The Supreme Alpha

Author's note: This is from Seraphina's point of view

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Once Hale finished with his explanation of how he and his two associates followed Treva through Italy, I turned my phone so that the camera points back at me before asking, "Do you see the problem, Bolek?"

He blinked. "Are you expecting us to leave harpy in your hands?"

"I want you to pay attention, Bolek." I rotated my phone slowly so that Bolek can get a good view of Treva. Clara and Ida were in the background.

"You see, Bolek, your operatives have no proof that my friend is anything other than human. Yes, she was spotted in Greece, and she came to visit me after sightseeing in Rome, as we previously agreed. Actually, I was expecting her in two days, but Treva came earlier which caused some misunderstanding and she ended up being delayed by my staff while they confirmed she is the person I was waiting for."

I paused for a second to let him soak in this information before continuing.

"Now, while your people followed Treva through Italy, they were asking questions and giving away her description to random people. Considering how they openly talked about harpies and different realms in front of my staff who are human, I can only imagine how much information they leaked on their way here."

Bolek's eyebrow twitched when he understood where I was going with this.

"What are you implying?", Madam D asked impatiently from the laptop, and the confused expressions of three men in my living room told me that they didn't get it either.

Treva was equally clueless, and she was sipping the ginger tea and observing the situation in silence.

I had no problems explaining.

I glanced at three confused hunters who were sitting in my living room and then I focused on the woman from the laptop who looked at me with a frown.

"Madam D, in terms of importance when we talk about humans and other creatures, what is the first priority? Why do we clean up whenever rogues attack humans? Why do we make it look like wild animals were behind it? Why do we control how many familiars vampires can have? Why are we not publicly disclosing the existence of other creatures?"

The woman looked at me like I asked something ridiculous. "The most important is to conceal the existence of creatures in order to avoid panic. Lesser species will fall into chaos if they find out about the ones who are superior compared to them. That's why we deal with the offenders harshly, to set an example. It's easier to shut up one mouth than to do damage control after the information is out."

I smiled at the sight of three men who visibly paled as Madam D spoke.

The woman from the laptop opened her mouth to say something else, and I raised my hand to silence her.

"Madam D, I would need you to clarify one more thing for me and everyone else present. If there is a werewolf covertly traveling through Europe and there is a human attracting attention of humans to that werewolf, will you imprison the werewolf or silence the man who was announcing the werewolf's presence? Which one of them is a bigger threat to the current balance that the Hunters Association is trying so hard to maintain?"

"You… you…", Hale spoke breathily, and he looked like he was about to pass out.

The punishment for spreading information about the creatures is death. Well, it's not really a punishment in a sense of judge, jury, and executioner, but hunters tend to cut their loose ends mercilessly, which leads to death.

"You can't compare werewolves with a harpy! One is seen everywhere while the other is a criminal!", Hale shouted.

"Now, now, Mr. Vonn. Don't exaggerate. If it's true that werewolves are everywhere, then they wouldn't hide their existence. As for my friend being a harpy, we already established that you have no proof. Did you see her grow talons? How about wings? Did she fly? Create winds? Seduce men in order to steal food? Do you have a recording of anything I just mentioned? Or do you have a credible witness? Are you going to risk dissecting a human in order to prove your theory?", I asked questions without giving him a chance to respond.

Hale was flustered, but I was not done.

"You came here and disrupted my peace with the nonsense of three men who followed a young woman through Italy while spreading information how there is a harpy in the area. Did you think about how your actions will impact my friend? How can she go into Genoa when half of the city thinks she is a runaway or a victim of kidnapping? What if I distribute your photos and say that you are a troll in disguise?"

"Yes, I was searching for her, but based on the description. I never said that she is a harpy to any human who is not associated with hunters.", Hale said with haste.

"Liar!", I shouted, and everyone jolted, Treva included. "You came here and claimed that she is a harpy in front of my staff. Luckily, they are loyal to the Mezzanotte family and won't spread that around, but if you can talk so freely here, what proof do you have that you didn't talk about harpies through Italy?"

I leaned closer to Hale and stared straight into his petrified eyes. "You want to take away my friend because you suspect she is a harpy. Well, Mr. Vonn, I am accusing you that you are deliberately and recklessly spreading information about the existence of creatures because I suspect you did that."

Bolek let out a loud sigh. He didn't want this to drag, which told me he didn't care about his three minions and that worked great for me.

"What do you suggest, Miss Mezzanotte?", Bolek asked.

"I want you to leave my friend alone. You can't detain her just because her skin is pale, and her hair is dyed white. No one saw her perform any magic or transform shape because she is unable to do so. Unless you have a device that can confirm her species painlessly, I won't allow your men to touch her and without proof that Treva is not human, I refuse to give her to you or to anyone else. If you disagree, I will be happy to bring this in front of the Council. I believe that you are a smart man, Bolek, and you don't want this to escalate because it will be a lot of paperwork and meetings, and you might get reprimanded for having overzealous members."

Bolek rubbed his forehead for a second before agreeing. "Fine. Is that all, Miss Mezzanotte?" His clipped tone told me that he was not happy, but I still had one more thing to settle.

"You look stressed. Is everything alright on your side?"

He looked at me suspiciously. "Just work."

"I understand. I hope that you will allow me to ease your load."

"How?"

"We all know what's the punishment for spreading information about the creatures. Your men upset my friend and disrupted my schedule. Since they are already here, allow me to get information related to the extent of their malignant actions, and I will deliver appropriate punishment after I discuss it with my father."

Hale and his two associates opened their mouths to protest, but I shut them up without sparing them a glance. Yup, I'm getting better at air manipulation to the point of preventing someone from speaking and moving by increasing or reducing the density of the air around them.

For everyone else in the room, those three men were dumbfounded due to fear.

At the mentioning of Aldus, Bolek gave in.

"We can do that if you give me a detailed report when you are done with them."

"Of course. When I am done."

I glanced at the laptop. "Any objections, Madam D?"

From the screen, I could see that the woman was drenched in sweat, and she shook her head fervently. "No. No. All is clear."

Poor woman, she probably feared that she will be clubbed with her three men who were unmoving on the sofa.

"Then, I bid you goodbye." I swatted the laptop to close.

"I apologize for disturbing you, Bolek. I will send you the report once I'm done with the interrogation. Unfortunately, my schedule is currently full so it might take a while. You are not in a rush, are you?"

Bolek shook his head and mumbled fake pleasantries before ending the call. He knew very well that those three men are goners, but he didn't care. For Bolek, those low-level operatives are disposable and not worthy of fighting it out with Aldus.

Actually, he probably thought that by sacrificing these three men, he earned some points with my father. Well, he can believe that.

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