"There are more than four smaller villages around this town. All of them were shifters." Chairman Tanik said as he opened the door of his house for them. The house or rather a cabin that they were in wasn’t that big. It was a two-story made of wood. Yet, it was very cozy with burgundy carpet and a large couch in front of a fireplace.
The sound of his footsteps echoed inside the living room as he lit some fire for them. "The larger packs have slowly asked them to join their packs but they refused to. Packs exist for protection but they also didn’t want to acknowledge the Alpha of the bigger pack."
"What is the name of the pack?"
"The biggest one is the Rock Growlers. They are located up north, near the cliffs. Their Alpha is Alpha John Willis. He is a Werewolf in his forties known for his strict rules. Yet the smaller packs never respected him because of his womanizing ways."
"Womanizing?" Francheska asked. Werewolves have their own mates and because their numbers are larger than the Lycan population, it is easier for them to find their mates. Usually, they find their mates in their annual gatherings.
"Alpha John already lost his mate to a rogue attack about fifteen years ago. Since then, he never chose to marry and just chose to satisfy his appetite by impregnating younger women."
"Impregnating?"
"That is what the rumor says. I only met the Alpha once when he came here to ask us about the rogues and to talk to Priestess Anna. This happened a few years ago. At that time, he never once laid his eyes on the woman inside this village. Ah... do you want some coffee? Tea? I do not have many things to offer but— "
"No need," Jude and the rest shook their heads "Please go on."
Chairman Tanik nodded. He then got them a map of Nova Scotia.
"Rock Growlers are located in Prince Edward Island just north of Nova Scotia. They handle all the matters concerning the smaller packs around the area. In return, the smaller packs give the alpha some sort of payment for their protection."
"Did he come here in the past because he offered to protect this small town?" Ava asked.
"How did you know that?"
"What did you tell him?" Ava continued asking.
"The village is protected by a barrier. There is no need for their protection. And we do not have the funds to pay for anything."
"If you do not have the funds to pay for them... I mean... this is fairly a bigger town compared to the ones that the smaller packs occupy." Jude reasoned.
"They use everything that they have or... give the Alpha their women."
"That’s— "
"Is that even allowed?" Fracheska immediately looked at Jude. As the head of the North American Branch of Trillium, Jude has a lot of power inside Trillium.
"That is not something that required the help of Trillium," Jude said, meeting Francheska’s gaze before turning towards Ava. "Trillium would only care about the things that could possibly reveal our existence to the outside world. A dispute like this is not a part of our responsibilities.’
"But that is not fair."
"It is not fair," Jude said. "This world isn’t fair to everyone. And that made it fair."
"Are you telling me that Trillium would not do a thing about this?"
"No. We will not." Jude said. "Again, this is between the smaller pack and the large pack. It is their agreement. If Trillium would intervene in small little things— " Jude sighed. Obviously, Francheska was full of ideas from the books that she had read. Her sense of justice was a bit strong as she still lacked experience in the outside world. And Jude understands this. "Where would it stop?"
"What do you mean?"
"If we start looking into little things that all supernaturals would do then we cannot turn a blind eye to the rest of the things that are happening all around the world. Trillium does not have the funds to focus on smaller things. Aside from this, we lack manpower. Our agents are taking on dangerous missions, looking for serial killers in the desert. You cannot really expect them to come here and solve a dispute such as this, no?"
Francheska nodded. "I still thought it was not fair— "
"The council of Werewolves exists," Ava said. There is the council of Lycans and the council of witches. Each shifter has their own councils so they could focus on things like this. "What are they doing about this matter?" Ava asked. She recalled meeting a few members of the Werewolf council during the event.
"Nothing," Chairman Tanik said. "Why would they stop something that would benefit them?"
"Can you please explain that?"
Instead of Chairman Tanik, it was Ava who answered Francheska’s question.
"First and foremost, the werewolves really like to establish their role in the supernatural world. They are known for their packs and well, the bigger the pack, the stronger they become. Because of the payment system, many smaller packs have decided to join the bigger packs to avoid paying these fees. Because of that, their numbers have increased."
"What if they are mistreated?" Francheska continued asking.
"Well... why do you think rogues exist?" Ava countered. Rogues are werewolves without packs. Usually, they are just wolves who had been kicked out by their own pack or chose to leave of their own free will.
Francheska nodded.
"So tell us about the other packs," Matthew said. He had been standing behind Ava, looming behind her as he observed and listened.
"There are four around this area. The smaller packs consist of around twenty to thirty adult fighters. These are men and women who could fight. The rest are children. We took some of their warriors and children after the first few attacks. The rest chose to stay in their villages as they do not want to leave their houses. Some just don’t want to join us because we have witches and other shifters." The healer, Ellama said.
"As we said, not many werewolves from other packs think that living together with other shifters is good." Chairman Tanik added as he finished marking the area where the other smaller packs are located.
"Alright..." Ava got up.
"Where are you going?"
"Giving them a visit..." Ava said.
"What? Now?" Chairman Tanik stared at Ava, wondering if she was serious about her words. It was already past midnight. First, they only have one car. A truck that they use to buy their supplies from the town center. Second, traveling at night wouldn’t be that good because of the rogues. And third, how could they just visit without announcing it to the packs?
"Now," Ava said. "I will place protection that would last for the next twelve hours. You must not let anyone in this village leave. A thick fog will cover this place after we left. And it is poisonous. Unfortunately, I do not have the power to only make it target rogues and unidentified creatures. So, it would kill anyone that would walk inside it."
"A poisonous fog? How could you cover the large village with something like that?" Chairman Tanik asked.
"Chairman, I think this is the only way for us to be safe. Miss Woods isn’t as powerful as Priestess Anna. She is already doing her best to help us."
"I— " Chairman Tanik’s face reddened. "My apologies. I just... I didn’t want to sound ungrateful. I had been panicking since Priestess Anna disappeared and I immediately thought that the Priestess might come back and— "
"She should be able to use her magick to keep herself safe," Ava said. Actually, she had the power to create a shield, a barrier that would make the whole village invisible to anyone outside of the village.
But she wouldn’t do that.
Ava didn’t want to show all of her cards. Right now, she wanted to let them think she is powerful yet not as powerful as Priestess Anna.
Of course, she also had some ulterior motives like making sure that no one would be able to leave this place to avoid any spies from sending information to anyone.
"Then how are you going to — "
"I will take care of that," Ava said. She then instructed Jude to hold Francheska’s hand. The four of them held each other’s hand. After a few minutes, they disappeared inside the chairman’s house.
Seeing them gone, Ellama sighed.
The blind woman was still sitting but the chairman was already standing, pacing not far away from her.
"What should we do?" Ellama asked. Now that Priestess Anna and the other witches are gone, it would be hard for them to keep this place safe. It was because, while they have many fighters, they also have so many children and weaker women. It would be very hard to defend them from the rogues.
"There is no point in thinking about that now. Go and call everyone. I will inform them about the current situation."
"Including the Priestess’s absence?" Ellama asked.
"Yes."
"But that would— "
"Ellama... knowledge is always better than being ignorant. We need to be more careful. Let us take advantage of the fact that the ones from Trillium are still here to help us out."
Ellama said nothing.
"What is it?" Chairman Tanik asked.
"Do you really think they have nothing to do with the Priestess’s disappearance?"
This time Chairman Tanik only shook his head. "Go and gather everyone. I will be telling them about the changes."
....
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