Nixon

••• Thirty-Five •••

"It has come to this pack's attention that the King this pack was once loyal has intruded our territory and intended to murder our Luna," an Elder announces, standing tall among those who sit as he informs Nixon and I of the pack's opinion. "As a pack, we wish to disconnect ourselves from this man's kingdom and become a rogue pack. This pack will not aid the cause of a betrayer."

This is the day that Crimson Lock will decide if we shall become a rogue pack. This is a day where one of the strongest packs in the world will decide if they will break off from a kingdom and form their own set of rules and government. Has it been done before? Three times: once by a small pack of twenty that got swept off the face of the earth due to a rival pack, another by a warlord's pack that once rogue, it fell apart from the inside and an uprising killed off more than half, and lastly by a strong pack, one that is still around four centuries later and rules half of the Asian werewolf packs. Will Crimson Lock meet its fate by going rogue? No. No because everyone wishes to distance themselves from Zion all because he harmed their Luna. This pack will not see a civil war because they wish to do this because they care for their Luna. This pack will not be wiped out because of their strength, the power, and the fear is places in our packs to not mess with them. I know that the treaties will still stay the same, how the packs around will still want to be on Crimson Lock's good side, but it is a matter of Zion wishing to declare war upon Crimson Lock. It's a question of how people outside of the pack will respond and if they will see Crimson Lock as a threat coming after them.

"We believe that not only are we sending a message to other packs about the dark truth of their King, but also a message to the King himself that no one should wear the crown who attacks someone we respect and love." Their words allow the fire I have burning within me to only be fueled, to fuel my hate for Zion as this pack is right, that other packs must know this truth. "And now we await the decision of our Alpha and Luna."

Nixon sits up beside me, the meeting before us in the common room of the pack house, pack members sitting on couches or pull-out chairs as they face Nixon and me, us facing them as we sit at the center of attention as the sunlight streams in behind us in the early hours of the day. As he takes my hand, holding it as if a priceless piece of glass, Nixon looks out upon his pack, his eyes scanning the crowd of people that still feel fear, that still cower in his presence as their faces seem to pale. If Zion had attacked Nixon, hardly any action would have taken place, hardly any attention drawn. Crimson Lock would have seen an attack upon Nixon as Zion simply placing their Alpha in his place and letting Nixon know first hand that he is not unstoppable. But this pack, when they look to me, when I hold eye contact with them, they see me not as some Luna, but as part of the family of this pack. I am the 'soft' side to Nixon, the one who respects the pack and in return, they respect and are loyal to me. Zion attacking me was an attack on them, causing them to take action right away and want nothing to do with Zion. I have known this since I married Nixon. Known that I hold this pack in the palm of my hand and they are perfectly fine with that because they see no sense of manipulation like Nixon would.

Looking to me, Nixon's navy eyes meet mine and I am taken back to the first moment I saw him. Still innocent and a daddy's girl, I was with a friend at a supermarket that night, grabbing snacks for a study session as I had stumbled into a fridge by the register. I remember how Nixon laughed at my clumsy moment, striking up a short conversation with me only for a lust to be born within me. That night a friend warned me to never interlace my life with Nixon's, that he was trouble just awaiting the permission to occur and take hold of my future without mercy. The first I spent within his house I played him the piano, mesmerizing him with the notes I preformed like some expert, and enticing him. I have grownup from those moments held a year ago, changing from someone who hated breaking the rules, someone who cowered and allowed herself to become easily submissive, and never speak up for herself...I have become someone who know wants a werewolf king dead because he invaded my domain and tried to kill not just me, but my unborn child. I have become a leader of a warlord's pack, someone who holds all the loyalty and respect, someone who sits on a throne of wolves as my husband has swore to protect me with every fiber in his body. I have talked back to Nixon countless times, witnessed murder, been beat, been placed at odds, have walked down an isle to marry a man I picked over my own flesh and blood, carry a child within me, and have yelled back at an Alpha King.