Chapter 147

Aria

A letter from a courier interrupted our breakfast the next morning, causing all of us to look up from our plates. Wendy took the letter and opened it, her eyes widening slightly before a small smile spread across her face.

“It’s from the Silver Peak Alpha,” she announced, looking up at Darren and me. “He says he’s interested in the meeting about the refugee situation. That makes three packs now.”

“How many more do we need to hear from?” I asked.

“Just two,” Wendy replied. “Aside from those who went entirely off-grid when this all started. I doubt we’ll hear back from them. This is a big thing, asking packs to take in human refugees.”

Darren nodded. “I was surprised we got the packs we did to join us for the initial summit. With tensions even higher now, it’s a miracle that anyone responded at all.”

Suddenly, just as Wendy was about to say something else, Liam burst into the dining room.

“Darren! Aria! You need to come quick. There’s been an attack—a little girl—”

We didn't wait to hear more. We raced after Liam, following him to the village square where a crowd had already gathered. The sound of a child crying in pain cut through the air, accompanied by a woman’s hysterical screams and growls from multiple werewolves.

Pushing through the crowd, we found a horrible scene. A little werewolf girl, no more than six years old, was lying on the ground, blood soaking through her torn dress at the shoulder and arm.

Her mother knelt beside her, pressing a cloth to the wounds while screaming at a human woman who stood nearby, white-faced and trembling, holding the leash of a large German Shepherd that was now being restrained by two werewolf men.

“Your monster did this!” the mother was screaming, tears streaming down her face. “She’s just a baby!”

The human woman was sobbing, her hands shaking. “I-I’m sorry—I don’t know what happened—he’s never attacked anyone before! He ran off from our designated area and I tried to catch him, I really did!”

Darren immediately took charge, ordering someone to run for the doctor while he knelt beside the injured child. I moved to the mother, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Let’s get her to the medical tent,” I said firmly. “She needs treatment right away.”

The mother looked up at me, her eyes wild with fear and rage. “That beast needs to be put down, and these humans need to leave! All of them with their animals! My daughter could have died!”

I felt my stomach tighten painfully. “Let’s just… focus on one thing at a time,” I said shakily.

With Darren’s help, we carefully moved the little girl to the medical tent, where the doctor was already preparing his supplies. The mother refused to leave her daughter’s side, but her accusations continued the whole time—she said that all humans with pets were dangerous, that they had no place in our village, and that Darren needed to make them leave immediately.

Once the girl was being treated—thankfully the wounds, while bloody, weren’t life-threatening—Darren and I stepped outside to deal with the aftermath. The square was now divided, with werewolves on one side and humans on the other, shouting accusations back and forth. The dog had been taken away, secured in one of the storage buildings for now.

“Quiet!” Darren’s Alpha Voice cut through the chaos, silencing everyone instantly. “This is not how we resolve conflicts in this pack. Everyone needs to calm down and step back.”

The crowd fell silent, but the humans and werewolves kept glaring at each other.

“I’m calling a pack meeting,” Darren announced. “Everyone—werewolves and humans—in the meeting hall in one hour. Until then, I want everyone to return to their homes and cool off.”

The crowd dispersed slowly, with mutters and angry glances. Darren turned to me.

“This isn’t going to be pretty.”

The meeting hall was packed an hour later. The injured girl’s mother sat in the front row, her daughter now bandaged and resting against her, tears streaming down her little face. The owner of the dog was not present—we had decided it was safer for her to remain in her quarters until tensions eased.

Darren called the meeting to order, standing tall at the front of the room. “We’re here to discuss the incident that occurred today and to decide what needs to be done.”

The girl’s mother was on her feet immediately. “There’s nothing to discuss! These animals are clearly dangerous, and their owners can’t handle them. They don’t belong here with children running around!”

Murmurs of agreement rose from the werewolf side of the room.

“We took these humans in because they needed help,” another werewolf added. “But not at the expense of our own safety. They’re not even paying attention to the rules that were set in place, and they’re letting their mangy beasts run amok!”

A human representative stood up from the other side. “I’ve already spoken to the dog’s owner, and she said he slipped free from his collar,” he said. “It was just an accident.”

“One that could have been fatal,” someone called out.

The debate continued for nearly an hour, growing increasingly heated. Proposals were made—stricter confinement for the pets, building a separate area with fences even further from the village, requiring muzzles for all dogs regardless of size.

Finally, Darren called for a vote. “We have two options on the table. Either all pets must leave the village immediately, or all refugees with pets must relocate elsewhere. Those in favor of requiring all pets to leave, raise your hands.”

More than half the werewolves raised their hands.

“Those in favor of relocating all refugees with pets?”

The remaining werewolves and most of the humans raised their hands.

Darren's expression was solemn as he announced, “The majority has voted. We’ll have to relocate any humans with pets once again, placing them further from the main village with stricter rules for pets.”

A mixture of relieved sighs and angry protests filled the room. My heart sank as I watched the faces of the human refugees—people who had already lost so much, now being asked to choose between their beloved pets and their sanctuary.

But then, suddenly, I recalled something.

“Wait,” I whispered, grabbing Darren’s arm. “Before we make this final, there might be another solution.”

Darren looked at me. I leaned in, cupping my hand around his ear.

“The tincture,” I murmured.

“But he’s only just begun testing,” Darren said, lowering his voice.

I shrugged. “We should talk to him. It might help.”

Darren hesitated, his mismatched eyes darting back and forth across the table in front of us as he considered. I bit my lip, hoping that this would be the solution we needed. It felt like a long shot right now, but maybe we needed a long shot to make this whole thing work. Not just for us, but for all the other packs who were considering taking in human refugees.

Finally, Darren nodded and raised his hand to silence the murmuring crowd. “My Luna has just proposed a potential solution,” he said, looking around the room, “but it will require some patience. And extra effort on everyone’s parts.”

With that, we explained the potential uses of the tincture. The crowd glanced around, clearly not entirely buying it.

“One week,” Darren said, holding up one finger. “Give us one week to contact Dr. Edward and bring him here.”

The room fell quiet as everyone considered this proposal. I held my breath, scanning the faces of the pack members. There was hesitation, but also trust in their eyes—trust that had been built over our time leading them. Not just the wolves, but the humans, too.

Suddenly, the little girl spoke. “I’m not mad at the doggies for being scared,” she said softly. “I don’t want to see them go away, either.”

All eyes turned to her. Her mother’s face paled, her eyes dropping to her lap, but a look of quiet acceptance seemed to cross her expression. I looked at Darren, who nodded solemnly.

“It’s settled, then. We’ll contact Dr. Edward immediately.”