Chapter 141: My father

Aria

I pace the length of the war room, waiting for the Alphas to file in with an impatience that only seems to grow as the moments pass.

Talk about tedious.

“Relax,” Ransom says, legs propped up on the table, casual as you please.

“How can I? I need them to agree to this?”

He picks at a cuticle. “The desperation won’t help.”

I can feel my eye start to twitch.

Hazel elbows him, and he yelps. “Hey!”

“What he means to say is if you want people to take your thoughts seriously, you have to get a grip. Explain to them why this is important and the benefit it will have to everyone. You already have our support, so that means Elliot will be on board, and if your brother knows what's good for him, so will he.”

I snort. “Yeah, you're walking those males around like golden retrievers.”

“Says the girl holding four leads. Quite the kennel you have there,” Ransom teases.

“Princess, you better not be flirting with the fire sprite,” Elliot warns, grabbing his throat and chin from behind and tilting his head up to give him a hard, demanding kiss.

The sound that comes out of Ransom is a grunt that lies somewhere between frustration and gratification.

That is way hotter than I expected it to be. The temperature of the room rises several degrees.

My wolf agrees.

“Would you stop,” Ransom says when Elliot sits beside him.

“Why?” Eliott says, putting a possessive hand on Ransom’s thigh. “You like it.”

“Yes, we do,” Hazel muses.

Ransom glares at her, and she just shrugs.

Barric and Theo enter with curious looks on their faces, and Kade follows behind. At first I'm confused, but then our bond flares and I realize they must have felt the spike of lust I felt at seeing Elliot handle Ransom in that dominant, proprietary way.

My face flushes. “Is everyone on their way?”

“Yup,” Ronan says from behind them.

The other Alphas enter the room, followed by Rick and Liam.

They all sit around the table; the map of the hunter fortress spread across the table. The little carved markers still sit in the same places, each one representing patrol routes, entry and exit points, and the points of reinforcements.

“Luna,” Hazam says. “We’re all curious as to why you requested a meeting.”

“I’ve been thinking about the hunters' fortress. More specifically, I’ve been thinking about the Hunters, the ones like Hazel and Ransom.”

Ben stipples his fingers together. “What about them?”

I look at my mates, drawing strength from our bond. Hazel is right. If I want others to take me seriously, I have to start asserting myself. In my heart, I know, in my heart, this is part of the path we have to take if we have any chance of disrupting the cycle of senseless violence.

Hazel nods at me, telling me to go on. “I come to learn that many of the things we thought we knew about hunters were as untrue as the things the Assembly led us to believe. The reality is that most of the hunters under their ranks were unlucky enough to be born into their family. They are forced to submit, coerced into a life they do not necessarily agree with.”

Kade nods along, casting an understanding glance at Ransom and Hazel.

“Why is this information important?” Alpha Cobalt says with a mischievous smile on his face.

“I think we owe it to the hunters to have a chance to walk away.”

“That’s proposterous!” Ben exclaimed. “A snake doesn’t change. It only becomes a bigger snake. To allow them to walk away is the same as condemning our future generations to face their wrath.”

“A valid point,” Theo concurs. “Who is to say that a wife, or their children, will not hold resentment toward us when we take their organization down? It might be best to just execute them all. I’m sure Alpha Ben’s men can handle the unpleasant task. Am I right, Alpha?”

The question is asked without inflection of anger, but the pale look on Ben's face tells me Theo’s comment has successfully hit its mark.

“Now, now I wasn’t suggesting…”

“Yes, you were. You believe that we should kill them all to prevent retaliation, but this isn’t just some clubhouse with a hard-on for shifters. This is a generational organization that uses women and children like cattle to brainwash them into obeying some archaic beliefs created by men who wanted power and use the fear of us to get it.” I look each person in the eye, stopping at Rick who has such a look of pride on his face that I almost smile. “To attack would mean innocents get caught in the crossfire.”

“I can understand wanting to help,” Hazam confesses, “However, I have some concerns. Like how will we tell who is honest and who is simply buying their time?”

Ransom stands. “We give them Paraxilla.”

“An excellent plan,” Elliot agrees, “We can simply hold them somewhere until they can be tested. Simple.”

“Not simple,” Ben argues. “How do we split the manpower to do so in the middle of a war?”

“We put a man on the inside,” Hazel says, thrumming her fingers on the wooden surface.

Liam and Elliot stiffen at the same time.

“What are you thinking?” Ronan asks her curiously.

“My father—”

“No. If you're thinking that I’m going to let you hand yourself over to that walking asshole you call a father, then you’ve lost your damn mind.”

“I’m not a dog. I won’t let you tell me when to stay, sit, and go.”

His voice goes deathly quiet. “I’m not trying to control you. I’m trying to protect you. Don’t ask me to support you walking back into that place.”

“I won’t. But I am asking you to respect my decision.” She looks around the table. “Here are the facts. We don’t have the numbers to split the force, but if we get in, we won't need any. All I would need is a clear path. My father will take me. He won’t kill me right away.”

Liam growls, holding her more tightly to him as if someone were trying to actively take him away.

“She's right. My uncle would kill me just to be spiteful, but Hazel. He would want her to watch. Want her to see the people she chose over the organization suffer before punishing her,” Ransom says. “It will buy us time.”

Liam looks like he wants to argue, but Ransom cuts him off. “She won’t be alone. I’ll be with her.”

“The hell you are,” Elliot growls.

“I’ll shadow Hazel. No one will see me,” Ransom replies, ignoring Elliot's outburst.

“It could work,” Barric agrees. “They know the inside of the fortress best. So while we're fighting they can slip out the back door with the others.”

Ronan nods. “It's a kill two birds situation. They'll think they have more fighters than they do and discover too late their numbers are less.”

The other Alphas seem to like this idea.

“I’m not asking for an answer today. Think it over. We’ll be convinced back in two days to give our final thoughts and make a decision.”

Rick's voice follows mine. “I will implore you to remember that this war is only the beginning. As you think about this, think about what you want our future to look like. Not just your packs but the world as a whole. The decisions you make today will inform that, for better or worse.”

Rick is the first to leave, and slowly the others follow.

Hazel smiles at me before letting Liam lead her out, most likely to argue with her some more.

“Hey!” Ransom yells. “I'm not a damn toy to put me down.”

Elliot has him hanging over his shoulder, and brings one hand down on his ass. The slap makes Ransom jerk.

“Don't think I'm letting you get away with misbehaving,” he says as he walks them out the door.

“God, that's so fucking hot,” I breathe.

“Well, at least we know what got you riled up earlier,” Ronan says as he prowls towards me.

He hoists me up onto the table, pushing my knees aside to step between them. “You did go today.”

“You think so?” I ask.

“You thought about our future and showed everyone that you put our people first. I think you gave them a lot to think about.”

My hair is swept from my neck, and Theo's hand trails up my neck.

“I hope so,” I say distractedly as Barric takes a chair, places it across from us, and takes a seat.

His lip presses against my bite mark, and a wave of lust settles between my legs.

I lean back into him.

Kade steps up behind Ronan, wrapping his hands around his waist and unbuttoning Ronan’s pants.

Theo starts to do the same to mine. “How about we distract you while we wait for our answer?”