Chapter 33
“Be careful,” he says as he parks the truck. Through the windshield, I can see that Stark’s home is overflowing, inside and out.
I freeze with my hand on the door handle. “Why?”
“The Elders’ Council is here, stay away from Darwin.” That Alpha mask moved back into place when we left my house. I look away from the straight-lined face of my mate. If he had magic, it’d be to kill with those eyes or calm words without a blink.
“I’ll be fine. They should be thanking me.”
Stark’s hand catches my upper arm. “Don’t provoke the Elders.”
I pull free and climb out. Why does he go from so sweet to the biggest pain I’ve ever met? I’m not going to provoke the Elders I want to see how everything else went.
“Alo!”
I turn and get swooped up off the ground in a hug.
“Hi.” I smile at Nikolas.
“I can’t believe you got so sick. I’m happy you’re in one piece. When we left you in the forest alone, I got anxious and almost ran back.” Stark steps in behind us, and Nikolas drops his arms. “Hi, Stark.”
He doesn’t even say hello back.
Don’t do that, I send to him.
“Mine, remember?” His voice warms my neck. “What does he mean ‘alone in the forest’?”
My shoulders lift and the gravel below us becomes interesting. “Must be remembering it wrong.”
We all head inside, and Nikolas rambles off with Jocko about how everyone’s been waiting for us to get back. There are a few members of the pack still down with injuries, but nothing life threatening.
“Stark, we’ll see you in the forum in five. It’s been cleared out,” Otis says, clapping him on the back.
Lirea and Nikki come up to us. Stark hovers as Nikki looks between the two of us and doesn’t say a word.
Lirea hugs me. “Don’t worry about her. Kiya told me all about it.”
I glance over her shoulder as Nikki glowers at me. Great. Who knows what Kiya said, considering I didn’t tell her anything.
“Sorry to break up the moment but we have a meeting to attend.” Stark grabs my hand, and sensations crawl up my arm.
“Can I meet you in there? I need to run to the bathroom.”
“I’ll wait for you.”
He follows me to his bedroom, and I slip into the ensuite, closing the door behind me.
I pull off the baseball cap I threw on this morning and set it on the counter before washing my hands.
The red roots are starting to show again, bright against the dark dye.
No one can see that. I was out of color at home and had to wait to come here, which means I’ll have to find a decent amount of time away from Stark to fix it—and scrub every trace from the sink after.
When I come out, he takes my hand again and leads me through the main space to the opposite side of the house. A lot of eyes float to us, more than what I’m used to. He holds open the large door to the forum, and I accept the silent request to enter.
Inside, every man looks up at once. I recognize most of the Elders, but there are some I still don’t know by name. Each of the Alphas have also taken a seat—Merik, Oliver, and Hendin, whose arm is in a sling.
I don’t think I should be in here.
“My mate. My house. My rules.” He leads me down to the front, and I take a seat to the side opposite from the Alphas.
“Stark, Aloka should be with everyone else. We have important things to discuss,” Darwin says.
“Let’s remind you all that you are currently guests in my home. If you haven’t heard, Aloka and I are mates. So she will be where I am.”
A few gasp.
He mated with a human?
What type of Alpha is he?
I’m jealous.
I look around and see Merik give me a wink.
Stark’s gaze presses to the side of my face.
I’m used to it. Ignore it, please.
Watch the disrespect. We’re not in a war anymore and I have no problem making enemies inside the pack. Stark’s thoughts boom, and a few sit up straighter.
I shift against the hard bench. Some watch Stark, while the others stare at me. And to think, he told me not to provoke them.
“Now, let’s get started. Hendin, you’re up first.”
“Thank you.” Hendin stands up and walks to the center of the room. “We have now done a thorough walkthrough of the camp. A large portion of the camp buildings have been removed. The other portion is abandoned or burned. I’d say a job well done.”
A few men clap, and I join in.
“Otis has spoken with Faira for the incident report.”
Otis takes his time walking down from the top and stands beside Hendin, “We have been organizing the ceremonies for the four members we lost.”
My chest fires. Lost?
“Due to bullet wounds, Warren, Sedry, Damien, and Mick did not recover. Though we did have a miraculous recovery of one of our youngest cohort members, Hudry.”
I pull at my shirt. I can’t cool down.
Stark walks behind Otis and rests his hand on my shoulder, the tingle sensation wrapping me in a hug, and I lose a breath.
“Let’s not forget that any fight poses risks. We are grateful to be successful and for those who gave their lives.”
Stark leaves me when he finishes and moves to the front. “Thank you both. Are there any concerns or questions?”
“Why was Hudry on the front lines in the first place?” asks Lunin.
A few other men nod.
“I’ve discussed it with him. It’s the one risk we have in taking young blood out.”
