Lycan's unexpected mate

Making a statement

Atalanta

I'm glad that I have chosen to meet the Alphas and their Lunas together with my mother. My Mum has prepared many nice activities for them like visiting an exhibition of arts and trying to create their own masterpiece. One of the Lunas felt weak and fainted, but it was due to her not being used to the climate - today marked her first visit in our castle.

The lunch was uneventfully full of pleasantries and after it, my mother took the initiative to discuss what the Lunas need in their packs, how they are coping with their responsibilities and stuff like that. I listened partly, all those things going in one ear and exiting through the other. I couldn't wait for the pause at 3 o'clock.

I spent the afternoon break with my mother and siblings who wanted to join in the activities. I gladly left Oceanus and Helia in my mother's care and now I wander around the palace aimless to clear my mind. My steps lead me in the direction of our conference room where I can hear voices. Out of principle, I stay by the door and eavesdrop on the meeting. Thankfully, the room isn't sound-proof because my family believes in trust and walking inside the room instead of staying by the door, masking our scent. I am the only one who does this because I don't want to be kept in the dark. And moreover, I have nothing better to do. However, I wasn't prepared for what I've heard just now.

The conference room is filled with people, and they feel like Alphas. I concentrate some more and realise the Alpha meeting is happening right behind the door. I thought they would have finished by the afternoon break but it seems that they are still in the midst of a heated discussion. I strain my ears and listen in on them.

An Alpha says: "I am also worried due to the current rogue attacks. We haven't encountered a strong one this year but there were several times when small groups crossed our territory."

I don't recognise him, but he sounds reasonable.

Another man chimes in: "And let's not forget the last attack on Blue Moon pack, right, Alpha White?"

Alpha Richard White doesn't answer but someone bangs their fist on the table. "I say we get rid of them all!"

I can hear my father's sigh as he attempts to stop this particular Alpha. "Alpha Higgins, would you please calm down?"

"Calm down? I am completely calm," Alpha Higgins announces. I know this man and I hate him from the bottom of my heart. He's cruel, arrogant and patronising but there is no-one in his pack who would challenge him for his position. And his son isn't much better. Now that I think about it, his Beta is rather old but my mother told me that he has gained this position about two years ago when his previous Beta was killed in a rogue attack. Could it be that David. . .? I shake my head because it's just a speculation until I get a proof from one or another. The only truth is that Alpha Higgins can't be left out from these meetings. Unfortunately.

Alpha Higgins continues his speech: "The rogues are like plague. When there is one, it can be dealt with. When there are more, you need strong fighters to prevent casualties and yet there are still plenty of losses no matter what. These animals are too dangerous to be left alone and uncontrolled."

During that my Lycan Diana starts raging: 'What does he think he is? Calling lost people with their wolf animals?! Let me get at him, I'll show him animal.'

'Not now, we can't kill all the Alphas if you decided to appear. We have to listen some more and interject verbally. He needs to say more before we can interrupt. I wasn't invited, remember?' I remind her and turn my attention back to the meeting behind the closed door.

"Alpha. . ." my father starts but Higgins continues nonetheless: "Alpha King, it would be in our best interests to eliminate this threat to our population. The rogues are thieves and murderers and other criminals exiled from their packs. They were a threat to their former packs, so their Alphas expelled them for the greater good. I would vote for the execution of these treacherous beings before their threat gets over our heads."

"And that's enough," I whisper more to myself than to Diana. I open the door firmly, stepping in confidently with my head held high. I register the astonishment in the faces all around the room and I let my aura reach them full force. Higgins shuts up as he watches me close the door behind me, walk over to my father and hug him from behind. "Good afternoon, Father," I say loud enough for everyone to hear and not mistake me for someone I am not.

When I sweep my gaze around the room, everyone is deathly quiet. My father gives me a slightly disapproving look which I pretend not to see. I stand up behind him and tell the crowd: "You see, I was walking by this room on my way to the training area when I heard a rather surprising fact and I couldn't help but step in and, as your future Luna Queen, remind you all that this problem isn't just black and white as you have so kindly pointed out, Alpha Higgins."

