Chapter 171 The alliance of the damned
Chapter 171: The alliance of the damned
James' POV
Three days later, the atmosphere in the pack house had completely transformed. Damon being human again had injected a new type of life into everyone. Wolves walked taller, laughed louder, trained harder. It was like we had all been holding our breath for months and now could finally exhale in relief.
But today was different. I could smell the invisible tension in the air.
Tonight was the d-day for the meeting. A meeting that will shake the structure of how things run in the werewolf world. Tonight, we weren't celebrating.
The great hall had been cleared of its usual casual furniture, replaced with a massive oak table that Marcus, a young warrior, and I had hauled up from storage. Around it sat the alphas and representatives of what the Council called the "unrighteous packs"... those of us who didn't fit their perfect mold of what werewolves should be.
Damon sat at the head of the table, and even though I had known him for years, the man sitting there now was different from the one who had been cursed, the man everyone had known for years, the man that harboured a generation curse inside him, while maintaining his alpha persona.
Now, he seemed more dangerous. More in control than ever before. The beast might be gone, but its lessons remained.
To his right sat Milo, still adjusting to his new reality. He had taken to wearing gloves to hide the faint purple glow that never quite left his skin now. To Damon's left was general Josh, then me. Around the table were then filled with familiar and strange faces.
The remaining unrighteous Packs that haven't switched sides or fallen.
Alpha Chen from the Pacific Pack, whose wolves could partially shift… maintaining human form with wolf attributes. The Council called them bush wolves, labeling it as an abomination.
Beta Janet from the Desert Moon Pack, representing her alpha who was reported too sick to travel. Their pack had harbored bitten wolves, which the Council had declared illegal a decade ago.
Alpha Dmitri from the Northern Shadows, whose pack included wolves who had mated with humans and produced half-blood children. Another Council violation, that is punishable by death if seen.
And perhaps most surprisingly, Alpha Rosalie from the Crimson Night Pack… everyone was surprised to see her with her entourage present. Even Damon had raised an eyebrow, and didn't hesitate to welcome her warmly. Her Pack was unlike the normal pack we all know, it was all female, which the Council insisted was "unnatural" since they believed only males should be alphas.
"Thank you all for coming," Damon began, his voice carrying easily through the room filled with alphas. "I know the risk you took traveling here."
"Risk seems to be all we have these days," Rosalie said dryly. She was older, maybe fifty, with silver streaking through her dark hair and scars across her neck from some old battle. "The Council grows bolder. Last week, they tried to force three of my wolves into arranged matings with their approved packs."
"They have been kidnapping bitten wolves from our territory," Janet added. "Claiming they need 'rehabilitation.' We haven't seen any of them return, the urge to see them fall is never a risk to take.
Dmitri leaned forward, his massive frame making the chair creak. "They label us as abominations because we prove their rules are arbitrary. My half-blood children are just as strong as full-bloods. Some are stronger."
"Which brings us to why we are here," Damon said. "We can't keep playing defense. The Council has been weakened by the last clash we had with them, they shouldn't be our problem for a decade or so now, but there's something else… something that should worry us all."
The room grew tense.
"The Northern Queen has gone silent," Marcus announced.
The Northern Queen. Even her title made my skin crawl. She was the only true alpha on record… a wolf so powerful she didn't need a pack to enforce her will. She could command any wolf, regardless of pack bonds. The Council feared her to an extent that had to work with her.
"Define 'silent,'" Chen said carefully.
"No communication for six weeks," I supplied. "Her territory is sealed. Any wolf that crosses her borders doesn't return. Even the scouts that were sent have vanished without a trace."
"Maybe she's finally decided to stop pretending neutrality," Rosalie suggested. "The question is, which side did she choose?"
"That's what we need to figure out," Damon said. "But first, we need to discuss alliance terms. If we are going to survive what's coming, we need to work together."
"A formal alliance between unrighteous packs," Dmitri mused. "They will see it as an official declaration of war."
"They declared war on us the moment they started deciding who deserves to exist," Milo said quietly. It was the first time he had spoken, and everyone turned to look at him. The purple glow in his eyes flared brighter. "They have been picking us off one by one for years. Maybe it's time we stopped making it easy for them, and take a stand."
There was something different in his voice, ever since his awakening, a resonance that made my wolf stand at attention. The others felt it too… I could see it in how they unconsciously leaned toward him.
"The Moonblessed speaks truth," Chen said slowly, interest flashing in his hard eyes. By now Milo's story had gone round like a wide fire. "But an alliance needs structure, Leadership, Laws."
"Not laws," Damon corrected. "Agreements. We are fighting against the Council's tyranny, not to replace it with our own. If we can come to an agreement. Each pack maintains autonomy but agrees to mutual defense and resource sharing."
"And who leads this alliance?" Rosalie asked, though her tone suggested she already knew the answer.
"We vote on major decisions," Damon said. "But in battle, you follow me."
It wasn't arrogance. It was a fact. The unspoken truth still hangs on their heads like a fact no one wants to admit.
A true alpha.
He was the strongest alpha in the room, and everyone knew it. His time as the beast had only amplified his power.
"I can accept that," Dmitri was the first to break the silence. "But what about the Queen? If she moves against us…"
"Then we face her together," Damon interrupted. "But I don't think she will. The Queen has always been more interested in her experiments than politics."
"Experiments?" I asked, not liking the sound of that.
"My sources have confirmed that she is trying to experiment on true alphas syndrome, and the Council has been backing her up, providing for her with resources and materials" Damon explained.
I stiffened, everybody in the room sucked a deep breath at the mention of the resource… more of life specimen.
Milo shifted on his seat, he looked tense and uncomfortable, like he would bolt out of the hall at any time.
“That's unspeakable, and deserves to be punished” Alpha Chen raised his concern, his beards rustling angrily.
The other alphas expressed their blatant disagreement, well except alpha who continues to look at Damon with something flashing in her eyes.
"Words reached us that the queen is particularly interested in your…mate, alpha damon.” her words silenced the other raging alphas.