Savage Desire
Chapter 19

"Can you please come forward, Alpha Jeremy?" The High Priestess called with a delightful smile on her face. Like the other members of council, she looked thrilled that their alpha had found his mate.

They were in the cozy and beautifully decorated council meeting room with the Members of the Council. The Council was the highest body of authority in the pack. It was made up of eight elders, headed by the High Priestess. Gloria and Joel were both members of the council. The only non-council members present were the alpha himself, Ryan, Philip, Stan, and Paige. The meeting had commenced with the alpha introducing his mate to the council. Some sentences are incomplete if you are not reading this novel on Ebookex.com. Visit Ebookex.com to read the complete chapters for free. The members were thrilled. Although two had raised the obvious issue of an heir to the throne, they'd all agreed that Luna knew best. Members had unanimously agreed that the mating ceremony could take place that evening. All that was left was for the High Priestess to ask for Luna's blessing and protection for the upcoming ceremony. After that, they could go and inform the pack and then begin preparation towards the ceremony. Everything had gone better than Jeremy had expected.

The council had been too thrilled for him. They hadn't opposed his request to do the ceremony that very evening. Jeremy was very happy. He planned on showing his mate some good time that evening. He was going to show Ryan how to party, werewolf style. Jeremy squeezed Ryan's hand reassuringly and stood up to approach the High Priestess.

"At this point, I'll ask for complete silence as we ask for Luna's guidance for our Alpha." The voice of the High Priestess filled the room. "We ask Luna to guide his steps, thoughts and heart as he claims his lifetime partner tonight." The priestess picked up a wand. "We ask for protection during the ceremony." She smiled as she reached out towards Jeremy with the wand in her hand. "Even as we make merry and have fun, we..." The wand touched Jeremy's forehead...

Then all hell broke loose!

The high priestess gave a loud cry and went into a trance, her eyes completely white and unfocused. Jeremy tried to raise his head but the wand kept him exactly where he was. The people in the room looked confused as they stared at the High Priestess and the suddenly glowing statue of Luna behind her. No one in that room...not even the council member who was over a century old...remembered ever seeing that statue glow hot red as it was doing that very moment. It meant just one thing. Luna was pissed! "You have wronged him and disrespected me." The High Priestess said in an eerie voice. "You have to be punished."

A collective gasp went up from the people in the room.

"What's going on?" Paige gasped with a confused look. "Philip?" But Philip looked frozen. "Stan?"

"Not now Paige." Stan mumbled.

Ryan looked lost. He didn't know what was going on. All he knew was that everyone seemed tensed in the room. Jeremy hadn't moved from where he stood in front of the High Priestess. He looked to where Gloria sat and felt a shudder of dread slither down his spine. She looked...terrified. And it broke Ryan's heart to see such a strong woman reduced to a terrified creature. "What does it mean?" Ryan asked no one in particular.

"At this point, I'll recuse Gloria Stanton and Joel Harrington." The High Priestess, who was no longer in a trance, announced. She looked all business. "The rest of the council should please stand around the alpha. Bring your wands." She instructed. "Why are they being recused?" Ryan asked as he watched the council members move to form a circle around his mate. "Philip?"

"As his mother and mentor, their emotions may interfere with the council's consultation with Luna. They may not be as objective as they should be so...they can't be in the circle." "Objective about what?" Ryan asked but Philip's attention was fully back on the council and his alpha.

The council, including the High Priestess, raised their wands high above their heads, pointing to the middle above Jeremy's head. The council members seemed to be in a trance. Their eyes were closed and they appeared to be listening to something. A bright red light shot up from the tip of each wand after about five minutes and came together high above Jeremy's head. The light exploded on top of Jeremy's head as though it was a fourth of July celebration. Then the council members snapped out of their trance and took steps back...away from the alpha.

"It's been decided." The High Priestess said in a loud authoritative voice. "Alpha Jeremy is sentenced to the Fort."

Gloria's pitiful moan drew Ryan's attention to her. The elder he'd come to see as a very strong woman was shaking, her fists clenched tightly in her lap. One look at her tight and terrified face showed how hard she was trying to keep in her scream. Ryan didn't have to be a genius to deduce that the Fort was a very bad thing...or place. He turned to Philip...

"What does Fort..." But before he could complete his sentence, the High Priestess was speaking again.

