“But I can’t now?” I finished for her.
“The truth is, we don’t know what to do,” Dad said. He sat at the table, his hands to his temples. “We spent the entire week discussing it with our advisors, the elders, the pack warriors. The only thing we know for sure is that the other three packs would doanythingto steal you from us if they knew the truth.” In a darker voice, he added, “Not to mention the humans and gryphons.”
The humans I wasn’t worried so much about--any wolf shifter could easily take a human, without the aid of their technology, anyway. But gryphons were another story. Even though I’d never seen one, we all knew they lurked out there in the mountains above the lake. On clear days, you could even hear their long, eagle-like cries in the distance. But they had food and shelter, and never really had a reason to bother us.
Unless this changes everything,I thought darkly.
Still, I didn’t want to give up just because potential danger existed. I was stronger than that.
“So you’re saying me being an omega just made this war worse?” I remarked bitterly.
They didn’t respond, but I already knew the answer.
Mom joined my Dad at the table with a sigh. Her face was screwed up in an angry frown, where my Dad seemed more hopeless. Despite my own annoyance, I felt bad for them. They hadn’t asked for this, either. They were just trying to do their best to protect me. It wasn’t fair for any of us.
“What am I supposed to do?” I asked desperately.
“You’re an adult now, Matheson,” Mom said, raising her head. “We can’t stop you from making any decisions.”
“Lilian,” Dad began, but she put her hand on his and continued.
“That being said, you must know the danger you’ll be in if you leave the territory, for any reason. That includes leaving East Pack grounds to cross into other territories, or visiting any human cities or towns.” Her face became grim. “That’s not even taking into account the gryphon shifters...”
I wrinkled my nose. The gryphons were supposed to be ruthless and power-hungry, which didn’t sound too different than the other wolves around the lake. Since the gryphons tended to mind their own business, I didn’t think they posed as much of a threat as the other packs did, anyway. Mom was just being overprotective.
“I know,” I said. “But I can’t live my life trapped in a cabin all the time.”
“That was just for your heat.”
“Yeah, but now that it’s over, what am I supposed to do?” I demanded. “Like you said, I’ll be in danger everywhere just for being who I am.WhatI am. Ugh!”
I kicked a chair over in anger. My parents didn’t reprimand me. They must’ve seen the tears of frustration brimming in my eyes.
A knock at the door drew our attention.
“Come in,” Dad ordered.
A familiar gruff alpha named Neil entered. He was one of the senior guards--experienced and highly respected among the pack. He gave me a curt nod, then bowed at my parents. “Matheson. Lady Lilian and Lord Mitchell.”
I noticed with a tick of irritation that I didn’t get any title attached to my name. Had he forgotten my birthday last week, marking me as an adult? Or was it the fact that I was known as an omega now that made him hesitate for a term?
“You may speak, Neil,” Mom said.
“Thank you. I was just here to ask if you were ready for the Moon Meeting. The guards are all ready to escort you.”
“Shit,” Mom muttered. “I completely forgot about the Moon Meeting.”
“As did I,” Dad said with a sigh. “We’ve been so busy with the news about Matheson, the date must’ve slipped our minds.”
Every month when the moon turned full, the four packs gathered on an island in the center of the lake to share news about the outside world--the gryphons and humans, mostly. In all my time going to Moon Meetings, the gryphons had only been brought up once in a while. The biggest threat were humans encroaching on our lands. Even though our four packs were uneasy with each other at best, and battle-hungry at worst, we were still all wolf shifters, and had more kinship to each other than to any outsiders.
The Moon Meetings were generally open to pack leaders and their children, plus a handful of guards from each pack. The event was kept purposely small so the uneasy truce of those nights didn’t turn out into a flat-out brawl.
“Let’s go, then. I don’t want to be late,” Mom grumbled. “I don’t want them to know anything is--”
She stopped herself from saying it, but I still winced. I knew what she was going to say.Wrong.
Mom apologetically avoided my gaze as she joined Neil by the door. Dad got ready and I trailed behind until Neil stopped walking and turned to me with a raised brow.
