CHAPTER 11

Analise's POV

"Did I interrupt anything?" The stranger's voice, with a hint of mock, boomed in the hall, making everybody's attention snap to him, including mine. The only difference between  them and me was that it was not only his voice that caught my attention. It felt like there was an entire connection, a bond that made me focus all my attention on him.

I had only heard his voice but it felt like I knew him. His voice was deep and husky, which made me feel a tingling sensation all over my body. Despite the gravelly tone of his voice, it felt like soft music to my ears. Even though his voice held a hint of mock as he spoke, it was firm. Just a few words from him were enough to know he was powerful. He sounded- he was - confident.

I never thought I would say this but I think I might have a crush solely on someone's voice.

The previous weird sensations had somehow dissipated but I could feel Crescent's excitement as she jumped around, still going on with her gibberish language.

My eyes trailed on his body, taking in every detail of his body, every muscle. He was tall, around 6ft 4 which was even taller than my father. He was dressed in a black, two-piece suit with a crisp white shirt underneath. The clothes fitted his muscular body perfectly. The material of his blazer clung to his arms like a second skin, making every muscle more defined and prominent. With the slightest movement of his hands, his muscles flexed. The white shirt did nothing to hide his well-sculpted body. A faint outline of his abs could be seen. The skin covered with tattoos peeking through the first two undone buttons suddenly made my throat go dry as I struggled to swallow.

I was definitely going insane. First his voice. Now, his body.

Finally, my eyes rested on his face. God, he was so perfect. Even at a distance, I could see his sharp facial features- sharp jawline, defined cheekbones. He had full lips and dark hair similar to mine only his were a bit darker somehow. Unlike my father and Rayan, who had their hair done neatly, his was not. Despite some of his hair being out of place, it was imperfectly perfect. The few dark strands falling on his face only made his beautiful eyes, framed by beautiful, dark lashes stand out.

I don't think I ever used the words perfect and beautiful so many times at once.

After trailing all around his face, taking in every detail I could, my eyes finally met his. Dark blue eyes that resembled sharp, pointed, dangerous icicles that could tear you in just seconds but also the peaceful, rhythmic rise and fall of the ocean stared right into my purple ones. My breath hitched in my throat.

Then it hit me.

Mate.

'Mate' Crescent and I said at the same time, my eyes were probably wide as saucers. Only minutes ago, I was restless and wanted out of here, but now I was frozen, unable to move as I got captivated by him. Whatever they said about the emotions when you first lay eyes on your mate was wrong. Because right now, everything I was feeling was tenfold what they said. My entire body felt alive, a buzzing sensation taking over.

Then, realisation settled in. If he was already looking at me, then that meant he had seen me checking him out from head to toe. Just the mere thought was enough to make me blush. I felt all the blood rush to my cheeks. I was certain it did not go unnoticed by him as I saw the slightest smirk pull at the corner of his lips. I wanted to look away and hide that annoying blush from him but I could not. Everything around me disappeared as all my attention rested on him.

I did not know how to feel when my father's voice brought me back to reality. Should I be content to finally be out of the embarrassing situation of getting caught drooling over him or should I be pissed at my father for ruining the moment?

'Be pissed' Crescent answered.

"Who let you in my castle?" My father near shouted as he stood up.

"I allowed myself in Gabriel." He answered and gasps were heard from all the sides of the table.

Addressing a king by his name, without any formal titles was considered disrespectful, irrespective of your own title, though the punishments for those of lower ranks were harsher than those with prestigious titles.

As he broke eye contact to direct his answer to my father, I took one last look at him. Despite his muscular body, he held himself with grace. His posture screamed power and confidence oozed from every part of him. His face was cold, his expression indecipherable. The aura surrounding him screamed danger and warned you to keep your distance. Judging by his overall behavior, it could be said that he had a lot of authority in him.

"You cannot talk to my father like that." Rayan got up from the seat next to me. I just leaned back on my seat, a small smirk on my lips as I watched the scene unfold in front of me.

"Your son has to do the talking for now Gabriel?" He taunted. "Shame."

