Mae's P.O.V. -- Before Damon's Arrival
My father, Red, and I run down the corridor and toward the front entrance of Carcere. As guards began to appear in the connecting hallways, they growl lowly and slowly stalk toward us.
"Can't you command them?" Red asks as he violently shoves an advancing wolf into the wall, causing a cloud of concrete dust to rain down on us.
My father shakes his head, "They are under the command of the Elder Councilmen. My wolf is dominant, but not dominate enough to break their influences. We will have to fight our way out."
"What then? We don't have the numbers to get her out alive," Red states furiously.
My father looks over his shoulder at my faithful guard, his eyes twinkling like a child with secrets. "We have enough," he states simply as he ducks and swipes his massive paw across a burly guard's throat.
The guard howls out in pain and slumps to the floor as his blood runs down his chest and pools beneath his crumpled form. He had gotten close, too close.
"Can you two have this conversation later and pay attention to the wolves trying to rip me to shreds?" I shriek as a third wolfin guard begins to shift and lunge.
Red pulls me into his chest and tucks me into a ball as my father reaches out and catches the large brown wolf around the chest. His massive arms squeeze together until the wolf's rib cage is nothing more than internal splinters and I don't know whether I should be proud of my father's strength or sickened by his ability to kill without a hint of regret.
"I do regret it Mae," he answer my unspoken question softly as he reaches for my hand once more. "But I will do whatever I must to ensure your survival."
My eyes portray the bewilderment I feel at him being able to seemingly read my mind.
"Being that your wolf was sacrificed for the greater good, for now, you still retain a part of her spirit within you. I, as well as Damon, can feel your emotions through our bonds with you."
I skid to a stop as three more wolves appear in front of us, trying to decipher what my father meant by for now, until Red lets out a low warning growl and snatches me out of my father's grasp. "Mine," he hisses and wraps his arms around me as he eyes the three guards.
My father's growl, however, is thunderous and warns the three men of their impending death if they choose to advance.
"Councilman Hughes," the shorter, stockier man drawls out. "Why am I not surprised to see you here?" he taunted.
"Councilman Barnes," my father hisses. "Why am I not surprised to see you here?" he mocks.
"Because it is my duty to eradicate the humans, mated or not, from existence."
My father shakes as his wolf begs to be release and grits his teeth as he ask, "You dare go against the treaty?"
"The humans started this war long ago. It was they who wanted to eradicate us, or does your love of humans cloud your memory as well as your loyalties?"
"My love and loyalties are none of your concern at the moment," my father states tersely as he stands defensively in front of me.
"But aren't they? You are risking your life for an unmated human female; my only question is, why?"
I cannot take the banter between the two wolfin men any longer and stand on my tip toes as I eye the Councilman. "There is always more than meets the eye Dip-shit," I spit and struggled to pull out of Red's hold, "or didn't your bitch ever tell you that?"
Barnes' eyes glow a deep red as his wolf is pushed closer to the surface. "You dare speak ill of a Councilman's mother, human?"
Red tightens his arms around me and whispers lowly in my ear, "That's enough Mae. Don't make this any more difficult than it already is."
Ignoring my guard, I stand defiantly in his hold, "Yes. I dare. You are an ignorant bastard that knows nothing except hate for those who are different than you. You, along with the rest of the Council, have the ability to make things better for everyone, to pave a new road where individuality is accepted and appreciated and can be used to further society. But you have chosen to let your ignorance influence you and you have chosen to remain ignorant. You have chosen to teach intolerance and you have chosen to teach hate. As a result, you have chosen a path that will lead to destruction for all races - wolfin and human alike."
By the time I finish my rant, I am shaking and breathless. The anger and hurt weighs heavily in my soul and I want nothing more than to be in the arms of my wolfin mate and the comfort and safety that I know only he can give me.
I close my eyes and draw in a much needed breath but reopen them as I am shoved to the floor. Looking up, I come face to belly with Red's ginger colored wolf and his low snarls draw my attention away from the tickle his fur is creating against my neck. I tilt my head back to see my father's wolf locked in battle with Barnes, and as the two wolves who had escorted the councilman look from the battle to me, I can tell they are debating my words and their options.
"You have a choice," I call out as I struggle to free myself from beneath Red, "You can choose to live under the influences of hate-filled guidance or you can choose to fight with us for what you know is right."
As I work my way from under him, Red's wolfin eyes meet mine, warning me to stay in place. Once again I choose to ignore my guard only to be held in place as he sits his hunches firmly on my legs, pinning me protectively beneath him. I roll my eyes and sigh as I look back to the two guards.
I can see the debate they are having within themselves and feel my heart drop as they shift and lunge toward the fighting Councilmen. However, as they lunge for Barnes, I know they had made their choices. As Barnes is pinned against the wall, he shifts back into his human form, his angry red eyes meeting mine.
