The Alpha King (Kingdom of Askara #1)(8)
Luca merely lifted one eyebrow. “Not to me, she isn’t.” Gareth took a threatening step forward and Sam immediately gestured to two of the gammas to block him. Luca ignored Gareth and looked back down at Danni. “What is your gift?”
“Divining, your Highness.”
Luca blinked. Wow, no wonder Alpha Jace had her contracted to his son. Diviners were rare, very rare. They could touch the land beneath their feet and tell immediately if it contained water, or oil, or even Tallium, the rarest and most precious jewel on Askara.
Gabriel gasped. “But I thought you were a herbalist.”
Danni blushed. “I have that gift, also. I’m so sorry.” Tears filled her eyes once more as she gazed at Gabriel. “I was told if you found out you would be banished.”
Luca glanced at Sam, his eyes hard and his lips pressed together. Werewolf law was absolute. An Alpha had two recourses open to him for the severe punishment of weres. Death, or banishment—which was in a lot of cases infinitely worse. Though Askara had five territories, in actuality there was a sixth—Arrides—a desert that was almost uninhabitable. Arrides was an island that had broken away from the mainland thousands of years ago. The twin suns both rose together above the desert and for the first few hours the joined heat was unbearable until Sorin split away, while Surya lingered. There were many theories as to why one sun lingered. Some believed that Surya was hottest in Arrides because of a curse of the Gods, making exile to Arrides a fitting punishment. Luca actually preferred it over the other arguments about gases and rotation—the story of the three goddesses that all pups were told. Surya and Sorin were twins, while Aylin was their younger sister. Surya was jealous of her twin’s joyful temperament, and her youngest sister Aylin’s grace and beauty. Surya was in love with two brothers, Nash and Paetra, but they were in love with Sorin and Aylin and never looked at Surya. One night after Surya was told that the brothers had declared their wish to mate Sorin and Aylin, in a fit of jealous rage she killed both her sisters. The gods were furious that two beautiful girls were dead, so they brought them back to life and gifted them Askara to watch over for eternity. Sorin lit the whole planet every day, and Aylin lit it every night. Surya, then, was forced to exist forever in her twin’s shadow, only ever getting the chance to watch over anything but the desert.
The ultimate reason, though, why banishment to the Arrides desert was the same as death, and that was because werewolves were pack animals. Those who survived the sparse hunting were likely to become insane because of the isolation. Arrides was only accessible by crossing the Mendrik sea, and that was impossible by any other means than a strong boat. Too wide and too rough for even the strongest werewolf to swim, it was also full of salt water, and werewolves were exactly the same as humans in that they couldn’t drink it either.
Luca came back to the present, realizing the gravity of Gabriel’s situation. “How would the punishment be enacted?” Only lead territory Alphas could institute banishment.
“My father agreed as part of the marriage contract that if I told anyone the punishment wouldn’t be given to me but to whomever I told,” Danni choked the words out. “The agreement was that the pack would be then given back to my younger brother when he was of age. My father saw what happened to you, and he didn’t want the same.”
“And Hendrick as lead Alpha countersigned this,” Luca said flatly. Very clever. He was protecting the pack for his son. He didn’t want it as destitute as Luca’s own was because of the council.
“You didn’t know Danni’s gift?” Luca asked Gabriel.
Gabriel shook his head. “She is my true mate. If I am honest I would prefer she wasn’t an omega so we would be free to be together.” Gabriel was staring at Danni. His look of love was obvious, and as a second son he didn’t have to mate an omega to get granted any Alpha power.
Luca caught Gareth rolling his eyes. “Very well,” he decided. “I call a council meeting for eight a.m. tomorrow. All Alphas, Alpha-heirs, and their mates are required to be present. I will explain my intention then and rule on the omega, Danni, at the same time.” He ignored the murmurs when he said that the Alpha mates should be present. It was unusual. Mates were never consulted in any decision except concerning pups. Sam rushed to disperse everyone. Luca was ready to go see how Kit was feeling.
“Your Highness?” Luca turned to see Alpha Jace, standing next to his son, Gareth. “My son Gareth and I would like to invite you to eat with us this evening. We are ready to roast a pig in your honor and we have many beautiful girls ready and willing to entertain you.” For the second time, Luca saw one of Jace’s sons roll his eyes in the space of a few minutes. This time, however, it was Gabriel. Luca sympathized. The attempt to curry favor with Luca was cringe worthy.
“Thank you for the invitation, but my mate is recovering and I intend to spend the evening here.” There, he had said it. Kit was his mate. He immediately felt settled by openly acknowledging him.
Alpha Jace looked puzzled. “I wasn’t aware Tara had suffered any injury?” To be fair, Luca hadn’t had the time or opportunity to make an announcement, and while omegas were expected to be faithful to their Alphas, the Alphas were under no such obligation. No one would so much as raise an eyebrow if Luca wanted to bed the entire pack, males or females.
“I don’t mean the omega, Tara. I mean—”