Raquel couldn't remember the last time since her divorce when she had fallen into a deep, dreamless slumber.
Opening her eyes it felt like she had been unconscious for days and when she shifted she released a satisfied moan at finally getting a full night's sleep. Stretching she collapsed once again against the soft comforter that felt like heaven against her skin and the second she felt herself drift back into the arms of sleep as if a switch lodged in the deep corner of her mind had been flipped the events from the previous night emerged unveiling everything the light touched in her head.
Tensing at the dread that flooded her system she jumped out of bed taking in the unfamiliar room. With the large space covered in neutral colours of grey, black and white, panic filled her up to the point she found herself choking on it as tears cascaded down her face at what possible atrocities had been done or awaited her. Her hand shot up immediately expecting to feel teeth marks but there was none. Moving across the carpet in alarm unsure of what to do except find a way to escape she ran towards the window and attempted to pry it open in the hopes she could hop out and escape her captor. "Unless you've mastered how to jump straight from a window onto your feet without breaking a single bone in your body, I strongly suggest you come up with another plan," a soft voice said causing Raquel to freeze at being caught.
Turning cautiously in the direction of the voice she found blue eyes taking her in with a light within them that spoke of the wisdom that was present from a maid named Lea Dawn who had been part of the household for decades. Though she had seen a lot that took place in the Victorian style home nothing could have prepared her for seeing Alpha Silas waltz into his home cradling a human to his chest. From the smell rolling off her body it was evident the notoriously possessive side that existed in most werewolves especially one of Silas' calibre had taken over and wasted no time in establishing to whom she belonged. Needless to say she had been anxious to see her wake up and be one of the first to interact with the new Luna.
But watching the way her eyes blinked widely, the fear swirling in her brown pools, Lea cursed lowly at the fact Silas had supposedly taken the girl against her will, "I swear that boy is just begging me to lodge my foot up his ass," she grumbled moving forward whilst holding a tray of breakfast. Raquel upon instinct took a step back; though the older woman seemed harmless one can never be too careful. "I'm not going to hurt you…" she uttered gently placing the tray down to lift her hands to show she means her no harm.
"W-Where am I?" Raquel asked keeping her back pressed against the wall in desperate need of some form of support. "You're safe; if you just take a minute to sit and calm down I promise to answer any questions you have."
"Why should I trust you, for all I know you're just as involved as that psychopath?" Raquel frowned crossing her arms staring at her incredulously only to have the woman chuckle at the notion. "I can understand where you're coming from; I have no problem letting you walk out right now but you wouldn't know where you are and I can assure you considering the scent and shirt on your body no one will be willing to let you go," she said it so sweetly that Raquel took a moment to process her words before her gaze dropped to the large shirt she wore. And she nearly face palmed herself for not noticing she was no longer wearing her own clothes.
The shirt was made of cotton and was a simple grey shade that reached just past her thighs but now she felt rather exposed and began pulling on it. "Like I said, you're safe. Take a seat I'm sure you must be famished, "Lea said beckoning her forward wearing a gentle smile. Nibbling her bottom lip despite the fast pace at which her heart beat she took a step forward hoping the woman was indeed genuine. Eventually she plopped on the sofa and watched the woman intently remove the cover over the food that sparked her stomach to grumble. Feeling sheepish Lea snickered at the sound and poured a generous amount of juice after Raquel told her she preferred it as opposed to coffee.
Taking a seat across from Raquel who had begun to dig in Lea observed her for a moment or so feeling slight pity for how overwhelming this all must be for her. Most humans were still unaware of the existence of werewolves and it was for a reason. Humanity would surely lose their minds if they knew such beings like them existed and it would lead to the war they were trying to avoid with Saul.
"So… what exactly would you like to know?"
***
The grand hall in the quaint village of Rovina was filled to the max, with shrills and yelling amongst the crowd over what to do. One of their guards by the name of Fred was shot and injured by a silver bullet from the human hunters whilst patrolling the border of their territory. Besides the rogue wolves, another enemy they had to deal with were the human hunters who were convinced of their existence. The werewolves were relieved most humans threw a deaf ear to their claims that they existed and paid them no mind such that they were deemed lunatics but some humans who believed they existed took their beliefs quite far to hunting them down.
As of late they had grown even more violent in their tactics and it wasn't ideal for their warriors to be getting hurt when there was a high chance they would be going to war with Saul and his demented army. With a diverse pack that consisted of humans and werewolves, a debate had erupted amongst them over what to do. "We need to go out and RIP THEIR THROATS!" Grant bellowed in Ivan's face.
"Then what? We'd only be giving them more reason to kill us. We already have to deal with those fucking rogues, we don't need another enemy breathing down our necks," Ivan replied keeping his tone controlled despite being met with aggression from Grant who was the general of the warriors. They often butted heads over issues pertaining to the pack and usually ended up sparring.
"Do you hear yourself?! They're already OUR ENEMY! And us saying nothing whilst choosing to cower in the fucking shadow will compel them to attack again. So I suggest we counter, they did a terrible job in masking their scent it won't take long to track and kill them a –"
"ENOUGH!" Silas growled eyes beaming causing everyone in the hall to grow silent as the Alpha stood up from his seat. He would have preferred to stay in bed with his mate; however, he had to attend to the urgent matter that worsened his mood. "Ivan is right," he said lifting his hand to already silence the General's attempt to interrupt him, "The last thing we want is to draw any attention to ourselves. We need to focus on the bigger enemy coming our way and the attack from the hunters has actually managed to expose how much we need to tighten up protection on the border in case any bigger danger comes," he explained standing before his people keeping his voice firm. The last thing a pack would ever want was to see their Alpha wilt under pressure and they all nodded their heads in agreement all except Grant who didn't bother to hide how annoyed he was.
Silas wasn't even surprised once everyone left to have Grant voicing out his distaste for the decision, "You need to stop acting on your emotions and think with your head, General," Silas mumbled brushing past him already dying to go home. He had spent majority of the day organizing the warriors and even visited Fred such that by the time the meeting had started, the sun was already setting. He hadn't anticipated spending so much time away from her. In fact he wanted to be there when she woke up to explain everything but now the task would be left up to Lea to ease his mate.
"I swear ever since the humans joined, THIS PACK HAS BECOME WEAK – WEAK I TELL YOU!" he yelled, veins bulging out of his neck due to the pent up rage he felt. "And yet you have no issue fucking the women," Silas replied nonchalantly, he had heard tales of him gallivanting with the some of the females in the pack which was why he found it strange he was so against having humans around..
"I have needs," was the excuse given that led to both the Alpha and Beta laughing at Grant's response. "It's bad enough you attempt to oppose your Alpha, now you choose to be a hypocrite. I swear Grant being an asshole is not a good look on you."
"If being honest makes me an asshole then so be it. The guard who got hit was a mixed breed, you guys know as much as I do that it would take a whole fucking army to take us pure blooded wolves down. Our army is becoming weak and the sooner you depart from your stupid delusion we can all co-exist the be –"
"You're starting to sound more and more like Saul… should I be worried about where your loyalty lies?" Silas grunted moving menacingly towards him. The younger male immediately lowered his eyes to the ground at the sight of Silas' golden eyes and slunk down in size feeling fear, "You are to do as I say. If you show any disobedience towards me, I will not hesitate to put you in your place. Do not think your ranking gives you immunity to say anything disrespectful to me. Do you understand?"
Swallowing down the hard dose of truth placed before him, Grant had no choice but to swallow down his anger and replied with a simple, "Yes Alpha."