Alessia followed Jake through the heart of the pack village. It was quite beautiful how the houses were integrated among the trees that grew tall and shadowed them. How the sunlight shone through the leaves, making art on the ground, an occasional bird silhouette zooming through the black patterns.  The house seemed to be unique from the next and the ground around them was spacious enough for some houses to have a playground set or for children to ride bikes.  

The place was alive with light and warmth among the people. 

So, unlike the place Alessia grew up.

The pathways laced between buildings and seemed to be worn into the ground from years of people’s use.

Alessia was so lost in admiring this civilization that she hadn’t noticed the people turning to stare and the children who stopped playing.

 The adults threw looks of utter shock in her direction.

Alessia hated the attention, however, she kept her head up and her eyes trained directly ahead of her. That was how she had always walked, despite the circumstance, steady and upright. 

She whispered to the Alpha, “Did we have to parade through the village? Everyone’s looking at me, weirdly.”

He didn’t look at her, but said, softly, “It’s the only way to the Counsel Building. Had there been a different way, I would have taken it.”

Alessia realized this must have been hard for him, having what was considered an enemy at the heart of the place he was meant to protect. These people would never trust her or what she had to say. So why did he trust what she had to say?

As they walked, Alessia took notice of a large, circular building slowly coming into view. She reasoned that it must be the Counsel Building. 

Even from a distance away, the building emitted power. The building was mainly cream with columns supporting the structure around its circumference. From where she stood, the building itself looked like two concrete disks connected by thick pillars.

As Alessia neared the building, she noticed that along the circumference of the first step of the Counsel Building were dark smudges like equally placed dots. She wondered if it was meant to be a decoration of some sort until she came close enough to see that they were hand prints.

She turned to Jake and pointed at the last step of the Counsel Building, “That’s not blood, is it?”

Jake confirmed, nonchalantly, “That is blood.”

Alessia faltered looking at it, “I don’t suppose you have a ghost or something wandering around making those because if you do, I am definitely out.”

He huffed, “No, those are the hand prints of the Alphas of the pack.”

Alessia looked at it dubiously, “A message to your enemies, I assume?”

He looked puzzled, “No, it is an oath. You’ll notice that the handprints are all down because every Alpha kneels as a symbol that they serve the pack as much as the pack serves them.”

“So, what happens when the step gets finished?”, she asked, curiously.

“That is classified.”

Alessia laughed, “What you mean to say is that you don’t know.”

He didn’t say anything, but the ends of his lips were turned up in a secretive smile. It was a nice smile while it lasted and Alessia stared, fixated until it vanished. She followed Jake’s line of sight and saw a man standing outside the building, crossing his arm and glaring.

He had deep dark skin with darker, brown hair that was neatly trimmed close to his scalp. As he grew closer, Alessia saw his eyes akin to two small balls of carved mahogany. He was almost the same height as Jake, perhaps a mere centimeter short, but both boys could look straight over Alessia’s head without so much as lifting theirs.

The man scowled at Jake, the expression seeming so natural to his face, that she was sure there would be permanent frown lines above his eyes. 

He narrowed his eyes at her as though she had offended him with her presence and then back at the Alpha, accusingly, “Why did you bring a rogue into pack territory, Jake.”

He said it as though it was a personal insult to him that Alessia was there. Alessia was surprised that this pack member would question his Alpha’s decision, even if it was something as outlandish as bringing an enemy into the heart of the pack.

Jake replied, exasperated, “All shall be explained inside. Has the Council assembled?”

Alessia kept her mouth firmly shut, afraid that this man would behead her for uttering a single word. 

Jake went on up the steps of the Counsel building and Alessia hurried behind him.  She was followed closely by the other man. Turning to look at him, she caught him glaring at her with so much malice, that she would have thought she stole his long-lost love. Alessia turned back quickly.

Well, at least it was safe to say not everyone in the pack was as open as the Pack Doctor. 

She entered behind Jake and stopped dead as her eyes fell on the man she’d grown to fear. His amber eyes and ashy hair fell so gracefully on his angelic-looking face.

Seeing his face was enough to trigger a deep-set panic in Alessia. 

Breath, Alessia, he’s not really here. 

She was so engrossed from seeing Ethan’s image, that she hadn’t immediately noticed the other people in the room. Ethan’s image was a projection of some sort at the center of an oval table. Surrounding that table was a mixture of men and women, varying in age, but sharing similar looks of confusion and distrust.  

Alessia wanted nothing more than to disappear in a puff of smoke. She stepped back driven by a sudden urge to leave, however, Jake placed a hand on her back to stop her. 

She glanced at him before wrapping her arms around herself in an attempt to calm down. When that didn’t work, she resorted to digging her nail into her arms. 

Jake’s hand helped to steady her hammering heartbeat. When the hand left her back, Alessia took a subtle deep breath feeling a little better with the negative attention. 

Jake took a seat at the head of the table and gestured for Alessia to sit at the side where a bench-like cushioned seat was. She avoided looking at anyone else that stared at her and looked at Jake. The man who seemed to already despise the fact that she existed took a seat next to Jake. Alessia then realized, he must be the Beta.

