Chapter 157: Chapter 157: You Can't Keep This a Secret
Ravyn POV
"MOTHER, you can't keep this a secret from the council."
Lilia huffed, prim and proper.
Sensible Garnet added, "If the council finds out, and they realize you've been lying to them, it won't bode well for you staying in power. Or for you, period. After what happened with Cyran, packs are much more cautious about someone being secretly ... well ... influenced. And they weren't all that keen on possession, walk-ins, whatever you want to call it before."
Anneliese was grim. "And if the Silverpaw council found out that we all conspired to conceal this from them ... I can't even think about what the consequences would be. We just stopped a war between witches and shifters ..."
"Both caused by Hades," Lilia added dryly.
Talon glared at Hades. "As ungrateful as this may sound given that I'm your descendant, I wish I'd never heard of you."
Hades huffed, but real pain flickered across his glowing astral features. "I wish I'd never tangled with dark magic or encountered the Dark Goddess, but here we are. Can't close the trap after the prey has broken free."
Ravyn held Jude's arm. Looking out across the dream version of Murmuring Lake, she tried to calm her mind. It swirled with so many awkward questions.
Who was she mated to? Jude or Hades? Or both?
Could Jude stay in power with Hades in his mind, or would the pack force him to step aside in favor of Bram?
Who would rule the Silverpaws? Jude or Hades? Or both?
Who would make decisions for the pack? Jude or Hades? Or both?
Hades sighed. "This is why I hoped I wouldn't be found out. Eventually, these awkward questions will come up. But consider this: Bram is an excellent beta, but is he quite ready to become an Alpha if Jude is forced to step down?"
Cyran smirked. "Jiro wasn't quite ready and he managed just fine. If you think Bram's not ready after everything he's been through, then maybe the council can appoint Ravyn."
Lilia's eyes bulged. "I never even thought about what a mess this would create if we tell the council. Jude--what do you think they would do?"
Jude sighed. "Pressure me to step down in favor of Bram--or Ravyn. Either way, I'd be viewed with suspicion by my own pack, even my supporters. Just as Cyran was."
"Worse," Cyran said dryly. "I got rid of Hades' influence."
Hades snorted with laughter. "That's putting it mildly--you killed me." But he said this with no small amount of pride.
Ravyn's mind was elsewhere. "This is bigger than all of us. This is a family decision. Because it will embroil Evenhide and Crimsontail. I'm part of Evenhide. I'm also connected to the Crimsontails. The consequences of whatever we do will likely change the fate of all three packs. Jude ... I understand it was a fluid situation, a desperate one ... but we're all in a fix."
"She's right," Talon said grimly. "And Lugdunum may even be affected, because Kelara and I are still citizens, so is William. This is not something we can decide in an instant."
Lilia was empathetic. "Poor Bram ... he's been through so much already. I know he or Ravyn could take over as Alpha if they had to ..."
"He'd bear my disgrace," Jude growled. "As much as Garnet did with Cyran. Worse. This is the most notorious criminal in shifter history, and I can't just let him find another body ... and he can't die. We need him."
Silence met his words, because everyone knew he was right. And they would all need to do the unthinkable and conceal the truth from the pack.
Anneliese's eyes were wide. "But ... whenever Jude links with a member of the pack, won't they sense Hades, too?"
Hades spread his hands theatrically. "Witches can sense each other too, and no one suspected I was inside Melisande. Everyone linked with Cyran while he was under the influence. The mind-link is powerful, but it doesn't reveal everything. If it did, no one would ever be able to lie. With time and practice getting used to each other, you and I will balance each other out. It won't be at all like with Cyran. I won't control you. I won't overwhelm you."
The skeptical looks on everyone's faces more than mirrored Ravyn's own doubts.
Hades Ombra aka Absalom Sinsworth was one of the most domineering, powerful, autocratic, ambitious individuals she'd ever encountered. How could he ever coexist with Jude and not overwhelm him?
Kelara's voice held a note of admiration. "Hades, if you ever had turned your intellect and nerve and fire to something productive, you could have been one of the greatest shifters in history--instead of the greatest villain."
And that villain was now in possession of Jude. Ravyn trembled at the thought.
* * * * *
Hades POV
Their doubts and anxious looks would have fed his ego once upon a time.
Now, he just wanted to soothe everyone. He needed them to accept him as part of Jude.
