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Isolde told me they were eighty percent self-sufficient, and the Alpha’s goal was to have everything made on pack lands as they expanded.
Hidden Creek was in the process of rebuilding. Isolde told me about the previous Alpha’s abuse of Omegas. He was the reason the pack was unsanctioned for years. The absence of Omegas meant no pups were born for two decades, putting the pack in a dangerous position.
Alpha Wynn and his trusted Enforcers revived the pack after a dark battle that rid the territory of all the wolves who supported his father. He wanted to make Hidden Creek what a pack should be: a family, a haven.
My mind reeled with the new information. Since the inception of the Council, all packs worked on a Council-controlled distribution network. The Council owned the rights to all farmlands, textile factories, and mines, leaving the packs to choose stripped territories. This ensured that necessary commodities such as grain, textiles, metal, and tech were under the Council’s thumb, and if the packs wanted access, they needed to maintain their sanctioned status.
If Hidden Creek managed to become self-sufficient, the Council would lose its hold here.
The pack could be free of them.
Hope slammed into my chest. I had so many questions. How did they revive the land? How did the textile cultivation begin? How did they manage to hide these developments from the Council?
My mates were right—this pack was different. The thought thumped through me like a heartbeat, and pieces of the wall I’d built between us began to crumble.
This wasn’t a short-sighted decision to stand up against the Council. This was something the Alpha had been planning for years.
But where did the Omegas fit into all of this?
My thoughts were interrupted as a new pack member approached. A willowy, graceful, strawberry-blonde Beta cast a bright smile our way.
“Helen,” Isolde said, squeezing the woman’s shoulders.
Helen fondly rubbed Isolde’s stomach. “Sol. How is our little guy feeling today?”
“He’s a ball of energy,” Isolde replied, motioning for me to stand beside her. “This is Brielle. Brielle, this is Helen. She’s the best seamstress in the pack.”
Helen blushed at the compliment. “I am the only seamstress in the pack, but my new apprentice is promising. Good thing, too. I can’t remember the last time I had the day off.”
“You make clothes for everyone by yourself? How do you manage?” I asked.
“It wasn’t always just me. One of the Elders, Geneve, retired a couple of years ago, and I’ve been holding down the fort ever since.”
“I’m impressed. I can’t even sew up a small tear.”
She looped an arm through mine and Isolde’s. “Lucky for you, you don’t have to.”
Helen guided us to a yellow shop. Rows of colorful fabric were displayed in the front windows.
“Did Ezra tell you to get me clothes?” I asked, remembering our earlier conversation.
“Ezra?” Helen scrunched her nose in amusement. “Korren may have sent a message letting me know you needed my services.”
I tried to stop my face from falling. Him too?
Did my mates think I needed a makeover or something?
“Don’t let yourself go there,” Isolde chastised as if she could read my mind.
“What?” I asked innocently.
“You know what,” Isolde replied. “Your mates couldn’t care less about what you wear. They want you to be comfortable.”
“She’s right,” Helen chirped, ushering us into the shop. “They also want to provide. Stroke their ego a bit and let them.”
I smirked as I looked around at the fabrics, buttons, and appliques. Maybe I could give them this and allow them to take care of me.
“Let’s go for it,” I said.