I look at him sweetly, my knuckles turning white due to how hard I grip the back of my father's chair, and I notice how Higgins's Adam's apple bobs up and down. This is the only indication that he is nervous as his face is stoic and any poker player would be proud of him right now. I feel my father trying to mindlink me but Diana blocks him efficiently. I know I will be scolded but that will happen in private.

"Now, you are right that rogues are a threat but there is more to the story." I look at each Alpha pointedly and, at the fifth one, I continue my piece of mind: "We all know the rules when a severe crime is committed. Such a werewolf is to be kicked out of their pack. Nevertheless, there are situations when a werewolf loses their pack for other reasons. And this is the stumbling block of your whole reasoning. There are cases when the Alpha is unable to provide for their people, when the pack is unhappy or they feel oppressed under the rule, or better yet that they don't share the right opinion." I make air quotation marks when I say the word right.

My father is desperately trying to stop me but I know better. I'm not a small child who doesn't know what to say and what not to say without being told beforehand. I am glad that I have chosen this place to stand because I doubt I would manage to say everything that I have gathered throughout my research without cowering under his blazing eyes.

"These rogues aren't murderers; they aren't dangerous criminals or even animals." Saying this, I keep close eye contact with Alpha Higgins. Then my sight continues sweeping around the room. "They are people seeking better living conditions. Would you like to eliminate them as well when they have created new lives for them either in human towns, with the sorcerers or they live in no-man's-land? They technically are rogues, they even smell like them, however, would any one of you imagine them attacking your packs out of revenge?"

Some people can't meet my eyes while others look rather thoughtful. Alpha Higgins presses his lips into a thin line and that's when I pull the proverbial ace from my sleeve. "I suppose one example can tell you more than all my explanations," I inform them in a grave voice.

"It dates six years back but the motives are still applicable nowadays. It happened in a pack that I won't name, and whose current Alpha I can't see among us, but it was his predecessor and father, under whose ruling the example takes place."

I search the crowd again and I can't really see the young Alpha John Witek. His father passed away when John fought him for the Alpha position. But it isn't what I am talking about here. I've done some more research and made a few calls after my conversation with Beta Evans because John is one of my good friends among current Alphas.

"During the reign of the father, the Beta's son found his mate," I go on with the story. "However, she was wrongly accused of a crime she hadn't committed in her former pack. The details belong to those who have lived through it and shouldn't be discussed without them. Suffice to say, the Beta family welcomed the young woman into their house and told the news to their Alpha. And this is where it gets interesting." I make a dramatic pause so that they all can get my irony. "The Alpha got, to say it mildly, upset about the Moon Goddess's choice and he forbade the woman to ever come to their territory again. Moreover, he ordered the Beta's son to reject his mate right there and then. Of course, the young couple was heartbroken. The Beta's son knew his place and he also knew that the Alpha didn't use his voice command, so he could still salvage at least something. Therefore, he brokenly accepted the order but asked for it to be done in private where the woman won't be humiliated. Alpha accepted and let them go."

Everyone is glued to my lips and gulping my words like the life-giving water. Now I finally realise why my mother says that I am a charmer and everyone has always been enchanted by me. Furthermore, I don't feel my father in my mind anymore.

"What the Alpha didn't know was that the Beta's son would never trade his true mate for the Beta position. That night, he packed all his things, left his parents a letter and brought the woman to the borders. I don't know if he told her the truth by then or not, but once they reached the border and the patrol let them move slightly further, the man severed his connection with the pack and willingly became rogue for the love of his life. They left the area and moved to a human city where they created a career from nothing. They had never been a threat to anyone and the Beta's parents missed them dearly. The couple even had a child and were expecting another when they were allowed back."

I cough and it jerks some of the Alphas upright. Fighting back a chuckle, I firmly announce that I am digressing: "But that happened much later."