“I have something I’d like to address.” Graden stands, his jaw shadowed with stubble instead of its usual clean shave.
Stark moves to the side so Graden can take his place before us.
“I’d like to address the rumors that have been spreading through the pack’s cohorts,” he says.
Everyone starts talking at once. Another one of the Elders stands and walks down to join him.
“Enough.” Graden’s voice carries across the room. I jump. I’ve never heard him speak like this. “We do not need to make things worse as the leaders of this pack. The rumors of the red wolf need to be taken seriously.”
“Red wolf?” Stark asks. He glances over at me, then glues his eyes to the men.
“Yes. There are several different reports involving a red wolf. Many imply that without this mystery werewolf, we would not have been successful.”
“One sighting involved a human dropping a rifle at its feet and running off,” says Oliver.
“Another said it was only seen ripping apart humans, otherwise it was faster than they could see.” Hendin’s voice rose.
I glance down at my sunburned-looking hands, then tuck them at my sides. Where are the cold waves when you need them?
“Red wolves, of course, are legends from many myths. We believe, with the stress of being in a fight, that many of our members have clung to the story of a red wolf during moments they were fearful.”
That makes perfect sense, so I nod along.
I couldn’t sit there and watch it happen.
“I don’t think so.” Darwin rises from his seat. “I believe the red wolf lives somewhere nearby alone and came when needed. We need to find this red wolf and learn what other capabilities they have. They could impose a great risk to the pack.”
They don’t even know if I’m real and they already want to hunt me down. Pratt and Mom were right—no matter how much I feel a part of the pack now, I’ll never be one of them.
“I did not see a red wolf. Aloka, you were on the outside line, away from the gunfire. Did you see any such thing?” Stark asks.
All eyes turn to me.
“I can’t see what doesn’t exist,” I say.
A few of the Elders nod to themselves.
“Good point. Now, we will make note of these sightings to compare, then meet again to review. Please do not discuss the red wolf with pack members outside the cohorts. We don’t need anyone to be afraid of a magical”—Stark stops his speech, the fist on the side closest to me going white, thick veins crawling up his bare arm—“werewolf that doesn’t exist and causing panic.
If there is such a thing, we will deal with it in a calm manner. ”
“Thank you, Stark,” Graden says.
Darwin steps forward from the three at the front. “We should send a lookout for the red wolf in the outer forests.”
“Stark is right. We will take account of all sightings, then act.” Lunin announces the decision from his seat, and no one argues.
The meeting goes on for another two hours as they review fighting tactics and standards for emergency care. Plus, they decide to keep an ongoing eye on the camp to make sure nothing starts up again or anywhere else right against our borders.
When the meeting is over, my shoulders drop. I slide past the wooden benched seat and lean against the one behind it.
“What’d you think?” Stark comes and takes a seat next to me.
I blow out a deep breath. “It’s a lot. More than I expected.”
“And?” His hand rests on my thigh.
Can’t he not ask a question for a minute?
“And what?” My voice is tight. I rub my hand over his, letting the tingles distract me from the humans’ screams bouncing around in my head.
He squeezes my leg, and I slide closer to him. “The red wolf. Interesting that so many mentioned seeing it.”
“Oh yeah, for sure.” Closing my eyes, I lean back against the bench behind me. This should pass. Everyone will forget and move on.
“You live for those old legend books.”
“Legends, Stark. They’re all myths.”
He flicks the rim of my hat up leaning to look at my face, and I tug it back down. “You hiding from the world with that hat of yours?”
I give up and head up the steps.
“Where are you going?”
“I do need to hide from the world for a bit. There are so many people here. I got used to home,” I say, my eyes down.
His face falls and he says no more. I pull my baseball cap further down on my face and weave around the others to escape the crowded room.
Someone slams into me with their shoulder, and I stumble back before looking up. Nikki stands blocking the hallway entrance, arms crossed tight.
“You’re a real bitch,” she snarls.
My jaw tightens, “Excuse me?”
“Stark and I had something. He’ll get tired of you. You’re just new and interesting, the failed, weak werewolf girl.” She smirks, tilting her chin like she’s already won.
I fold my arms. “Sorry? Did he ever actually like you or do you just enjoy lying to everyone?”
Her nostrils flare. “Like I said, you’re a bitch and useless. You should go back to your tiny hole in the world and leave Stark to me. You know he deserves a true werewolf as a mate.”
I step closer, lowering my voice. “I think you should go.”
She laughs, sharp and bitter. “Like I have to listen to you”
“I’m going to let you before this gets embarrassing. Otherwise, I’m sure he’ll come escort you out.”
Her smirk drops. She shoulders past me hard enough to knock me sideways, then storms past me. I don’t bother to chase her. I have bigger things to stress about than her broken heart.