Chapter 124

It was unusual for Andrew’s advisors and the Werewolf Council to all meet at once. Only under dire circumstances did they get together to give Andrew direction. When Andrew seemed about to lose his title was one of those times.

Andrew sat at the head of the conference table, his new top advisor—Michael Davis—on his right and the Head of the Werewolf Council and his Beta—Antoine Boucher—to his left. They were awaiting the last members of the Council to arrive before starting the meeting, and they were very nearly running late. Andrew barely resisted the urge to check his watch or tap his fingers on the table, knowing how unroyal it would appear.

At last, the final members of the Council entered the conference hall and took their seats. Among them was Louis Beaumont, Lisa’s uncle and Andrew’s former brother-in-law. Louis snuck a look in Andrew’s direction and smirked. Andrew pretended not to notice.

“Now that we are all here,” Andrew announced, “let us begin. Head Wolf Antoine, you were the one who asked for us to gather here today, so why don’t you get us started?”

Antoine sat straight up and cleared his throat.

“Thank you, Your Highness,” he replied. “I have called for this meeting to review the recent media debacle by one Ms. Crystal Blanchard.”

Andrew tensed, his hand curling into a fist underneath the table. However, he did not lose his composure.

“Mr. Andreas, as the advisor with the most experience with this particular case, would you mind reviewing it with us?” Antoine asked.

“Of course, Head Wolf,” Dennis said. “His Highness sent Crystal to me because some tabloid articles, including a photograph, surfaced claiming that she had tried to intimidate Bob into dropping out of the Alpha King race. She claimed this was not true, that she had merely gone there to ask him to drop out of the race and to stop spreading rumors about her and Andrew, which have been stirring up unnecessary controversy about them.”

Murmurs rose among the Council members and the advisors as Dennis shuffled through his papers. They dropped when he continued his speech.

“I coached her through the writing of multiple drafts of a social media post addressing this rumor. The draft we landed on, while not the best response to the situation, should have been sufficient. However, in the—” he checked his watch— “thirty-nine hours since the posting of that draft, the response has been overwhelmingly negative, with people mostly doubtful about her version of the events.”

He looked straight at Andrew as he said, “The prospects are not good.”

Andrew’s hand squeezed tighter under the table, he remained neutral for the Council and his advisors.

“All right,” he said, his response slow and measured. “What do you want me to do about this, then?”

“You know what needs to be done,” Louis spoke up.

Antoine glared at Louis before turning his attention back to Andrew.

“He’s right, Your Highness,” he said. “You know the appropriate reaction to a scandal like this.”

Andrew’s nostrils flared.

“No. Why don’t you enlighten me?”

“Your Highness, if I may,” Michael interjected. “It is the collective advice of your advisors and the Werewolf Council that if you want to keep your title, you should break up with Crystal immediately.”

Andrew’s jaw clenched, and his neck muscles tensed. He resisted the urge to leap at Michael and tear his throat out just for being the bearer of bad news. Instead, he stood up and started pacing.

After a few laps, he stopped behind his seat and put his hands on the back of the chair.

“So, is that everyone’s opinion?” he asked.

All heads nodded, and several people murmured their agreement.

Andrew’s hands gripped the back of the chair until his knuckles turned white. He cracked his neck and took a deep breath to calm himself.

“I am sorry to hear that,” he said. “I disagree, and I will not break up with her.”

“Think about what she has been doing for your image,” Dennis argued. “Your approval numbers have never been lower because of her.”

“My voters will ultimately do what is best for the werewolf community,” Andrew countered. “I believe in them and in myself.”

“They won’t believe that you’re the best candidate for the job if your image is being dragged down by her record,” Dennis asserted.

“Think about all the controversy surrounding her,” Head Wolf Antoine added. “She’s a criminal, Your Highness.”

“She has served her time,” Andrew said through gritted teeth. “I don’t know why none of you can get that through your thick skulls—”

“Woah, Your Highness, no offense was meant,” Louis said, holding his hands up as though to placate Andrew. On his face, though, a malicious grin was plastered. “However, wasn’t she recently arrested for murder as well?”

Andrew wagged his finger at Louis.

“You know that those charges were dropped due to the evidence being fabricated.”

“Your Highness,” said Steven Johnson, Andrew’s human relations advisor, “you must listen to reason. Don’t you see what it looks like to the humans when you date a human/werewolf hybrid with a manslaughter record? It makes all werewolves and hybrids seem like beasts.”

Andrew felt the urge to lunge across the table again, so he resumed his pacing. He couldn’t stand to even look at the men assembled in front of him.

“We held a press conference,” he said. “She told her side of the story.”

“Yes, but…” Steven began, but he couldn’t finish that sentence for fear of incurring Andrew’s wrath.

“But what, Steven?”

“But no one really believes her side of the story, Your Highness,” Dennis finished for Steven.

“It is rather absurd,” Antoine interjected. “Why would she have taken a manslaughter charge for someone else? And who is this mysterious ‘loved one’ that she had a falling out with, anyway?”

“Surely you don’t believe her story, Your Highness,” Louis sneered.

Andrew stopped pacing, glaring daggers at each of the advisors and Council members who had dared to speak up on the matter. His eyes lingered a moment longer on Louis, challenging him to say something more. The other man did not speak again, but he did not look away, either.

“I do, as a matter of fact,” Andrew said proudly, his back straight and his shoulders pulled back.

“How?” Louis slammed his hands on the table as he stood up. “How can you have so much faith in her that you’re willing to risk your entire political career on her?”

The room fell eerily silent as the men stared at each other, neither willing to lose this battle of wills. Andrew’s eyes narrowed. Louis finally surrendered, lowering himself back into his seat with the quiet reservation of a defeated Omega.

Andrew cast his gaze on each Council member and advisor in turn, not looking away until they dropped their heads in submission first. With all twelve men’s heads down, Andrew felt the power of his position and his anger at their attempt to control him and his love life course through his veins.

“I am not breaking up with Crystal,” he declared. “That is the end of this discussion.”

He pounded his palm down on the table, causing several of the men to flinch.

“Meeting dismissed!”

Andrew stormed out of the conference hall without a single glance back at his inferiors.