Kurt was impatient. He wanted his little Vixen to arrive. It was the annual winter masquerade ball, and Kurt wanted to show off his wife. He was extremely proud of Alannah, but she wanted to wait for it to be announced. Alannah argued that she did not want to be seen as weak whilst she recovered. Kurt did not fully understand how he could protect her, but he was well aware that Alannah had him in the palm of her delicate hand.
"Don't worry mate, she will be here," James said while passing Kurt a glass of red wine.
"Hmmm," Kurt said impatiently.
"Excuse me, Chairman Blackwood, may I have the honour of introducing two family members?" A middle-aged man with salt and pepper black hair said.
"Of course, Julian," Kurt said with a forced smile. Julian Drake was a slippery son of a bitch, but he was also the leader of the Skylarks Gang. Therefore, unfortunately, a member of the British Syndicate.
"You already know my daughter, Alexandra," Julian said. Kurt internally sighed. Alexandra had been trying to get into his bed for years. She was pretty, with long chestnut hair and blue eyes, but she could not hold a candle to his Alannah. Alexandra moved forward and kissed Kurt on the cheek.
"I am so happy to see you again. Maybe we could catch up sometime soon, "Alexandra purred as she placed a hand on his chest. Kurt stiffened as Alexandra tried to move her hand down towards his groin.
Kurt moved back and said, "It is nice to see you as well, Alexandra. Please ring my office and we can set up a meeting," Alexandra pouted and was about to say something, but Julian interrupted.
"May I also introduce my nephew as well, Duncan Drake, " Julian said.
"Nephew? I did not know your sister had a son. " Kurt said, his eyes narrowing. He knew it already, of course, but he had to play the part.
"I have just recently reconnected with my mother's family. It is an honour to meet you, Chairman Blackwell, " Duncan said with a wide smile.
"In truth, What is it that you do, Duncan?" Kurt said. Kurt could tell even if he didn't know he was Alannah's brother.
"I am a computer programmer for my sins," Duncan said with a forced happy tone, but there was a worried look in his eyes.
"Interesting," Kurt said. He was not really interested; he had the most talented computer programmers in the world at Blackwood Industries. He just wanted this all to be over.
Meanwhile, Alannah had arrived, and she felt like a million dollars. She was in a forest green ball gown that had beautiful gold-threaded leaves. She had on a fox mask and had black gloves on. Her hair was pinned up and she had the gold locket on from her mother. She also had a simple choker on that would be removed after the official announcement.
Alannah saw the back of Kurt and was walking to meet him, but then she noticed who was with him. She stopped in her tracks as their eyes met. It was Duncan, her so-called brother! Alannah did not know what to do for a few seconds before she turned her tail and walked away.
"Probie!" Kurt heard a loud voice. Kurt genuinely smiled as he saw the twins, Matt, Adam, and Bruce, all walk over. All in black suits and looking happy.
"How rude! He is the chairman of the British Syndicate," Alexandra snapped, obviously disgruntled with the interruption.
"Not to us!" The Twins said it in unison.
"It's good to see you all! How are things? " Kurt said.
"Ahh, we are getting the black bears into shape slowly," Ethan said.
"Kurt darling, it would be great if we could catch up now. I would love to hear about your new business venture," Alexandra said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Bruce and Matt raised their eyebrows, whilst the twins had a furious expression.
"Oh I bet it would be Alexandra," Grace said scornfully as she walked in with Xan. She had on a dark purple dress with a Phoenix feather hairpin through a messy bun.
Grace. " Alexandra said looking angrily.
"It is Phoenix Lang to you. Now, where is my beautiful granddaughter? " Anastasia snapped as she arrived with her husband. Alexandra pouted and stumped off.
Alannah had found a small side room and was trying to calm herself down. She thought, "You are a Nine Tails, you can handle him." But seeing him made her feel like the helpless 8-year-old Duncan had abused whenever he felt like it. Alannah hugged herself to try and comfort her shaking body.
"Here you are!" The voice she was dreading said.
"Duncan, I..." Alannah started to stutter as she turned and saw him.
