Chapter 61
[ 701 words ]
The Alphas
61: 61.
The Alphas Aria
Two days later, I realize hope doesn’t mean much here.
The Citadel rises like something out of a nightmare.
Massive.
Cold.
Imposing.
Guards line every entrance.
Every hallway.
Every shadow.
We’re escorted inside, and immediately, I feel it.
Power.
Not just one kind.
Different kinds.
My wolf stiffens not liking this anymore then I do.
I look around, trying not to stare too obviously.
There are wolves everywhere.
But something is… off.
They’re weaker, my wolf murmurs.
I frown slightly.
She’s right.
Some of them—many of them—don’t feel like Kade.
Or Ronan.
Or even Barric.
They feel… smaller.
Less dominant.
And yet—
“They’re in charge,” I whisper under my breath.
How my wolf asks.
I don’t have an answer.
How did wolves like this band together and take control of *everything*?
And more importantly—
Why are the strongest ones allowing it?
We pass other Alphas as we’re led deeper inside.
Some nod to Kade.
Some to Ronan.
Others watch.
Carefully.
Me.
Always me.
My skin prickles.
They see us, my wolf says.
I lift my chin slightly.
Let them.
We’re ushered into a massive assembly room.
Rows of seats.
Dozens of Alphas.
Enforcers standing behind them.
Some mates scattered among them.
The air is thick with tension.
At the front—
A long table.
Five figures seated behind it.
My stomach drops.
Aldrin sits in the center.
Kane to his right.
The other three—I don’t know their names.
But I feel them.
Cold.
Sharp.
Calculating.
Predators of a different kind.
We take our seats.
I sit between Ronan and Kade, Liam just to my left.
My wolf presses close.
Stay ready.
Aldrin stands.
The room quiets instantly.
“Recent attacks on our kind,” he begins, voice carrying easily, “have made one thing clear.”
His gaze sweeps the room.
“The veil between our world and the human one is thinning.”
Murmurs ripple through the crowd.
“With that,” he continues, “comes increased risk. Increased exposure.”
His tone shifts.
Subtle.
But deliberate.
“Several shifter lives have already been lost.”
More murmurs.
Fear.
I can feel it building.
“And hunters,” he says, voice hardening, “are using this to their advantage.”
There it is.
Fear.
He’s feeding it.
My wolf snarls softly.
He twists the truth.
I watch him carefully now.
Because I see it.
The way he leads.
Pushes.
Guides the room where he wants it to go.
“We are here,” Aldrin continues, “to vote on expanding Protocol Ashfall.”
My stomach churns.
“Beginning with North America.”
The words hit like a slap.
Images flood my mind.
People.
Normal people.
Unaware.
Living their lives.
Just like I was.
My hands curl into fists.
“They would be targets,” I whisper.
Innocent, my wolf agrees.
Something in me snaps.
I stand.
The movement is sudden enough that it cuts through the room.
All eyes turn to me.
Good.
“Tell me something,” I say, voice steady despite the storm inside me.
“How does killing people without cause make anyone safer?”
A ripple goes through the crowd.
Aldrin’s gaze locks onto mine.
Cold.
Sharp.
“Because,” he says smoothly, “knowledge makes them dangerous.”
I take a step forward.
“No,” I counter.
“Assumption makes you dangerous.”
A few heads turn.
A few Alphas lean forward.
Interested.
“You’re assuming every human who knows about you will want to hurt you,” I continue.
“That curiosity equals threat.”
“Fear leads to violence,” Kane cuts in.
“Sometimes,” I agree.
“But not always.”
My voice strengthens.
“They don’t understand you. Of course they’d be afraid. But that doesn’t mean they’d hunt you.”
Aldrin’s expression tightens.
“And you know this how?” he asks.
Because I *was one.*
“Because I’ve lived it,” I say.
Silence.
Thick.
Heavy.
“And what are you proposing?” I continue.
“That’s no different than what hunters do.”
That lands.
I see it.
The flicker.
“You’re turning yourselves into the very thing you claim to be protecting against.”
Aldrin’s eyes flash.
“You speak from inexperience.”
“And you speak from fear,” I shoot back.
The tension spikes.
Sharp.
Dangerous.
I turn then, shifting my focus.
Not the Assembly.
The Alphas.
All of them.
“You’ve lost people,” I say.
“All of you. To violence. To war. To betrayal.”
Faces harden.
Pain flickers.
Memory.
“Are you really willing to become that for someone else?” I ask.
My voice softens.
But it carries.
“Because that’s what this is. You won’t create safety. You’ll create more loss. More anger. More war.”
My wolf steps forward inside me letting her own power be known.
“This won’t bring peace,” I finish.
“It’ll divide everything even further.”
For a moment—
No one speaks.
Then Kane stands abruptly.
“That’s enough,” he snaps.
“Sit down or be removed.”
My heart pounds.
But I don’t move.
Not an inch.
A chair scrapes beside me.
Ronan stands.
The shift in the room is immediate.
Power.
Raw.
Dominant.
“Anyone who lays a hand on my mate,” he says, voice low and lethal, “won’t have hands.”
A ripple of tension spreads.
Predatory.
Alive.
One of the other Assembly members raises a hand quickly.
“Enough,” he says.
“This is not why we are here.”
His gaze sweeps the room.
“We will proceed with a vote.”
Aldrin exhales slowly, regaining control.
“The protocol exists for a reason,” he says.
“Whether a newly shifted wolf understands that or not…”
His eyes flick to me.
“It will remain as it is.”
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