Page 70 of Moon Cursed

“Good evening, alphas,” I said, bright and cheery. “And good evening to everyone tuned in for the live chat. We’re doing things a little differently this week—smoothing out the process. We have four students eager to share with you, so they’ll each have ten minutes to do so—uninterrupted.

“When they’re finished, that will leave twenty minutes for questions from you, and”—I pointed at the camera—“the public. Sound good?”

Melisent, Corinne, Davis, and Tracy all nodded. The clan alphas looked at me like I grew another head.

“This is a surprise,” Magnus said, leaning back in a desk chair that looked more like a throne. See? I wasn’t the only one who liked them. “Seems you’ve finally gotten your act together,Headmistress.”

I just smiled at him. “Melisent, introduce yourself, and then take it away.”

Clearing her throat, Melisent stood. “Hello, I’m Melisent. I’m an epsilon that is studying, applying, and placing into the alpha track because I hope to one day become a clan leader.”

Open, and rude, scoffs followed that confession.

“Which brings me to my proposal. Not only does theapproved jobsystem need to be removed, but there also needs to be an active effort to get epsilons into law enforcement, judgeships, and other leadership positions.”

“Nonsense.”

“Ridiculous.”

Half the clan leaders sounded off, even though it was her time to speak.

Melisent didn’t let it ruffle her. “But the focus of that effort should be on getting more epsilons into the police force. Studies show that sixty percent of alphas are unlikely to report a crime. Betas seventy-four percent. Epsilons seventy-nine percent. And omegas a shocking ninety-seven percent,” she said, silencing them quick. “I repeat, ninety-seven percent of omegas don’t even bother going to the police for help if they’re victims of a crime.

“The result of these low reporting numbers is an epidemic of vigilante justice. And before you ask,” she said, cutting off Magnus. “The proof of that is in the unsolved murder and disappearance rate in every clan in Wolf Nation. Our lowest rate is still twice as high as the biggest and most dangerous city in mundane North America. Again, I will repeat that—the mundanes solve more crimes and arrest more criminals than we do.

“Wolves—from alphas to omegas—do not have any faith in our justice system, and since we are a civilized nation and not a lawless swamp, our leaders should care about that.”

“Whoo,” I crowed, earning a growl from half the alphas on my screen.

Melisent tossed me a wink. “There are many things we need to do to address this widespread and systematic problem, but like I said, I believe the first step is more epsilons in the police force. Not only are they immune to any wolf powers, but every epsilon takes a vow to serve Luame—not the council or the clan leaders.

“You’re more likely to ask someone for help when you know they don’t have another agenda.” She sat down. “Thank you for listening.”

“Thank you, Melisent,” I said, stepping in. “We’re going to move on to the next person so that—”

“You’ve got a lot of nerve, girl,” Magnus sounded off. “Our police forces are beyond reproach! They serve all faithfully and equally, and your made-up little study doesn’t prove otherwise!”

“Magnus, don’t be so silly,” Mara snapped. “Just last week we were discussing the rise in vigilante crime. I didn’t hear you offering any solutions then. Don’t kick up a fuss because she is.”

“So we empty the temples and send a bunch of barefoot, incense-reeking women after the criminals! Problem solved!”

“Sexist fucking pig!”

“What was that? What did you say!” His yellow-tinged eyes came at the screen like he was going to jump through at Mara. “How dare you!”

Mara snarled, fangs erupting.

I heaved a sigh. “And they call us children,” I muttered, making Tracy, Corinne, and the others chuckle.

It took too long, and the reminder that this entire exchange was being streamed to all of Wolf Nation, before they settled down and let Corrine have her turn. She gave a very impressive and detailed speech on mixing the clans, and allowing different elemental wolves to live where they choose. She even backed it up with studies, charts, and economic growth predictions—all in ten minutes.

Davis was in the middle of sharing his thoughts on everyone, not just me, being allowed more than one full, legally recognized mate, when the doors burst open.

“High Priestess!” Ash shrieked, tumbling into the room.

I wouldn’t lie, she startled me half out of my seat.

Her heaving chest and broken heel revealed she sprinted quite a long distance. “What on earth is going on here!”

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