Few days passed by and it was time for the council meeting. It was the first time Alpha came out, as these days he just busied himself with paperwork. No, he wasn't scared to face his pack. He was just grieving for his dead wife and cursing himself for not being there for his son.

All this while when Alpha was cooped up in his office, Luna Mahira was the one who kept the pack in one piece, hiding her own pain.

Vivaan had shut himself down for the first two days but with the help of Yara, he started mingling with everybody again and backed up his mother as she worked for the pack.

The pack members did their best to make their Luna and future Alpha laugh. They could see their hidden pain but acted like everything was okay so their Luna wouldn't give up. Beta's mate, Juhi made sure that Luna and Vivaan were well fed even if they had lost their will to eat.

Now the day of judgment had come, making Luna more fidgety. Even after brainstorming so much, she wasn't able to come up with a solid plan that would allow Vivaan to keep his rightful place. Plus, the problem of Alpha Aarjav's punishment. Pack would become vulnerable to attack from enemies if the punishment was severe.

While she tried to calm herself down, Vivaan needed Yara's assistance for the same thing.

"Remember Vivaan, no matter what, don't lose your cool. It will only put you at a disadvantage. Listen and  observe keenly and then calmly state your point. It won't be easy. I am sure there would be many things spoken to provoke your anger. Don't let them win. Take deep breaths to calm down and inform Joy to never lose control. This is a do or die situation," Yara instructed.

Yara wanted to be there for Vivaan but all she could do was pray for him from afar.

Soon the time came. Though they were heading to the same destination, Luna and Vivaan started their journey separately before Alpha Aarjav.

Alpha too left after mind-linking the warriors who stayed back in the town, to escort Nihal and Hritika with no harm.

Council meetings were always held at the same place on the neutral ground that wasn't acquired by any of the packs. Alphas from all the packs gathered to make a collective decision with Alpha of the Peaceful pack as a representative. He wasn't the one who made the decision but to keep the meeting from turning into complete chaos, a representative was needed.

While some Alphas came with their Lunas, many didn't. Many packs were still traditional and considered Lunas inferior to them rather than equals.

One by one, everyone reached the destination. The huge cabin was settled in the middle of the forest.  Apart from the chairs assigned for everyone to sit, there was minimal furniture, knowing the tendencies of short tempered Alphas. Even those chairs weren't spared as in every meeting, one or other Alpha would lose their cool. It was only because of Peaceful Pack's Alpha, that these fights only ended with furniture and not their lives.

Soon every Alpha was seated and was chatting up with each other in hushed whispers.

Warriors that came with Hritika and Nihal, left after ushering them inside the cabin.

To say Nihal and Hritika were scared, was an understatement. All the people inside were capable of turning into wolves, not the regular wolves but the most powerful ones of their species. Taking a deep breath, they held each other's hands and entered inside.

A hush fell upon the room as soon as the humans entered. Hritika and Nihal stood awkwardly, not knowing what to do as multiple eyes stared at them.

Alpha Aarjav stood up and guided them towards the chairs that were meant for them. He wanted Nihal to sit close to him but they were assigned the seats at the end of the table, directly opposite to the head of the table where Alpha of Peaceful pack was seated.

Vivaan rolled his eyes as he saw Alpha Aarjav going out of the way for his human son.

Nihal didn't leave Hritika's hand at all. He barely managed to keep his legs from bouncing. His anxiety had reached a high level and it was only Hritika's presence that helped him to breathe properly while sitting with these creatures.