Chapter 30

Abel flew home the same day as Joyce's wedding to Prince Yuan. On his way home, he was making all kinds of phone calls. He had Thomas running like a chicken with his head cut off as well. He wanted to get this ball rolling ASAP. He only had a week to get everything set up and ready. He wanted everything to be perfect. He was going to get his Joyce, and be with her two. It was such an amazing feeling.

He had wanted to marry her since he first met her. But who walks up to a woman and says, Hi, I am your stalker. I think your cute. Will you marry me? No! Women are more delicate than all that. You first have to woe them. You must have a few dates, and show them your serious about them. You may already know the outcome, but that does not mean that they can and will have the same feelings. Luckily for him, Joyce did.

Thomas sat down next to him and broke him out of his inner thoughts, "Abel, I know that you are all excited and all. But have you thought about what the council will say? Do you think that they will allow this wedding to happen? It is not every day that two alphas fall in love with the same girl you know."

Abel looked up. His brain was crashing back into reality. Thomas was right! "I guess you are right. I had better make them my next call. But if they think for one moment that I will give her up for anything, they had all better think again."

Thomas shook his head and continued making all the necessary phone calls for his end of their bargain. He was so busy with the pile of work Abel had given him. He had no time to listen to Abel's phone calls. But yet he did. Abel made one phone call that Thomas felt like he just could not avoid listening too. Abel had done it on video call as well.

Abel had been waiting anxiously on this one phone call all day. It was finally time. He opened up the laptop and looked over at Thomas. Thomas was typing away and calling people. Abel really did not care if Thomas heard, but if this went sour! He did not want to lose Thomas as a friend. Abel looked at his screen. He was just waiting to be connected.

He was not too worried, really. The council normally sided with him on decisions he makes. But this one is asking quite a lot. Not just that but when Thomas had mentioned that he needed the councils permission, Abel immediately called the council's representative. He had to set up this meeting. When he got the confirmation he felt both hot and cold over the whole situation. He knew all he could do was to hold his ground.

The screen popped up. It showed a long table with six elderly women on one side and six elderly men on the other. At the front of the table sat his father. All of the council members, had a glass of something in front of them. Abel remembered from when he was young. Most of the members if not all, almost always had a glass of chardonnay, or something alcoholic in front of them at every meeting. All except his father. Instead, his father would always drink after words. His father always said he had to have a clear head for the meetings.

Abel's father was a tall well built man. Even now in his latter years, he was built like a tank. Very muscular, very domineering in his demeanor. He had black hair just like Abel's, but Abel's father had blue eyes. Abel got his brown eyes from his mother. Everyone thought his father was a rare beauty due to his eye color. His father was wearing a sleek gray business suit. With a black tie. He had his head sitting gently on the back of his hands on the table. His fingers were loosely intertwined making a neat chin rest for him.

All the people around the table were so busy arguing, that they had not realized that Abel had come up on their monitor. However, Abel's father did. He leaned back in his chair and waved to Abel. Abel chuckled and waved back. There was so much arguing going on, that Abel could not tell what they were all arguing about.

Finally, his father stood up. He walked around the table slowly. As he passed each individual person, they shut up and followed his movements. By the time he got to the monitor, the room was quiet. His dad adjusted the screen. "Awe, now, that is so much better. Abel! My Boy! It is so nice to see you. Will you be coming home any time soon. Or do I need to fly over there and tell my nephew to quit hogging my son."

The room of people chuckled lightly. Abel smiled his most winning smile. "Good morning Father. Good morning everyone. I believe it is morning there. We are on Yuan's personal Jet. We are on our way back to Oklahoma. We will have a few fueling stops on the way. But I will be home by the end of business today."

Abel's father smiled, "Good! I hear you have some news for us."

Abel took a drink of water, "Yes I do. I guess there is no time for pleasantries at the moment. So, I will not waist any ones time. As you all know there is a shortage of werewolf women. Baby girls are just not born as werewolf's any more. Our changing ceremonies have become brutal and bloody. Very few of the women brought to the ceremonies survive the change. It is not only hard on the wolves changing the young girls, but it is horrible for the young girls families. Plus, the expense of disposing of the bodies. I believe there may be a reason for this. I also may have a controversial solution. I only ask that you father and the council hear me out. You may not agree with me, and that will be fine. But if I am right, we may just save our kind."

