Chapter 24: What I Believe

Lucien finished his lunch, but he wasn’t finished grousing about Dex. Emma had to listen to him the whole time, while keeping her mouth shut. She didn’t want to argue with Lucien, but she also didn’t want to hear anything against her lover.
Dex had good ideas and maybe it was time for wolves to go in a different direction. If Emma had a brother, she wouldn’t want him to die in a useless war.
“How does someone think that way?” Lucien asked, lingering over a cup of coffee. “I just don’t get it. Is it because he wasn’t raised by his parents? They didn’t get to instill the basics of being a wolf?”
Lucien shook his head and Emma remained quiet. Now was not the time to share her feelings with him. He might bar her from attending the last meeting after lunch. She wanted to be there more than anything to see who was on Dex’s side and who was on Lucien’s.
“And this afternoon, the Lunas get to speak.”
Emma perked up at the idea. This could be the beginning of her breaking away from Lucien.
“Like we Alphas care what Lunas thinks.”
A lot of Alphas did, Emma had learned from being at this Council and meeting other Lunas. Their husbands often discussed pack issues with them. Even if they didn’t take their advice, they listened and took the Lunas' ideas into account. Lucien had never done that. He’d never considered Emma’s opinions as valid. He’d made that clear from the beginning of their marriage.
“It’s all feelings and intuition. Bah.”
Now Lunas were emotional? Emma pressed her lips together so she wouldn’t blurt out that she wanted to speak at the meeting. She’d find out how she could get on the list and then do it. This way Lucien didn’t have advance notice.
It went against her idea not to embarrass him, but she couldn’t hold things in any longer. She was leaving him and he would know it soon enough.
Her heart fluttered in her chest. This would be the first time she’d ever gone against Lucien in public.
Lucien finished his coffee, then stood. “I’ll meet you in there. I need to take a leak.”
He left her sitting there. She watched him leave, then went to find Kendra. She was sitting in the lobby of the hotel outside the room where they were meeting. Emma chose the seat next to her. “Hey.”
“Hey, girl. Almost time to go home,” Kendra said.
Emma was only looking forward to going home because then she could leave Lucien. She could start her new life, whatever that looked like. “Yes. I have a question. Are you speaking at the last meeting?”
“I am. I’m sorry to say this, but we need to counter the negative wolves.”
Kendra meant her husband and Emma agreed. Lucien’s way was dangerous. Their world had changed and Lucien hadn’t changed with it. “How do you sign up?”
“You’re going to speak?”
“Yes.”
Kendra eyed her as if deciding something. “It is your prerogative.”
Emma put a hand on Kendra’s arm. “You might be surprised by what I say. Do I have to sign up?”
Kendra pointed in the room. “There’s a sheet in there. Put your name on it.”
“Thanks,” Emma said, then rose to find the paper.
She was settled into her seat by the time Lucien arrived. He didn’t even grunt in her direction. There was no warm conversation as they waited for the last meeting to begin. The couples around them laughed and murmured and Lucien didn’t even look at her. She shook her head that she’d accepted this in the past, but not anymore.
The meeting began and Lunas were called up to talk. Kendra went first.
“I’m Kendra of the Liberty Bay Pack. I know other issues have been covered in this Council, but I’m only speaking to the idea that we need to be at war. We don’t need to be at war. Each pack’s territory has the resources that pack needs to live and thrive. We do not need conquest. If there is something missing from that territory then we can negotiate with other packs. We’ve done it successfully more than once. Thank you.”
Lucien groaned beside her. He wanted his way and that was it. He was too single-minded to see anyone else’s point of view. For a brief moment, Emma wondered if she was doing the right thing by speaking. She could keep her mouth shut and everyone would think she sided with Lucien.
But she couldn’t. When her name was called, Lucien whipped his head around in her direction. “You?”
“I’m a Luna whether you treat me as one or not.”
Emma walked to the podium, her head held high. A murmur went through the crowd. Everyone was probably expecting her to side with Lucien.
Emma cleared her throat. “I’m Emma of the Fang City Pack.”
The wolves began to talk amongst themselves. She wasn’t going to say what they assumed she would. “Peace is an alternative.”
The whispering stopped and all eyes were on her. Lucien’s also, but his had anger in them. His jaw was set, but she’d started down this path and she had no plans to backpedal. “We tried war. What were the results? Packs had long-standing feuds, families were torn apart and wolves died.”
She paused a moment to let her words sink in. Looking around she saw many heads nodding. Without counting, she figured it was a majority of those in the room. Lucien wasn’t going to be happy if a final vote was taken and he lost.
“Why does honor have to come on the battlefield? Why can’t honor come from doing what’s right? Being the wolf who steps up and diffuses a fight; being the wolf that doesn’t start one in the first place. Learning to live peacefully will take time and effort, but no one will die when we’re at peace with our fellow packs.”
A few people clapped. Lucien seemed to clench his jaw even harder, but Emma was past worrying about his thoughts. He had little power over her. He wouldn’t leave her here. He wouldn’t do anything to her while others were watching. She’d already put some plans in motion for when she arrived at home so she wasn’t afraid of him doing something there.
“We need to try peace. Thank you.”
Emma debated not returning to her seat, but if she was going to keep this backbone she’d grown recently she would take Lucien’s reaction like a grown-up. Like the she-wolf that she was.
“What the heck were you thinking,” Lucien growled next to her when she sat.
“That it was time for me to express my opinion.”
The meeting went on and several Lunas spoke until it was dinner time. Lucien had gripped his chair the whole time, a low growl emanating from him every few minutes. Emma had never seen him so angry.
A non-binding vote was taken and the majority wanted to live in peace.
Lucien left before Emma. She waded through some of the Lunas who wanted to talk to her, but she wanted to deal with Lucien first.
He was outside, pacing. When he saw Emma, he grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the earshot of anyone leaving the lobby. She didn’t want to go far. She wanted someone to see this confrontation.
“Explain yourself.”
“A Luna does not have to agree with her Alpha.”
His eyes burned red. “But a Luna should never embarrass her Alpha in public.”
“You’ve never asked my opinion on anything, Lucien. I was merely asserting my rights as a Luna,” Emma said.
As she put on a brave front, her heart raced, and her palms sweat. At this point, she just had to make it home safely. She knew her next steps and maybe that made her bolder.
“How dare you, Emma. Now everything I’ve said this whole Council is in question. If my own Luna doesn’t feel the same way, then those who did vote in my favor will question my ideas.”
“It’s all about embarrassing you, isn’t it? It’s all about the show. Do you see how shallow that is Lucien?”
He took a step towards her, but she wasn’t backing down. “I’m not happy Emma. This isn’t over.”
“What isn’t over? Your temper tantrum?”
He rose to his full height. “I would watch yourself, Emma. I have more power than you think.”
He stalked away and Emma had no idea what he’d actually threatened her with, but at least she had an out. She was leaving Lucien, but she wasn’t going to be stupid about it.