"He is the future king. He has all the right to speak up when he wants." My father retorted.

"Does not seem like it to me." His gaze landed on me and so did my father's and brother's.

"That is none of your problem." Rayan said. "You are not needed here."

"I don't take orders from you Rayan." I realised that I did not even know his name yet. Who was he exactly? Why was he here? Why did my family hate him this much? How could he just get away with how he was talking to my father?

"Leave Alexander, before my guards give me your head." My father said, his voice loud with his wolf side starting to show.

'Alexander'

"What?"

'His name. Alexander' Crescent clarified.

One question was answered. Four left unanswered.

"The guards who are currently surrounded by my people?" He mocked, walking towards the table and claiming a vacant chair. He leaned back in the chair, placing one leg on the other and one of his hands rested on his bent knee. "Don't you think they would already be here if they knew I was here?"

'Damn he looks hot'

"That's not true." Rayan snapped and Alexander just shrugged. Rayan and father both went quiet but then I realised they were communicating through the mind link and so did the rest of my family. I just sat there, avoiding looking at Alexander as I waited for them to be over.

"Tell your men to leave." My father spat angrily.

"They are not hurting anyone. They are merely restraining them from carrying out any foolish orders of you two." The atmosphere got more tense as the argument continued. While my father and Rayan looked like they were about to explode any time soon and let their wolves take over, Alexander looked totally calm.

Despite being in our castle, with our guards at every corner, he was more in control and he knew it. To him, this was just a mere game where all the odds were in his favor. Hell, he even controlled his competitors' pawns.

"Using silver is just a form of restraint to you?" My father said. "Silver is fatal to werewolves."

"Which gives me more reasons why I should use it against you."

"Leave right now, and you might live a few more years." Rayan said.

"I will live way more than a few more years" Alexander replied. "To me it looks like this might be the last year of your life." I did not know whether he was referring to the fact that his men had us surrounded or the looming war with the vampires.

"Alexander, we are in the middle of something very important-" Alexander did not let my father finish.

"Which is why I am here. I heard you need help." He taunted.

"The day where I will accept any help from you will never come." At this point, my father was just frustrated with not having things under control.

"Unfortunately, it will. That day is today." Father looked at him in confusion. "Because you don't get to chose whose help you will take or not. You are in dire need of allies for your war with the vampires."

"You are not concerned with this war. So, why are you insisting on helping?" This time mother spoke.

"You might be their main target but that does not mean they are not attacking others. My kingdom was also attacked." Many others in the room agreed with him

'Kingdom'

"I guess he is a king too then or maybe a prince because he looks kind of young. Around Rayan's age. But which kingdom?"

"If my people are being threatened, I will do anything to eradicate that threat. Even if it means working with you."

Before anyone else could say anything regarding the matter, grandmother stood up. "Sorry everybody but we need a moment to discuss something." Since nobody else in my family stood up, I remained seated but on their way out, grandmother tapped me and Rayan on the shoulder, indicating us to follow them.

We went into the hallways which was now deserted. I did not know exactly what Alexander or his people did to the guards but they were no longer here. "I need him out of here." Were the first words my father said as he ran his hand through his hair, ruining his perfectly styled hair.

"No. He can help us." Grandmother said firmly. "He is willing to put aside our long-time differences to aid his people. To aid thousands of innocents who will lose their lives if the vampires are not stopped."

Judging by her words, I would say the werewolf and whatever Alexander was, were not on good terms for a very long time.

"First, you want us to work with her." Rayan motioned at me. "And now, that demon king?"

'He is the king'

"Of demons." I reminded her

"What about the war that happened against them years ago? What if it's a trap and he backstabs us? Or worse what if he is actually with the vampires." He continued

"If he was with the vampires, don't you think he would have already killed us, especially since he already has all of our guards under his control." I deadpan.

"You don't get a say in this." Rayan glared at me.

