Page 140 of Empowering the Wolf's Heart

“This is not their fight. We have done them wrong long enough. Now they need to go.”

“Matriarch.” Elder Pulma sat forward. “Would they not fight for you? Fight for their home? Is this not what we are doing?”His eyes were calm, his face a little red, but that was the most sincere and straightforward I had ever seen Elder Pulma.

“I know. But I cannot?—”

“Cannot or will not?” he asked.

I shook my head, unable to answer that simple question.

“The magical creatures will remain safer should we send them out of the city,” Elder Timone said, his eyes hard and flinty even as he sent a gentle smile my way.

“Elder Timone is correct,” I said. “We will not use the magical?—”

A door crashed open, the wood pounding against the wall with a sharp clap. I turned, blade drawn, to find Brandt there, his face washed pale and his eyes wide with fear. “They outnumber us ten to one.”

I sat back and stared, my mind not comprehending. Then I understood. This was truly going to be a losing battle, with or without the magical creatures. Even they couldn’t help us turn such a massive tide that was against us. But I could give my people a chance to escape.

The magical creatureswithin the tent stared at me. I had brought them all forward. I didn’t know if some would understand me or not, but they had to be safe. They’d come to me for help, and they would leave before my war ended them.

“All of you have given me great honor by coming to me when you were in desperate need. But now, it’s time you left to find homes of your own?—”

A few of them shuffled their feet, their eyes wide. “You’re kicking us out, ma’am?” the dryad asked, a tiny sapling growingfrom his green hair and leaves sprouting from his bark-like brown skin.

“Of course not. Were it up to me, you would never leave?—”

“This is our home now. Let us stay, please.”

Theirneedsbeat against me. Many of themneededsafety. They could no longer get that here.

“It is no longer safe for you here. First Brandt is a human you have seen many times; I trust him fully. He will take you away from the fighting so you can find your own homes and families.”

Many of the creatures whined or shuffled their feet. The sphinx released a tiny cry that made the ground tremble.

“Then let us fight.” This came from the elf who held tight to her mate.

I shook my head. “I cannot let you?—”

“It’s not a matter of letting us,” said the dryad.

My lip trembled at what I was taking from them. But I had to. And I had to be honest with them. “My tribe would not fight beside you.”

Is that your opinion or the truth?Ran asked, shouldering open the flap and stalking inside to stare down at me with her amber eyes narrowed into slits.

I ignored her question. I couldn’t have more deaths on my conscience. Especially if my Reds decided to fight these magical creatures in the middle of battle—it would be disastrous. They had proven time and again that they would harm magical creatures even when I had shown them a different way. My tribe would fight and either win or die as we always had—as a tribe.

The magical creatures barely looked at me as they followed Brandt from the tent and into the city. My people were in the safe houses beneath the palace. I had sent a third of my Reds to them to ensure their safety as they evacuated. I was buying them time. That was all we could do.

My people—magical and otherwise—would be safe.

CHAPTER 50

A Soul That Bleeds

ALIA & SHEN

Alia

Shen came up beside me as he watched the magical creatures trudge through the city.

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