Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
“Humans. At the gate. I was doing a patrol and caught a bunch of them trying to get to the city. I led them through the tunnels into the initiates’ quarters, but I can’t hide them for long.”
“Hide them?” I frowned, not sure why she hadn’t killed them on sight.
“They’re all women and children.” Anetta frowned. “Weaklings. They said they’re from your village, Luna. Your mother is with them,” she revealed, and Lorelai tensed.
“Holy shit. Derik?” she asked, fear piercing her, and I couldn’t even reassure her because I was terrified too.
If the other wolves knew humans had just turned up on the doorstep, they’d slaughter every one of them before any of us could stop them.
I ran a hand over my head before swallowing hard. “Take us to them,” I demanded.
We followed Anetta through the city to the initiates’ quarters, my heart going crazy as Kai and Brax stayed silent in the link. Not even they had an answer for me.
We were fucked, and so were the humans who had just made the mistake of thinking they were safer with the wolves.
23. The Humans
LORELAI
I had never called a council meeting before. But I had no choice.
The humans that were hiding in the initiate wolves’ quarters were in danger if they were found before I could tell anyone.
They were not in good shape, bruised and beaten, used and abused thanks to my father and his men, who thought that it was the right way to treat the women and children of the village.
Vaughn excluded, of course. He had helped them make it to the gate, cradling a shivering Ryleigh protectively, calling in his favor that the wolves still owed him.
Luckily that fact had bought us some time, but we were out of it.
I stood at the head of the table, my alphas on either side of me, facing numerous faces of varying levels of annoyance. Derik said that was just their faces, but his parents were definitely not impressed.
Galen seemed flat-faced as usual, but there was a tiny hint of a smirk there that let me know he was happy to be there. I had a feeling his vote was going to sway my way.
Then I recognized Anetta’s husband. He looked intrigued, but I wasn’t sure what his stance on humans was just yet, so I had no idea how that was going to go.
I just had to hope that they understood where I was coming from, that not all humans were like Elias and my father.
“Another meeting? Surely there is nothing further to discuss? Or is the attack on the humans an issue now?” Derik’s father said bitterly, and I shook my head.
“The humans who hurt you, killed some of our own, are not my issue.”
“I understand the wolves have been watching them, making sure they are not planning on killing any more of us, and will attack as they see fit. I don’t think it’ll make much of a difference, but I do understand the need for revenge.
“This meeting is to discuss the ones who did not hurt our own, the ones who are innocent, the women and the children of my village, who did not and do not want the divide between our races.”
A table full of sneers and scoffs met me, something I had been expecting, but it still hurt all the same. I wanted them to be reasonable, but it was asking a lot when it came to age-old traditions.
Especially when I technically wasn’t one of them…yet.
“Those women and children could be spies, could infiltrate our walls and report back the second we are stupid enough to trust them,” one of the older men said.
He had graying sides to his dark brown hair, his face big and stoic, but I didn’t care who he was. He was one of the traditionalists, and he was in the way of making my mother safe.
I would do what it took to make sure that was a reality, no matter how far away it seemed.
“They are not. Our women are not like the ones I’ve seen here. We do not train, we do not get a voice, we are simply slaves. The ones I want to bring here are no threat,” I assured them, but with the slip of my tongue came another round of gasps.
“You mean to bring them here?” Derik’s mother gasped, and I nodded, standing firm.
“They are being punished, used and left out in the cold by cruel men who should not be in charge of their futures.
“I want them to be strong, I want them to train, I want them to be like the women here. I want them to be like you, Mrs. Achlis.
“I don’t want them to rely on men to protect them, or to always be the sacrificed. I want a future for them, and if they stay in the villages where my father has taught men the wrong values, then I know they will not survive.”
As I pleaded my case, I felt my alphas strong within me. They believed in what I was fighting for as much as I did, and their support was everything to me.
