Page 153 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
I didn’t like the term “use” in this context, but it was an unexpected vote in our favor. I started to reply, but a voice cut over me.
“I don’t mean to outright disagree with you, Grant,” said Dana, the only female member of the council, “but I, for one, am not at all keen on the idea of giving access of my land tothosewolves.”
Dana had always been close to the Redwolfs, and she was the one I’d expected to be the most resistant to the idea. She let her dark gaze drift lazily from me, to Night, to the other Wargs gathered in the room, making sure that we all knew the jab was intentional and that she didn’t care.
“We have lived in this territory for centuries, and the only time the Wargs have stepped foot on our soil it has been at risk of death to our own. How do we know you all aren’t just taking advantage of our time of need? Perhaps you’re using this as an opportunity to worm your way past our defenses.”
“We aren’t interested in kicking you when you’re down,” Night said. “If we wanted to do that, it would be done.”
“So you claim. But perhaps your forces aren’t strong enough to take down our forces, even in our weakened state.”
I glanced at Night, but he wasn’t letting the hostility in her comment get to him, so I took his cue and kept my face blank, too.
“I assure you,” he said, “that is not something you need to worry about.”
She looked like she had more to say, but I figured now was a good time to intervene. “We aren’t interested in starting an endless back and forth,” I said. “Our goal for this meeting was to bring the idea to everyone, to get you thinking about it and more comfortable with it. Night and I are aware that what we’re proposing won’t be easy to swallow, or free from hiccups. I am aware that I will only be an interim Alpha, but I didn’t wantto exert my authority over the Kings without giving you the opportunity to work with me. This could be the start to a good working relationship between the packs, one that puts future generations at less risk.”
With that, I ended the meeting. The Kings exited quickly, and the Wargs more slowly. Violet winked at me on her way out. She and the other Wargs present had not spoken up, but they hadn’t needed to. Having them there along with the Kings showed that there was a desire to foster goodwill between the packs, and I felt confident that their presence had helped.
When everyone funneled out and Night and I were the only ones remaining, I let out a long breath.
“That could have gone better,” I said, running my hands through my hair.
“You think so? I thought it could’ve gone way worse.” He sat on the table and gestured for me to come closer. “I can handle older women making snide comments like that as long as the other Kings were listening.”
I moved into the circle of his arms, and he kissed my cheek. “I guess you’re right,” I said.
He kissed my other cheek. “You did a great job back there, especially with that last speech. You should be happy with the progress we’ve made today. Every step we take toward bettering relations between the packs is a worthwhile one. It’s like…” He racked his brain for an analogy. “It’s like when you get a seed to sprout. You plant it in the ground and do what you can to water it and care for it, but you can’t force it to grow. We just have to wait and see and hope for the best.”
I smiled. I didn’t know Night was partial to gardening metaphors. “I know we’ve got a long road ahead of us, but I was hoping there would be more of a desire on the Kings’ side to end the war. Even if they weren’t excited about merging, I thought they would be happy to hear that we wanted to put an end to the bloodshed.”
“There are a lot of old feelings mixed into this, Bryn,” he reminded me. “And there will be opposition to our packs growing closer, not just because war is all they’ve known, but also because there are some who benefitted from the conflicts between our packs.”
I nuzzled into his neck and kissed him there, tasting the salt on his skin. “That’s true, but I feel like there has to be something more that I can do to encourage them to see our side of things. Grant seemed a little open to the idea. I just wish I knew how to get everyone else on board.”
“Sometimes you can’t win over everyone. Sometimes the best way to convince them that it’s a good idea is to show them.” He lowered his head and brushed our noses together. “I believe in you,” he said, kissing me firmly.
61
BRYN
Night left to catch up with Dom, which meant I had plenty of time to walk around the grounds and decompress after the meeting. The bright, sunny day had become a bit overcast as I walked along the perimeter of the village toward the trees.
I still felt a bit uneasy about not having a plan of action to make the joint reconstruction effort more appealing. I had tried to put on a brave face for Night, but I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. That had been the first time I’d ever spoken to a member of the council before.
It was bizarre to suddenly be able to speak to them on their level. I mean, presumably. On paper, I was an equal, but to them, I was just a cockroach who’d escaped from under their heel onto their ceiling. I’d done my best in there, but there was a sense of lingering doubt in my chest. If I didn’t do something now, our unification plans would fall to shit.
I thought about speaking to my mom or Violet about this, but Mom had returned to working in the gardens and I didn’t want to interrupt her. As for Violet, I’d spotted her chattingwith Dr. Stan, and the energy of their conversation had seemed very intimate. When she laughed and placed her hand on his shoulder, I knew I didn’t want to insert myself into whatever they were talking about.
Unfortunately, the only thing I could think to do that might settle my nerves was to try talking to someone in the elite, to learn how I could get them to listen to me. I didn’t want to speak to a pack member or their children; I had essentially zero allies here, so I couldn’t trust them to lead me down the right path. I racked my brain for a person I could speak to, and the name came to me with resounding clarity.
Troy.
I went to the Alpha cabin to change into a gray cloak. I didn’t want anyone to spot me while I was on the way to his cell.
The holding facility was located near the northwest side of the compound, and there were plenty of less-traveled paths to get there. Just as before, I kept my head down and tried to blend in. If people weren’t looking for me, they didn’t see me, so I had no trouble sneaking by the dining hall, the food storage building, and the schoolhouse to get to Troy’s cell.
I pulled open the heavy door and closed it behind me. In front of me, stairs led down into a concrete bunker. The holding facility for criminals wasn’t a place I’d ever been to before. I’d had no reason to do it, and as far as I knew, Gregor had rarely visited. His prisoners were held there to rot. As soon as I had the chance, I’d review the prison records to see how many of them actually deserved to be in these cells. Knowing the Redwolfs, it was likely that most of them didn’t.
