.”

“I will have to check my schedule and confirm it later,” Alpha Morgan smiled

politely and stood up, “I see that you are both busy, so I will not take any more of

your time. I learned everything that I needed to learn.”

Riannon stood up to see him out as well. To her, it was clear that Zack Morgan

definitely read the papers thoroughly.

“Thank you for your support. I personally would never forget it.” She stretched

her hand to him but instead of shaking, the man bowed and kissed her fingers.

“I have nothing against women in power,” he chuckled, “I am very impressed with

all your work, Riannon.”

He exchanged a few words with her husband and left, leaving them alone.

“Women in power?” Bray looked at her questioningly when the coast was clear,

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That women like Maya would be able to become Betas if they prove

themselves,” she decided to give him a partial truth but at the same time distract

him with the feeling of guilt which he was hopefully experiencing.

His phone rang and he had to pick up, signaling for her that he was going back to

work. She tried avoiding him for the rest of the day and succeeded at that. The

next day was going to be the show.

***

The next morning, she came down the stairs, wearing a white business suit with

a belt tied in a relaxed bow around her waist with flared trousers. Brayden waited

for her downstairs and watched her with pride in his eyes as she descended

slowly, holding a leather folder in her arms.

“You look beautiful, Ri,” he said and wanted to kiss her but she dodged to his

surprise.

“Makeup,” she explained, realizing that this could have been a mistake. But,

luckily, Bray ignored that.

“Later then,” he smirked at her, “Do not worry about today. Everything is going to

be great. And about me saying that I worked with you... Ri, I hope you

understood why I did that.”

“To help me, of course,” she lied with a smile, “And I am grateful. Let’s go.”

The drive to the hotel where the Alpha Summit was held this time seemed never-

ending and Riannon counted minutes until their arrival. Finally, the car stopped

and in a few seconds, the driver opened the door for them.

The red carpet was in place as if it was some kind of awards ceremony and hotel

employees were greeting them at the doors. They walked in into the glassy

luxurious foyer and Riannon felt the scent of her mate at once.