Without it, I probably wouldn’t have even got a meeting, but I needed to make them see that this could be a good thing.
“And you believe humans will be safer here? Are you mad, or simply delusional?
The wolves want the blood of humans, not to babysit them!” Derik’s father stormed.
I shook my head. “They can have their blood, from those who deserve it. Not the ones who have also suffered because of Fractum.
“These are women who no longer have crops to farm or food to feed their children, who have to earn it through disgusting means put there by disgusting men.
“Their livelihood is being destroyed the same as ours, and without the balance of the realm supporting them, it means the livestock are withering, the crops dying, the men growing angrier by the day at them for it.
“I can’t leave them to be punished for this. I won’t,” I said, huffing, crossing my arms.
I didn’t want to get angry, but I was. At the situation, at my father, at so many things, and the council had to agree or that anger was going to turn into something worse, like threats.
I didn’t want to go there, but for my mother’s safety, I would.
“You won’t?” Galen prompted, but not in an insulting way. It was more like a way to coach me, like he wanted me to follow through.
I appreciated it, I just had no idea what else to say to convince them.
“I won’t. My mother and the humans are the other half of my child’s lineage. I won’t let him miss out on that part of him.
“I’m bringing in some humans and I want an assurance from the council that this will be accepted and that the humans that are under my protection here will not be harmed,” I said forcefully, pulling the luna card, the baby card, every card I had and laying them out.
“They will be guests of the alphas, safe from the human hunt that has currently kept our wolves sane,” Derik said.
Brax leaned forward. “I will monitor any suspicious behavior or emotions, and they will be chaperoned at all times.”
“And they will be confined to the mansion grounds, out of the way of the wolves, so no one is tempted to get handsy or violent,” Kai said.
I smiled at the way they supported me. It felt good to have them there, squashing every doubt the council might have.
“The wolves will not be happy. They will riot, revolt, or even challenge you all as alphas,” Derik’s mother breathed, like this was the worst thing imaginable, the worst day of her life.
Maybe it was, but I would not let that stop me.
“The wolves will know that I need humans around me to safely birth their next alpha. They will know the humans are here for my support, and they have been carefully selected.
“The wolves will do as the alphas say because they have no hope at winning a challenge against them and would like to use their strength as a united pack against the humans they are currently hunting,” I said.
Galen grinned before sighing and standing up, buttoning his jacket and emptying his ale. “I support the movement. Let the girl have her humans. She is our luna after all, and that child is far more important than any of this drivel.
“I shall tell the wolves as her doctor that she needs the women and their children for human methods of birthing and child-rearing.
“It is a stretch, as I am sure we have much to teach her and the babe also, but I am sure I can convince the brutes of our pack that it is necessary and to quell their urges while near the selected few,” he said, then looked at the members of the council.
They all shared looks of unease between them, like they wanted to disagree but respected or feared Galen too much to do so. I didn’t care which one it was, I was just grateful for his help.
Anetta’s husband–who I couldn’t remember the name of, only remembered he was as handsome as she had said–stood up.
“We have coexisted with humans since the Great War, and one just saved our entire race by keeping the border magic inside her, so I do believe we owe her a little bit of compromise on our traditions.
“It is her father we are hunting, and she has not begged for his life once. She understands our ways, let us try to understand hers,” he said.
“Her father is the one who created all of these issues in the first place!” the big-faced one growled.
“And I have accepted that. I have also accepted everything else that has been shoved at me.
“I climbed your mountain, I faced your vamps, and I have taken on the magic of the wolves. I have done all you’ve asked of me–and more.
“Now you are going to let me have this. You are going to accept it, and so are the wolves,” I said matter-of-factly, my voice and will strong, before a wind blew through the room.
Yet there were no windows open, there were no connections to outside. We were in a sealed room, the council had made sure of that, and yet the breeze was definitely there.
Derik’s mom gasped, and his father froze. The rest of the council stood still and the tension heightened.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?