"The last time I checked, you were sold to someone in Japan! Now you are here, ruining things as per normal. " Duncan snapped.
"No...I," Alannah said, feeling a slap across her face.
"I thought they would beat the defiance out of you. Obviously not! Well, I am not going to make the same mistake twice, " Duncan said.
"Duncan, there you are? You would not believe what that bitch, Grace, did! Who is that? " Alexandra said, looking at Alannah up and down.
"It is my sister. I sold her and yet she is here," Duncan said.
"A cursed one? Here? Well, that is a massive breach of the rules. Dear me! " Alexandra said with a wicked grin.
"I am not," Alannah tried to say, and Alexandra slapped her.
"Do not dare speak to me, you filthy whore! You are not fit even to lick my boots, understand? " Alexandra shouted.
Duncan spotted the golden locket and moved forward to grab it. Alannah grabbed his arms and he punched her, making her lip bleed. He ripped the locket off. "You still got this piece of junk from your whore of a mother? The apple does not fall far from the tree, does it? " Duncan sneered as he dropped it to the ground. Alannah tried to pick it up, but when she did, Alexandra stepped on her hand with the locket in it.
"Ahh!!" Alannah shouted as she could feel the locket cut into her hand. Alexandra and Duncan laughed at her pain. "You fucking bitch! Touch me again and I swear you will regret it!" Alannah shouted as she got up and punched Alexandra in the chest.
"You are so going to pay for that dearly, you little whore!" Duncan growled as he grabbed Alannah by the back of the head and marched her to the main hall.
Kurt heard a commotion first. He turned to see Duncan and Alannah coming towards him. "I am here to report a crime, Chairman Blackwood!" "Duncan said happily."
"A crime?" Kurt said coldly.
"Yes, Kurt Darling, this cursed one dares to insult me and then hit me! I demand justice!" Alexandra said.
"Who is this?" Bruce asked in Mandarin, concerned.
"Brother," Alannah said back in Mandarin.
"The one who sold you?" Bruce replied and she nodded.
"How dare you speak to a gang member without permission!" Alexandra said as she went to slap her.
Alannah caught her hand in mid-air and said coldly, "I warned you not to touch me again!" With that, Alannah twisted Alexandra's wrist. Alexandra screamed in agony and her father came forward, looking like he was about to attack Alannah.
"You lay a single finger on her and I will kill you where you stand!" growled Kurt, pulling Alannah protectively to his side.
"That whore just hurt my daughter's wrist! There must be some sort of justice! " Julian roared.
"Your daughter attacked me first! That was a warning shot! " Alannah snapped. "That's it, lose your cool." Alannah thought.
"Trust me, if she really wanted to hurt your daughter, she could have easily done so," Theo said calmly.
"How many men is this woman sleeping with? Why are you all protecting her? She is nothing! " Duncan declared There was a loud growl from several of the Nine-Tails.
"She is your sister! The one you sold at 14 to pay off your debts, "Bruce roared."
"What? You are the bastard that sold Alannah? " Kurt roared. Alannah put a calming hand on Kurt's chest. She could feel him shaking with rage. She knew this part was no act.
"She was my property. I had every right to." Duncan said. This was not the way he thought it was going to go.
"Enough! Alannah, my love, are you OK? " Kurt said whilst gently touching the bruise that was forming on her face.
"What if she really is your whore? By God, the skank has really got her claws into you! " Alexandra exploded.
"Call my wife a whore one more time and I will personally see to your death!" Kurt said furiously.
"That can't be! She is a cursed one. There is no way she could have paid off that amount of money! " Duncan was confused.
"That is correct, Chairman Blackwood. You cannot marry a cursed one. In effect, your marriage is null and void, " Julian said with a smirk, thinking he had got Kurt.
"Take off your choker, child, I am tired of arguing with these imbeciles," Anastasia ordered Alannah. Alannah nodded and took off her choker. Her neck not only had her Nine-Tailed fox and lioness but the new additions of a bear and an anvil. The bear was on its hind legs, mirroring the lioness. The anvil was in the middle of them, forming a coat of arms style gang style. It was beautiful and intricate. Alannah loved it! So did Kurt, from the number of times he kissed it.
