Offered to the Triplet Alphas

[Raven]

"Forbidden! Forbidden!"

"Unacceptable!"

"Absolutely not!"

"We will never approve of this! Never!"

"A mortal as a luna candidate!? Preposterous!"

"This is against our law! This completely mocks the rules of our pack. Not just our pack, but all the immortals!"

"There are limits that even an alpha isn't allowed to cross!"

"This is taboo!"

"The council will never approve of this!"

Ezra's announcement caused an uproar that kept getting worse. All the elders stood, banging their benches and yelling their disapproval.

The chaos became so deafening and uncontrollable that their microphones had to be turned off.

I glanced at Asher as he teleported beside Isagi on the balcony.

Viella glared at Ezra with every strand of her hair turned into active, hissing snakes.

Isagi's warnings drowned under the council's clamor.

And amidst all this stood Ezra, fearless and strangely - calm.

"Don't tell me he isn't done yet," Nyssa mumbled.

'Raven, take Ezra out of here,' Asher mindlinked with me.

I was about to teleport near Ezra when he mindlinked with Asher and me.

'I told you I will handle this myself. You two, stay out of it. This is a conscious decision that I have made with full awareness of the consequences.' Tensing up, I frowned at him.

A conscious decision?

"Everyone. Shut your damn mouths and listen-"

Ezra mumbled, keeping his head low.

"Why!?" someone yelled.

"Why, you ask?" He chuckled, tilting his head slowly. With a red flash, his dark crimson eyes locked on the elder who had questioned him. "Why don't you tell me why?"

The elder's eyes petrified as though he had turned into a stone. The next second, his body hurled into the air, crashing into several floating chandeliers.

Soon, the noise in the hall was overwhelmed with the chiming and shattering of the glass as the twinkling shards drizzled down on the council. One sway of Ezra's hand created a wave in the air that turned the shards into glass dust that floated around like a sparkling fog.

"AHHHHH!"

The scream drew everyone's attention towards the elder again. The elder, who floated limply on the chandelier with its pointed center, pierced through his guts.

His blood flowed down the chandelier, dripping on the dais as the chandelier floated closer to Ezra.

I heard the silence tremble as it settled over the hall like a suffocating blanket. All the commotion seized at once.

Everyone sneaked glances at the impaled elder pierced in the chandelier, and his blood raining down on Ezra.

"He asked why he should listen to me. Tsk! Pity. He can't answer his own question anymore. You tell me, Viella, why should this council shut their mouths and listen to me?" Ezra asked. Viella's hair snakes dropped into normal hair as she forced a tight gulp.

"B-because... you are... our Alpha..." she said, her voice hitching as she clenched her fists and kept her eyes low.

"That's right. I suppose. But that's not the correct answer." Ezra skimmed his eyes across the hall. "The reason you should shut your mouths and listen to me is because... you are all... weak." Ezra's demon's aura engulfed the hall, pressing down on the elders who now stood glaring at Ezra with wide eyes.

Ezra's demonic aura surged, creating a suffocating pressure that seemed to crush the very air. The elders, their eyes wide with terror, stared at Ezra like a herd of prey looking at their predator.

"The consequences you'll face by defying me will be far graver than the ones I would face even if I were to massacre you all here and adorn these chandeliers with your impaled bodies for eternity," Ezra said, sliding his hands in his pockets. The elder pivoted on the chandelier, rotated, his agonizing screams for mercy echoing like a warning in the hall. Blood dripped down his eyelids and forehead like streams of tears.

"And that is also the reason the council will happily accept my decision with the majority. Anyone who wishes to oppose me or challenge my authority can do so if they dare to stand against me. So then... what was the council saying? I remember some people had a problem with my mortal wife becoming my luna candidate..."

One by one, the elders dropped back into their seats with reluctance and helplessness, mixing with their expressions like acid and venom.

It was normal for Ezra to have power outbursts when he was triggered or extremely angry, but he never showed off his powers. In fact, he was reluctant to use his powers and didn't acknowledge his wolf for a long time. And what he did just now was not just the display of his strength, but the assertion of his dominance over the others.

Even though I was thrilled to see Ezra finally putting these nosy elders in their place, something about him didn't feel right. It was an inexplicable feeling that tightened in my chest, and that tightness had been persistent lately.

It was normal to see Ezra lose control. Seeing him have such control over himself and people around him was something that bothered me.

I knew I should support the positive changes in him, but I couldn't help but wonder what - or who was causing these changes.

"Now then, I hope the council doesn't have a problem approving Xanthea to be my luna candidate," Ezra asked with a smile that was enough to make the elders shudder.

