Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
If I had to be on bedrest, sure it was going to suck, but I wasn’t going to complain about it and make it harder on them.
Kai ripped the sheet off me and lowered me into the bath as Brax tugged on his shorts.
“I’m going to go for a run to check in on the city and see if the wolves need anything while we’re all hiding in our homes like lambs to the slaughter,” he bit before leaving.
I understood what he meant. It really did feel like we were all just waiting for our deaths, waiting for the humans to make their next move.
It wasn’t fair, but they weren’t playing fair, and since the wolves were still abiding by the rules of the realm, there was nothing to be done but wait for Tabitha to give information or even for the war to start.
Because there was no doubt about it: the war was definitely on our doorstep.
Maybe before we had stood a chance, but the humans had well and truly evened the playing field–or possibly taken it over completely.
“I have called a council meeting. With the magic stuck in the city, the border weakening, and all the other things happening, we need to start working on a plan of attack.
“We are not lambs. We are the fucking wolves, and it’s about time we reminded the humans of that,” Derik said through a clenched jaw before leaving too.
I looked toward Kai, my heart tight as he sank into the water with me.
“Come here, Little Human.”
I moved over to him, leaning against his chest as he rubbed me down with a cloth.
“I’m nervous,” I whispered.
“I know.” He kissed the side of my head. “But don’t let it scare you. We’re going to get out of this.
“We’re wolves, and we were made to be above humans. The realm balanced it that way, and the realm always gets what it wants,” he said, and it made me feel a tiny bit better.
I rubbed my stomach that popped out of the water, the ache still there, the sharp pains still stabbing a little.
“He’s going to be here soon. I can feel that much, I just don’t understand what he waits for. The humans to attack? For me to be alone?
“I don’t want to be alone, Kai. I’m terrified I’ll have no one when he finally decides to come.”
“We would never let that happen, Little Human. The humans could be slaughtering their way through the city and we would still find a way to be at your side.
“It is our heir, our blood, and you are our mate. We will not let you go through it alone,” he vowed, then slid the cloth over my chest. “Plus, I think your mother might kill us all if we were to even think of getting out of it.”
He chuckled, and that had my smile widening. Yeah, she probably would.
“I just want this all to be over,” I breathed out finally, breaking the silence after a few minutes before letting my eyes close and falling asleep against his chest.
32. The Council
DERIK
Another night, another council meeting where I had to pretend that I had all the answers.
I didn’t. I didn’t have a fucking clue, but I couldn’t let that show.
So, I suffocated the fear that tried to leak out of my eyes, straightened my spine, and gave everyone the only attitude I ever wore around them. Confidence.
Because they were wolves, old and wise, and they could smell fear a mile away, I couldn’t let it touch me.
Especially since it wasn’t fear for the pack that made my stomach turn and my heart race, it was fear for my mate and the child she carried.
The birth was imminent, and every day that passed was becoming even more terrifying.
Lorelai was strong, but she had limitations with her human body, and not even she could will that to change.
Once she was one of us, it would be easier, but she had to survive first. That was getting harder to be sure of.
Which is exactly why I was bothering with the council again. We couldn’t keep waiting for our wolves to get madder and the humans to attack.
We had to have a plan in place, take control of the situation. It was the only way I was going to keep my shit together.
I was not immune to the madness that plagued our kind in winter, and it was gnawing at my skin to shift despite not having the ability.
The lack of a full moon made us all on edge. I was used to having that burden, but with the humans somehow knowing it too and Lorelai on the edge of birth, I was finding it more difficult.
But it was my burden to bear.
So, I shoved all my anxieties and fears out of my head and faced the council, sitting in the chair at the head of the table.
The council members were buzzing with rumors and gossip from the city, all of which consisted of rampages, anger, fights, and utter chaos. That made my skin itch as much as not being able to shift.
“Council,” I called, wanting their attention.
They all respected the authority in my voice, even my parents, which was rare.
They turned to me, waiting for me to talk.
“The humans have magic and knowledge they shouldn’t have,” I started, and that opened the table up to a whole bunch of growls, some fist clenching, which I had expected.
“Braxton said one of the humans he broke said a prophecy, rehearsed lines of one that has brainwashed them,” I said, then repeated the words for them: “‘Wolves will die at human hands before the moon is full. Humans will be victors, riches and spoils for all.'”
The council fell silent.
“Seers have been extinct in our world for millennia,” Galen murmured, and I nodded.
“Indeed, and yet a prophecy has been given, one with careful words and many interpretations. One that the humans have trusted and believed in, leading them to our doorstep,” I said.
One of the more aggressive council members, a bigger wolf, Tatum, laughed.
He was all about ripping things to shreds and always voted for a more violent outcome. I had no hope for more when he opened his mouth.
I was not disappointed.
“Ha!” he barked. “Let the fuckers come. We all know a seer is not to be trusted.
They serve themselves. Their prophecies will lead to their deaths. We all know it.”
Tatum cackled more, like the very fact a seer’s prediction was leading the humans was enough of a guarantee that the wolves would win.
He wasn’t far from the truth, but it was not a guarantee, and a seer being alive was much more concerning. If that’s what we were really dealing with.
“Seers do not have magic. They are gifted prophecies from the witches as warnings,” Galen said in his quiet, controlled voice.
He never broke his control; every winter he was the same aloof wolf, every heat.
Even Fractum had not cracked it.
His will was strong and it showed, but the fact that he was entertaining the seer idea was a telltale sign of how much shit we were in.
“No. Which means either this prophecy has been hidden from the witches for years or we have something else working with the humans who knows exactly how a seer works.
“If it’s the first option, we have a chance because a prophecy from a seer is to pick out the greedy, punish those who kill for wealth and power.
“Following out the prophecy is obviously doing that, and we can rest assured we will enjoy victory. If it is the latter…”
“We’re fucked,” Tatum finished, and I found myself nodding.
“The second option is that there is a rogue working for the humans. A rogue witch or hybrid helping the humans with information and magic that will inevitably lead to the death of everything in its way.”
The silence to my words was deafening.
Rogues were few and far between. A rogue wolf? Not really an issue. They just choose to be a wolf, live only as their animal, and eventually lose themselves to their wolf, no longer able to shift back.
That had only happened a few times, usually when an unwanted mating happened or a mate died and the pain was too much as a human.
But a rogue witch? That was almost unheard of.
Only a few had ever broken the witch’s oath for balance, and if it was one of the ones I could think of, then we were going to have to get stronger–and quickly.
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?