Chapter 212: A Message Of Peace

Selene’s POV

Even though I was pregnant, I still had to go with William to the meeting between the Alphas. I knew every Alpha was going to bring his Luna, except Lucian, who didn’t have one, and I prayed he wouldn’t create a scene. He had no choice but to show up anyway.

My hand rested on my belly the whole ride there, like I was shielding the baby from the world. I was still glowing from the last time William and I had sex. It had been so good that I was elated at the thought of having it again. But a small, stubborn voice in my head kept whispering that the child inside me might not be his. I shoved it down. Not today.

We got to Bloodmoon just as the meeting was about to kick off. Alpha Xander and his Luna, Sienna, were already seated. It was our first time meeting, and they looked so polished and so effortlessly cool that I admired them on sight. We had brought two of our elders and our Beta, and the Bloodmoon elders were present too.

Only one person was missing. Lucian.

"Where is Lucian?" one of the Bloodmoon elders asked.

"Maybe he’s on his way," another replied.

"We’ll have to wait for him before we can start," Alpha Xander said.

The silence stretched and my jaw tightened. I knew exactly what kind of man made people wait.

We were still sitting there when he arrived. Lucian rolled in with a huge, ridiculous car and made an entrance out of it. He wanted to send a message, and honestly, it was working. But a man only needed to send a message like that when he doubted who he was. Duh.

And Lucian had to be going through a lot, because he was using all this shit to cover it up.

"Sorry for coming late. I was caught up in other engagements," he said.

He dropped into his seat, and I forced myself not to look at him for too long. The bond in my chest tugged anyway, like a hook pulling at me. I hated it. I hated him for making me feel it.

With everyone finally seated, we were ready to begin.

"Okay. The purpose of this meeting, according to Luna Selene and the elders, is to deliberate on how we can work together as a team to fight off opposition," Alpha Xander said.

"Exactly. Owing to the recent events in this territory, we believe they will come back to finish what they started," one of the Winterwood elders said.

"However it plays out, the humans are not wiping out the werewolves. They could have done it before, and they can’t do it in this era," Lucian said.

His words were slurred at the edges. It wasn’t only me who noticed. I knew it. He sounded drunk, like he had been sitting on some serious drink before he came. My chest twisted, and I didn’t know if it was anger or something softer, and I didn’t want to find out.

"The humans have wiped out the werewolf clans before," the Icefang elder said. "If we hadn’t had remnants who were able to restart the bloodline, we would have gone extinct. Now we are advanced, so whatever we do, we have to do it together."

That was real history, and I had things to say about it, but I had to wait for everyone else to finish talking first.

"Based on what we know, they can strike at any time," William said. "Their strength lies in striking unexpectedly. That’s why they’re making us wait this long. It’s a good war strategy."

Murmurs spread around the table. Everyone suddenly had something to say, and we had to quiet them down first.

"I hear offence is the best form of defence," Lucian said.

Heads began nodding around the room.

"So I say we make the first move. Make it lethal and irrecoverable, so we can get the win we desire."

That was not a good idea. Lucian was a war person, and that was why he could think like that. But he also had to consider everyone and everything else, especially the collateral damage. We were trying to get our wolves to conceive and give birth in multiples, and we had so much to lose. My hand pressed against my stomach again. I wanted to respond, to tear the idea apart, but I held my tongue and left it to the others to reason it out.

"That’s a good idea, but these humans are brutal, so we have to be very careful when executing it," Alpha Xander said.

I blinked in surprise. Alpha Xander, taking precautions? He wasn’t as brutal as Lucian, but then, he didn’t have to be.

"We all have to put our minds together for this, and it starts now," he continued. "We’re preparing for the worst days, so we’re starting with intense training for everyone. I know some of our ladies are pregnant, so we’ll go mild on them, but everyone will be trained to fight. There will be no slacking on our end. That is how we win."

Everyone started talking to each other at once. His idea was a good one. It would involve a lot of bloodshed, but at least it would guarantee our safety. At least that was what I told myself.

"I like it," William said, addressing all of us. "If we all agree to do this in unison and train ourselves with no one left out, just like we all agreed to take in and give birth in multiples."