One of the men at the table spoke up clearing his throat as he spoke. "Brewooo! Yes, Abel we would agree with you. Not only is disposing of the bodies expensive. But it is controversial. Not many of these women's families will ever know what happened to their loved ones. But some of the families don't even care. That is a whole other issue. It seems that our young men are scrapping the bottom of the barrel for the women they have been taking."

A woman siting across from him spoke up, "We don't think it is right! Every one has someone who cares about them."

Another man at the table spoke up a little loudly. "You don't even remember what it was like to be young. Let alone unable to share your secrets with the women you date. Only because in reality, you do not exist. Then when the women find out, they either laugh in your face, or run away scared because of TV horror stories."

Another man spoke out, "Todays women, think all werewolves are out to eat them, or just plain murder them."

One of the ladies spoke out nearly interrupting the last man. "You don't tell something like that on the first date. These boys need to be taught how to date women. They need to be taught when is the right time."

Another lady spoke up, "That is right get a blood sample and let it be tested. Then try to change this woman. If she is compatible with your blood then change her. That will stop you having to dispose of the bodies, no?"

Then the whole table exploded in the men shouting ideas and the women countering the ideas right back. Abel's father stood up quickly. So quickly, as a matter of fact, that his chair flew back and slammed against the wall. Everyone at the table cowered. Abel's father leaned forward on the table. He was leaning on his fists. He was frustrated as well. Nothing can be said in front of this council without causing a fight. Even if they agree.

Abel's father looked at all the men and women in turn as he spoke. "My son, Your ALPHA! Is trying to talk. How dare you all drown him out like this. You are the elder council. This council is under me as the elder Alpha. If you disrespect my son, you disrespect me. I would hear his solution. Not your squawking! Nor your belly aching. We will hear ALPHA Abel's ideas before you argue the validity of his findings. Is that clear!"

Not one head raised, But all of them in turn said "Yes my Aplha."

Abel's Father had a little boy that followed him around as a page. He grabbed the chair and pulled it back up for Abel's Father to sit back down. As he sat back down, "There now, the room is quiet my son. Please Abel continue." Abel's father leaned back in his chair and crossed his fingers. He was giving all his undivided attention to Abel. Then following his lead, all the elders did the same.

Abel took a deep breath.

"As all of you know, no women are born to any pack as a werewolf. Our numbers have dwindled down to the point that we are having changing ceremonies again. Just like in the days of old. We all had thought those bloody days were behind us. Now look how far we have come."

"There is never a guarantee that any woman that is bit will be compatible. Even if they do have the blood of wolves flowing through their veins. I do agree with the great elders that more blood tests must be performed. But I will remind you, with all due respect! That even if a woman's blood work comes back compatible, that is not always the case. Sometimes even if the blood is compatible, the woman still will die. I do not have a fix for this yet."

"However, during my brief marriage and divorce, I have learned a few things. Top of the list is one can not force love on someone else. It does not help that my heart belonged to someone else the entire time either. I just did not remember. But! My body did!"

"What Lamia and David Fisher did, goes far beyond a forced marriage. Lamia knew that I was planning on marrying my true mate. A woman I had been craving after for so long, my wolf was howling at the mere smell of her perfume. I could have told you exactly when, and in which direction she had gone at any point in time. My true mate even knew what I was planning. But she had just been changed. I did not want to push her into such a commitment overnight. Therefore, I was taking my time, and courting her first."

"Because Lamia was my "Trusted" secretary, I had her making all of the arrangements. Lamia was supposed to be planning My True Mate's and My Wedding. All I can figure, is that when Mr. Fisher found out I was about to be married. He set up that little ambush. Before that, the same group of men had tried to kidnap my True Mate while she had been out for a run."

"Thomas and I had looked into it. We came to the conclusion it was a rival pack. You see, my true mate had an unusually strong unmatted scent. So strong as a matter of fact, I slept in my car the first few nights. Then eventually I began staying the night with her. Her parents are members of our pack. They approved of our relationship. They were very happy she would be marrying someone within the pack. They are both from prominent families within the pack."

