Hannah POV
When other Alphas entered the room, I could literally feel the tension building up.
I don't care how, but I want this to end with suffering; I want them to be punished painfully.
Mikkeli sits behind his desk; Tony is on his right as I stand on his left side. I'm close enough so both he and Byron could smell me all the time. Ryan with Hank is sitting in front of the desk opposite Mikkeli; well, Ryan sits while Hank is standing behind his chair.
Four other Alphas are also present. Two of them are Mikkeli's friends: Alpha Damon and Alpha Natasha. The other two are, of course, Alphas, who used to spend so much time with Alpha Ryan. Well, I guess they're all here to make sure that Ryan and Mikkeli won't kill each other.
I don't like the way Ryan is looking at us, almost offended, as if his being here was humiliating. He should feel humiliated after what his warriors have done. Hank avoids looking at Mikkeli; he seems to be tired and embarrassed. And Mikkeli, well, his eyes keep shifting between his normal ones and his wolf ones. He's still tensed, and I can feel that Byron is still very close to the surface, still ready to snap anytime.
That's why I'm even here. I've managed to calm Mikkeli enough, but both he and Tony were unsure what could happen if Ryan said something triggering, so that's why I had to stay, and that's why Tony and I are standing so close to Mikkeli.
"Well, I'm sure today's event was unfortunate, and I deeply apologize for my warriors' misconduct, but I don't think there is any reason to make it any bigger than it is," Ryan says.
Misconduct? Fucking bastard, how dares he try to say it's nothing! They were holding Kyle for two hours!
Mikkeli doesn't respond just keeps banging his fingers on his desk, and he doesn't look at Ryan.
"Your warriors gang-raped our pack member; that's not misconduct; that's a crime," Tony says in a stern voice. "We have two witnesses for that, and one of them is your Beta."
"And according to you, Beta Hank, what happened?" Alpha Damon asks before Ryan has a chance to say anything.
"I witnessed the rape, our warriors dishonored themselves, and they deserve harsh punishment," says Hank with no emotions in his voice, but his eyes tell me that he is at least as furious as I am at the moment.
Ryan snorts and sends a death glare toward Hank, who doesn't react.
"Well, if that's the case, they will get punished and..."
"I want them dead," Mikkeli stops tapping with his fingers; the glare he sends towards Ryan makes almost everybody flinch.
Ryan gulps and keeps quiet for a moment as if he is considering his options.
"No, I disagree. They should be punished, but I oppose sacrificing six promising warriors because of the one used omega. It's simply not worth it."
Before Mikkeli launches, I quickly put my hand on his shoulder, squeezing a little bit. He clenches his fists; all the wolves in the room seem ready to attack, observing Mikkeli cautiously. He takes a deep breath and slowly unclenches his fists. I understand his struggle. I have big problems with keeping myself calm too.
"I want them dead," Mikkeli repeats slowly. His voice is void of any emotions.
"And I won't allow it; I promise I will punish them severely!"
"They at least deserve to be publicly whipped, in front of all the warriors, and stripped of their rank," Tony decides to speak again. I can see that Natasha and Damon nod in agreement alongside one of the two other Alphas.
"I can promise you something equally harsh, but I punish them myself in my pack," Ryan offers.
I look at Hank, trying to find in his face confirmation of the truth in Ryan's words. He notices that I look at him and slowly, almost invisibly shakes his head. Why I'm not surprised that Ryan's words are only words? Why should he punish his brilliant promising warriors? I think, feeling fury. I want to slap Ryan, and I want them to suffer.
"I don't believe you; they should be punished here right now," I say with anger, and all the Alphas look at me with a mix of disbelief and shock that I have the guts to speak up.
"You should silence your maid when grown-up men are talking!" Ryan snarls.
I have a sharp retort at the end of my tongue, but I don't get to voice it. Mikkeli wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me on his lap, putting his nose in the crook of my neck and growling dangerously.
I can see all the Alphas looking with shock at his action. I sigh, put my hand on his arm and turn my head a little bit to give him better access to my neck. I can sense Byron; he's extremely close to taking over and tearing Ryan apart.
"I want them dead," Mikkeli says again with the same dead voice, but I can feel his arms pulling me tighter toward him.