Hades took a deep breath. "This is my chance to be what I could have been. You see, I've become intertwined with Jude now. I know him. Intimately."
Jude cast a skeptical glance at him. "Do you? You think I would have ordered those Hemmings locked up when they didn't do anything?"
"They were a threat," Hades argued. "You have the authority as Alpha to deal with threats--and maybe the duty to prevent them. They already tried to influence your--our--grieving and vulnerable son. Bram is a good man who was devastated by his mother's death."
He stared at Cyran. "And I know, given what I did to your parents--"
"Was it entirely your idea?" Cyran asked neutrally.
Hades flushed. "I thought so."
Kelara conjured an image in the dream of a brain, clogged by black slime. "This was probably your brain under the influence of the Dark Goddess. You did bad things, Hades ... but who knows how many of your decisions were her pulling your strings?"
Anneliese added to the slimy brain image. "You revere your family line, Hades ... that's one thing I've learned about you. Would you really have just killed off Landon and Flavia?"
It was on the tip of Hades' tongue to say that he'd put several Sinsworths to the screws, so to speak, as his apprentices.
But outright murder?
The idea was abhorrent to him. Even if he'd once thought that creating an unstable apprentice in Cyran would be his ticket to a merciful death, how could he trust those thoughts? How could he know for sure that he had that idea when the Dark Goddess completely controlled him?
The memory, long-buried and twisted and distorted, emerged. He recalled the exact moment he had the thought. Somehow, just being near Jude sharpened his focus and calmed him.
"No," he said, in a voice more suited to a meek pup than a centuries-old mature (ha!) shifter. "I ... I felt ... I felt it was wrong at the time. Some part of me said NO ... but then something inside me said, 'You'll be free. Create the perfect apprentice and you'll be free.' It doesn't make sense on the face of it."
Cyran and Garnet both took deep breaths, their worldview shaken. "Then ... then she manipulated you completely," Garnet said in a surprisingly steady voice.
"Unsurprising," Talon commented in a dry tone. "At least for those of us who have been to her Nightmare Realm. She can distort almost anything if your mind is receptive. If it isn't, she'll still try to conquer it any way she can."
Jude took a deep breath. "Are we sure Hades is free of her?"
Hades wondered that too.
"I can answer that."
The speaker, Tulaska to be exact, appeared in the dream, along with Roslynn and Eirika. "Did you really think we were going to let you go roaming in the wilderness of dreams and not watch over you?" Roslynn said in her direct way.
Hades beamed, and Garnet and Lilia cheered. "Tulaska, I never thought I'd be so happy to see you. Can you tell them whether--"
"You are free of her, technically." Tulaska folded her hands. "By sacrificing yourself out of pure selflessness and remorse--something she will never understand--you rid yourself of her, just like Cyran and Naomi did when they 'died' to shake off the dark forces."
"But she's marked you, permanently," Eirika declared. "Fortunately, she won't recognize you in Jude's body, as you correctly surmised. Smart on your part."
Roslynn agreed. "She's trained her senses on Sinsworths and their descendants--probably Crestas too. Because she couldn't possibly fathom that anyone else would agree to host you. I can't say I blame her."
"And you all understand what's what," Tulaska praised everyone. "You all know that the Silverpaw council couldn't just let a dangerous criminal rattle around in Jude's head--any more than the Evenhide or Crimsontail council would. So, even though the three of us are council members, we're wise women first--and this is one of the rare times that an Alpha and Luna need to bypass the council and NOT tell them everything."
Tulaska, Roslynn, and Eirika formed a powerful trio that made Hades bow his head in respect. He'd feared these formidable females, and thus tried to reduce their power--but he'd rather have them as allies.
"This is unprecedented," Jude muttered.
"Hardly. It's happened before when Alphas had their tails in a vise," Tulaska said with brutal honesty. "And this is the biggest, most wicked vise in history. Jude, if you don't remain in power and keep Hades as part of you and learn to work together ... we're all doomed. And the choice rests on Jude's and Ravyn's shoulders."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
AmandaMadden
AmandaMadden Originally when I wrote the revelation in LOVING THE ROGUE EX-ALPHA that Hades engineered Garnet's and Cyran's parents' deaths, it was somewhat vague as to how much the Dark Goddess influenced Hades' thinking. Now, there is no doubt that she pulled the strings.
Poor Jude and Ravyn...they just want their happily ever after; What would you do?
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
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