MATED TO THE ALPHA AND HIS BETA - Season 5 Episode 12

Lanie

I tried not to be insulted by the way they were ignoring me. An Ancient and a Celestial certainly didn’t have to consult me on anything, even if I did have blessings from the Moon Goddess. Even so, I was her mother, and Stella had asked me to come along. This back and forth between her and Malachi was leaving me in the dark. I waved a hand at them, trying to catch their attention. They finally both looked at me. Stella’s gaze was calm, but my grandfather looked cold and distant… and very, very much like an Ancient vampire. I focused on my child. “What’s Malachi doing?” I asked her. Stella sighed and looked at him. He gave her a familiar flick with his fingers for permission. She cleared her throat. “The leadership councit is a farce. Brightsky is supposedly built up on the concept of equality, inclusion, and democracy, but the truth is-” “I’m the only one in charge,” Malachi cut in. He stood abruptly. “It’s all me. Oh, I pretend to give the council a say in anything that has to do with running this enclave, because everyone likes to think they have input. But in the end, I’m the only one with any real power.” “They all turn to you for advice, and you allow them to believe you take their concerns and desires into consideration, when in fact you cast a veil over their minds any time they try to balk you.” Stella frowned and

shook her finger at him. “That’s quite rude, you know.” Malachi rolled his eyes and leaned back in the chair. He still looked tense but was relaxing at least a little bit. “It’s impossible for an Ancient to be rude, Stella We do what we know must be done. This enclave cannot run under according to the desires and

whimsies of group. We’d be overrun by our enemies within days if I didn’t keep a tight control over everything that goes on inside these walls. It’s exhausting.” I shook my head, digesting everything I’d just heard. “I knew you were arrogant, but this is…” “Please, don’t tell me it’s shocking,” he said. “You can’t possibly be truly stunned.” “I’m disappointed,” I admitted. “You made such a big deal about how Brightsky is this wonderful place where all kinds can mingle and have a say in what happens. After what we had to deal with from the wolf High Council, it felt so much better to be in a place like this.” 1/2 He shrugged. “To you and everyone else who suffered injustice on the outside. What nobody seems to understand or at least wants to see is that the old saying is true: too many cooks do indeed spoil the broth.” “Brightsky isn’t a pot of soup!” འབལ ཐམས མག His lip curled. “No, but it is a cauldron, bubbling full of ingredients. Too much of this, not enough of that, a pinch here or there of something unexpected…salt can ruin a meal with having too much or not enough of it, and any community is the same. Everyone might think they want an equal say in how things run, but in the end, what they truly want is only to feel as though they were heard. So long as they have that, nothing else matters.” “He’s right. As long as the community is happy, it can succeed,” Stella murmured. She put her hand over mine, which had clenched into a fist on my knee. “And the residents of Brightsky are happy, Mother. It runs smoothly.” “Like an oiled set of gears,” Malachi put in proudly. “At the end of the day, that is the goal,” Stella explained.

“So, what’s the problem then?” Malachi asked with an edge of both irritation and relief in his tone. “Are you planning on pulling away the curtain to review the big, bad wizard behind it? Should I prepare myself for the coronation when I take my crown as king?” Sarcasm dripped from his tone so thickly I could almost see it. “You could give her the respect she’d due,” I told him. “Hear her out. I realize how hard it must be for you to give anyone that consideration.” The bright tinkle of Stella’s laughter t winkled through the entire room, bright as the stars she’d been named for. That brightness filled me and made me want to laugh, too. She turned her glowing smile toward Malachi, and slowly, to my surprise, he smiled in return. “Even when I can tell you’re using the powers of the Flora, I still find myself succumbing to it. Flower nym phs,” he said to me. “You wou have heard of them. Known for their incessantly cheerful natures. They can intoxicate you with joy.” “That doesn’t sound like a bad thing,” I told him. “Forgive me, Mother. I thought it would help with what I have to tell you next. Give a sort of buffer,” Stella said. Silence fell as we waited for her to speak. “The wolf High Council has found a way to exploit Brightsky’s weakness.”