Chapter 89

Dylan POV.

I walked behind V as we made our way to yet another tent. Apparently it was where the rebellions council met for discussions. I suppose my arrival was probably the biggest thing to happen in a while.

"I have to ask... how is my dad?!" What? I frowned quickly and looked at Victoria as she lead me to wherever we were going. Her dad? How the fuck would I know? "I'm sorry, I feel like I'm supposed to be staying professional with you. But I need to know, Lewis has only been able to tell me so much."

"Carlos?!" I stated finally putting two and two together and actually making the number four this time. She nodded sadly and smiled while looking around.

"He found this place you know? After my mom was taken he swore he'd never let them get to me. So he built a place they would never find. One with wolfsbane surrounding it. He was a good man." She chuckled and looked down at the floor fidgeting with her fingers. "Lewis told me I'm going to be a sister, its strange thinking about my dad sometimes. He was such a strong man. I can't imagine what he's been through in the past few years."

"He's..." do I tell her what state he was in when I left? Do I tell her how isolated he had been over the years he had been there. How the only interaction he had was when he was visited by his bitch of a mate. "Still fighting..." I followed quickly knowing that statement was true. "He misses you, and spoke about you all the time. He'd say I reminded him of you and..." she shook her head and smiled at me sadly.

"That may be true... but how is he really?" I guess she knew her dad better than anyone. So I swallowed thickly and began to bite my thumb nail out of nerves. It was never something I used to do though but it felt right in the moment.

"He's not great." I finally admitted it to the girl in front of me. "He's not been marked yet... at least he hadn't been when I left with the king."She nodded and frowned folding her lips over her teeth to fight her sadness. "He's been in isolation most of the time, as far as I know he was only let out of the dungeon recently, even the staff thought he had been killed."

"And what about the baby?" She really did want to know everything. I contemplated my answer in my head while nibbling my thumbnail so much that a chunk broke away and I had to rip the remains out causing it to bleed slightly. I quickly brought both my hands together behind my back and held them as I looked at V once more while still walking.

"He's not ecstatic about it. He doesn't particularly want to be a father again..." Again she nodded. She listened intently to my words but refused to look me in the eye while I explained as much as I could. "That was weeks ago now though. I don't know what is happening currently. I will say that his mate, lady Lorellia, is a total bitch though. In fact the entire royal family are insane..." I maybe shouldn't have said that, but I had to give her something. "He'd be amazed at how well things are going here. He may have started this place, but it's taken you to build it into what it is today."

"And what about you? Is what we have witnessed on the news really what he's done to you?" I expected to be questioned, I really did... I just didn't quite expect it to be straight away.

"What has been broadcast... well, that is only a fraction of what he's done." I swallowed thickly stealing a glance at the scarring on my forearm. Everything about my body disgusted me. "It isn't just me though, some Lycans seem to believe they are owed whatever they wish. It is why we need to fight for equality, with the kings treatment of humans there are loads of people who strive for a more peaceful, equal existence, and with the way people are living here, it's proof that a shared world is possible."

"You really do have a way with words, I can see why people follow you. You're an inspiration, your grace." She smiled slightly as we continued on.

We finally made it to the tent and inside, a long row of tables stood at the back of the tent and each seat was occupied by a new face. I was exhausted from meeting people and all I wanted was just one minute to myself, even if it was just to wrap my head around everything that had happened, but I wasn't going to get that, at least not yet anyway.

"Your grace, please take a seat." One of the new faces, a man, spoke and stood up, he gestured to a single chair sat directly opposite the long table of people. "We have much to discuss."

I took my seat in front of the small audience and waited for them to begin. Both Lewis and Elias also quickly took a seat at the table too and instantly I felt every single set of eyes turn to me. It was almost as if I was about to be interrogated, however the conversation quickly turned to V.

"V, the van is too damaged to send back across the borders, we need a new way to ensure our safety." One of the woman spoke as she looked at me clearly blaming me for the state of the van, she was right of course I drove it into a tree, but she didn't have to look at me the way she was.

"Oh right, well, we will have a think today and then discuss our options on that regard." Procrastinating wasn't the way to go, that van needed to be sent back out as soon as possible if they didn't want the wolves to discover their base.

"With all due respect V, this needs to be sorted. Our location is in jeopardy." Elias made his views known to the council who instantly began agreeing with him. I knew me coming here would be a mistake. I had to do something and no one else seemed to be having any ideas.

"We have other vans, we could always just send one of them out, with someone who matches the drivers description." Lewis suggested but that wouldn't work, because every time a border was crossed the license plate was taken down to monitor comings and goings.

"You'll have to swap the license plates over. On the entry into this sector, the plate was taken. If it's not the same that crosses again then suspicion will only rise." I stated to the room who in turn went incredibly silent. Was I not supposed to say anything? I just assumed it was an open discussion.

"We wouldn't even have to worry about any of this if you weren't here." One of the women stated as she sneered at me. I knew I wasn't welcome by everyone. 

"We should just kill her, if she does the king will die too." Again with that stupid idea? I couldn’t believe this was the rebellion that was so revered by humans and feared by the lycans. So far since arriving the only thing they have done was get rid of my restraints and then threaten me.

"No one will lay a finger on her." Lewis growled out, his eyes flashing slightly with the dominance of his wolf. It was nice to see he was still sticking up for me despite it being my fault he lost his friend. Still, I knew I couldn't rely on him to fight my battles forever, and so instead I stood up, everyone in front of me allowed their heads to turn to regard my form.

“I say we send her back to the king. We might even be able to bargain with him for some new equipment.” I was getting so frustrated with these people. So concerned over their own well-being that they didn’t care about mine.

"His grace will promise you the world and the second you hand me over, he’d kill you in a heartbeat.” I sighed standing up and walking to the entrance of the tent and leaning against one of the bars holding it up, my sight firmly on the open view outside. “And, if you think for one second the king will feel anything because of my death, then you are completely delusional. The king holds no regard for anyone but himself. The entire world has seen me getting beaten within an inch of my life on his orders, and how much remorse has he shown? None!”

I could feel my voice getting louder with every sentence I uttered. My anger rising with it. What did I need to do, to simply live a peaceful life? I just wanted to rest. So I sighed again and turned my sight away from the greenery outside back to the audience of new people. “Look, If you genuinely think he'll die when he's discovered my body... then go ahead and put it to the test, but... I'll be damned if I'm ever to go back there. I really don’t care if I die, but I will never go back to him and his abuse.”

I couldn’t believe I even had to state that. I could tell what I had entered and it wasn’t equality, it was kill or be killed.