"Do we all agree to this, so we can stamp it?" the Bloodmoon elder asked.

"I have something to say."

It was time for me to speak, and my heart was pounding. Pregnant or not, I would not be the quiet Luna sitting beside her husband.

"I feel that intelligence will always beat a show of strength," I said. "The humans in question are coming with sophisticated weapons. One complex weapon will beat a hundred simple ones. So I think we should invest in our intelligence and complexity. We should start with surveillance. There should be eyes all over our territories that can spot danger before it reaches us. Then we should develop advanced security weapons for the wars to come. And the reason I’m saying this is so that when we agree, we all contribute, financially and otherwise, to the fulfilment of it."

It was surprising how quiet they went to listen to me. Crazy. I had an aura. That was the only conclusion I could draw.

"Hmm. That’s also a good idea," Alpha Xander said, and he started clapping. Everyone followed suit. I was shocked. What the fuck!

I smiled. I was the favorite Luna, and this was my chance to bask in the glory.

"We can make it happen," Xander said.

Lucian’s face wasn’t looking so bright. His eyes found mine across the table, dark and unreadable, and for one second I forgot to breathe. Then I looked away first. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

"We’ll all put our resources together and hand them to you, Luna Selene," Xander said.

"I’ve been doing research, and I have a team for this very purpose, so it won’t be difficult and it won’t take long. I’ll send out the full itinerary," I said.

"Okay, please do."

There was nothing else on the agenda, so we closed the meeting and left. The elders kept shaking my hand and my husband’s.

"You have one wise Luna by your side," one of them said to William.

We both smiled, and William’s fingers squeezed mine under the weight of everyone’s eyes. I felt safe, and I felt guilty about feeling safe.

They were wrong about one thing, though, by the way. I wasn’t just a wise Luna. I was a wise, pregnant one.

---

May’s POV

The wolves in them were fading drastically. They looked more like humans every day.

"I like your new look," Tony said to them. He was openly admiring them, like they were a collection he had finished building.

They stared at him strangely. Maybe they didn’t know they were supposed to say thank you, or maybe they didn’t want to say it.

"You know what’s even better? Your genetic makeup after the Wolfsbane recipe. Your wolves are becoming human, which makes you a stronger, evolved species of human in a very short period of time. You are really lucky," he said, smiling, and he went down the line shaking their hands one by one.

I just sat there, observing them, with a cold weight settling in my stomach.

They could never grasp the magnitude of what was coming.

I was a puppet, but they were bigger puppets in the hands of Tony and the government, and the worst part was that they were smiling about it.

"We’re really happy to become better. We look forward to it," Ciro said.

I really hoped he meant it. I didn’t think he did. I didn’t think any of them did. For a second his eyes met mine, and I looked away before he could read the guilt on my face.

"May, we’re going to see the president now!" Tony said to me, already heading outside.

He didn’t even give me prior notice. He didn’t respect me, so I shouldn’t have expected him to inform me anyway.

Still, see me rushing after him like a dog on a leash. This was my opportunity to hear important information, so I swallowed my pride and hopped into his car.

We got to the president’s residence, and he was so happy to see us. His office hadn’t changed. It had the same ambience, and I fucking loved it. I wished I could become president someday, but I knew it wasn’t possible in this life or in an infinite number of lifetimes.

And if I ever did become president, the first thing I would do was kill Tony. He was a fucking prick.

My job there was to sit down and listen, so I did.

"The werewolves must be wondering why we haven’t responded to them yet," the president said to Tony.

"Sir, they’re surely suspecting that something is wrong," Tony replied.

"I want them to suspect. Let them be on their toes. Take all the necessary precautions, keep me updated by text, and try to make things look right. Get everything you possibly can out of them. They will still never be able to recover from what will happen to them in a few months," President Jackson said.

"Let’s not forget they can strike first," Tony said.

That was a good observation, I thought. No one would stay quiet for long with a threat hanging over them.

"They can’t. Our surveillance will catch it. But if that’s the case, let’s give them a reply."

President Jackson called in his minister of information and told him to send a message of peace and tranquility to Morvaine.

A message of peace, from the man planning their funeral.

This was beyond tricky.