THE MEETING

　　Ethan seats at the center chair in the conference room he is directed to and waits for the other members of the meeting to flood in. The table is arranged with sixteen chairs around it to be able to house the seven elders and seven stakeholders. The remaining two seats are reserved for the Alpha and Gamma. One thing is certain, today he will get answers to the questions Mike could not give a suitable answer to them.

　　The door to the conference room opens and Mike steps in. He is sweating profusely and his eyes look like beads that may disappear at any moment. "Alpha please, we can resolve this without calling for this meeting," he says joining his hands together like he is saying a prayer. "I- I requested for you because I thought you were only going to send us money to get it sorted out and not give yourself the trouble to come out here."

　　"You can't call me in the middle of the night and tell me my people are dying and you expect me to remain in the city with arms crossed, what sort of a leader will that make me?" Ethan looks at him like he has grown an additional head.

　　Did he think Ethan was not going to come down to the town, after calling incessantly crying out for help? If he was smart, he would have thought of his moves properly. Aside from being an Alpha, Ethan is also one of the biggest mafia lords in the entire city of Bessaadi, he wasn't afraid of leaving his house to come down to the trenches to solve a situation. That is the part Mike missed out on.

　　"No, Alpha you are a great leader but this meeting will only be waste of time. Let me call it off, there is nothing those old people want to tell you that I won't be able to answer myself," He says with a shaky smile on his face. He was shocked to wake up and hear the news from every corner of town that the Alpha was going to hold a meeting with the elders.

　　"Please, think about it!" Mike cries out. He will be ruined if this goes on as Ethan planned it. There will be no escaping from it, Mike will be disgraced.

　　Ethan's hands itch to throw a punch at the fool. But he maintains his cool. There are better ways to deal with a man than to beat him up like a child.

　　"Mike, you are the gamma. These elders we are talking about, are closer to the people than you are. I need solutions and for that, I need to talk to them," Ethan says in a calm tone. Getting pissed off at Mike right now may lead him to run away or do something stupid. Ethan will need to keep his calm, to make him think, he didn't know anything that is happening.

　　"Alpha, please reconsider," Mike repeats. His sweats are now dripping down his forehead and he starts looking like a melted snowman.

　　"It's too late to do that anyway. They are here..." Ethan says and as the words leave his mouth the door to the conference opens again and the elders start troping in. They each bow slightly as a sign of respect when they get to Ethan and in return, Ethan nods his head acknowledging each of them.

　　"I'll suggest you go get your seat," Ethan tells Mike who seems to be frozen in a spot.

　　From the moment he stepped into the town, Ethan knew Mike had been cheating the people under him. The state of the houses and roads is terrible, despite the millions of dollars Ethan signs off to Mike every quarter for their maintenance and upkeep. He had a feeling Mike was cheating, that was why he requested a meeting with the elders and stakeholders of the town. This way he will be able to get exactly what is wrong with the town. Knowing how cunning Mike can be and the way he was shaking last night when he asked him to arrange for a meeting, Ethan had sent Max after Mike to be sure, a went to tell the elders about it.

　　Surprisingly, Mike didn't tell the elders anything about the meeting. He did this so that by morning when Ethan must have waited for a long time without seeing the elders, he would leave and his reputation will be saved. Fortunately, Max saved the meeting by going to each of the elders, telling them about the meeting and why it was important they showed up.

　　Soon the room is filled to the brim with the different faces of the elders and stakeholders. Sandra "Peter's girlfriend” is also present representing her father as a stakeholder.

　　"I, welcome you all to this gathering," Ethan begins staring each of them in the eye. "This is the first time, I am having the opportunity of sitting with every one of you at the same time and it has been even longer since we had a conversation. I must admit, I have forgotten most of your names, so to make it quick, when you want to say something, you can give a quick intro of who you are before speaking." Ethan says and they all nod their heads in agreement.

　　"I am sure you all know what has brought me here and I want it to get solved before I leave. First off, what do you think is the cause of this disease spreading amongst our people?"

　　The only lady amongst the elders raised her hand and Ethan motioned for her to speak. "I am lady Zara, it is from the water we drink..." Lady Zara says.

　　She turns to glare at Mike and the latter is almost melting away in a pool of his sweat.

　　"What do you mean it is from the water?" Ethan asks. Polluted water is never an option when it came to werewolves. They had a very strong immune system that could fight any germ, so, Ethan can't understand how polluted water can be the course of disease killing people.

　　"Besides polluted water shouldn't be a problem here," Ethan continues. He had given money to Mike to fix that up a long time ago.