I shake my head and move on with the story: "Meanwhile in the pack, the Alpha's son challenged his father for the position and won. The Beta's son was his best friend so the first thing he did after being accepted as the new Alpha was to search for the couple. He indeed found them and pleaded with them to return. They were reluctant because they didn't wish to raise their children in such a, so to say, toxic pack. In the end, after a lot of persuading and begging, the couple accepted and returned to the pack where they learnt all the other details. Then, the Beta's son became the new Alpha's Beta and his mate was welcomed to the pack. All this happened last year and may I remind the rendezvous that many of you have welcomed the new Beta couple at their inauguration ceremony. Heartily."

I make another poignant pause. I can see that many of the men are shocked, to say the least. I am sure they do remember this incident and that they have second thoughts.

'Come now,' Diana suggests. 'Let's wrap this up.'

I shake my head slightly and come stand right next to my father, instead of being behind him as if I had been hiding. I force my face to stay calm and my voice not to quiver.

"Therefore, I would like you all to give this problem another thought. Imagine that you weren't born with your privileges, imagine that you aren't ranked werewolves. Would you like to live in fear that your imaginary Alpha may expel you from the pack due to a false accusation which would automatically give you a death sentence? If this makes chills run down your spine, imagine that you are still the Alphas, that you have this kind of power, and you make a wrong decision. There won't be any option of going back on your word. And that is the most painful outcome. Would you be able to face your own packs, knowing that you may have killed an innocent werewolf, someone's mother, someone's child or a sibling? Your packs could rebel against you after such a decision."

I notice unshed tears in the eyes of some younger Alphas. Wow, I didn't see that coming at all! And some Alphas seem astonished with this concept that could well become reality.

"I can't tell you what is right and what is wrong," I say, pressing my right index finger in the inner corner of both my eyes to show compassion. "I only would like every one of you to see all sides of the problem and not just your. . ." I stop and quickly correct myself with a rueful shake of my head, ". . . our imminent fear. Anxiety can force us to make rushed decisions. I plead with you on behalf of all lonely werewolves without a pack who are living fair and honest lifes, and that there are many werewolves all around the world who are hiding like this. I beg you all to reconsider murdering every single werewolf out there because they have changed and grown to be better people. I'm not saying that this applies to everyone without a pack, nonetheless, the records show that it's a vast majority."

I give them all a meaningful stare, then I allow my lips to form a tiny smile. "With this, I rest my case and I hope to see you around. I have my own duties to attend, so if you'll excuse me. . .?"

My father nods tightly and I gracefully and slowly reach the door, open it and slip outside, where I collapse on the wall and slide down. I'm trembling, sweating and my mouth is dry.

'You did great, darling,' Diana praises me.

I feel like vomiting, but I hold the feeling in. My heart pounds so loudly that I can barely register what is going around me. Maybe it's because of the sudden dizziness or because I can't draw in a decent breath. Diana notices my uneasiness because the next thing I know, she is biting hard in my mental hand. When she gets my attention, she immediately tells me: 'You need to calm down for me, dear. Do you understand?'

I nod but the strange feeling keeps assaulting my senses.

Diana urges me to stay alert. 'Dear Atalanta, listen to me. I will help you, alright? Try to breathe and look around. Tell me five things that you see.'

I gulp in short breaths as I blink at my surroundings. 'Wall . . . window . . . carpet . . . statue . . .' I can't see anything else around me and I begin to panic.

'Shh, shh, deep breath in, deep breath out,' Diana advises. 'Tell me, what do you see in the window?'

I look there and answer: 'Blue sky, clouds.'

'Very good,' she says calmly. 'Now, give me four things you can hear.'

I focus on my hearing and notice many details. 'Electricity is humming . . . and someone is tapping on a window.'

'Very good. Two more, dear.'

'A chair is scrapping,' I say. 'And my father is wrapping up the meeting!' I exclaim in horror. 'We need to get out of here. I can't let them see me here.'

'Give me control then, I will get us away. You are in no condition now,' Diana offers and I immediately let her guide my body.

Next thing I know, I am in my room, meditating. There isn't anyone here and all the unpleasant feelings and aches are gone.