The elders signed their approval one by one. Even the special luna selection jury accepted and recognized Xanthea as an official luna candidate.

"Oh, and one last thing. Don't trouble my brothers, Alpha Asher and Alpha Raven, by going to them and saying what I did here today was unlawful. As far as I know, I have broken no law. I am just following a law that's above all others - your universal law of evil, which states that the strong have all the right to make the weak suffer hell. And this, my dear council friends, is my hell and I... am your... lord."

Ezra smiled before strutting out of the hall.

***

It was only when Isagi dismissed the council that the elders were able to breathe again.

I leaned against the edge of the desk, folding my hands across my chest as I tried to comprehend whatever the hell happened today. But no matter how hard I tried to gather my thoughts, they were all over the place.

I glanced at Ezra, who sat on the couch. We were in Asher's private chamber in the parliament.

Honestly, the uproar in the council wasn't pointless. The relationship between an immortal and a mortal was not just forbidden, it was unnatural and taboo for immortal werewolves, both demons and celestials.

A mortal luna candidate would be anything but acceptable not just for the council but for the entire pack.

"Today..." Ezra mumbled, lost somewhere. "Don't you think today I came a little closer to becoming the kind of demon our father wanted us to be?"

Frustration welled up inside me. I had so much I wanted to say, yet I didn't want to say something that might make things worse for him.

I took a deep breath, trying to hold back the storm raging inside me.

"Only three people could have challenged my decision in the council: Asher, Isagi, and you. I know you aren't happy with what I did, so why didn't you-" Ezra said, looking at me.

"I am not answering that ridiculous question." My words came out harsher than I intended them to.

No matter what wars we triplets fought among ourselves, we would never oppose each other in front of outsiders. That was an unspoken understanding that just existed between the three of us.

I stared at him and as the silence hung heavier with every passing second, I could no longer hold back my words.

"Why did you do it? Were you out of your fucking mind? What were you thinking, huh?" I scowled.

Taking a deep breath, I ran my tongue across my inner cheek.

"You said you were ready to face the consequences of your decision. But do you even know how dire the consequences can be? Do you realize the kinds of danger you have exposed that omega to? The other luna candidates will not leave a chance to attack her and just for your kind information, Xanthea can fucking die!"

That was the most rational reason I could think of at that moment.

"I will protect her," he said.

"Protect her?" I gritted my teeth.

Ezra gave a soft smile, which only deepened my frown.

"The only reason we took mortal brides was to deal with our curse. Do you know why the relationship between a mortal and immortal is forbidden in the first place?" I was trying hard not to snap at him.

"I know. If an immortal falls in love with a mortal, their life after the mortal's death becomes nothing less than a curse. They lose their will to live, and they start craving death. And an immortal should never crave death because if they do, the pain of their existence becomes unbearable. I know, Raven."

"Yet you're doing it again! Did you forget how bad it hurt-"

"And it hasn't stopped hurting ever since," Ezra said with a faint smile.

I grabbed his collar, lifting him to his feet and slammed him into the wall.

Ezra chuckled, not even trying to free himself.

"Why are you so angry, Raven? We both know I should have died a long time ago - ah!" Ezra groaned with a smirk, coughing as I tightened my grip.

"Stop it. Right here! Right now!" I growled, glaring into his eyes.

"There's nothing to stop anymore-"

I hurled him across the room with a surge of anger. Ezra could have easily prevented the collision, but he didn't. Crashing into the wall, he fell on the floor face-down.

As I trudged towards him, he slowly pushed himself up.

My eyes instantly shot to the ring hanging from his neck as a pendant. A bitter, boiling sensation surged in my heart as I realized it was the same ring he had removed from Xanthea's finger.

I clenched my jaws, curling my fingers into fists that trembled with rage.

"I had been feeling it lately, and I didn't want to believe it. But I think it's true... that fucking omega reminds you of Ellery..." I mumbled.

Ezra's eyes widened in shock, but they quickly transformed into a blazing glare as he took a fighting stance.

"No woman can ever take Ellery's place in my heart," Ezra reached out and fisted his hand protectively around the ring.

I smiled sardonically.

"Oh, trust me, I'll gladly kick both Ellery and Xanthea out of your system. If that's what it takes to protect you and keep you sane, I won't hesitate. And I certainly don't mind if it means cracking open your skull and erasing every last bit of their memories. I know I should have done this a long time ago, but I guess it's still not too late. But before that, I'll destroy that damn ring-"

The bones in my fingers contorted into claws.

"Don't you dare!" Ezra growled, baring his fangs at me, still clutching the pathetic ring as if his life depended on it.

"I won't let you repeat the same mistake all over again!"

"Ellery wasn't a mistake!"