CHAPTER 8

'Who are you and what are you doing here?" The voice was both soothing and scary to Thomas, but he wasn't going to let it show that it had an effect on him 'I am Thomas Barnes, and I have come to strike a bargain" 'Thomas Barnes. Hmm, doesn't ring a bell. What will the council of witches benefit from a bargain with you?" 'I did not come to discuss with the council, miss. I came to speak with you." Thomas says. He had still not seen the owner of the voice. He was beginning to get visibly disoriented. 'Hahaha," the disembodied voice laughed. 'Flattery will not serve you well here. I'm a witch, I don't need buttering up. This is the third time I'm asking you now, what do you want from us Thomas Barnes?" 'I don't have time for this. I need a witch to cast some locator spells on someone" 'And who is this person?" 'When I get a witch, I'll let her know" 'So what are you offering in return" 'Protection. All the wolves of the northern pack will be indebted to your cove and we will see that you guys are safe." The voice laughed again, and finally a body came out of the shadows. The lady was pretty small, barely 5 feet tall, it didn't match the powerful voice she had. 'Mr. Barnes, before you came we've been doing a fine job at keeping ourselves safe. I have spent enough time on you, good day" He was still stunned by what she looked like when she finally revealed herself, he had nothing to say in reply. After a while, he dusted himself off and left. He was not going to get any help here. ~ 'Alpha, I have some information that may be of interest to you." Jax said as he walked up to her. 'I'm listening" 'Elijah is not the one in charge here. I heard that he reports to one who says he is the gods' servant. He calls himself Apollo, says he was born to the goddess Leto herself and so can communicate with her and get prayers answered. He's the one who takes their offerings and sacrifices to offer to the goddess of the temple." 'But that's stupid, there is no goddess of the temple her, I made sure of that." 'Yes I know that. But these people sure don't. He's getting them to worship him, under the guise of the gods. It's disgusting." 'I've heard enough. Get Drake for me. We need to discuss a plan to get him out of there." 'Yes, Alpha" And he left Alina by herself. This was perfect. She had figured out a way to win the love and respect of practically everyone in this temple. Then she would pick and choose who is to come to her pack. Yes, this was very perfect. ~ Drake was talking to Elijah. He found that he enjoyed riling the young wolf as a pastime. Poor guy didn't even know that he was being used, he actually believed that he was the one in charge. 'You are being summoned by Alina." Drake heard Jax's voice before his head popped into the room he and the fake priest were in. 'I still don't understand how you can bend the knee to a woman when you can easily be the Alpha" Elijah began to say. Drake simply chuckled and left. He found that he was looking forward to seeing Alina. She had no doubt hatched a plan to take over this place. He was most times impressed by how her mind works, who wouldn't? The girl had ambition and she was ruthless in her quest to achieve it. She would do whatever it takes to get to where she wants to go. She didn't even consider giving up it seemed. 'Alpha, you called for me?" The two werewolves bowed their heads slightly, awaiting her instruction. 'We've been here for close to two weeks now and we haven't seen them make any sacrifices. Why's that?" 'They only make sacrifices when the gods ask for sacrifices" Jax answered. 'No, no, no, that won't do at all. I'm not going to wait on the whims of a crazy man to do what I need to do. We're going to make him come out." Alina said smiling. She was so consumed with hatching up her plan that she did not seem to notice that Drake's smile matched hers. 'Here's what we're going to do…" ~ The plan was working perfectly. She had blasphemed the goddess Leto so boldly that some of the other people in the temple were beginning to chant their agreement with her. All that was left was to wait and watch her new opponent come out of his shell. 'WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" Elijah demanded. She sighed in disappointment. It wasn't his red face she wanted to see. It was the one pulling his strings. 'Well, what does it look like?" 'This is unacceptable. You are here as guests! The goddess will never allow such dishonour in her house, you must stop this at once!" 'If the goddess doesn't want this happening then the goddess should come stop me herself" she said, almost bored. She knew that he knew that the goddess was dead and their rule in her name was nothing but a scam. This was almost too easy. He turned furiously and stormed out. With that the chants grew and grew steadily, almost deafening until… 'Who is responsible for this outrage?!?" Bingo The chants stopped almost immediately when the one they called Apollo came out to address the situation. The man was silver-haired, well-muscled and very attractive. She could see how he was able to sell the idea that he was the child of the gods. His outfit however, if Elijah's dressing was odd, Apollo's was certainly comical. He wore a plain white toga that stopped at his ankles and what looked like gladiator sandals on his feet. She wasn't sure if he was a werewolf as well, but all the hair on his arms and chest suggested that he was. 'Alina Barnes. When we took you into this temple, it was on the premise of good faith that you will feel remorse for your crimes and not disturb the way things are done here. Do not let the gods regret their decision" 'They removed me from my position, surely it won't be the first of their regrets." 'Take it easy, young wolf. You may lose more than your tongue for this." 'I fully intend to keep all my body parts. Thank you very much, you however…" she clicked her tongue with mock pity. He looked like he was about to give a retort, but he looked through the crowd and thought the better of it. 'Make no mistake, Alina, you will answer for the crimes you committed today. You may not even live to see tomorrow's dawn, if the gods are so merciful. Seize her!" He expected her to fight the arrest, but she stretched her hands out for the restraints with a smile on her face. ‘The young ones are always stupid' he thought ‘by the time I'm done with her she'll wish she never stepped foot in this temple.' ~ Jax knew this was all part of the plan, but seeing his Alpha get dragged like that left a bitter taste in his tongue. Maybe she was being too brash. She didn't seem like the type to carefully consider her actions before doing them. Who knows she may have gone too far this time. Then again she had a way of coming out of every tangle she got herself in – that was what he respected the most about her – so he was sure that she would come out of this one unscathed. He wasn't sure if this Apollo consulted with any of the gods seeing the one he spoke of with such confidence was dead. For the man's sake, he wished Apollo had the backing of at least a magician. He was going to need all the supernatural help he could get facing Alina. She was more powerful than she looked. But if she didn't make it, this was as good a place to settle down as any. Whatever happened, Jax was sure he was safe. And that was all that mattered to him.