*****Erika''s POV*****


    He was about to reply when I saw Pa walking into the room, there was an impatient spring in her step, as though she could not wait to reach our table. She took a seat on my left as Kat had already upied the seat on my right.


    She was not looking okay at all. Did she have a fight with her mate? I looked at Kat, she too was having the same thoughts. What had Gage said to her? And why was she so gloomy? She was holding her tears, she did not want to cry.


    I looked at Alexander, he looked at bewildered too. If it turned out he had a hand


    in Pa''s current emotional state, I would not just refuse to help him, I would kick him out of my pack in the most humiliating way possible.


    "Are you okay, Pa? I''m in a meeting here, maybe you could go wait for me in the room."


    "Yes, I agree. Let''s go, Pa. I''ll stay with you." Kat agreed and stood.


    "I have something to say to Alpha Alexander." She spoke up. But before she continued, she took my ss of wine and downed it. "Whatever you''re going to me Gage for, do not. He has no idea I am here, he was not aware I was going to being here. I only told him I will be visiting a friend but I never told him who the friend was. So, do not punish me or me him. Understood?"


    "You do know you''re talking to your Alpha, Pa. If you want to talk to me, do it with respe..."


    "I would advise you actually listen to what she just said. Do not me Gage for this and she''s not lying." I interjected.


    "Erik...Uhm, sorry. Alpha ckwood, I would suggest you allow me deal with my pack mem..."


    "Pa is my best friend and I would not allow her mate bond be in jeopardy just because of what you may want to think. Unlike you, I know how to address an issue fair and square." I was referring to the day he''d asked me to publicly apologize to Seren even though I was innocent.


    That day was still fresh in my memory. I still remembered everything she had said and how he had believed her over me, I would not allow him do that to Pa and Gage. These were mates and I would not let him ruin them with his insensitivity to their plight.


    He knew what day I was referring to and actually had the guts to re as though I was some bad memory he wanted to eject from his head. I did not need any soothsayer to tell me he still believed I had done it. Well, he was at my mercy this time and I would deal with him ordingly.


    "We are both Alphas and I know you will not be pleased when you''re being told how to run your pack or deal with issues arising within your pack mem..."


    I cut him off again. "Fine, Alpha Robertson. I apologize for telling you how to run your pack. I believe before you ascended the throne, you already know how to deal with issues. Any kind of issues." I smiled.


    He got my meaning. "That is not..."


    "And so I take this to mean that I have been relieved of any willingness to help, and will be returning to attend to other important issues. Have a good day, Alpha."


    I stood and pulled Pa up from her seat.


    Kat stood with me, she took our bottle and two sses with her.


    "I agree, Pa."


    The three of us paused. With a slow, deliberate turn, I faced him. "You agree to what?" I asked him.


    "I agree not to hold Gage responsible for this surprise."


    "What surprise?" I crooked a brow. I was toying with him, it made me feel quite powerful to be able to deal with him that way.


    Now, I had power and now, he was


    at my mercy. I could decide not to help and I would be fine but whatever that had made Alexander leave thefort of his pack to this ce, it was quite desperate then.


    I knew him enough to know he had pride and he would not have agreed if he knew he could handle it himself. This made me more curious to what was happening on his pack and how brutal this war was.


    "That you''re the Alpha of ckwood pack." He response was somewhat defeated and meek.


    Alexander, defeated and meek? That was another reason to be concerned, and curious.


    "Oh, that surprise." I smirked. "Such is life, Alpha Robertson. That is why we must never treat people shabbily or disrespect their presence in our lives, don''t you agree?"


    He was silent at first.


    “Don''t you agree, Alpha?” I repeated, putting more authority in my voice.


    By leadership rank, I was higher than him. He was third ranking and he knew this.


    He knew if he engaged with me or tried to mess with me, he would no longer have a pack.


    I turned to Pa. "Have you heard him?"


    She nodded. "Yes."


    "Don''t worry, you''re rtionship with Gage will be fine."


    She nodded.


    "Please Alpha how soon can you help me? Let''s join forces to win this war and restore peace back to my people." He was pleading. He was desperately begging for help. As an Alpha I knew what it meant to have your legacy on the path to extinction.


    And it was going to be a thing of shame if an Alpha with a pack as big as Moon Forest be theughingstock in a war. Though not the biggest, but they had earned


    enough reputation to just be


    defeated in a war.


    A big surprise to me because I never thought this day woulde. What had happened to Moon Forest and its Alpha?


    "Things are not done that way, Alpha." I told him. This was my turn to test him as he had done me.


    "I don''t understand."


    "This war does not concern me or my men, so if I am going to risk their lives,


    terms and conditions apply."


    "Please, don''t be like..."


    "Come back when you''re ready, Alpha Robertson."


    I walked out of the meeting room with my girls beside me.


    A sly smile appeared on my lips.