The Bane of My Existence

Chapter 27

" Once upon a time, in a land far far away," said Alpha Bax his eyes twinkling in bright humor that was swiftly snuffed by my own baleful stare.

" As I was saying, " he continued after firmly clearing his throat. "The Weres were at war."

Naturally!  Thats all they ever seemed to be about.

"It was a time when everyone was keeping slaves. Spoils of war it was called. The tradition of it just never got wiped out. It has been around for too long. Every Were pack keeps slaves. Be it rogue wolves that are captured or prize captured of attacking wolves," he said shrugging matter-of-factly.

I stared at him appalled by his casual disregard of such a serious matter. "That was a very short story," I said finally,  pointedly.

"There are reading materials over just about every Were war in written history on record in there. The tales get a little taller for belief the further back into time you venture but the gist remained the same throughout. Slavery was always there," he said wiping a large hand over his face in resignation.  " I know cause I actually plowed through the whole lot trying to find a way out of it all."

"Huh?" I said simply,  not understanding what he was getting at.

"I was educated in Oxford University,  London. My mother was from England.  She was a visiting Were touring Australia when she met my father the Alpha at that time and through the natural mating attractions,  she knew she was destined to remain with the Payton pack for the duration of her time as Luna. And while her home packs also kept slaves she was a progressive thinker. Hence why I was sent away for my education in Sociology and Political Science. I went so far as to even achieve a doctorate in behavioural sciences. It really wasn't all that difficult given that I had real life experiences to draw a lot of ny ideas from," he said with a rueful smile, that I didn't return.

" When I got back I met my Luna. She was beautiful and came from this very same pack. But she shared nothing of my ideals to wrought change. Then just three years later she was gone.  Killed in an ambush by the Ahdari pack. In that ambush, my sister too lost her mate to be for she was abducted to be enslaved," he whispered shakily,  his expression wrought with the pain of that moment.  I shifted closer to him then and laid my hand soothingly upon his knee.  He covered my hand before drawing a deep shuddering breath to centre himself.  

"I had a hard time sticking to my beliefs then. Infact I didn't at all. I gathered my warriors and led the assault on the Ahdari's. We slaughtered many. Enslaved all you see and recued back our own but it was already too late for my sister. Lia had already been put through the enslaving ritual. She lost her right to be free," he said brokenly. His voice as raw as his expression as he clearly relived those moments.

" I don't understand.  What ritual? "  I looked up at him wanting to know.

" Weres enslave not just the body or the will but the very soul," he said softly,  his tone sombre and resigned.  " In my research into our past, I uncovered that slavery was relatively new. As new as the time the witches attained power and assisted with the process.  A Were could not be safely enslaved otherwise not unless their will was already dead or very near it. The witches offered then their advise in return for protection for they too were being hunted. So slavery amongst the Were was born," he said simply moving to stand and then pace restlessly.

" But what does that mean?" I asked softly knowing there was something really horrible about all this.

" It means that a slave can never have a mate. Can never be freed. A lost soul can never be returned," he snapped angrily.  "For my sweet Lia, she remains a slave still in the eyes of all Weres even though she lives free and right here with me. But seeing her day in day out an empty shell of her former self was killing me. I had to do something.  But I didn't know what.  Until I heard about your brother! "

He came to me then, his face alight with possibilities.  I scrambled back a few paces but found myself trapped by his hands firm on my arms.

" Your brother could be the King we all need. He could lead us Weres away from the ways of the old and into a more progressive future. I knew this instantly but I had to meet him first to be sure. So I came to see him and your father six months ago and we came to agreement that I would sponsor Calvin Bane as our King and mould him into the warrior he could be to lead us to freedom.  A freedom from war and collecting the spoils of war."

He stared into my eyes with an intensity that was unnerving. "I saw you that day. When I visited your home. You were already halfway off to the water pool. You were with Kate and Mattew and were calling out to Calvin to join you. He had to meet with me and couldn't go and so you teased him mercilessly about him having a secret kitty that he was naughtily dipping into. You were so deliciously wicked in your delivery that I had very much wanted to dip into your kitty for a taste. I have not been remotely interested in a women since the death of my mate but you brought it all back. The wanting. The excitement.  I knew I had to have you too. So I had you locked into that contract terms as well. But I didn't name you and your dad proposed that I choose between you or Kate. But for me there never was a choice.  The decision had already been made."

He leaned in then to brush his lips heavily against mine. Pausing only to do it again.  And then against.  Till were both panting hard from the mere press of our lips against each other.