35. If you want peace, prepare for war

Aleida’s POV

It’s cold on both sides of me when I open my eyes; this means both Miliano and Kian are long gone. I do what I’m going to do in the bathroom and then dress; I walk down the stairs with decided steps, even though I get clear orders that someone will walk with me. As I descend to the last step, our greatest warriors walk towards me.

“Luna! Are you okay? You should have called, and we’d have come right away to help you!”

I try extra hard not to roll my eyes at this silly idea that my mates have obviously spread to everyone in the pack. Like, seriously? Is it really necessary? I answer as calmly and kindly as I can.

“Thank you, but I’ll be fine alone. You’re welcome to point out where my mates are, though, so I can kick their asses,” I answer, and the warriors look terrified while Michael just laughs.

“Come alpha; I’ll show you where they are,” Michael says.

I’m following him into a room that seems to be a dining room. Several members are talking to each other, but my focus is only on my stubborn mates. I walk up to them and give them an “I’ll kill you” look that they will late forget.

“Oh, you’re both in real trouble,” Michael laughs behind me while they look confused.

“What do you mean?” Kian asks.

“How come our best warriors stand down by the stairs when I come down, prepared to carry me to the end of the world if necessary?” I ask, and my mates look at each other with an “uh-oh” look. “That’s right. I can walk down a flight of stairs myself; come on, guys. Get it together.”

“But we just want...”

“I said no!” I growl, and Michael now has a severe look on his face.

“The alpha said no,” he repeats.

“Thank you, Michael. Would you please be so kind as to get me some breakfast from the kitchen? I would really appreciate it.”

“Of course, alpha,” he answers, salutes me, and walks away while everyone looks at me weird.

“What?” I ask.

“Why does Michael call you alpha?” Miliano asks.

“I don’t know, let’s ask him... Hey, Michael?”

“Yeah?”

“Why do you call me alpha?”

“Because I pledged myself to you and you only. My job is to protect your life at any cost, on my honor. Where you go, I go. No matter the consequences. Besides, you’re everyone’s alpha,” Michael answers and shrugs his shoulders.

He truly is a golden nugget. His words make me tearful. It warms me to know that someone has my back no matter what. Maybe he’s also the person I’ll take with me the day it’s time for me to disappear.

“Thank you, Mickey,” I say and hug him.

“Sometimes I think you love him more than us,” Kian says, laughing.

“Well, he’s a close second, but no one can ever take my mates’ place.”

We eat our food and talk to everyone else around the table about trifles. Michael is about to walk away when I pull him to me and whisper in his ear.

“I need to talk to you, and it’s important, come alone to my office in half an hour.”

“You have an office?” he asks, confused.

“Apparently, I found out via an omega yesterday,” I answer and shrug my shoulders.

“Okay, I’ll see you there.”

I find my mates and take them with me to my newfound office; they sit in the chairs in front of my desk with smiles on their features. The smiling stops immediately when they see my serious face.

“We have a war coming,” I say, finally.

“What do you mean? What war?” Miliano asks, astonished.

“A war is on its way, and we must stop it before it breaks out.”

“We are the strongest pack in town. We can take care of ourselves,” Kian says, and that statement annoys me very much.

“What about the others? We have committed ourselves to other alliances with other packs. We can’t fucking leave them now!”

“Of course not, but those we don’t have alliances with having to look after themselves,” Kian explains, and my eyes are wide; I can’t understand that my own mates are this petty.

“You, therefore, believe that the success of the companies and our pack is more important than the survival of others. Did I understand that correctly?” I ask.

“You know how werewolf politics works, Aleida. We can’t save everyone and succeed,” Miliano answers.

“No, but it belongs to ordinary simple decency to help those who need our help! And what, just because we can’t save everyone, there’s no point in even trying to save some!?”

“Where do you want to go with this?” Kian asks, redeemed.

“That we must help each other as a whole people, as a functioning society and not think conservatives. That the fittest survives and the weaker dies.”

“But it’s your mindset and not ours, isn’t it?” Miliano asks, indifferent, and I’m getting mad now that they can be this stupid; I can’t believe they don’t see that this affects all of us!

“We must protect them!” I exclaim.

“Why?” Miliano asks.

“Because I am the werewolf Queen!”

