Chapter 14: Plea

**Alice’s Point of view**


After what seems like an eternity, each pack returns to its territory. It was very complicated and neither Elliot nor I managed to make our fathers see reason. 
It was the diplomacy of Alpha Mark and Derek that prevented the fight. They were the ones who calmed the game down. Once again. 
As we walk back to the packhouse in silence, my father signals me to follow him.
The moment I close his office door behind me, he starts yelling.
"What was that?"
"What do you mean?"
"That little show with Alpha Mark's son."
Damn, he noticed. I feign ignorance. "It's just that there's some truth to what he said. All along I've had a feeling there's something bigger behind it and ..."
He cuts me off. "Yes. The Reds are their accomplice! I don't see what's so shocking about that."
"No, that's too easy."
"Sometimes the simplest answer is often the right one. Honestly, I don't recognize you." He shakes his head. I can see in his eyes that he is disappointed and it hurts me.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm wondering about your loyalty."
I back away in shock. Doubting a wolf's loyalty to his pack is the worst possible insult, and it hurts even more because I'm the furture Alpha. I feel the rage rising.
"My loyalty is to the members of the Blue Moon pack and you know it. Don't ever question that!" I growl.  
My father stands up and spreads his Alpha aura over me. I struggle, fighting back, but I'm only an Alpha's daughter and I don't have the title yet. So I bow my head in submission.
"Why are you making excuses for them then?"
"I'm not making excuses for them, but I think the rogues made sure you heard them on purpose. You say they shouldn't seriously hurt Reds but I've heard people talk in college. Like us, several people are in serious condition in the hospital. One girl said her father had little chance of surviving."
"Who says that's true? Maybe your theory about the rogues applies here too. Maybe they lied and made you hear them on purpose to make it look like they have serious injuries when they don't."
I sigh. There's no use trying to reason with him. He hates the Reds too much to imagine that another pack would want us gone. Only one person can convince him.
My father finally frees me. I don't waste time and head for the Blue Silver corridor.
I slow down as I approach their border and wait for the guards to come to meet me.
"I would like to see Alpha Jack."
A grey wolf then emerges from his hiding place and signals me to follow him. After a few minutes of walking, Alpha Jack greets me on the doorstep. Their packhouse looks like a big rustic mountain cabin with dark wood like ours. Our packhouse has a lighter wood with hints of metal giving it a more modern feel.
"Alice? What brings you here? Did you come to see Derek?"
I grit my teeth. I'd almost forgotten that he wants his son and me to mate and mark. But I don't have time to think more about that, there are more pressing matters.
"No, it's you I came to see. I would like to talk to you."
He smiles at me. "Of course. Please come in."
The interior is very different. The furniture is very luxurious, the carpets and tapestries covering some walls seem to be centuries old.
Some people are present and lower their heads at our passage.
Once in his office, he asks me if I want to drink something but I decline politely.
"What can I do for you?"
"First I would like to thank you for earlier. Without you, I don't know what would have happened."
He waves his hand in front of him. "No problem. That's what I'm here for after all. But you're not just here to thank me, are you?"
"No indeed. I've tried to reason with my father but he won't listen to me. I am convinced that the rogues are acting in concert with a powerful pack but I don't think it is the Reds. They have as many casualties as we do and it is our three packs that are being attacked."
He sighs. "I don't know Alice. Your two packs hate each other so much and it's been very tense for years."
"Exactly! Let's say you wanted to take over the Red’s territory. What's the best strategy to get rid of them without endangering your people?"
"Getting someone else to take care of it for me." He says, shaking his head. He's beginning to understand.
"And who would be willing to fight them? I don't know, let's say a pack that has hated them forever..."
He nods again. "I understand what you mean, and it could be right. But it could also be that the Reds are behind this and are making sure we don't blame them."
"That's not like them. They've never hidden their hatred and they're as strong as we are. In a confrontation, they would have every chance to win."
"Yes, but they'd have a lot of deaths. Whereas the rogues can be used as cannon fodder."
"Yes, but why hide it? They could simply attack us with them or even with allied packs. There's no point in hiding their intention like that."
"Yes, there is. The King will never allow it. If they attacked you directly, the King would intervene and it would end very badly for them. Your father must have explained this to you, right?"
Yes, he explained to me that if it wasn't for that threat, it would have slit Alpha Mark's throat a long time ago.  
"Alice, I don't see how I can help you."
I stir a little. "The only solution is to hunt the rogues. But they are in the corridors and in the city center where we can't intervene. So we need our three packs to join forces. And I need you to convince my father and Alpha Mark."
He explodes with laughter. "Sorry Alice. Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy that you're suddenly a pacifist but your father and Alpha Mark are not. What you are asking is impossible."
I had already talked about this with Cop -I mean Elliot- but he too was very pessimistic telling me that I was rambling. 
"Nothing is impossible."
"Well, this is. Believe me, this is going to cause more trouble than anything else." He pauses. "Why are you so convinced of their innocence? You're the first Blue to take their side. Why?"
As I look for an excuse, I'm saved by someone knocking on the door.
"Come in."
My smile fades as I see who enters. 
Derek.