25. Murder is not always the answer

Ethan made his way to the watch room.

Usually, the interrogations he didn't want to be present at personally for whatever reason, he observed in the watch room. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't devote much time to the task. It was mostly Tyler's forte.

The reason Eve had contacted him before Tyler was probably because they couldn't reach him, given the situation.

Ethan was grateful for the timing.

Currently, Lucas and Hunter were probably being tossed out of their borders. If Tyler had been the one to handle this situation, Ethan doubted they'd ever see the light of day again.

Ethan knew he could easily get away with doing the same, after all, setting a stage for their demise wouldn't be hard.

But he didn't know where that put Victoria.

It was rare for true soulmates to reject each other, and each case had come with its own unique problems. Rumors said it was the goddesses' way of punishment.

Though Ethan didn't believe in the rumors, he couldn't take that chance.

He would never want for her to be in the situation he'd seen his brother and father in.

The young Alpha turned a corner, only to come across Eve and Angelina, standing outside the watch room, faces equally devoid of emotion.

If Ethan could read their minds, he knew what he'd find on Angelina's at the moment.

Disgust. Repulsion. Disbelief.

That's what every person who'd seen him like that thought. That's what he needed them to feel, to think of him as someone who was not afraid to go too far.

So he pulled one of the many practiced smiles at disposal.

"That took longer than I'd anticipated," Ethan said cheerfully, a contrast to the person he was in the sunroom "We haven't had breakfast yet, am I'm famished. Should we get going, Ms. Vandor?

"About that, Sir," Eve spoke before their ambassador could "I'm told Naira was here with breakfast. It's been sent to the office."

At first, his inner circle had denied any help from the omegas regarding their house work. But it turned out to be really hard to manage cooking, cleaning and washing along with all the official pack duties.

Everyone except Tyler had started looking exactly like the image people had expected a group consisting of under aged teens to show. A complete mess.

Naira had offered to take care of all of that, with help from other omegas. She'd probably found nobody at the house and decided to bring breakfast. He'd left a note in the kitchen to let his inner circle know he was dealing with guests at the tower, she must've found it.

Ethan figured he'd have to deal with his inner circle's questions about the interrogation soon, but in the moment, there was a more pressing though on his mind right now.

"Is there coffee?" He asked the warrior

She thought for a moment, then nodded "Yes."

This time, Ethan's smile was instant and effortless.

He was going to give Naira a raise.

"It'd be a waste to let it get cold," Ethan told Angelina "We should get going."

She nodded, and Ethan led her to the stairs, which seemed to go on forever. At the top of the tower, there was an office of sorts, usually for meetings Tyler held with the special operations team.

The trek towards it was silent.

"Well?" Ethan asked, somewhere on the middle floors "Did you enjoy the show, Ms. Vandor?"

Angelina met his eyes "I can't say I did."

Of course, that was the answer he'd anticipated.

"You let them go."

Ethan stopped for a moment, Angelina continued up the stairs, unfazed.

"Should I have not?" He asked

The ambassador turned around to look down at him. He had no idea what she was thinking.

"You could've killed them, but you didn't. Why?"

"I'm not sure how things are handled in Winters' territory," Ethan said "But it might surprise you that murder is not always the answer."

"What I mean is," Angelina ignored his comment, she stepped down two stairs, so she stood on the one above him, putting them at eye level "What's the reason?"

Ethan tipped his head a side "Does there need to be one?"

She looked at him for a moment, with enough focus to see right through.

Ethan side-stepped, walking past her "If someone kills him already, what's the point? He should suffer the consequence of what he did. I will not be the one to put him out of his misery."

He could feel her dissatisfaction with the answer, knew she was looking pointedly at him. Ethan didn't look back, and continued on the stairs.

When they entered the office, Ethan realized how hungry he really was, and how much he was crazy the bitter taste of coffee.

"So you lied when you said the sunroom was the biggest room in the tower." Angelina said, walking inside the brightly lit room

The office was decently sized, with a round table at the center, chairs arranged around it. Atop it, Ethan stopped a generous amount of food, with a thermos that must've been to keep the coffee warm. Naira was definitely getting a raise.

"Technically that wasn't a lie," Ethan said, pulling out a chair for her "For the guests, the sunroom is the biggest room of the tower. This room is for staff only."

He took the chair next to hers once she'd sat down, and poured a generous amount of coffee for himself.

"Would you like some?" Ethan asked the ambassador

She shook her head and placed two pancakes on her plate.

"You shouldn't be drinking that." Angelina said "You just left a room full of wolfs bane a few minutes ago."

"Oh, that was a lie."

"What?"

Ethan took a long sip of his coffee, sighing in contentment "You think I'd put my warriors in a room like that? I don't mess with my own people."

"Then how come they didn't recognize your rank from your scent?" she cast him a suspicious glance from the corner of her eyes

"That's probably because of the ring," Ethan leaned back in his chair

Angelina was quiet for a few moments. They both ate their food in silence, but it was oddly comfortable.

"Will you tell Victoria?"

Ethan darted a glance at Angelina, but she was looking at her food, a distant look on her face.

"Yes." Ethan answered honestly "She will punch me though, for not letting her handle this situation."

Angelina nodded, preoccupied with her own thoughts. For the first time since meeting her again, Ethan wondered if she'd found her mate yet, or someone she wanted as her mate.