"Regardless of what happens to me here today, human," he spits, "once you exit that door, you will die before your Alpha mate arrives."
The cinnamon colored wolfin guard growls lowly and grasps Barnes by his throat. As he slings his head back and rips the councilman's throat out, I close my eyes.
I feel Red stand and wait until all four men in the corridor shift back to their human forms before I stand. My father and my guard place me between their naked bodies and growl lowly as they wait for the two guards to state their intentions.
It was the wolfin guard that had taken the Councilman's life, and subsequently his position on the Council, that speaks first. "Councilman Hughes," he bows his head in submission to my father, "I relinquish all rights as Councilman to you as I am not worthy of such a position. I have allowed the Council's hatred and intolerance to dominate and control my actions and I will take whatever punishment you deem appropriate."
The second guard steps beside the first and bows his head as well, "I too have allowed myself to be influenced and misguided and will accept any punishment you deem appropriate."
My father stands stoically in front of the two men before walking forward and claiming their submissiveness. "Before I pardoned you," he pauses as the men trembled under his authority, "I must ask, are you willing to fight along side my daughter and her Alpha mate to ensure that all wolves and humans are allowed the freedoms due to them, to ensure that no wolf is punished for accepting their human mate, and to protect their hybrid pups with your lives from this day forward?"
The two wolves look to me as understanding passes through their eyes. Without hesitation the two wolves step toward me and bow their heads, stretching their necks out once more, "Yes, Luna, we will fight for you and with you, as well as for Alpha Damon and with Alpha Damon."
My father looks to Red and nods once, signaling Red to release his hold on me. I step away from my guard and walk toward the two men. As I my lips touch their skin, I place a small kiss over my father's marks, accepting each wolf's loyalty as I had with Red. The two guards shudder in acceptance before falling to their knees, their wolves soul's becoming free of the Council's commands.
I kneel in front of each wolf and tilt their heads up. As I brush away their guilty tears, my voice quivers, "Come, just as we have freed you, we have others we must still set free as well."
The two men slowly stand and compose themselves before taking up guard on either side of me. As we push through the doors of Carcere, the bright sunlight momentarily blinds me and the heat quickly warms my cool skin. I blink rapidly to adjust to the sudden light and as the scene before me comes into focus, I stumble back into Red.
My father's stony expression morphs into one of pride and his lips curl into a small satisfactory smile as he looks to Red, "I told you we have enough."
I look over the group of wolves that formed a series of circles just outside Carcere's main door. As my father steps forward and gently tugs me behind him, the wolves - some still in human form - bow their heads and step aside before closing the gap behind us. This process was repeated until we come to stand in the center of two reigning Alphas and at least two hundred wolfin warriors.
"How?" I gasp as I looked over the large group of warriors.
"Mae, my beautiful daughter," my father cups my face as he turns toward me, "every wolf you see here either has lost a human mate to this war or has a human mate hidden from the Council. They want to be able to love them just as openly as anyone else is allowed to and they want to be able to have pups just as much."
"But..." my whispered words trail off as the rest of the Councilmen and their guards arrive in grandeur fashion, their faces giving nothing away as they look over the large group surrounding us.
I cower back into Red as an older and slightly humped-back man steps forward and his eyes land on me. The power radiating from him is oppressive and as he speaks, his words hold evidence of his position within the Council.
"I see you have made your choice Richard. This act of treason will not go unpunished."
"Elder Sims," my father greets tersely. "I assure you that each one of us here are all fully aware of what will happen shall we fail in our mission. But, I am also fully aware you were warned many years ago of what was to become of you and the Council if you chose to ignore my warnings."
Elder Sims scoffs in disgust, "Prophetic visions are nonsense Son."
My father shakes his head bemusedly as the wolves with the Councilmen began to circle the ones guarding me. "Then how do you explain the events that have taken place?"
The Elder holds my gaze, his eyes searching for something unknown, "What has taken place is merely coincidence."
I still as a his hazel eyes flicker blood red and continue to pierce into the depths of my soul, his mouth forming a tight line as his hands curl into fist by his sides.
"He's afraid," I whisper as I begin to crumble under his intense stare.
"Is it?" my father asks the Elder as he moves in front of me, blocking me from whatever spell the Elder Councilman is attempting to put me under.
Red pulls me into him as a commotion from the edge of the woods breaks through the tension building between my father and the Elder. We stand silent and listen as a long mournful howl sounds. As I look over the group of warriors, I take in their relieved expressions.
Red eases his hold on me and nods toward the incline where the commotion had taken place. I turn and feel a small smile form upon my lips as my wolfin mate stands proudly against the high noon sun.
His wolf is a beautiful sight to behold and I feel the all too familiar ache in my chest to run toward him. However, I am soon brought back to reality as the warriors surrounding us start growling and snarling and I watch helplessly as Damon lets out a long battle howl and rushes forward, effectively signaling the beginning of the end of a war that has lasted too long.
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