Jake addressed the room with a firm voice that pulled everyone’s attention away from Alessia, “Thank you for meeting me today. I’m aware that you all must be confused as to why I invited a rouge into the pack. It has been brought to my attention that this rouge had information about our threat.”

He gestured to the projection at the center of the table. All heads swiveled to Alessia once again.

Jake inclined his head to indicate that she should speak. Alessia rose from her seat timidly. The nervousness made her nails dig harder into her elbows. Nevertheless, she firmed her voice and spoke, “This man, Ethan Alaister, was part of the South Forest pack. He was the Alpha’s son.”

An eruption of voices exploded in the room and Alessia’s instinct to flee surged up again.

Jake shouted, “Quiet!”

An elderly man, who looked closer to death than life, inquired, “This is ridiculous. The South Forest pack is our ally. Surely, they would have told us if they knew anything about our threat. She speaks lies.”

A shot of anger thudded in Alessia, she hated anyone calling her a liar. She turned to the image of Ethan and pointed at his neck, where the edge of a dark mark was barely visible, “There. The South Forest packs mark their next Alpha with a black circle.”

Another woman spoke up, waving her hands wildly, “She is a spy. How could she know of such information? She must be trying to pin the packs against each other for Ethan.”

There were shouts of agreement around the table. Jake abruptly stood up from his chair and all sound was sucked from the room. When he spoke, Alessia heard the frustration he was combating within his voice, “Alessia has no reason to lie. She was ready to flee moments before, however, I convinced her to assist us with anything she knew. I am not asking you to trust her, but let her finish giving her information before jumping to conclusions!”

He sat back down and turned to Alessia, gesturing for her to continue. She inclined her head to him, thankfully. “Ethan is from the South Forest pack; however, he was banished.” Alessia stared at Ethan’s image at the table’s center, trying to sort through the jumble of things that Ethan had told her, “He said that it was due to his views, but I suspect that it had something to do with him killing his father.”

A man, looking to be in his late 40s, spoke, calmly, but with a slight edge of annoyance to his voice, “Why would Luna Rose lie about her mate’s death?” 

Alessia shrugged, “I couldn’t tell you that. Ethan did make it sound as though he was after something, though. Something ancient and powerful. He said when he got it the packs ‘fear his name’ or something along those dramatic lines.”

Though Alessia spoke lightly, at the time when Ethan had spoken those words to her, she had been so terrified, that she couldn’t move. 

A woman, possibly in her late 20s, said, “Ethan shared this information with you. The both of you must have been close.”

Alessia heard the implication in her words and she replied, simply, “We were. Until I realized that he was a mad man. Then I escaped him and haven’t heard the word of him until now.”

Alessia didn’t take his eyes off the image and said, “He mentioned that he planned on wiping out all the elders and the young adults that did not believe in his cause. Ideally, I suspect he’d prefer to only work with children and teenagers. He believes they will be easier to mold into his image.”

Alessia wracked her brain for any other madness Ethan had spewed that night, “I’m sorry, but I can’t think of anything else. I shall be on my way.”

A man sitting next to the Alpha spoke as she turned, “How do we know you aren’t just spewing nonsense for Ethan to get us off guard?” 

Alessia shrugged, “I suppose you don’t. I didn’t expect you to heed my words.  But your Alpha convinced me to say what I know and I have. Do with that what you will.”

A woman at the far side said, “We can’t just let her leave.”

“Excuse me?” Alessia blurted with astonishment.

People around the table murmured in agreement, “She could be a spy or in line with Ethan.” 

“We should keep her here until we’re sure we can’t use her.”

“She is a rouge after all and not to be trusted.”

Panic rose in Alessia. She looked to Jake to shut down their ridiculous suggestions but was met with Jake’s conflicted look of contemplation. 

Alessia said, desperately, “You promised that I could go free. “

Jake seemed to both look at Alessia, but not meet her eyes. He spoke, evenly, “I didn’t make that promise. They aren’t wrong.  You could be misleading us. If you were to stay here while we sort through the facts. Then we can prove you aren’t in league with Ethan.”

The Beta spoke up, “It isn’t safe to have a rouge among us. We must keep her in the prison.”

Alessia’s heart thumped hard against her chest.

Jake said, simply, “No.”

He stood up with force and radiated authority, “It isn’t confirmed that she’s spoken lies. We shall investigate the facts. If she is correct, I would hate to have thrown her into the prisons for no good reason. Therefore, I will take responsibility for her and she can stay with me as I invited her here.”

The Beta looked from his Alpha to Alessia in disbelief, “Do you not think that maybe that was a plan she had. What if she intends to poison you in the night?”

“I doubt it. But I have a keen sense. You’re aware of that, Dillon. When I am not there to safeguard her. Guards will be posted at my home to ensure she stays put.”

The dread built in Alessia. She could almost feel a metal gate clanging into place to trap her, “You can’t keep me here against my will.”

This time Jake’s green eyes fixed on Alessia’s, “I will for the pack.”

The thought to run fueled her limbs. She was just about ready to leap out, but even in her state of distress, she knew that would be foolish. Any one of these wolves could outrun Alessia. They might even kill her. 

Tears burned in her throat but she refused to let them fall.

Alessia set her jaw and turned away from him.