"Do I need to remind you of the terms you agreed to yesterday?" I glared back. "Maybe I should make a copy and give one to each of you since you clearly can't memorise five simple terms. I will even stick it in your room if you want. Great way to memorise things. Learnt it at school"

"Stop it." Father intervened. "Rayan is right. The war-"

"The war I helped us win." Grandmother said, pissed. "I know what I am saying. If you keep questioning all my decisions like this, then I don't know why you bothered breaking that spell Gabriel. And, yesterday we agreed to some terms with Analise, you better remember those or I will be the one giving you those damn copies." She continued. "It's decided, we will agree to work with him."

While my dad and Rayan interchanged looks and a groan, I found grandmother smiling cockily at me and I could not help but smirk. She took my hand in hers and we returned to the room with Rayan and father behind us. We all took back our seats.

"Let's proceed with the meeting. Tell your men to retreat. We agree to work with you." My father announced. Alexander just nodded in acknowledgement. As my father said, the meeting continued as they continued their discussion.

"We heard that they were also looking for allies." One of the leaders spoke.

"Yes and the vampires have grown more powerful over the years for them to be able to infiltrate our kingdoms so easily." Another spoke up. "Right now, they seem to have the upper hand and we all want to be on the winning side to avoid a great loss of our kind."

"But if we work as one we might succeed." Father said.

"It is not certain." Someone voiced out.

Nobody spoke, not knowing what to say as everybody contemplated their decisions. I looked around and my eyes landed on that of my grandmother's. She nudged her head in my direction to say something and I just looked at her confused. I raised an eyebrow inquisitively at her but she just gave me a reassuring smile.

'Go for it Lizzie. Remember how well you did for graduation'

I cleared my throat before speaking. "We understand your concern regarding the safety of your kind. I also know that the odds are against us and the chances of us winning are very slim." I looked at the leader who had spoken up previously. "But that does not mean we won't win. Yes, their chances of winning are higher but if we work as one, our chances will increase."

"Great words and speeches don't win wars Princess." Someone commented. "Numbers do."

I was offended by his words but understood his concern. "Numbers don't always win wars." I stated as a matter of fact. "Strategies and well thought plans do. Numbers are just what make it easier. During the war of the dragons and griffins many years ago, the dragons were fewer in numbers but they won, didn't they?" I said, thankful for the history classes at school "If we work together as one, not only will we have the numbers but also the strategies."

"You are right. But," Always the but "If we side with the vampires, we are more prone to winning compared to if we side with you. Like you said, the vampires will have the numbers and the brains."

'Fair point'

You are supposed to be on my side Crescent.

'I am Lizzie. I am pushing you to give a better and more convincing response'

"Maybe if you side with the vampires, you will win. What will happen when the war is over?" I asked. "The vampires want power and when we lose, what stops them from attacking your kingdom and overthrowing your rule to become more powerful?"

"We will have a pact. An oath between our kingdoms to ensure of safety."

"If I am not wrong, the vampires and werewolves have had a pact for quite some time and so did many of you. Did that stop them from attacking? As for an oath, they could easily find a witch and get her to undo it. He wants to be at the top of the hierarchy and it is clear he will stop at no cost to do so."

"To have a really high chance at winning, we need as many people as we can but during the war, we will lose many."

"I understand. This is why, I think we should not impose our decisions on them. They should have the liberty to choose whether they want to fight or not because many of them have families." I suggested.

"And those who may die will die an honorable death while serving their kingdoms." Grandmother supported me. "I request you all to take your time before coming to a final decision. If we fight as one and win this war, the threat of the vampires will finally be over." Grandmother smiled proudly at me.

Finally it was time to hear their decisions. Surprisingly out of the 7 leaders present here today, 6 agreed to be our allies- the witches, demons, light angels, dark angels, fairies and oracles. The other leader- the leader of giants- did not agree since he already had a pact with the vampires. The fact that the vampires had giants on their side increased their chances of winning but at the time, we mainly focused on the fact that we managed to convince the others.

"We thank you all for your corporation." Father announced. "There will be a small dinner later on to celebrate our new alliance. Until then, you and your people are welcome to stay at the castle. You will be guided to your rooms where you can rest before the party later."