Asking help from a friend enemy

Victoria’s POV

Jane teleported us to the sitting room and handed Aiden to his nanny. I waited for him to leave before angrily kicking the stool away with my legs.

“Calm down,” Jane said. I groaned and paced around the sitting room, with thoughts buzzing in my head.

I can't let Tony ascend that throne. Once he sits on it, it's over for Aidan and me.

“Why don't you kill him?” Beatrice, my wolf, spoke for the first time since two weeks ago, after Derick’s death.

“Beatrice, you're back,” I exclaimed in relief.

“I saw that you needed me,” she responded, and a relieved smile appeared on my face. I thought she was going to mourn longer.

“Maybe you should just burn that bastard to ashes,” Jane suggested, echoing my wolf's idea. But I shook my head. “They will know it's definitely me, and it would seem like treason,” I responded, running my fingers through my hair as I struggled to come up with a meaningful idea.

“Who knows, maybe the Council of Alphas could vote in your favor,” Jane spoke, but I scoffed before responding. “You've forgotten so soon that the majority of those bastards hate me because of the incident three years ago when I threatened to burn them up,” I said.

“Shit! I totally forgot. This is bad,” Jane murmured, while I remained silent, contemplating a solution.

“Maybe you can seek the aid of someone, someone they are all scared of,” Jane said, and I turned to face her. “And who might that be?” I asked.

“Bernard,” she responded.

“Bernard?” I asked, and Jane nodded, but I shook my head. “You of all people should know that Bernard and I aren't friends. We became enemies after the fight, and we haven't talked in three years now,” I said, frantically shaking my head.

Asking Lord Bernard for his help was pointless because I knew he hadn't forgiven me for not accepting his advances.

“I know what you're worried about, but Bernard has a mate. He met her a few months after the fight,” Jane announced, surprising me. I didn't even know about this.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yes, my mate told me so,” she confirmed, and I took a deep breath, continuing to pace around while I pondered in thought.

If what Jane said is true, that means Bernard has moved on and might no longer be angry at me.

“There is only one way to know,” my wolf spoke, and I understood what she meant.

Taking a deep breath, I gathered my emotions before closing my eyes to establish a mind link with him, something I hadn't done in the past three years.

“Bernard?” I called, waiting for his signal or response. Surprisingly, I received a signal from him, which meant he didn't block me from accessing him. That was a good sign.

“Victoria,” he responded in a firm voice, sounding certain it was me.

“Bernard, is that you?” I asked to confirm.

“Bernardo Silva,” he called out his full name in a rather rough tone, causing me to have cold feet about what I was about to say. But I mustered up courage and spoke up.

“Bernard, it's me, Victoria.”

“I know that already,” he responded, and I gulped shamefully. Never did I think that a day would come when I would actually need the help of a man I tagged as an enemy.

“I need your help, Bernard,” I said, and noticed he remained silent, urging me to go on.

“Alpha Derick is dead,” I announced and felt my wolf whimper in pain.

“Everyone knows that,” he responded coldly, causing me to regret why I had actually reached out to him. From the tone of his voice, it was obvious he wouldn't help, but I still went out to speak.

“I think his Beta had a hand in it,” I announced.

“How are you so sure about it? From what I heard, he was attacked by some rogue and was burnt to ashes,” he said, causing a familiar pain to strike my heart.

Lord Bernard wasn't kind with his words, and I knew I wouldn't receive any help from him.

“Apologies, I'll end it here,” I spoke and wanted to end the mind link, but his next words stopped me.

“I know why you reached out to me. You want me to turn the Alphas to your side,” he said, and I remained silent.

“I'm also attending the meeting which is happening tomorrow night, but I will see you before the meeting starts,” he said while I furrowed my eyebrows, confused.

“Tomorrow? Is the meeting being held tomorrow?” I asked, and Lord Bernard scoffed.

“You don't even know that?” he asked, and I frowned.

“Those bastards!” I cursed under my breath.

“It's obvious the ruling won't be in your favor, but…” he paused and hesitated for a moment before he continued. “I'll see you tomorrow, shalom.” With that, he ended the mind link before I could even respond.

With a heavy sigh, I opened my eyes and saw the curious gaze of Jane on me.

“What did he say?” she asked.

“The meeting is being held tomorrow, and I didn't know about it,” I grunted and left the sitting room in search of Beta Tony.

I found Tony in his office, going through some paperwork. Without hesitation, I barged in, causing him to look up in surprise. His eyes widened when he saw the fury in my gaze, and he quickly stood up from his desk.

“Victoria, what's the meaning of this?” he asked, clearly taken aback by my sudden intrusion.

“Cut the act, Tony,” I hissed, my voice dripping with venom. “I know you had a hand in Derick’s death, and not only that, but the meeting is being held tomorrow, and you didn't tell me about it.” I said, and heard him chuckle softly as he moved away from his desk and walked over to me.

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” he replied, his voice firm.

“Don't lie to me,” I spat, taking a step closer to him. “I can see through your facade. You wanted Derick dead so that you could take his place as Alpha.”

Tony smirked, his intense gaze holding mine. “You have no proof,” he muttered, his voice barely a whisper.

“I don't need proof," I retorted, my voice cold and unyielding. “I know the truth, and I won't let you ascend to the throne. Aidan and I will never be safe under your rule.”

A flicker of anger crossed Tony's face, but he quickly regained his composure. “You're delusional, Victoria. You're unfit to lead this pack, and the council will see that tomorrow.”

I clenched my fists, my anger boiling over.

“We'll see about that," I seethed. “Don't underestimate me, Tony. I'm still the Victoria of three years ago, and I haven't changed a bit.” With those words, I walked out on him and made my way back to the sitting room, where I met Clinton seated with Jane.