Chapter 39

The two adults that had helped clear the path for the child were Winnie and Dillon. Both looked a little worse for wear.

Dillon’s face had a bit more color than it had during the trip to get here, but he was still more ashen than was normal. He held Winnie’s hand tightly, glaring at anyone who leaned too close to her.

Winnie looked exhausted and furious. She looked as though someone had woken her from some very necessary sleep. Dark blond hair was pulled into a tangled knot at the back of her head, loose locks twerked in all directions. Her eyes were sunken and bloodshot, giving her an almost crazed expression.

Now, with the child standing out from the crowd, Winnie pulled her mate toward Mila’s side. Very purposefully, she placed her free hand on Mila’s shoulder and glared at the alphas.

Mila knew that as an omega, Winnie would normally be much more susceptible to the alpha voice. She supposed the only reason she could look so fierce now was because of the hormones from birth and her personal exhaustion. She didn’t look capable of hearing anyone and she trembled furiously between Mila and Dillon.

Still, Mila was grateful. Someone else was on her side. But who was that child?

“Annika,” Kiara greeted stiffly, her voice straining to sound welcoming. She showed her teeth, but it didn’t exactly look like a smile.

Looking between them, Mila was easily able to tell that they were related. They both had the same nearly white blond hair. Though Mila had supposed the child to be much younger, she realized that it was due mostly to the fact that this girl, Annika, was an undecided.

The majority of wolves could turn to wolves from a very young age. Their place in the pack was then based on the characteristics of their wolf, but the time of emergence was varied. Some could be born as wolves while others may have to wait years to experience the change. Either way, it had little bearing on their eventual place in the pack until they became wolves.

As an undecided, Annika was smaller than most others of her peerage. She would grow slower until her wolf emerged and after she would only stop growing once her wolf had entirely settled in its adult form.

Rori fully pulled himself off of Mila, standing at her side. He held her hand like a vice, but he straightened his posture. Mila peered at him through her peripherals, not wanting to take her focus entirely away from the present danger.

Rori had though. His tail flicked like a cats’, but his attention was riveted on the girl. Mila didn’t know this child because none of the children from Kiara’s pack were allowed to attend Mila’s lessons.

The children usually also gave Rori a wide berth, but it was nearly impossible for them to entirely avoid each other. He’d never mentioned her as a friend. If she wasn’t allowed, that would make sense.

Were they friends though? Annika never so much as turned her head in his direction. She was staring fixedly at her sister. Her small hands balled into fists at her sides, she looked like she was under a great deal of strain.

“Why are you doing this?” Annika repeated slowly. There was a hint in her voice as though she were attempting to match her sister’s alpha pitch.

Tremors went through the crowd. The roiling slowed. Some even blinked like they weren’t sure how it had gotten to this point. Kody’s jaw tightened, watching these subtle changes.

“Annika, sweetie, we’re doing this because they are criminals that have lied and murdered.” Kiara’s voice clearly came out sharper than she’d intended. Her face scrunched slightly as she tried to control the tone of the alpha.

The manipulative cow. The crowd regained a moment of frenzy at her words.

Annika shook her head. “Without proof?! Is that how we do things? I was always taught to be fair and look at everything from every perspective before making a decision.”

Kiara’s forced smile became cold and withering. “We are doing that, sweet sister. We welcomed these outsiders with open arms and they have betrayed our trust by killing a beloved elder. Not only an elder, but a female. She may not have had the capable of birthing more pups, but she was mother and grandmother to many.”

Mila scoffed quietly at the term ‘open arms’. Then Kiara was turning a sickly-sweet look toward Kody. Her hand reaching across the table to touch his. Trying to offer him sympathy.

Winnie surprised Mila by snarling ferociously. Winnie’s nails dug a little into Mila’s shoulder. It might’ve been enough to draw blood, but Mila couldn’t make herself care.

“Why?” Annika asked coldly. “Why would they do that?”

She was drawing herself up to look as big as possible, but the girl was so much slighter than most of the other wolf children that it wasn’t terribly impressive. Still, the stiffness with which she’d voiced it in even her childlike way was drawing out the confusion.

Kody’s hand pulled sharply away from Kiara’s. He was looking intensely over the crowd. He moved closer to his father, whispering urgently.

Kiara’s eyes narrowed. “Obviously to divide us. To make us weaker. With the humans gone, we are now the most heavily populated race on this planet. The universe abhors a vacuum, little sister. If we are to inherit this earth, it is only natural that the few others left will protest.”

Annika’s chin lifted. She nodded, seeming almost pleased. As though Kiara had just walked into a trap and didn’t know it.

Mila tensed further. The crowd was moving again, their confusion making them unable to form the solid wall of discontent. Other children were pushing through. Some clearly just coming to see the commotion for themselves, others forming their own protective stance around Mila and Rori.

She glanced past Winnie toward Dillon. He caught her gaze through the corner of his eye and though his face was nearly blank from exhaustion, he nodded.

This wasn’t exactly the army she’d hoped for, but it might be enough. She might be able to get both Rori and the witches away from this nonsense. She just needed to act while the confusion was at its peak.

“Darren, tell them what you told me,” Annika turned her head toward them for the first time. Her face was grim, with a light sheen of sweat on her brow. She was trying so hard.

Then little Darren, the first pup ever to speak directly to Mila stepped out from the crowd, placing himself directly between the alphas and Mila.