"You will be there for two years." A pained gasp tore out of Joel's throat at that decree. "You have a day to put your house in order. Get the one you want to be Alpha in your absence ready. You leave at midnight tomorrow. Sorry." The elderly woman added quietly. The High Priestess' final word was like the sound of a rap of a gavel, indicating the closing of proceedings with a symbolic finality. Along with those words came Gloria Stanton's scream.

"What does it mean?" Ryan's muttered, looking around frantically but none of the people he knew looked sane enough to answer him.

Gloria was screaming and Paige was bawling her eyes out. Even some of the council members were in tears. Ryan watched as Jeremy bowed, showing his respect for the High Priestess and her elders, and then turned around and headed directly towards him. Ryan stood up and waited for Jeremy, unable to read the expression on his face. He could however feel the calmness within the alpha. It almost

looked as if he was content with whatever the Fort verdict meant.

"Jeremy..." Ryan began but Jeremy grabbed his hand and turned towards the door.

"Let's get out of here." He said softly. "I don't have much time."

"What's going on? What's the Fort? What does it mean?" But Jeremy didn't answer. "Jeremy answer me please." Ryan was getting desperate. "Jeremy!" He hissed as he yanked his hand out of Jeremy's and stood still. Jeremy turned to face him. "I'm not taking another step till you tell me what that was all about." He said through clenched teeth.

Jeremy stared at his mate. The man who had come to mean so much to him. The man who was the center of his world. The man against whom he'd committed the greatest sin. He couldn't believe he wasn't going to see that sweet face for two whole years. But he knew he deserved whatever punishment Luna meted out to him.

"I'll explain everything Ryan." Jeremy said quietly. "But right now, I just want to get out of here. Please."

Something in Jeremy's voice got to Ryan. He nodded and fell into step beside his mate with no more protests. When they got to where Gloria knelt with Joel's arms around her, Jeremy let go of Ryan's hand and drew his mother into his arms. "Shh...it's okay mum." He turned to look at Philip's father who he respected so much.

"Take care of her for me Uncle Jo."

"You know I will." The elderly man who didn't make any attempt to wipe the tears of his own face responded in a

hoarse voice. "Go and handle things with Philip. I'll take her home."

Jeremy hugged Gloria tightly and kissed her on the forehead. Then he gave her to Joel and grabbed Ryan's hand again. Philip fell into step beside his alpha. Stan had taken a wailing Paige away.

"Hey, hang in there." Philip muttered.

Jeremy threw an arm around Philip's shoulder and bumped his head against his. "Scared?"

"Terrified." Philip muttered. "I'm not ready for this. A month or two I can handle. But two whole years? F**k!"

"You can do it bro." Jeremy assured him as they climbed into Philip's black sedan. "There's no better person than you. Hell, I just might leave it for you to handle permanently even if I get lucky enough to come back alive."

"Don't fucking joke with this Jer." Philip growled. "Don't you dare. You're going to survive. I won't have it any other way. If you die on me, I'll replace a way to follow you in there, look for a way to revive you, and kill you all over again. Slowly and painfully. That's a promise."

"I will fight to survive, Lip." Jeremy said softly, turning to look at Ryan. "I have a lot to live for."

"Jeremy..." Ryan was shaking with dread. There was so much he could take. "I need to know."

"I'll explain, I promise." Jeremy said, but he really didn't have any idea how he was going to bring himself to explain the verdict reached at the council quarters to Ryan. Not only was he ashamed, Jeremy dreaded breaking the news to Ryan. The alpha dreaded how Ryan would react to the news? Would he be happy? Relieved? Indi@erent? Sad? Jeremy congratulated himself on his outward calm because

inside, he was a quivering mess. "Let's make a quick stop to the office. I need to go over some stu with Lip. After that, we'll go home, and then I'll tell you everything, okay?"

Ryan nodded as the SUV sped away from the council quarters. From the little he'd gathered, Jeremy was going away for two years. He didn't know exactly where that Fort was but he'd already resolved to go with Jeremy because no way in hell was he going to stay away from the man for two years. He was entitled to a long sabbatical anyway so it wouldn't be a problem at all. If the school didn't let him of, he would resign and look for another job when they got back. He however didn't particularly like the way Jeremy and Philip kept talking about survival and death. But he knew Jeremy would explain soon.