"The day I had decided to introduce her to you, our elder council. Is the day the ambush happened. I had only informed my parents, my secretary, and my Beta of my plans. However, when we got here, she was too scared to come into the building. She had a bad feeling. That was when we saw the same van that had tried to take her before. We recognized it due to the splatter of buck shot her father had unleashed onto it, as it sped off. The last thing I remember from that day, is opening the car door for her to get in."

"I had driven that day. I had not wanted to scare her. Being introduced to ones elders, and learning the true extent of what comes with a marriage to me. Well, I am afraid it could be rather daunting if done in the wrong way. I had informed Thomas to be waiting for us just inside the doors to the main building. He was waiting to play escort to take us up to the council floor as per usual."

"It is my understanding, that Thomas and Lamia had been discussing my new mate. Thomas had no idea Lamia had shared the information with her father. After further inspection, if we had of made it into the building, There would have been a gun shot instead of a bat used. Lamia's father had a spy infiltrate our factory. I might not be standing here today, if it was not for my true mate."

"Now we know for a fact that Mr. Fisher had insisted on the medication I had been prescribed. He knew that they would cause memory loss. What he did not know was how much in love I was already."

"Mr. Fisher took matters into his own hands. He sold my mate to Prince Yuan. I was tricked through the medication, and doctors orders. Thomas could not even step in for fear of hurting me worse. There for, Prince Yuan was allowed to buy himself a bride. Mr. Fisher thought he had won. Because, Prince Yuan immediately formed a mate bond with my mate. I appeared to not even remember her. He assumed that the mate bond had transferred. However, it did not!"

"By now I know that there has to be some roomers proceeding me. I would like to lay those to rest. I did not go to Prince Yuan's wedding with plans on stealing his bride. I did go with plans on reclaiming mine. However, I did not make it in time."

"Prince Yuan insisted on a private audience with Thomas and myself. I wanted the chance to explain what had happened. I got more than what I bargained for. I did get my apology to my mate out. I was ready to leave. Then Prince Yuan brought in a faith healer. He had a bounding stick."

(all the council breathed in deeply. A bounding stick is a that can measure the strength of a bond between two werewolves. If it is not strong enough, it is puppy love and try again. But if it registers strongly, a marriage is created. Bonding sticks are rarely used. Due to the fact every she wolf would choose to use one rather than gaging her own heart.)

"The faith healer tested both Prince Yuan and myself. We both tested off the charts with a strong bond for my mate. The faith healer informed us that this had been a trend of late. He thinks that is how nature is correcting our numbers dwindling like they have. From here on out, every she wolf will have two mates. Therefore, twice as many chances of having a good strong baby, or babies. Most of the couples he had seen, he had informed Thomas, had had twins. A boy and a girl. In this case, the girl was born with her own wolf."

The council was in a uproar! Abel's dad tried to calm down the room. But all of the council was to excited. They were all yelling about one mate only laws. How it was impossible to have two mates. Abel's father even stood up and slammed his fists down on the table. But it did not stop the uproar. Finally, he howled out loudly. Abel was just in the mood at this point, he did not like being called a liar, and howled with him. Then the room went deathly quiet.

Abel's father had half changed. He slowly changed back human. As he did, he sat back down. He crossed his legs and clasped his hands together. He took a deep breath and breathed out slowly. In the back of his head, he was so glad he had invested in the stretchy fabric. Otherwise, he would not still be as well dressed right now. Out loud he was calm, cool, and collected as he looked at the screen before him. "Now son, do you have proof?"

Abel smiled, "I have brought the Faith Healer home with me. He still has the bonding sticks, with their original readings."

Abel's father grinned, "Well son, if after you prove yourself at this council. We need to draw up a peace treaty marriage contract. Let me just say, I will be the first person to authorize this. You kids can figure out the intimacy and day to day issues. But you have just brought us the Chinese werewolf business we have so desperately wanted. Without I might add!" He stared around at each individual council member. Each of them in turn cringed to see his deep blue eyes on them. "Any bloodshed! Not like what the council was wanting to do through Mr. Fisher. Mr. Fisher wanted us to raid the Werewolf castle and cease all their assets, while taking power. Not one of these members could tell me how we were to maintain that power once it was in our hands from over sea's. My son, you may have just inadvertently but thoroughly stopped a war."