18 - The Council

Iris's POV

There's no way he's serious about this.

"Yes, I'm quite serious about this beta Sandoval. " He said looking directly at me.

Well, this shit isn't creepy at all. These people can hear our thoughts. That means no more privacy.

"Well, technically, I'm the only one who can hear thoughts. We all have different abilities but we shall get to that later. " He explained. "Now, back to the matter at hand. You lot have been tasked with the responsibility of the protection of the werewolf society so you shall all be trained to become either the king, queen, royal betas, deltas, or warriors. "

The room came alive with a buzz as people started whispering among each other about the prospect of getting a role of power.

"Settle down, yes, the thought of being the ruler of all werewolves and lycanthrope alive is thrilling, but please bare in mind that councilman Demetrius said that only a few of you will be given positions of power, while the rest of you will be sent back to lead your respective packs. " Raina Gonzalez, the halfbreed fae and wolf and also former alpha said, silencing the room once more.

She's been around for nearly a century now but doesn't look a day over 30, talk about good genes.

"You all are to undergo a series of severe, bordering on torturous, training to root out the weak and help the strong grow even more powerful, to help us win this new war we're faced with. " The dark skinned blonde next to Lenora spoke up.

Moren Hay, only werewolf in history to be mated to a dragon, former luna of the Wiedengipfel pack, the pack with the strongest army in the world.

She's said to be as beautiful as she is vicious and from the battle stories I've heard, horrifying doesn't even cover what she does to her enemies.

Her statement about us being weak led to some particularly bad tempered lycans growling at her, while the rest of us who could control our emotions, bit back our growls and settled for just glaring at her, which just had her giving us a smug smirk.

If there's one thing every werewolf and lycanthrope hate being called, it's weak.

"Settle down now children, Ariana didn't mean any offence by it. " Javier "the Peace Keeper " Carlos said from the right end of the line, next to Ariana.

Much like his title implies, Javier, has always been the Alpha other alphas turned to, to keep the peace.

But being a peaceful person doesn't mean he's weak, peace comes only from war and how long that peace lasts depends on how brutal that war was.

And if what our history taught us is true, then Ariana could be considered a cute puppy compared to how Javier was during the Jade werewolf war, the greatest war in our history apart from the war with the witches.

Everyone in the hall quieted down again because, like me, they all knew about Javier and what he was capable of.

The last council member, former alpha Idris Dimitri, the monster among beasts.

He's the only alpha to have ever lost his mate and not gone feral and/or suicidal.

Especially since he could feel every ounce of pain she felt when she was being tortured by rogues after they kidnapped her.

Instead, he became introverted, never speaking unless severely necessary, instead, letting his actions do the talking and trust me, his actions are loud enough.

His former pack became one of strict discipline, any slight misstep and you'd be punished, the greater offences ended in a sparing match with the alpha, which almost always ended in death.

I heard that even after he stepped down and his son became alpha, that was still how the pack was run.

There's also the rumor that he's cannibalistic, but I'm sure that's just gossip.

"If you're all finished, I'd like to start explaining what it is you need to know about this program you've found yourself in. " Alpha Demetrius said and once again, a hush came over us all. "You'll be staying here, in the palace, for the next 3 months and then, if you pass, you will be moved to Romania where you will join the other future leaders of the supernatural world where you will undergo combined training for another 3 months and you will all be trained and thoroughly reeducated on what it is you think you know about our history and that of the other supernaturals. " He pointedly looked at me when he said that last part and I'm guessing he heard the whole cannibal thing.

I could feel my face get real hot and I avoided all eye contact with him.

"After years of peace, the witches have finally started to make their move and we, the council, along with all the other supernatural rulers, have started these training programs to ensure that all the future leaders of our respective worlds, are well equipped to battle against the witches and win, with the least amount of casualties possible. "

No one made a sound, most likely, they were all processing what he just said.

"These next few months are going to be hell for you, if you thought the training camps were tough, you're going to see it as a nice stroll when we're done with you. " Luna Hay said.

"You will be taught how to fight, how to make battle strategies, how to be good leaders and most importantly, how to save the world from the tyranny of the witches. " Alpha Demetrius continued. "All one hundred of you have been chosen because you are all lycans, but your being lycans only gets you an invitation here, over the course of these months, if you find you unable to keep up or if you disobey our rules, you will be punished or sent back to your packs. If your offence is really bad, you will be stripped of your title as well. "

Holy shit, they mean business.

"I'm sure you're all trying to process what situation you have currently been forced into, we'll stop here for now. " Luna Gonzalez said, her tone soft.

"But, before we let you go, please know that all bonds you had with your pack members and/or significant others have been severed and you will be unable to get them back until you either fail or pass, this training camp is meant for the purpose of boosting individual growth so we can not have you distracted by other attachments. " Alpha Demetrius said and the room erupted with protests, but he just ignored us and said that our assigned guards would show us to our rooms, before he and the rest of the council left.

Not much is known about Alpha Demetrius, except that he's into some shady things, like black market underground shit and they say that he has information on every supernatural being alive.

That's probably how he got his position as the leader of the council, if you ask me.

I touched my neck on reflex at the realization that I no longer have my bond with Vlad. I waited for a long ass time for it and when I finally got it, it was removed, like when you accidentally refresh your For You Page on TikTok.

Ain't that a bitch.