"Let me explain. Alannah comes from a long line of bears as she is my granddaughter," Anastasia said.
"She is also a lioness as she is my daughter," Theo said, going to Alannah's side and kissing her forehead.
"And of course my granddaughter," Chris said, joining the conversation.
"Which means she is also my cousin and friend of the Triads," Grace said with a warm smile.
"Definitely a close friend of the Triads and the Lang family," Xan said with a smirk.
Don't forget she is a nine-tail, which means she is our sister. " Ethan said
"And we are the Canadian princes," Aiden said.
"She is also my best friend and little sister, and I am next-in-line for the Australian syndicate," Bruce growled.
"Don't forget she is also my sister and I am heir to the South American chair," Matt said.
"Fuck it, I am not related, but I like her along with the rest of the Mad Dogs. Mate, you have chosen the wrong person to pick on! " Frank said.
"As you can see, Alannah is more than qualified as she comes from two founding families. This has been confirmed by the council. Alannah also has friends with some of the most powerful men in the gang world. You, my friend, have just insulted all of them, " Anastasia said.
"Do you even think of saying again how Alannah is not worthy to be married to Kurt or that their marriage is invalid? I am sure the British Syndicate will be thrilled to have such a well-connected person as their queen," Chris said, glaring at Julian.
"Apologies..I." Julian began stuttering.
"Your family assaulted my wife and insulted my guests. So tell me, Julian, what do you think I should do as chairman?"
"I'm not sure." Julian stammered, suddenly frightened.
"I might be wrong, but in these situations, isn't some sort of compensation necessary?" Alannah said inoffensively.
"Yes, that is normally the case," Anastasia said.
"Well then, how about the smallest business in their portfolio? Signing over the rights to that business should be ample compensation, " Alannah said with a smile.
James whistled in appreciation. Alannah's plan had just come to light, and it was sheer genius. Kurt, however, looked confused. So James stepped in. "On behalf of the king and queen, we accept the proposal of the stone border becoming part of Blackwood enterprises," James said.
"Why would you want such a small company when there are more lucrative ones out there?" Duncan tried to divert the attention.
"No, I think, what was the company's name again, Stone Border? Yes, stone borders will be adequate compensation. After all, the King is nothing if not fair to his loyal syndicate members. Again, excuse me as I am new to this, but that included access to all records, copyrights, and products? " Alannah said, smiling.
"You are absolutely right, my Queen," James said with a smirk.
Duncan knew the game was up! "You little bitch, you planned this!"
"How dare you insult my wife again!" Kurt snapped.
"Oh, don't be a sore loser! Did I not make you hit me or insult me? You did that all by yourself. Just like when you purposely created Trojan viruses and sent them to the Chairman's allies. You hoped not only to weaken those gangs but also their relationship with the forgers. Especially when your company came along and was all too willing to lie about the weakness of Blackwood's systems. Those gangs felt cheated by Kurt and started to distrust him. The clever bit is that you also implanted spy wear when updating those gang systems, didn't you? It was self-replicating, and so eventually it passed on to nearly every gang's technology. Including the Langs!" Alannah said.
"What? How do you know this? " Xan asked angrily.
"Because he has been working with Akihiko. I know this because the name of the virus was called Tatsu and the company has payments from a customer called Yamata no Orochi, " She explained, and everyone looked confused.
"Yamata no Orochi was the Japanese 8-headed dragon who went around eating girls. Most dragons in Japanese culture are benevolent, but this one was evil. Tatsu is the Japanese word for dragon. I traced the payments back and they came from one of Akihiko's business accounts. Under an alias, of course, Dray H. Mizuchi. Which was an easy anagram to solve, well, part anagram anyway. " Alannah waved her hand dismissively.
"Anagram of what?" Aiden asked, even more confused.
Both "Hydra Mizuchi" are malevolent water dragons. The only thing I can't work out is why Akihiko would go after Kurt to start with, " explained Alannah.
