Loyalty and Trust

"Jyriah - speak," Metas commanded and looked to the blue-eyed warrior for an answer, even as Joss kissed his wounds and held him close.

"Harbinger told me to watch my tongue since Silas is going to be the new Alpha..." Jyriah let out between hisses and grunts as his wounds healed, and his mate moved his hair out of the blood and plasma that had oozed from his eye.

"You're lucky I'm here - you could have lost your eye," Joss cooed and put his forehead to Jyriah's just to follow up his words of concern.

The small band of lycans sat in their mortal skins and all looked at one another for answers, until Metas spoke.

"Lara?" Metas gestured to her and waited for her report.

"Citizens were talking about what happened in the upper levels. There is a huge buzz now about how Silas is our new alpha. Metas, that loses a lot of ground for you on the upper echelon. I don't have a full report, we chased after Jyriah once we heard the rumors."

"You're really fast, by the way," she tacked on and looked at him with awe in he expression.

"I'm a guard and scout - I run fast. It's what I do," Jyriah replied proudly.

"Gerald?" Metas gestured to his brown-haired friend whose matching brown eyes looked at him intensely.

"What she reported - but I also heard a few people sneering about it. Rayne and Felas grumbled, and the troops you once controlled did too, Jyriah. Everyone was pretty mad about your demotion. Metas, you have potential supporters, you just need to reach out to them - or rather, we need to bring them to you," he reported with a light voice of hope.

"Thank you for your reports, is certainly mix of news. I have a plan, but it requires finding a meeting place where the upper class would never go, and where a large amount of us can gather with ease. Any suggestions?" The budding Alpha asked as he looked at them all with eyes filled with determination and trust.

 Joss suggested an idea first, still at the side of Jyriah, whose flesh had healed around his eye, but the actual eye itself had not yet. "Textiles. We've got large spaces to store different kinds of materials. Wool is low, and almost empty - so we can use that. Soldiers going down there won't look too suspicious - especially if we can get some kind of instruction for them to trickle in."

"I think between the three of us - as in Lara, Gerald, and myself - we can bring in those we know hold a grudge against Mr. Golden boy," Jyriah added, and held his hand up.

"What about Myranda? How do we keep her out of all of this? I don't want to cause too much of stir - I know you intend to leave the baker's clan out of this, but if someone tells friend or family member, then it could reach her," the Alpha suggested in concern.

Jyriah cleared his throat and eased out, "I'm not trying to be rude when I say this; just factual - Myranda has no friends. She's never trusted anyone enough thanks to how our parents behaved. No one will actively seek her out, and she won't go look for anyone to talk to, either."

Joss"-and if you ask me, if she does find out, perhaps it is because the Goddess knows when you need her."

"There is still the problem with Harbinger boasting about Silas becoming Alpha. If he's so bold to say something, then it must be decided already," Lara said with concern and bit her nails.

"I'm still alive, so nothing is decided" Metas corrected her firmly. "I am Alpha, and one way or another I will teach Silas that lesson."

" I have a feeling that Harbinger only said what he did because he thinks you're weak and will easily be defeated," Gerald added and twisted his mouth in thought.

"Do you think he'll challenge you outright?" Lara asked.

"No. He'll try to bait me, another reason why I can't be near the one person I could truly feel safe with," Metas sighed out at the mere thought of his own words. This was agony.

"If I know Silas - and I do - he's going to wait for the maximum amount of people to show off to before he does anything," Jyriah threw out there as he looked around between the five of them.

Lara gasped in realization and looked to Silas, "The wedding announcement party..."

"Are you sure? That sounds too tacky - even for him," Metas doubted.

"No, she's right. Captain cub-scout will wait until you are in the center spotlight and then he'll steal it from you. He did that so many times to many other guys growing up. How do you think he got in such a high position? When you replace the person on stage, you become the focus. I mean, he asked Syrana to be his officially when clan Luna Geni was having that baby shower. It was really tacky, but no one said anything because Silas is Harbinger's golden boy" Jyriah informed, put his focus on Metas and continued on.

"He'll wait until that big moment, trust her instinct - she's right. In fact, is anyone up to bet how many words Metas gets to speak before Silas cuts him off? I'm going with when our Alpha King here opens his mouth to speak, golden boy will interrupt you before you even begin," he finished.

"I'm not Alpha King yet," Metas replied.

"You said yourself that titles alone don't matter without approval, right? Doesn't our opinion count?" Jyriah questioned genuinely.

"I see. Is that an opinion you all share?" Metas asked just to make sure.

Each one of them nodded their heads and got down to their knees where Jyriah still was.

"You are our Alpha King, no matter what. Our loyalty is to you," Joss said and bowed forward.

His words caused a chain reaction as Lara, Gerald, and Jyriah confirmed their oath to Metas.

"We follow you to death,"

"I will always believe in your strength, sire"

"You love my sister, we're cool"

"Jyriah" Joss hissed and gently smacked him on the top of his head with his knuckles.

"Ow, okay-" the fiery male gave a bow and replied seriously this time, "I am your honorable servant and protector from this day forth, my Alpha. Anything you ask - I will obey."

"You have my gratitude and my loyalty in return. I vow to make our kingdom stronger, wiser, and fair. I will lead us into victory," Metas finished and resisted the urge to howl, as to not reveal their location. He would make a note to to proclaim as loudly as possible that he was no match for even the 'strongest' amongst them.