“Well, that responsibility lies on your shoulders and not ours, right?” Kian asks, and that’s it; I can’t stand to look at any of them right now without choking them.

“Get out,” I say, growling.

“Aleida...” Miliano begins.

“Get out of my sight before I make you!” I roar.

They leave the room, and my nostrils flutter with my anger. A chair flies down on the lawn outside when I throw it through the window, and an angry roar echoes throughout the house; it comes from me. How can they be so fucking stupid that they don’t see that we’re all going to fall like domino tiles if we don’t cooperate? We’re all going to die just because we don’t have an alliance with all the packs. I have to change it somehow; even if it’s only a temporary alliance, it’s better than the situation we’re in now. Fucking idiots! I’m always impressed by my mates’ ways, but I’m now beginning to realize how blind by love I am not to see the obvious; they’re selfish. The power and the money are what drives them forward. Has it always been so? Is this something temporary, or are they like this permanent? A knock on the door interrupts my thoughts.

“Come in,” my voice booms; Michael walks in through the door and closes behind him.

“You wanted to see me, alpha,” he states.

“Yes, that’s right. Please, sit down. Believe me; you’re going to need it after what I’m about to tell you.”

He sits down, and I start telling him about everything. My dark thoughts, nightmares, the dream of the moon goddess, the reaction of my mates... Yes, everything. When I finish, he just sits there in silence, with his hands in fists.

“What do you need me to do?” he asks.

“We have to come up with a plan. Even if I can somehow convince Kian and Miliano to take the alliances, sooner or later, I have to disappear anyway. I can’t go against the desire of the moon goddess. There’s a predetermined plan behind all this, a prophecy that I have to fulfill, and I need you with me. The problem is, I don’t know when we have to disappear, and I don’t know how to succeed either,” I say with a sigh and tub my temples.

“You need to be smart about this, especially since you’re pregnant. We must be careful and not raise suspicion.”

“Exactly, we have to decide where to go and whether to take anyone else with us or not. And if so, whom we can take with us who is loyal. I wish I could bring Jason, Killian, and Henry... But they’re needed here. Alphas can’t work without their betas, and Jason is Kian’s gamma; he also has to stay. We can’t show up at any of our allies’ properties either because they’ll certainly contact my mates. We need to take over an area... The only question is where?”

“There’s no one who has taken over the ancient territory of Amber moon, is there? It’ll be a perfect place for us to work from; if we only manage to get out of here when the time comes and get to the place, you can take over the area.”

“We need a pack for me to take over an area,” I answer, and he’s smiling big at me.

“I know a lot of rogue boys and men who need a pack. I’ve covered that part already,” he says with pride.

“You’re amazing, Michael.”

“I know,” he says in a “duh” tone.

“Contact them and prepare them. Tell them that when the days come, we meet at the border.”

He nods his head before briskly walking out of the room. It may seem weird that I can’t take over a territory however I want, but you must also bear in mind that even an alpha queen has limitations of what she can do. To take over a region, I need to have a pack, and if there already is someone living there, either the alpha must die or give away every right to control the pack. I know that the word of the queen of werewolves exists soon will broadcast to all the other packs. My identity will quickly spread worldwide, which means that pack-less werewolves would probably come to me and ask me for a place in my group. There are ample opportunities to have one of the most giant packs in the world in no time. It may seem like I’m self-propelled, but let’s face it, I’m a fucking queen, literally! Everyone moves to those who have the power, and as long as I live, that power belongs to me. I have a great responsibility for my wolves and will do everything in my power to ensure that they are safe from threats. Even though I’d like to save everyone, I know I can’t. To avoid anyone realizing that the pack belongs to me, given that at the moment, no alpha females are leading any pack, I’m going to use a different name when I speak to alphas. My mates won’t see my baby and me until the time comes. I have to protect my family at all costs. Right now, it’s safe here, but it’s going to change real soon. My pup will survive no matter what, even if I’m going to have to burn the world down. I didn’t go through all these agonies and enemies over the years to back down now. What I endure is minimal compared to what I have to do now, save the entire werewolf population; alone. Well, it can’t really get any worse. It could be about wiping out all beings from the face of the Eart; I need to show a little gratitude to the goddess that I don’t have to do that at least. Now, all we can do is wait until I leave my mates behind to fight the world.