Chapter 118

Chapter 118
My eyes slide shut as I listen to Alpha Dennis and Alpha Raymond bicker. They had been doing this for the better part of an hour. We were still waiting for Alpha Alex and Alpha Jeff to show up. Like me, Alpha Reid was keeping quiet. This was the first time in a long time that we were coming together in person, and if this was how they wanted to act, I was about to walk out of the building and go home.

The door opened, and I groaned as the last two of our group were bickering as well. This was exactly why I wanted to break away from these guys. There was only one thing they could agree on. While I may have agreed as well, that didn’t mean we needed to have an alliance built from it. We all have different views on running a pack, besides that.

“I’m telling you! They are a threat! I don’t know where you get off saying that they aren’t the biggest threat to our way of life!”

“They aren’t even a fully functional pack yet! They are barely getting off the ground. If you think a brand-new pack in this day can function just like us, you’re wrong. They are going to fall before anything happens. Mark my words.” Alpha Jeff barked.

Alpha Alex fell into his seat, shaking his head. “You give them a chance to get off the ground, and there will be hell to pay.”

Alpha Reid hummed before sitting up in his seat. “You’re talking about the new pack that was just registered, correct?”

“Yeah. The safe-haven pack.” Alpha Alex spat out the words with disdain. “We need to crush them. There is no way we can just leave them be.”

I rubbed my eyes and cracked my neck before I spoke. “Sorry, I must be out of the loop. I knew there was a safe-haven pack being created. It was in the most-recent newsletter, but how is it any of our concern?”

“They aren’t allowing humans onto the territory.” Alpha Dennis broke from his own argument to answer me.

My eyes narrowed. “And that’s a…bad thing?”

“Of course! It’s in direct conflict with our trying to move forward! We need to be integrating humans into our packs. We profit off them, and we expand our influence over them. Humans could accept us! Think about it! Us alongside the humans in government and deciding what was best for everyone. We wouldn’t be in the shadows anymore!”

Alpha Alex had always been like this. His dream was almost on par with taking over the world. I don’t think any of us had hope that we would somehow be side by side with the humans. I think far too many wolves thought we were the superior race. That it was humans who were under us.

In a way, I agreed with them to an extent. It reminded me of the argument that Nate had made. That the Moon Goddess blessed us. That’s what set us apart. I really wondered if he was in that pack now. It would make sense, considering how against he was with humans being on the territory.

“Does that mean every single pack needs to follow the same line? That every single pack must allow humans into their territory? Not all Alphas are comfortable…” My words fell off as every single one of them turned to me.

It was Alpha Reid who spoke. “Alpha Silas, we need to look to the future. Our way of life is dying. We aren’t getting any younger, and the werewolf population is declining again. More and more of them are opting for the big city life and that of humans. We need to integrate ourselves with the humans. Anyone who doesn’t is going to be a thorn. They are going to make some think that it’s okay not to have humans and to pull out of society.”

Rubbing my eyes, I couldn’t wrap my head around their thought process. So what if another pack had a different ideal than we did? If they weren’t directly trying to influence us, we shouldn’t be doing the same. Though these guys were actively spreading the belief that we should embrace humans. So maybe it was more of a threat that someone out there was actually making it work. Still, this was too much.

“I will say this. As long as that pack doesn’t interfere with mine, I don’t think we should do anything. I don’t think they are as much of a threat as you think.”

“I think you’re right, but not because they won’t intervene. Their very existence is an affront to our beliefs and goals. I just think that they aren’t going to get up and running. It’s expensive to run an entire territory without having businesses already set up by the generations before that. I think they are going to fail.” Alpha Jeff shook his head. “Our biggest worry right now should be the Hunter Association.”

Alpha Alex growled. “Let’s be frank. They will always be there. We have ways of finding out who they are and making sure we pick them out. Hell, I’ve been working with some vampires…”

“Vampires? Are you serious? That’s worse than witches!” Alpha Dennis slammed his hands on the table.

“I will do anything to keep my pack safe!”

“Oh yeah? Like selling your soul to the devil? Would you do that too? That’s all vampires are!”

“I don’t care what you think of vampires.”

“They killed my family! I will destroy them, and you’re over here working with them?”

“Says the one working with witches after they nearly destroyed my entire pack!”

I leaned back in the chair, the bickering now continuing, now including all four of the Alphas. They were all throwing each other’s trauma and near-death experiences in each other’s faces. Getting up, I knew this was going to last awhile. This wasn’t what I was here for. We needed to think about the next few years of agreements for our alliance.

Going over to the bar, I ordered a Diet Coke. Alpha Reid stood next to me, ordering an Old Fashioned. We waited quietly before we got our drinks and sat down. Looking out the window, I wondered where the day had gone. It was already getting to be dusk.

“You seem difference, Alpha Silas.”

“I’m just tired.” I might have answered it a little too quickly.

Alpha Reid stared at me for a while, taking a sip of his drink. “You’ve slimmed down. You’re also not as combative as you have been.”

“I did what I wanted to do.” I let out a sigh. “Humans are now walking around my territory, non-the-wiser. My pack has seen a revenue growth. We’ve been adding more and more hometown feeling to it. Advertising it as a place to get away. We have also been getting more and more interest from people wanting to move. We are struggling to keep up with the people and to keep track of them. Still, it’s worked. It won’t be as much as some of the better-placed packs.”

