“Why do you want to disrupt the natural order of things? Packs have thrived for hundreds of years because of the structure we’ve maintained. If you make everyone think they are equal, would anyone obey laws anymore?”Eleanor pressed her fingertips to her temple as she listened to the Alpha on the other side of the phone. She had known this one would be hard to convince–he was proving to be outright impossible.“Omegas are part of the community too,” she told him, “so they also deserve the same rights as everyone else, don’t you think?”“Can they protect the pack like the rest of us can? No. So the least they can do is provide labour when needed. If the law is changed, they’ll start thinking they can lead packs or something. Why waste pack money educating them when they are just a liability? Do they need education to do the things they do now? And, why would we use money to provide medical support for members who cannot even protect the pack in case of an attack? Shouldn’t we focus on
It had been days since Eleanor had last seen Henry, and she badly wanted to seek him out with her eyes. But she knew if she looked at him, she would not be able to hold back her emotions.The last thing she needed right now was to alert Thomas of the connection between her and Henry. So she fought the urge, focusing on chatting with the other Alphas and Lunas.However, she could not fight the feeling that Henry was watching her. She could feel his gaze on her, almost as if it was a physical touch.As the minutes passed, she could feel him getting closer, as if he was intentionally gravitating towards her. She risked a glance. He was only a few yards away, and their eyes met instantly.Her heart sped behind her ribs while her body warmed up. She looked away and gave Thomas a weak smile. “Excuse me, I need to go to the restroom.”“Sure,” he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.She did not dare look at Henry again as she made her exit. She knew how much he must hate any contact between
When the meeting resumed, the Chief Councilman announced it was time for the council to listen to personal petitions.When he invited Eleanor as the first person to make a petition, Thomas’s brow furrowed. She hadn’t told him anything about a petition. Was it related to the new legislation? No, it couldn’t be.Personal petitions did not involve pack affairs. They were used to solve cases that needed the council’s intervention, or cases that only the council could determine.When Eleanor made it to the petitioner’s stand, the Chief Councilman asked, “Luna Eleanor of Blackstorm, what petition would you like to make today?”Eleanor looked all over the hall, met Thomas’s gaze briefly, and then focused on the Chief Councilman. “I would like to request the council to grant me a divorce from my husband, Alpha Thomas of Blackstorm.”A shocked silence gripped the hall for a moment. And then it was raptured by fierce whispers. Thomas’s eyes widened in disbelief, and he shot out of his seat. “Wh
The room grew tense as the two Alphas glared at each other, animosity swirling around them. Thomas tore his eyes from Henry and looked at Eleanor, his eyes full of confusion and questions.“What’s the meaning of this?” he demanded, gritting his teeth.“Henry is my fated mate,” Eleanor told him.Thomas blinked and scoffed. “Wow.” He released her hand, and she stepped over to Henry. As the crowd watched on, he let out a bitter laugh. “Wow, so this is what all of this is about.”“What are you talking about?” Eleanor questioned.“You,” he said, pointing a finger at Henry. “This was all your idea, wasn’t it? You used my wife just so you could expand your pack’s territory and weaken my power.”At his accusation, the room burst in discussion.“That’s not true,” Eleanor countered. “I planned to divorce you long before I met Henry. This is all your fault, don’t bother trying to shift the blame. I just happened to be lucky to meet my mate after everything you’ve done to me. There’s nothing you
As the explosion rocked through the space, Thomas threw himself forward, shielding Eleanor with his body. They crashed to the floor of the hallway. Screams and cries of pain emanated from inside the hall.But they sounded muted to Eleanor’s ears, which had been momentarily deafened by the loud explosion. The air was thick with smoke billowing from inside the hall, making it hard to see anything.But as she struggled to adjust her eyesight, she saw a figure standing at the end of the hallway. She could tell it was a man. He was dressed all in black. He stood there, watching, doing nothing. Couldn’t he hear the calls for help from the hall? Why wasn’t he helping?He took a few steps closer, and her eyes fixated on his face. That was when she recognised him.It was the man from the other night, the one who had accused Sophia falsely and later escaped from the prison at Blackstorm.Eleanor had been thinking about him every day since then, trying to crack his identity. She had finally reme
“Let’s go inside and check on the injured,” she told him, starting towards the entrance. “There was wolf poison in the smoke. Everybody could be affected.”Before they could get inside the hall, Thomas’s voice reached them, groaning Eleanor’s name. Eleanor stopped and looked towards him. The smoke had dissipated, and she could see him lying on the floor a few paces away.Thomas had expected Eleanor to check on him because they had been together when the explosion happened. But when she recovered, she only cared about Henry. Henry, who hadn’t been near the blast site. She had completely ignored him, even if he had shielded her from the worst of the explosion.And now, she wanted to go and help others inside the hall while he lay on the floor with a back on his injury. He had thought the injury would heal quickly as usual, but it still hurt as much as it did right after the explosion happened.“Help me,” he called, looking at her. “I’m not healing.”She stopped and looked at him, then t
Eleanor wished Thomas would shut up and let her do her job in silence, but that proved to be too much to ask for.“Is this his plan? Did he convince you to do this when you stayed at Darkfall?” he asked.“Why do you ask? You don’t think I can make my life decisions on my own? Or do you believe we were in such a good relationship that it would take an outsider poisoning my mind for me to think about leaving you?” She sat back on her haunches. “Get rid of your jacket, it’s in my way.”He grabbed his jacket and pulled it off. “See? I’m even willing to protect you with my life. What else do I have to do to show you how much you mean to me?”He was so good at making her sound like the bad person in this situation. As if she was the one throwing away a perfectly good relationship, and he was the one fighting tooth and nail to save it. As if she couldn’t see how good she had it, and he wanted to help her see what a big mistake she was making.“Our marriage is over,” she reminded him, because
Leaving Thomas behind, Eleanor walked into the hall and looked around to locate Henry. She found him and rushed over. He was helping an injured Luna with a bleeding wound on her upper arm.“How is it?” she asked, looking around the hall.“Bad,” he said. “Both Lunas and Alphas were attacked. Those who were near the site of the explosion did not survive. Some are unconscious, others with serious injuries. I also think the wolf poison is weakening them. Even those with minor injuries cannot help others because they are too weak.”As Eleanor looked around, she found that what he was saying was true. The explosion had occurred in the middle section, affecting both groups of the congregation. Everything near there was damaged, and several bodies lay on the ground.“No!” A loud scream came from a Luna who was holding onto one of the bodies as she cried for her dead mate. “Come back to me! Don’t die like this! Don’t leave me!”Painful cries of help and pain filled the hall from a dozen differ