At the pack oДice, Ryan paced as Jeremy and Philip went over some documents. At a point he wandered into an empty office and sat down in one of the chairs with his head in his hand. He didn't know how long he sat there but when he came to himself, he wondered what was taking Jeremy so long. He got to his feet and slowly made his way out of the office, slipping his hands into his pocket as he walked. When Ryan felt his cell phone inside his pocket, he pulled it out and just stared at it for a while. Then he dialed

Gloria's number.

"Are you okay, Ryan?" Came Gloria's shaky voice. That voice sounded nothing like that of the Gloria he'd come to know and love.

"Are you okay?" Ryan threw back at her, hating how defeated the elder sounded.

"No I'm not." She sniped. "How are you holding up?"

"Well, I still don't know exactly what's going on." Ryan could hear Joel trying to soothe Gloria in the background,

saying they had to go home. "Where are you, Gloria?" He asked, curious.

"Parked downstairs." The elderly woman breathed shakily.

"I'll be right down." Ryan said and hung up. He went back to the conference room where he'd left Jeremy and Philip and found them standing around the conference table with Stan and Paige. They seemed engrossed in some maps they were looking at. "Hey, I'll be downstairs with Gloria and Joel." Ryan told Jeremy quietly when he got to his side.

Jeremy nodded. "I'll be done soon."

"Just concentrate on what you're doing here okay?" Ryan said quietly. Then as if it was the most natural thing to do, Ryan went up on his toes and kissed Jeremy on the cheek.

Jeremy watched his mate go and groaned, cursing himself. "I'm counting on you to keep him safe, guys. He will be safe after I mark him. But if what's happening to all these alphas is any kind of war, he's going to be a target."

"On my life I swear to you brother, he will be safe." Philip said with so much emotion.

"We'll all protect him with our lives, Jer." Stan added, lightly slapping Jeremy on the back.

The alpha nodded and turned his attention to a quiet and pensive Paige. "It's not his fault Paige." He said softly, knowing instinctively that Paige blamed his mate for his predicament.

"Pardon me Jer, but I don't really know him. And as far as I'm concerned his presence triggered all this." She said stonily.

"Are you saying I shouldn't have met my mate?" Jeremy asked tightly.

"You can't expect me to be happy you did when thanks to him," she jabbed a thumb toward the door, "I don't even know whether I'm going to see you again or not." She hissed, showing how furious she was. She'd always been protective of her boys as she called the three men. And she hated that Jeremy had to super Luna's axe.

"Paige..." Philip growled a warning to the was not only his sister, but was also part of "Settle down. This is not the time for anger."

woman who their clique.

Jeremy took his eyes o Paige's angry face, back onto the map spread out on the conference table. For a moment he couldn't see anything on the map. The drawings swam before his eyes. Shit, not again, he told himself as he blinked to get his sight back. He felt his hands shaking and clenched them. Paige had always been a brutally honest person. The friends always relied on her to say what was on everyone's mind. They afectionately called her Slip because she never held her thoughts back. She would always say innocently, after dropping whatever outrageous thought that was on her mind, that it slipped out. Something that others would replace dificult to say would just slip out of Paige's mouth with cheeky ease. How many people felt as Paige felt, Jeremy wondered worriedly. Those very close to him were the people he was counting on to keep his mate safe. And if they felt any way as Paige did, his mate wasn't safe.

Jeremy was dying inside but he knew he had to look strong for his people. F**k!

"I'm waiting for Jeremy to tell me the meaning of what I saw and heard at the council quarters." Ryan said quietly. He was sitting opposite Gloria in the back seat of Joel's Navy blue Mercedes-Benz S600 Pullman. Joel sat beside the miserable looking woman. "Care to do the honours? What's this Fort that's scaring everyone? I plan to go with him by the way."

"Oh Ryan, you can't." A sob escaped the elderly woman.

"But I can, and I'm gonna. I'm entitled to leave..."

"You can't "And even if alone."

follow him into purgatory, son." Joel cut in. you could, his punishment demands he goes

"Purgatory?" Ryan gasped. He didn't even know it actually existed. "What kind of punishment is that? I know it's because of what he did to me. I gathered as much. But I don't want him to be punished. Doesn't what I want matter? After all, I was the one wronged. Can't I just go and talk to the council to forget..."

"He wronged Luna too Ryan." Gloria said quietly. "Jeremy showed disrespect by hating her choice of mate for him. So he's being punished by Luna."