Julian suddenly laughed. "Do you think Akihiko has the brains for this? He can barely turn on a computer! He just wanted to go after the Langs originally. He heard that we were working on something and got into contact. Our cash reserves were running low because we lost out on so many contracts. So Akihiko gave us the cash injection we needed. He didn't care how we used the virus as long as it infected the Lang system and he was able to spy on them. He only cared about Kurt when he started to get involved with the Langs in China. "
"Father!" Alexandra said.
"Hush child!" Julian snapped.
"Bingo!" Alannah thought. Pride was always the biggest sin of man, and it was Julian's sin as well. There was no way Julian was going to let Akihiko take the credit for his plan.
"So Akihiko did not order any of the attacks on Kurt's allies?" Alannah asked.
"Of course not! All he wanted was information on the Langs." Julian scoffed.
"Did you hear that, everyone?" Kurt suddenly said with a smirk.
"Aye Kurt, we heard. Julian is a traitor to the syndicate and his own gang, " Brian, the leader of the Magpies, said.
"Yes, he just admitted it to everyone," James said with a smirk.
"What?! No, I didn't! " Julian said, looking around and seeing the leaders of the British syndicate.
"Oh but you did, Julian!" Kurt said.
"Yes, and just in case you have forgotten, I have taken the liberty of recording your very handy confession," James said, still smirking.
"Don't worry, you will have a fair trial. But for now, as Chairman, I relive all the Drakes from their positions within the Skylarks gang. A new leader will be appointed if you are found guilty. Take him away, please, with the other two, "Kurt ordered his guards.
Duncan was having none of it and looked at Alannah. "You did this! You are nothing but a cuckoo and I will kill you and your so-called husband! " Duncan screamed before charging at Alannah, thinking she was the weaker of the two.
Alannah smiled, and this enraged Duncan even more. He went to punch her and she caught it easily. She twisted his arm and heard the crack of the bone.
"Ahhhhh!" Duncan screamed, and she kicked him in the knee caps. He fell to his knees and looked shocked.
"Oh big brother, didn't you realise that when you were sat on your arse, I was fighting for my life every single day in the ring?" Alannah said as she slapped him hard.
"Fighting and risking my life to pay off your debts!" She screamed as she grabbed his hands and started to break his fingers one by one. "Do you know how many bones I have broken? How many bruises have I had because of you? " Alannah screamed again.
"You were nothing but a stone in my shoe!" Duncan roared, with nothing but hate in his eyes. Alannah kneed him in the ribs, breaking them.
"You were supposed to protect me! You were supposed to be my big brother! " Alannah shouted.
"You were never my sister, you were just a whore's brat that my father decided to take in," Duncan said. Alannah lost her self control and punched him in the face, again and again.
"I hate you! Do you hear? I hate you! " Alannah screamed.
"Do something, Kurt, before she kills him! She has lost control. " Bruce said as he rushed over. Bruce knew he probably could not stop her by himself, but Kurt could. "Their bond was strong enough," Bruce thought.
Kurt could see in her eyes that the fighter had taken over.
"Alannah, my love," Kurt said, putting his hand on her shoulder. She turned and was ready to attack, but Kurt put his arms around his forehead and hers. "Come back to me, Alannah. Come back. My love, I am here and we are fine." Kurt said.
"Safe?" Alannah mumbled.
"Yes darling, we are safe. I am here, Alannah, come back to me," Kurt said again, and he saw Alannah's eyes soften as the rage seeped away. "Don't dirty your soul with his death. We will deal with it together, "Kurt said softly.
"Yes, you are right. Sorry for making a scene," Alannah mumbled, and Kurt smiled. Alannah has returned! He was able to ground her, just like she did him.
"Oh, my Queen, you have nothing to apologise for! You have just proven yourself a worthy queen and partner to Kurt. With brains, beauty, and strength, Kurt is one lucky man! " Brian said with a bow, and several other men and women bowed.
"See, you are perfect and you are finally home. Welcome home, my Queen! " Kurt whispered. Alannah buried herself in his chest to hide the tears of happiness.