“And yet you don’t see how that pack would be a detriment?”

Taking a sip of my soda, I regarded Alpha Reid questioningly. “No, I don’t. My aim isn’t to sit on the council in Jackson City as a werewolf representative. We are Alphas. We have enough of an ego within our own packs. We don’t need to be running the humans as well. As long as whoever is running that pack doesn’t intend on spreading their ideas and forcing us back, I don’t see an issue with it.”

I chuckled, taking a sip. “Are you trying to take over the world, Alpha Reid? The only issue with this pack would be that they succeeded. If they make a haven and then all the people who you had to squash down in order to get what you wanted leave you. Or maybe because you think others will follow.”

This wasn’t something I could agree to. We each had our own thoughts on how to run our packs. Forcing others to follow in our footsteps wasn’t going to make sense for every pack. They were trying to take over the humans. That’s what it was, no matter how much you’re trying to wrap it up in cooperation.

I’d gone along with it because we needed more revenue. We needed to grow. I knew that at some point in the future we would stagnate. Nate saw it too. There were nights we stayed up, wondering what to do in order to get ahead of it. We saw a bump when I got everything that was left from my father. Companies he had under his name and not the pack. All of which I transferred over to the pack business side.

It made sense to bring in humans. Getting myself pulled out of the magic I was under made me look different from I had thought. I’d quietly thought that taking over the humans wasn’t a bad thing. I wouldn’t be as outspoken as Alpha Alex, but it had been on my mind. Now, though, I just wanted my pack to thrive after I was gone.

“I have no intention of forcing how I run my pack on others. I don’t think the Alpha King would agree with that either. I don’t mind having humans; others do. Let them do what they want. Stop forcing yourself on others. It will not end well.”

“You aren’t talking like you should be in this alliance anymore, Silas.” Alpha Reid’s voice was low, a warning.

Shrugging, I got up and took my glass with me. “I think having humans on the pack territory is a good thing. That is the bottom line of our alliance. We wanted to find a safe way to do that. A way to combat the Hunter’s or other supernaturals from sneaking in. Help each other when something was going wrong or work out the kinks of having them purchase land. Even you haven’t gone that far.”

Alpha Reid let out a sigh. “Yes, well…”

“Talk to me when you’ve reached the level that we all are at. Then you can talk to me about whether I belong in this alliance.”

Walking away, I handed the bartender my now empty glass. Going up to my room, there was still tomorrow to talk over the specifics of the alliance. I wasn’t about to do that now. Sitting down on the bed, I rubbed my face. Not that it would help. My exhaustion felt like it dug into my bones now.

‘Eros?’

I reached out to him first. It was quiet at first, not even a shift. I expected not to get a reply. I rarely felt him even as a quiet presence. Not after everything came to light.

‘What, Silas?’

My eyes widened, and I cocked my head to the side. ‘You answered.’

‘If you didn’t actually have anything…’

‘Wait. I just…I wanted to get your opinion. On whether we should continue working with them.’

There was a long silence. So much so that I thought he had already pulled back and hadn’t heard me. That was until I felt a swish of his tail, his mind still present with mine.

‘I think it depends on the things they bring to the table. We’ve gotten to where you wanted to be. Now, you’re most-likely going to end up helping them rather than getting help. So it would depend on what they could bring to the table in the negotiations.’

I nodded, falling back on the bed. ‘I’m second-guessing myself.’

‘You should be.’

Letting out a single chuckle, I shook my head. ‘I want to have my pack be in the best position moving forward in the future. I just…’

‘You don’t have anyone to take over. You’re not doing this for your family.’

‘The pack is my family, Eros.’

He snorted. ‘Yes, they are. Except when the Harvest Festival happens. You are not invited to every table. You aren’t under the mistletoe with someone for the Winter Solstice. You don’t have any family, Silas. Your sister is gone. Your father is gone. The pack will continue. They are your family, but they are also your people. Don’t mistake that you play a bigger role in their lives than you do.’

‘Must you be so mean?’ I put my arm over my eyes.

‘It’s not like you listen to me, anyway.’ Eros scoffed. ‘You need to find a replacement for yourself being Alpha. No one is going to take it over that is of your blood. Our line is dead.’

Sighing, I felt myself start to fall asleep. ‘And what? Chase after Nate?’

‘No.’

His answer surprised me. ‘No?’

‘You and me. We don’t deserve him. He’s free now. I hope he never forgives you, Silas. Just like I can’t. Just you can’t forgive yourself. We don’t deserve it.’

‘You do. Through all of this, Eros, you deserve to be with him.’

Eros said nothing for a while, before I felt his presence fade. ‘I couldn’t snap you out of it. I wasn’t strong enough. I deserve it as much as you do. It was through my power that you nearly killed him. It was my power that led to your soul being locked away. I’ll be with you. For as long as I am, I deserve the same.’

I was about to argue, but he was gone. Eros was beyond my reach, and I rolled over, curling up on my side. He wasn’t wrong. About any of it. It was just a matter of what I needed to do moving forward.