"Seriously?" Ryan hissed. "Some god you have. Isn't she rather supposed to be merciful? I mean she should know that Jeremy didn't have control over his actions."

"His Ojah power was triggered because of his level of anger and hatred for the idea of you as his mate." Joel explained. "So the fact that he was not in control is really not the issue. He shouldn't have allowed himself to lose control in the first place. Even you, Ryan... you knew he wasn't in control of his actions." Joel pointed out softly. "And yet that didn't make him any less guilty in your eyes." Joel could have bet his last cent that Ryan hadn't even forgiven Jeremy for what he'd done to him. He didn't blame him though. "But I'm no god." Ryan rasped. "I'm only human."

"Well, Luna did show some mercy." The elderly man said. "Ideally, Jeremy would have been stripped of his alpha status. He did that to none other than his mate, Ryan. And as Alpha, he has to lead an exemplary life. The only reason his alpha status wasn't stripped was because Luna took into consideration the fact that his Ojah power was in control. But he can't go unpunished."

"This is all my fault." Ryan gasped. "If only I'd tried harder to forgive him..."

"It wouldn't have changed anything, Ryan." Gloria said, squeezing Ryan's hands which were clasped in hers. "He's not only being punished for what he did to you. It's also for hating Luna's choice as Joel rightly explained. We just have to accept it." "What exactly is going to happen to him at this...place?" Ryan couldn't even bring himself to mention the name.

"He will relive every hell he's ever gone through, again and again." Gloria whispered. "It's like a never-ending loop. And he's going to feel the pain a thousand times over."

"Oh my god." Ryan's hand went to his mouth. Thanks to his wolf he knew the kind of hell Jeremy went through each time he thought about the death of his father and brother. "His father and..."

"Oh there's more." Gloria breathed. "That day, he'd gone on a rampage and killed lots of hunters. Some innocent bystanders had lost their lives when the hunters tried to shoot at Jeremy. Although he hadn't pulled the trigger, he's never forgiven himself. All the tragedies that have befallen this pack members and the pain he went through during each... What he did to you..."

"Jesus!" Ryan felt sick.

"I'm so scared." Gloria sobbed. "People don't usually survive the Fort."

"That boy is strong Gloria." Joel soothed. "He'll be okay."

"But who told the council?" Ryan's eyes welled. "How did they know?"

"They didn't." Joel answered. "Luna just decided to pick today to..."

"But they must know that sending him away is punishing me too." Ryan groaned.

"He's been permitted to give you his mark before he leaves Ryan." Gloria said. "To keep you safe."

"That won't change anything." Ryan growled. "I can't be without him. I should be allowed to go with him."

"Oh Sweetie..." Gloria gave a tremulous smile. "Your pain will be taken away. You will miss him but that pain... the kind you felt when he didn't come to see you for a while during your hospitalization, will be taken away. You'll be fine."

"No I won't." Ryan rasped, his cheeks wet with tears. "And at what point was all this decided? I was right there."

"Though we were not part of the channeling, Gloria and I could listen in because we were linked to the council." Joel explained. "Jeremy was given one wish. He could have asked for anything...even for his punishment to be waived. And it would have been." The elderly man looked angry. "It was almost as if he welcomed the punishment."

"When people are asked to make a wish when faced with punishment, they usually can't wish the punishment away." Ryan pointed out quietly.

"That's the human world." Joel countered. "We are supernatural beings. Jeremy is a powerful being and Luna, though angry at his actions, knew he wasn't completely responsible for all. That punishment would have been waived if he'd pleaded his case and asked for that and he knew it. He could have pleaded and asked to be spared and Luna would have spared him. Hell, he could have even asked for a reduced sentence. But all he could think about was you. He said he wanted you to be safe. Said something about you not being comfortable with bodyguards. So his wish was to be permitted to mark you. That is the surest way to keep people with evil intentions away from you. And with that, you can move around freely without someone shadowing you. He got his wish." Ryan stared at Joel with his face as white as sheet. Despite the way his heart pounded within his chest, he felt numb all over. The roaring in his ears was so loud it felt like he was about to explode. He gently withdrew his hands from Gloria's, opened the car door and got out.

"Ryan..." Gloria called but the door shut behind a physically trembling Ryan.

His focus was on the huge ofice building where he knew his mate was.