Chapter 116 - LUNA'S BAGGAGE

Asher

The secret was out, the one thing we had guarded for centuries, millenniums even, was out to the public. I had been too scared to check for everyone's reaction to the revelation. I wasn't ready to see my people and I being called monsters. How did Dr. Hann manage to destroy everything? Right when the tide was turning, there he was, getting caught with his pants down.

I had been forced to call off training for a while because I could not bring myself to concentrate enough to go through with it. My phone has always been in flight mode since being bombarded with so many calls on the day of the revelation. I had gotten annoyed by the questions I didn't know how to answer. It was only Chris that could still reach me, and that was because I needed updates from him, especially now.

At least, I was now sure the council members were as shocked about the revelation as I was. The only good thing that came out of this situation was that Martin insisted on them sticking together. That way it was easy for Chris to get information for me. Was this my silver lining?

I was lost in my own thoughts when Timothy came in running. "Alpha! Humans! There are humans in the territory." A small smile appeared on my face when I heard these words. Combined with the desperation with which they were said, I got deja vu. If it wasn't for the difference in the speaker, I would have thought I had somehow gone back in time. "Man, stop daydreaming!" Would you believe that he slapped me on the back of the head? Someone was getting bold.

I intended to growl playfully at him but my wolf had other plans. He wasn't impressed with Timothy's disrespect, hence what was supposed to be a playful growl ended up being a full-out Alpha growl filled with warning. "Sorry, Alpha Asher." He mumbled with his head lowered. He was shaken by the turn of events.

"Raise your head." He looked at me with wide eyes as if he could not believe what had just happened. "We might be friends, but I am still an Alpha. My wolf did not appreciate your actions." I wasn't supposed to be explaining myself to him but I thought it would be better if he knew the cause of my explosive reaction lest he did it again.

"I won't do it again." Let's see how long that promise lasts.

That being settled, I took the conversation back to why he was here. "What were you saying earlier?"

It was as if my question brought back the desperation he had been feeling before. "There are humans in the territory."

"How is that new? Haven't we been living with humans in the pack for a while now?"

"No, I don't mean the women we rescued! At the train station, there were so many of them!" This had to have been the first time I had seen Timothy flustered. He is usually on top of his game. Wait! He said at the train station! I swear if Melanie wasn't dead I would have said she collaborated with humans. It felt as if we were reenacting my first meeting with Alison, she had also shown up at the very train station unannounced.

This wasn't a good sign. "Did they say what they wanted? What are they doing now?"

"I had Jeremy, Mason, and Evans bar them from entry but I don't know how long that will last."

As if on cue, I heard Jeremy through the link. "Asher, what should we do? They are insisting on entry." He sounded so desperate. It wasn't surprising that Jeremy was already looking for me. Timothy had picked the introvert to be in charge of the meddling humans. He didn't think this through, did he?

"I am coming. Try and hold them for as long as possible." I reassured Jeremy. "Let's go and see what they want." I was ninety-nine percent sure it wasn't for anything good. Not after the revelation of the existence of werewolves. I have been practically walking on eggshells since that night. You know that feeling when you know something is coming but you don't know what or when? I have constantly had that feeling lately. Alison even tried to tell me that I was just being paranoid, but my gut feeling was never wrong.

Imagine my shock when I got to the train station only to see a group of people holding large cameras. Paparazzi! Nothing I have heard about them was good. Everyone that talked about them described them as bloodthirsty and difficult to deal with, yet here they were, right in my territory demanding to gain access.

"Are you the one in charge? Why are you people trying to deny us our freedom of movement? Is there something you are hiding?" One of them was already shouting before I even got close. He only succeeded in making the others frantic. "What right do you have to stop us?" Why didn't any of them find it weird that it took only three people to stop the whole group?

"SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!" It was a known fact that the Alpha tone could affect humans. Maybe not as much as it did werewolves, but it still did. My words effectively stopped the ongoing ruckus. From the way they were looking at me, I knew they were surprised at their own reactions to my words, but none of them dared to say anything.

'Maybe I should shut down this train station.' I could not help but think to myself. "Why are you guys here?"

"We have freedom of movement!" Please, did they think their human bullshit worked here? I mean, even with their so-called freedom, there were places that they could not access either. Yes, I knew a lot about humans. I run businesses, remember? I have always had to comply with a lot of their rules, yet here they were making demands in a place where they have no authority.

"Not on private property, you don't! So, let us try that again. Why are you here?" Hopefully, my tone sounded as threatening as I wanted it to. "If you don't want to talk, you should hop back on the train and go back where you came from." I made eye contact with the train driver, making him look away hurriedly. The train always leaves immediately after dropping the passengers off, but not today. It was obvious the man had seen trouble brewing and was itching for gossip.

"We are here for an interview." One of them finally answered.

"An interview? Do you have an appointment?" Of course, they didn't. No one in their right mind would invite journalists into pack grounds. Unless maybe Alison, "Alison..."

"No." His answer cut me off before I began to question Alison. Thank goodness, we have been at loggerheads one too many times lately. I could already see her shouting at me for not trusting her. I glared at the man for almost causing me trouble. No, I wasn't scared of my pregnant mate.

"Did you say something?" I had to make up something to tell her since I had already called her, so I told her about the arrival of the journalists and their ridiculous request for an interview. For the first time ever, she was on my side. She did not want them in the pack territory either.

"Let me get this right, you guys showed up here without an appointment, screaming at us for not respecting your freedom, to ask us for a favor? By what authority do you have to make such demands?" What gave them the confidence to act like this? At least they had the decency to look embarrassed when I summarized the situation. "I think you should leave, you are not welcome here."

None of them took a step back onto the train. Dare I say, they gave me provocative glances? "Shoo, you heard him! Leave, all of you." I was surprised at how long Timothy had managed to stay silent.

The one of them that I assumed was the leader was the one that answered me, "We heard that the rescued women are being kept in this town. We want to interview some of them." Alison's chicken had come home to roost. I remember her telling me that the family members had sworn not to share our address. Now it looks like somebody did not keep their promise. "Still don't want us to enter? Are you hiding something?" The way his voice sounded wasn't a good sign.

"What could we possibly hide?"It was Timothy that asked this but the 'leader' looked directly at me instead. I heard alarm sounds go off in my head when we made eye contact. The way he raised his eyebrow at me had my scalp tingling and my heartbeat doubling. He knew something!

"I heard from someone that the people living here are freaks just like the one that was on the TV."