　　"Alpha we are happy you came here because we thought you had forgotten about us but thank the goddess you did come. I am lord Alfred, we do not have a clean water supply system from the adjacent river. The water we drink is horrible, it has silver in it! That's why everyone falls sick and dies because even during the sickness they keep having to drink the same contaminated water!" Alfred says.

　　Ethan feels his blood grow cold and his wolf threatens to take control of his body. Mike has been creating not just his people but his Alpha too!

　　An old man raises his hand to contribute and Ethan lets him speak. "Please go on, I want to hear all your complains," Ethan encourages him.

　　"I am lord Dimitri, like Alfred said, I am happy you came here to talk to us because we are starting to see who our true enemy is. When we requested medical care for the people, he told us you and he were working on it. We were surprised to see only a small clinic set up with some lady that isn't even qualified to be a doctor! They are both thieves!" Lord Dimitri growls.

　　At this point, Ethan is boiling with a wave of ravaging anger but he suppresses it, once again. He doesn't want to do something that will affect even the innocent in that room. So, he takes a deep breath and motions to the next person to speak. This time it is a stakeholder.

　　"If I am not wrong, I remember signing a check of about a hundred dollars in cash for water to be provided to this town. But Alpha, nothing was done!" The man, Ethan recognizes as Stephen says.

　　"Mike, why wasn't it done?" There were murmurs in the room as people sent death glares to Mike who had taken the money for himself and did nothing for the town.

　　"Sir- from-" Mike could no longer speak. He closes his eyes searching for tears but none come out. "I am still working on it " he mutters in a low voice.

　　"For how long will you work on it!" Stephen cries out in frustration.

　　"This is the same thing he has been saying for months now. Yet nothing is being done!" Lady Zara cries. "We are tired of burying our children!" She says and the whole room falls into shouts of anger directed at Mike, who looks like he wants to disappear into his chair.

　　Mike regrets inviting Ethan over to the town in the first place. He had thought Ethan's arrival in his town was going to bring him more money and nothing else. He didn't think he would be exposed like this.

　　"This is our only problem Alpha, Mike doesn't do anything for the people. He is the problem! Every money he collects goes to himself. That's why the town is in such disarray!" Dimitri yells at the top of his lungs.

　　"Mike!" Ethan growls, using his Alpha voice and the whole room goes silent again. "Are you going to respond to the allegations in front of you or not!"

　　Mike goes on his knees and starts begging Ethan. "Alpha, I beg you, I never meant to hurt anybody. I was just thinking I could do one or two things with the money before the town needed it..." He wails, covering his face in shame. There is nothing else I can do now than plead for mercy.

　　"When you saw that the town was starting to die due to your wicked acts why didn't you stop?" Ethan asks him. "I don't understand you, Mike, I have asked you time without number what the town needed and you send lists of demands. Are those demands not met from my end?"

　　"They are met Alpha, they are!" He mumbles.

　　"Good. Now if I meet your demands, why do you not meet those of your town? Why do you keep all the money to yourself? And let the people that are supposed to get it suffer!"

　　Mike is unable to say a word. He opens his mouth but nothing comes out of it.

　　"The Alpha asked you a question, Mike!" Sandra, -Peter's girlfriend- snarls at him. She had been quiet for most of the meeting.

　　A murmur rises again and Ethan waves them down. "It's okay. I'll handle Mike later. For now, we need to solve a different problem. Are you sure this sickness is due to water?" Ethan directs his question to the elders, turning away from Mike.

　　"Yes alpha, the water we use isn't treated. We consume dirty water and he takes treated water! How can the town not die, look at the state of it! If this disease doesn't kill us then surely we will go mad from the silver intake and lose ourselves completely like the people at the beginning of town!" Lord Alfred snaps with his hands flying over his head.

　　Ethan's interest piques at the mention of the first part of town. "What happened to that part of town?" He had been wanting to know why no one lived there and thankfully, Alfred raised it.

　　"The people there went nuts and just disappeared. We don't know what exactly happened but they just left!" A dark gruff man from the stakeholders' side responds.

　　"Why wasn't this brought to me?" Ethan asks, squeezing his brows together in a tight line.

　　Everyone turns to Mike, waiting for him to respond but he drops his face to the ground unable to say a word.

　　"Selfish prick thought it wasn't necessary since he couldn't get money from you for the issue!" Sandra hissed.

　　"Mike, is that true?" Ethan asks him and once again he only folds himself in shame unable to look anyone in the eyes.