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“But you’re here now. Fate made it so,” he said and kissed me on the forehead. “We’ll make history, put tyranny behind bars and create a new dawn in the werewolf world.”
He kissed my forehead and my lips before he pulled me closer to himself, and there was a burning passion between us suddenly. The stars looked down at us as Luke proceeded to remove my clothes.
Chapter thirty-six (Luke)
It was hard finding the clan, and that was because they didn’t want to be found. Just like the lost tribe, these fancy their privacy. The plan was to locate one of them, and if we find a way to convince that one, we’ll get the one to help us convince the others. It will take a while to do all of that, and I still think it will be a waste of time. We should have simply made a strategic plan to go up against the Tarloux regardless of the difference in numbers between us. The Tarloux don’t have something that we have in excess. The will to fight until we can’t raise a finger any longer. I have walked through the army that we have gathered. I have talked to their generals, and they all believed in their men. They understood what we were fighting for. They wanted the war and wanted to make a better future for their children or die while trying. That is the most honorable way to go out.
But Hayley wouldn’t allow that to happen. She wanted to win so badly, but she wanted them to be around and enjoy the spoils of their victories. She wanted them to see the future they fought for. It would be pointless if they all die, and it is a pyrrhic victory for us.
We walked side by side and continued up the mountains, moving one step at a time to avoid falling and get a good grip on the ground. The mountain was quite jagged, and it wasn’t made for travel. I can see why they would choose to settle in a place like this. If we intend to attack them, we will be slowed down by the mountain floor, and they will easily pick us off. Also, if we are intent on finding them, the mountain will do a very strong jobof breaking our intent, and we will give up. But not with Hayley. With the determination in her eyes, nothing short of death was going to stop her from getting to them.
We spent almost a day walking through the mountains, and it was dark when we got to the other side, which consisted of sparsely located vegetation interspersed by rocks. We stopped when we got there as there was a shift in the air. We could smell them now, and we knew they were watching us.
We’d come down the mountain, and we were just two, so there was no point attacking us. They would watch to see what we wanted and if we would turn back. Hayley looked at me as we moved on, looking around us and trying to make out one of them, but it was nearly impossible to do in the dark. I wanted to suggest resting for the night and continuing in the morning, but I knew she would kick against that. We were here now, and it was best to get it over with.
We barely walked for a quarter of a mile before a voice told us to stop. In the mountainous area, it echoed all around us, and it was hard to pinpoint its location. We stopped, though, and soon we were surrounded by bare-chested werewolves, with their eyes glowing and their intent obvious to us. They wouldn’t hesitate to attack if we didn’t do as they asked.
“What do you want?” one of them asked and looked at Hayley and me. I could tell he knew exactly what we wanted; all these were a formality.
“Take us to speak to your leader,” I told him, and he growled at me. He wanted me to answer the question. I wasn’t going to answer. I growled back at him and glowed my eyes, extending my claws to show them I was ready for a fight myself. The manstopped and seemed to consider his options before he stepped forward and handed two blindfolds to Hayley and me.
“Use that,” he said, and this time, we complied. We tied the black cloth around our eyes, and we couldn’t see through it, not even when I glowed my eyes. The group led us out of the mountainous area and into the close woods, after which I heard the noise of a crowd. It was a large crowd, and that surprised me. The segregated clans were supposed to be segregated. They don’t form a community; that is what we know about them. The man stopped, and we stopped.
“Remove the blindfolds,” he said, which we did. I looked around us to see where we were. It was in some village square with an older man, who I could smell as the Alpha, seated on a small stand. He was blind and had a small boy helping him. He was chewing some tiger nuts, and he looked up at us with his bad eyes when we removed the blindfolds. I could still hear the simmering of the crowd a couple of miles away from us. They were a lot of people, and by the way they moved and communicated, I had a suspicion it was an army too.
The segregated clans, by the looks of it, have come together and formed a community. They also have a great army. One greater even than the Tarloux’s army. We’ll need just about half of them to tilt the chances of winning the war in our favor. It is good that we are here. Now, we have to convince this Alpha to give us his army.
“Hello,” I started when no one said anything for a long while, but the Alpha put up his hands, gesturing for me to stop talking. I moved back and watched him instead. He continued chewing his nuts, and we remained there for about thirty minutes before hefinally sent the boy away, and the other men that came with us turned around to leave too.
“Not you, Parque,’ the alpha said, and the man that led us in here stopped, nodding at his other men, who left him behind. “Let me touch it,” the Alpha said, setting his eyes on Hayley and stretching his hand.
Hayley reached into her pocket and got the stone out. He must have looked at her because he sensed it on her. She dropped the stone into his waiting hands, and the alpha groaned a bit as he ran his fingers around the stone, nodding his head, and his finger brushed into each contusion. When he was done, he passed it back to Hayley.
“It seems the old gods have shined their mercy on us. The old ways will be back.”
“So, you’re going to fight with us to bring back the old ways?” I asked, thinking this might go easier than I imagined it would,
“No,” the alpha said. “We don’t get ourselves involved in the squabbles of the other werewolves. Not anymore.”
“What do you have a huge army for, then? I can hear them training from here. Why did you gather all the clans together and make them into a society?”
“Because your people were killing us off. We moved away from your lands, and you still wouldn’t let us be left alone.”
“Those weren’t my people. They were the Tarloux, and that is why we are fighting them. To bring an end to their reign of tyranny. They have done enough.”
“You do not understand it, child,” he said. “Have you seen my people? Have you seen how small we are? We are like that naturally, which makes us the runts of the food chain. We are the lowly ones that no one really wants, but they can’t do away with us either because we are, after all, like them too. So, they kept us around for when we might be needed for wars and menial jobs. We left when we got tired of such a life, and we have made something for ourselves here—something my people love and enjoy. We don’t need the other wolves anymore. We are self-sufficient, and should you ever think of attacking, remember what you heard. You don’t want to go up against those men. They have blades for claws and stones for hearts.”
From his tone, it was rather obvious that we had wasted our time coming here, and the only reason they let us in was so we could hear their army and hesitate from attacking them. He also wanted to see the stone. We were done here and should leave.
“We need your help,” Hayley said just as I was about to turn around and head out.
“I can’t help you, dear lady.”
Hayley stepped closer to him, and he cocked his head, suddenly interested in her.
“We need you, or we’ll lose this war. I have a friend. He is one of you. His name is Ilad. He’s small and sickly and can fit into even the smallest space. The best spy I’ve ever seen,” she said with a chuckle and adoration in her voice. “He is also one of the best people I have ever met. He accepted me when no one would, and he stood by me even when the world stood against me. He was the one that sent me here. He told me his people were ready to fight. He said they wanted the old ways back. Theywanted freedom again, but this isn’t the life you know. Living in tiny spaces within the woods isn’t the life you want. You love your buildings. You love dancing. You love having space. It is the life you’ve had to live because you were given no choice. He said his people would fight, and all they needed was a reason. Isn’t a better life, a return to your old culture, a return to the life that brings the sun into your life reason enough? You help us fight this war, and there will be no other war to be fought. This is the war to be an end to all other wars. I give you my word.”
The Alpha smiled at Hayley and moved away from her when he saw she was done talking.