Despite all the change Lycanthropes had gone through over the ages, it was still common to get married at twenty, when it was officially allowed to hold a mating ceremony.

By eighteen or nineteen, most already had someone in mind.

He reached for the thermos to again, opened his mouth to say something, but she beat him to it.

"Doesn't it hurt you?" She asked quietly

Ethan's hand stilled before reaching.

"It's made of silver." Angelina stared at his ring, then up at his face

For a moment, he only looked back at her. He'd expected that question since the moment she'd seen him put the ring on, yet it caught him off guard when she asked.

"What's that?" Ethan grinned at her lazily "Are you worried about me, ambassador?"

She blinked "I'm only—

He leaned forward, voice calmly cutting through hers "Is prying into my personal tastes also within your scope of authority?"

Her eyes shuttered in a second and Angelina turned her attention back to her food "Of course not. I'll refrain from asking personal questions."

"What a pity." Ethan straightened and poured himself a second cup of coffee "I would've told you the reason if you asked again. But, well, you aren't interested."

From the corner of his eyes, he saw her brows furrow just slightly with annoyance. There was something so satisfying about getting a reaction out of her. Ethan hid an amused smile behind his cup.

"In that case, let me ask a different question."

Angelina turned in her seat, directly facing him.

"Why haven't Tyler and Victoria held a mating ceremony yet?"

Of all the things she could've asked, Ethan was intrigued she asked that.

He let out a cold sigh "You've done your research, haven't you? Take a guess."

Something like guilt crossed her face, and she recoiled, almost as if she would curl into herself. Ethan twirled his cup, watching the black liquid swish smoothly inside.

He remembered the first time he'd seen Tyler, four years ago, during a visit to the Alpha Supreme of that time.

'Ethan had come to deliver the reports of a negotiation with the human Government.

At fifteen, he'd already proved to be capable of handling the task. Of course, no one would take a child seriously, so he usually had the meetings take place at the location of his choosing, and put a different face before the officials, letting him know what to say and do through the pack link.

"Satisfactory," The Alpha supreme told him, bored "They will step out of bounds again though. Humans never learn."

"That would be amusing, don't you think?" Ethan said "If they breach the contract, they're free game."

A sinister smile curved at the Alpha Supreme's lips. He met Ethan's eyes, his own malicious with twisted anticipation.

A shiver raced down the boy's spine.

"Now that you mention it," The Alpha Supreme leaned back in his high back chair "I'm looking forward to it happening. See, that's why I like you, boy. You get it."

The man moved his fingers over a small globe at his office table.

"We may look alike, but we are still wolves, and humans still our pry."

Ethan resisted the urge to swallow, letting no emotion show on his face.

"Run along now," Alpha Supreme said then "You're dismissed."

"Understood, Alpha." Ethan bowed his head and left the office

Only then did he breathe properly. To others, it may appear as if the Alpha supreme favored him. He'd given him a vast expanse of territory, given him the responsibility of dealing with the government.

But Ethan had no misunderstanding about where he stood. He was just another disposable body for the Alpha Supreme, as long as he was useful, as long as the Alpha Supreme was amused by him, he would have this pinch of power.

Ethan's hands tightened into fists.

But this wasn't power at all. Real power was what no one could take from you.

Guards passing by him caught his attention. They were dragging someone along with themselves.

"Alpha Parks," They greeted him briskly

But Ethan wasn't paying attention to that. His focus was on the bruised and beaten boy they held. Matted black hair covered most of his face, head hanging low.

As if sensing Ethan's gaze, he looked up. It felt like looking death in the face, devoid of any humane emotion.

"What are you doing?" Ethan asked the guards

"We're taking this prisoner to the Gardens, Alpha." One of them answered in a clipped tone

The Gardens. That was where prisoners with a death sentence were dealt with.

By all means, Ethan had no reason to care. He should've nodded and moved along. He had enough of his problems to deal with.

But something about this boy was off. He didn't struggle, he didn't look concerned. It was as if he couldn't even hear them talking about him.

The words were out of his mouth before Ethan knew it.

"What's his crime?"

The guards didn't answer him for a moment, as if considering whether or not to tell him. Ethan narrowed his eyes.

One of them answered quickly.

"He's a member of the mercenary rogue group, Alpha. He's killed more than a hundred people in the last year alone."

The door knocked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Come in," Ethan called, shaking himself free of those memories

Ethan was surprised to see Eve yet again.

"Alpha," She bowed her head once

"What is it?" Ethan asked

If Lucas was causing any more problems, Ethan's patience was going to give out.

"There's someone here to see Ms. Vandor from Winters' territory."

Both Angelina and Ethan's interest piqued.

"Someone by the name of Silas Carter."

"It seems our conversation has come to an end." Ethan told their ambassador "You should go."

She nodded, quickly getting up from her chair. Both the girls left the office, the door closed behind, leaving him with his thoughts.

It'd barely been a minute when the door slammed open again.

"Speak of the devil," Ethan said as he looked up "I was just thinking when you'd get here."

Tyler stood in the doorway, looking very, very pissed.

His eyes narrowed to slits when he spotted Ethan, a low growl escaped his throat.

Something told Ethan it was going to be a long, long day.