Silver Skin

11

Alpha Accalia
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Accalia
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Accalia stifled a yawn, covering her mouth with the back of her hand as her eyes closed shut. She wanted to stay like this, in the darkness of closed eyes and to not open them again.

At the beginning, with her eyes closed shut, the distant growls and roars of lycans settled by her ears and the lasting visions of decaying wolves surrounded her from the battles that became her. She didn't know if she was in the past or the foreseeable future.

But now, her shut eyelids offered a semblance of peace, a momentary fleet of contentment. It would give nothing in the long run.

"Accalia?"

Accalia jolted, snapping her eyes open and turned her attention back to the Alphas circling the table with curious and harsh looks in their aged eyes. All of them were staring at her, Calla, Koda, Soren and Larissa — a lineup of foreboding creatures staring her down as if she was a mere girl.

"Sorry?" She asked hoarsely, sitting straighter in her seat.

Calla Lacuna leant toward her, face warped in concern. She was one of the first women to grow to power in the world of lycans and werewolves. She was a she-lycan of peace and despised bloodshed. And with good reason. It had led them nowhere.

For Calla to be here, it was important to Accalia.

"With Lycus still missing—" Calla watched with precise vision as Accalia flinched from the mention. "—we have ruled out every pack to find him and that perhaps we should start searching at night. Maybe we could find a vampire to give us answers."

The veil on vampires had been lifted and their existence was now known. During the battle, lycans and werewolves alike deserved to know what truly liked within the shadows because it wasn't only them in the battleground anymore. They couldn't fight blindly.

The news wasn't ... welcomed. Especially when Accalia and the others had to further explain just how powerful the bloodsuckers were. They had to dig all they had up, starting from their appearance, how unassuming they come across, to when that mask fell and what came through the skin of a human. Their ravenous hunger for human blood was a challenge the moon-bound creatures had to stomach.

Lycans had met their match, the scales had been tipped and no one liked it.

"We could do that," Accalia responded and drummed her fingers across the smooth wooden table, "But it would take a lot to capture a vampire."

"How do you mean?" Alpha Soren Roan demanded, lacing his fingers together.

He wasn't pleased to be here, no Alpha was besides Calla who wilfully made the long trip. It was too risky and with everything that had happened, a peculiar paranoia had gripped the Alphas by their necks, choking them into the possibility of terror coming into their packs too.

But a gap had to be closed. With the war, everything was in shambles, and slowly the Alphas had to rectify the damage. Monthly meetings were their first step.

This was their third meeting. The first was insufferable, Tala had to accompany Accalia and lead the meeting. The second was tolerable, with Tala standing behind her and this time ... it was better than the last.

Accalia needed to strengthen alliances, ensure treaties and make do with what she could. Lycus wasn't here and his pack was being led by his mate. Everyone shared their doubts about it.

Accalia had struggled to prove herself worthy with the very few allies she had.

"Vampires are faster and swifter than lycans. If you want to capture one, it will take a lot of planning and even if you do get one, and that's a slim chance, there's the possibility of being compelled or being drained dry." Accalia stated plainly, earning hushed whispers and gasps throughout the meeting room.