AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The Alpha to my far left shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and it didn’t take sight to know it was Lior.
“General Titus.” The low, rumbling voice was Mikel. He had been in the war—but he hadn’t fought long. He was a good strategist, and I had worked with him more than once, but I couldn’t trust that after all this, he hadn’t become weak-willed. “We’re relieved to see you alive and here with us.”
“I’m relieved to still be breathing, Major General Ayala.” I felt a jolt of surprise across the room and was irritated that any of them were startled that I knew who the hell was sitting where. And I was annoyed with myself because this was a skill all of us should have mastered long ago—and yet we never bothered outside of deep-night training. “As for seeing… I’m sure you’re well aware now that the effects of the chemical the humans use to subdue us have lasting consequences.”
“There’s nothing to be done?” That was the voice of Lieutenant Julius—the youngest of the Alphas. He was only a few years my senior, but he had achieved his Alpha status long before he saw even the edge of battle.
“I have been reliably informed that everything but my eyes will heal,” I told them, not pulling punches. “I will adapt.”
“Surely you don’t intend to fight again.” The voice was accompanied by a sneer.
I turned my head toward Lior. “Eventually I will learn to hone my remaining senses and fight, Colonel Miller. But you and I both know that this isn’t the same war you skillfully avoided fighting in.”
I heard a faint snicker all the way to the right, and I had a feeling it was Francisco. He was second oldest, but he was the mouthiest of the five and never made it a secret how much he hated Lior.
“I’ve been briefed by my second during my recovery,” I went on. “He made me aware that the people are starting to feel the strain by having only an Alpha Council to turn to.” My voice was met with silence for long enough it made me uncomfortable. I listened to their hearts beating—and only Lior’s was faster than it should be—which only indicated his anger.
“Do you honestly propose we put a blind Wolf as the leader of the resistance?” Lior demanded.
I lifted my brows. “I was reluctant to consider the position at first.” I removed my hands from the chair and paced, letting the backs of my knuckles graze the leather to keep me oriented. I felt lost at sea in the darkness, but I refused to let my fear surface. Not in front of them. Not yet. “However, Major Peterson pointed out that the people noticed when I had been taken—and noticed when I had been rescued. He believes they may be more willing to unify under my command.”
“If you think for a second—” Lior started, but I heard another voice clear his throat, and I knew only one man could really cut him off like that.
Zane—the man who probably should have taken my position, but I could sense hesitance in him that had nothing to do with me. “I was the one who asked Major Peterson to propose the position to you, and I had almost the full support of the Council.”
“You know my reasons for holding out,” Lior snapped.
“And you know the people will never follow you,” Zane said, his voice so mild it must have infuriated the other Alpha. After a beat, I could sense his attention was back on me, and I stopped moving. “There are other compounds like ours. Other bases—not all of them underground. We have Omega spies in both our government and moving amongst the humans, and yesterday, we were finally granted access to one of the labs.”
My heart moved into my throat. “You have a spy in one of the labs?” My claws came out without warning, and I didn’t bother to try and pull them back. “Do you have any idea what they’ll endure if they’re found out?”
“We do. And she was well aware herself,” Zane said. I heard his chair creak, and I had a feeling he was leaning in toward me. “General Titus, we all know the risks we’re taking.”
“Did Bryn?” I couldn’t help but ask, too emotional to remember to use his rank.
The room went deadly quiet. “He did,” Zane eventually said from behind a sigh. “But he was our only hope in getting you out of there. He was very clear he had no regrets, no matter the outcome.”
The fact that they assumed he was dead set my teeth on edge. I doubted the humans would have killed him—not when they could have easily used him for more of their fucking experiments. “I understand why we need people to gather information,” I managed to grind out between my clenched teeth. “Taking up this position, I wouldn’t put a stop to it, but it’s a short-term plan.”
“It is,” Zane agreed. “However, we need more information. The humans had labs long before the treaty began. They’ve been stealing our bodies—alive and dead,” Zane said, sounding angry, “when we were still shooting each other.”
I bowed my head and hated that he was right, but he was. I wasn’t foolish enough to think that we wouldn’t need to make the most painful sort of sacrifices to get both the information and the power we needed to stop this. And I wasn’t foolish enough to think it wouldn’t take more than a few years to topple over two governments far more powerful than we could hope to be.
Licking my lips, I raised my head, squared my shoulders, and let my fangs drop. My eyes burned, and I wondered how much of the yellow they could see shining in them, but it didn’t matter. I was still an Alpha. I still had power.
“I’m here to formally submit myself as Head Alpha of this Council.”
“Seconded,” Zane said.
There was a pause, then Lior’s voice rang out above everyone else’s. “Unanimous vote.”
There were three growls that followed, and a rush of threatening power in the space between me and the Alphas. “Majority,” Theo countered.
I took a step back and prepared to defend myself if Lior decided to declare a challenge.
“Then you have already decided for him, and if that’s the case, there’s no need for me to be here.” I heard Lior stand, heard his footsteps heading for the door. “You will regret having a blind Wolf lead you.”
I bared my teeth in his direction, and I felt him take offense. “You will regret putting your ego before the fate of your people.”