"No!" Ryan yells, standing up, "I am their Alpha; the punishment belongs to me even though it happened in your territory! I will not allow you to diminish me! I can't probably stop you from sending your wolves to kill them all, but it will be a violation of trust! Do you really wish to risk all the alliances and upcoming war because of one weak kid!"
Mikkeli takes a deep sniff of my scent and lifts his head. There are no more wolf's eyes; now they are only his green ones.
"I have a right, there is a right of blood to challenge them, and they cannot refuse that challenge."
"Bloodline Law can only be enforced by relatives of the victim. Are you telling me that this boy has a crazy enough family member to challenge six warriors?" Ryan says in a mocking voice.
Mikkeli looks Ryan dead in the eye.
"Bloodline Law is mine to be enforced. Kyle is my younger brother. We came from the same womb. Kyle and I share our mother's blood, which makes me entitled to their blood. I challenge them now; as an Alpha, you cannot deny me my right."
Ryan turns around in disbelief, trying to get some help from others, but I can see that Mikkeli has won this argument; all gathered wolves nod, showing their approval.
"There are six of them! If you challenge them, they have a right to attack you at the same time; you can't deny them that!" Ryan tries to scare Mikkeli, but he only smirks mockingly.
"We'll do this now; in 10 minutes, I want all the warriors from all the packs present on the training grounds."
Extremely furious, Ryan storms away from the office; others slowly bow as a sign of respect and also leave.
"What will happen now?" I ask as Mikkeli releases me from his arms.
"I will kill them."
I bite my lips, trying to stop them from trembling; I want them punished too, but still, this will be the execution, and it's six against one, so if anything goes wrong...
Mikkeli seeing my distress, gently caresses my face and smiles.
"Don't worry, feisty one; they have no chance against me. But you are not going, and don't try to argue with me, Hannah. You will not watch this," he kisses my forehead and leaves me alone in his office.
In a moment, I can hear many footsteps in the corridor and on the stairs. I presume all the pack warriors were woken up through the mind link and are now slowly proceeding toward the training grounds to take part in the execution.
Well, Ryan said it would be a challenge; all six of them have a right to attack at the same time. Mikkeli seemed to be pretty happy with that statement, and deep down inside me, I know why. He wants them to attack him at the same time because then he will have a free pass to kill them all. If they attack one by one, they can ask for mercy. If together there will be no such a possibility. I'm sure that Mikkeli will kill them, I've seen him during the fighting, and I know how dangerous he is, especially now, considering how furious he is. But still, what if something goes wrong...
I curl myself on his leather couch, trying not to think, trying not to worry, trying not to cry. After a while, I can hear distant snarls, howling, sounds of a fight, and then silence, almost deadly silence. Then steps again, all wolves are coming back to the packhouse, back to their beds, back to their sleep as if nothing has just happened except justice being served.
Hayden enters his brother's office and kneels in front of me, gently patting my head.
"Is it over?" I ask, withholding my tears.
"Yes, they are dead; it was very quick. Go to bed; you are tired."
"Maybe Kyle will feel safer thanks to that, but I doubt he will feel any better." I stand up from the coach. "Where is Mikkeli?"
"Probably in his room, but I don't think it's a good idea to come near him right now. Hannah, just go to bed, please; it's for your safety." I can hear how concerned he is, but at the same time, I can't stop wondering about one thing, and I voice my question.
"Why are you so convinced that your brother is nothing but a threat to me?"
Hayden looks at me with shock, as if he has never thought about it before, but I don't wait for his answer. I leave and go upstairs toward Mikkeli's bedroom. The room I have been to only once also because of the rape and also soon after some werewolves were dead.
As I go inside, I notice nothing, and the room is empty and dark. I hear the sound of water from the bathroom, and there is where I go.
Mikkeli is sitting fully dressed under running water, wrapping his arms around his knees and sobbing uncontrollably. Covered in blood, shivering, broken, vulnerable.
I get close to him, turning off the cold water and replacing it with warm. He looks at me but says nothing. I sit next to him, wrap my arm around him, and put his head on my shoulder.
"I promised to protect him... I promised her to keep him safe... never to let anybody hurt him. I promised my mother he will be happy, I promised... I couldn't do anything... I couldn't do anything today..." he cries, clinging to me, sobbing for I don't know how long, hurt and devastated.
I say nothing; I have no comforting words to give him; I just hold him. I hold him letting him get as close as possible to me, letting him feel that he's not alone.