The Beast's Possession

**Thane

pov**

The small room was dimly lit, felt too crampy and the few men before me made me feel like this place was suffocating me. The only light came from a small lantern on the top of the table.

The walls seemed to close in on me, as if in this odd silence between us, the stupid barn room was holding its own breath, waiting for us to finally break the silence.

I sat at the head of the table, one place in this world I never thought I would occupy. I never thought I stood high enough to sit in such an honorable spot, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"This is fucking madness," Torin grumbled, his massive arms crossed in front of his chest, as if he was trying to protect himself from something. The light caught on the scar that cut across his tight jaw, reminding us all that the man had been through more than plenty of battles and came out alive. "We can't hide away in the barn like a bunch of bitches and talk big talk about overthrowing our Alpha. Do any of you realize the consequences we might have to face if anyone finds out about this little meeting, hmm?"

"What else do you suggest we do, then?" I asked, arching an eyebrow at him. "We sit here and watch how he tears the pack apart bit by bit? We can watch how he throws innocent people into the cells and does worse? First it was Zion, his damn best friend, and now, that maid, Claudia, she's lucky to still be alive, man. Do you think this is what Bane would want for his pack?"

The room fell silent, all the men around me shifted uneasily in their seats, their gazes darting everywhere but at me. These were the men I had fought beside, laughed with, shared meals with. But now, their faces were frozen with doubt and fear, showing me just how much they didn't trust my judgment.

All of them were terrified, but it wasn't an enemy outside the pack, crowding the borders and waiting for the perfect moment to strike they feared. It was the man who was supposed to lead us that they were scared of.

"Bane's not himself anymore," Kieran suddenly spoke up, his usually steady and gruff voice sounded weak, even pained. "We all know that, Thane. Whatever that thing inside him is, it's not our Alpha. Bot how the fuck do we fix this? How do we help and most importantly, how do we get him back?"

"The entity," I started and leaned forward, hoping all of them were listening intently so I wouldn't have to repeat myself and risk being overheard. "I believe it thrives on his anger and pain. We need to think about how we can weaken it before we strike. But first, we need to figure out what the fuck it is and how we can separate that thing from Bane. That has to be the priority."

"Easier said than done," Torin mumbled under his breath. "What do we even know about that thing inside Alpha? It's not like the slimy bastard has offered us a guidebook to follow. Step one, kick in the balls. Step two, fuck off." "Maybe not," I admitted and pinned Torin with my glare. As much as I understood that he was trying his best to deal with the situation using humor, this wasn't the time for that. "However, we've seen that things patterns, haven't we? It takes over when Bane is at his weakest and won't fight back. Or can't fight against it. Those are mostly the moments when Alpha's emotions get the better of him."

"And how do we stop that? Keep him calm or sedated, maybe? You think it's that simple?" Kieran snapped.

"No, I don't, damn it! But what other choice do we have here? We can try to intervene when he's still himself, if the thing lets go of control soon. We can try to convince Alpha to let us help him. I don't know, check the libraries for information, find someone who knows stuff about this shit. Anything. But there has to be a way to-"

Before I could finish the thought, Torin cut me off, his voice raising with anger. "To, what, Thane? What exactly? To banish a demon? To save a man who's barely holding onto his own mind? Do you even hear yourself now, Thane? You're talking about wishing for Christmas miracles!"

I leaned back in my chair and ran a hand through my hair. Torin's frustration mimicked my own, but we couldn't afford to let out emotions get the better of us. Look what that did to our Alpha.

"First, we need to gather more information," I decided out loud, nodding in agreement with my idea. "We need to talk to the elders of the pack, dig into the history maybe. There has to be some information about this. I refuse to believe that this thing came out of nowhere and randomly targeted our Alpha out of all people. We all know how strong and capable Bane is, he is no weak target."

The room fell silent again. Kieran just stared at the table, his hands clenched into tight fists at his sides. Torin looked away, his jaw tight, face locked in an emotion I couldn't describe. And even as I sat here, waiting for the verdict, I could feel their doubts and fears pushing down on me. And honestly, as much as I hated to admit it, I shared the same feelings.

"What if we can't save him?" I asked in a whisper, breaking the silence. The words felt like poison in my mouth, bitter and disgusting, but I had to ask the question even though I refused to believe that could be a possibility. There were always risks involved and this scenario was one of them. "What if there is no way to get Alpha Bane back to the man and leader he used to be?"

Kieran's head snapped up from the table, his eyes wide with pure horror. "Thane, you're not saying that-"

"I'm saying that we need to be prepared for the worst, even if we desperately hope for the best outcome for this nightmare." I explained before he could finish his thought. "If we can't get rid of the thing inside him and Bane can't fight it off on his own, we have to think about what will be best for the pack. What will be best for everyone."

Torin stood so abruptly that his chair fell backwards and landed on the old floor with a loud thud. His finger pointed at me accusingly as he hissed, "you're not talking about killing him!"

"I'm talking about saving the pack!" I shot back, jumping to my feet just as quickly as he did. "If it comes to that, we can't let that thing keep using Bane! You've seen what that thing is capable of! Do you want more people to end up like Claudia? Like Beta Zion? Even the higher ranks aren't safe from him, let alone the rest of us!"

Torin's fists clenched, his face turned bright red, and for a moment, I thought he might take a swing at me. But then, he let out a sharp breath and turned away from me to pace the small room.

"It won't come to that," Kieran finally spoke up. "It can't. We'll find a way to save him, we have to."

I nodded in agreement, ignoring the doubt that had planted itself in my mind already. I wanted to believe him, I really did. I fucking hoped we could save Bane. But, as I looked around the room at the faces of my friends, I couldn't deny that with all their effort to believe our Alpha wasn't gone for good, they, too, struggled to believe we could save him without a lethal outcome for him, or us.