Bursting into Maya’s house, the heavy door hitting against the wall, I spy her about to serve breakfast to the pups. They all stare at me in shock, as I glare at her in anger. Footsteps thundering behind me tell me Luke has finally caught up after l’commanded him to sit still for five minutes, knowing that I would need a head start with my body still sore from the ordeal I just went through.
“We need to talk.” I try my best to stay calm in front of the pups, trying my best not to scare them. Maya sighs, as Dan gives her a reassuring smile, telling his mate to go outside with me. She smiles at her pups, promising that we will be right back, before walking towards me. I turn on my heels, retreating outside and glaring at Luke, who silently watches me. I know he means well, but he tried to stop me from storming down here, claiming I needed to rest. Screw resting. Stormclaw turned their back on us, how dare they ask for help
now?
“I am guessing Luke told you,” Maya sighs as soon as we are ten feet away from the house.
“He told me, and I am pissed. Not at you, but at them,” I answer, letting my rage out. Luke winces, taking a spot behind Maya.
“Don’t worry, I am not going to attack anyone,” I reassure him as I pace. I wince when I turn to face Maya, thankful that she isn’t telling me to calm down, but at the same time, I can sense her unease. She is worried
about me.
“Kurt and I have been in contact since we left. He is an old friend of mine, and is Seth‘ godfather,” she begins to explain, stopping me in my tracks.
“He has been keeping an eye on Stormclaw, and many of the wolves, mainly omegas, need to escape. Kazil is allowing Caroline to abuse them, and they need a fresh start.” I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I know Caroline. She is a spoiled, power–hungry b***h. I’ve had to save many of the omegas and pups from her bullying since I was a child, even having to help take care of their wounds.
“How bad is it there?” I ask, my heart aching for those left to the tyranny.
“Bad. Seth and Kurt are trying to protect them. But Kazil is making it difficult.” Shocked once more, I run a hand through my hair as I let the fact that Seth is trying to get the omegas out of Stormclaw for their own good sink in. He always cared about the pack. Cared about protecting them from harm, whether they were pups, omegas, or even our warriors who were sworn to give their lives. Maybe him rejecting me has something to do with this–with protecting Stormclaw.
“I can see the gears shifting in your head, Liora. You figured something out, didn’t you?” Luke calls out, finally joining the conversation.
“I did. But I have a feeling Maya doesn’t know the reason why Seth is engaged to Caroline,” I nod, stepping closer to the two. My anger has dissipated. Maya left Stormclaw, and wouldn’t step in unless the situation was dire. If she is talking to me about having wolves move here, then the situation is dire.
“I don’t. If I did, I would have told you by now.” I sense truth to her words and accept her answer before I turn in the direction where the majority of the pack lives. Maya’s house and my cottage are on the outskirts of the pack, just inside the forest tree line. We would need to plan where to build new houses, and maybe a few
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dormitories for single wolves without a mate or families.
“Will it be just omegas?”
+8 Points >
“No. Kurt has a list of warriors and trackers who want to leave as well. All of them are under thirty years old.” My body relaxes with relief. More warriors and trackers are a good thing, even if they are the weakest of the bunch. We can train them up, get them to help make Ivory Fangs stronger.
“We need to stagger the wolves coming into the pack then. We can’t have a large group just appear out of nowhere, after the damage Blood Moon caused. If we can have at least a group of ten come every fourteen days, that would be reasonable,” Luke chimes in. It is a smart plan, actually. It gives us two weeks between each batch of wolves, to weed out anyone loyal to Kazil and send them back as rogues.
“We will need at least three weeks to prepare, though. Start the building process of a new dormitory, and a
few houses for those with pups.” I turn back to see Maya nodding in agreement, motioning for Luke and me
to follow her back towards her house, stating we should continue this subject inside her home office. We stop by the kitchen to grab some breakfast, and I apologize to the pups and Dan for scaring them, before the
three of us make our way inside the office.
“We can have a meeting with Alexander tomorrow to flesh out the deal before I call Kurt back, but Liora is right, we need more housing for those coming to join Ivory Fangs,” Maya states as we settle down at the small table she has for meetings. In her hand is a notebook that she passes to me, and I begin to write down what we have previously discussed.
It takes us another hour to flesh out the plan on how to help those in Stormclaw escape unnoticed, as well as help them make their way quickly to Ivory Paw. Luke suggests buying a large charter. bus and using that to pick up and drive them here, which I thought was a great idea. We could send two or three warriors, and have them relay information to us about the Stormclaw wolves while they travel to Ivory Fangs. Sending three wolves also meant they can take turns driving, and only stop to fuel the charter bus.
The main problems will be changing their cellphone and banking information so that they can’t be traced. I suggested having a wolf apply to work in both the bank and the cellphone company that Ivory Fangs uses in the local town. It would give us an inside man who could help each new wolf set up an account at each
location.
With the plan mostly vetted, Maya ended the impromptu meeting and told me to go back to the cottage and rest for the day. Tomorrow, we will meet with Alexander to prepare a contract for Kurt and Seth to sign, while also taking care of the legal matters that pertain to the businesses the previous alpha family owned. Luke said he would take me to my house and make sure I rest, and Maya thanked him for that. To be honest, I don’t even know how I managed to march the twenty–minute walk to Maya’s house, and chalked it up to a rage–fueled endeavor.
It is when I am saying goodbye to Dan and Maya that I stop at the bottom of the porch steps. We knew that Kurt reached out to us for help, but he wouldn’t have done that unless someone else was backing him. Turning to face Maya, I take a deep breath and finally ask what I should have asked before we planned to open our pack to the people who turned their backs on me.
“Who gave Kurt the okay to reach out to us?”
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