Chapter Forty

In case anyone is confused, a nymph 'Lady' and an angel 'Lady' are not the same. I plan to publish a little book diary thing to explain my world and my species after I finish this.

Bridger

I know I've already said it, but everything about this situation is unexpected and weird. When I close my eyes and think about the Lords and Ladies of the angels, I imagined relatively young people in a glamorous house. All of this is not any of that.

Lady Ariha disappeared for only a few seconds before another Lord appeared. This man introduced himself as Lord Mikel, he has a heavy Scandinavian accent and wears two long braids that fall just below his shoulders. His hair is a very light blonde, but unlike Lady Ariha, he doesn't look a day over thirty. I figure he's the one who made the lunch as he begins setting out plates filled with beef tacos. One meatless taco appears and Marquise takes it.

Kian's eyes are wide as the plates that appear on the table and more and more angels begin to flood the small dining room. It's not too small to where it's cramped, but definitely smaller than any dining room I've ever been in. Werewolves love fancy things and we show off our wealth like it's our baby. My old packhouse was huge, Corzo's packhouse is huge, Kian's packhouse is huge. The Elder's Court is huge and wrapped in golds and whites with expensive jewels, furniture, and art decorating every possible surface. By nature, we are huge maximalists though some, like Kian and myself, have adopted a slight minimalist way of living. But when you're given riches beyond reason to splurge on whatever you want, naturally, you are going to go big and werewolves love going big.

In more ways than one.

I try not to make myself laugh, but Jace's stupid deep chuckle makes it harder.

I look back at Kian and he's already engrossed in a conversation with yet another angel I hadn't noticed appeared. He's tall with light skin and black curly hair. Just from their scents, I can tell these guys are ancient, but they both dress in casual, modern clothes which I find quite funny. These ancient beings take on different forms from elderly to teenage, live in a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, hold enough random artifacts from their time to be considered borderline hoarding, and yet a viking man is wearing a Sonic the Hedgehod hoodie while serving us beef tacos. These are the people who are in charge of my boyfriend's pack's livelihood. It's not common you find yourself in the presence of immortals and in my case, this is my first time. I guess, like many others, I assumed these immortal beings would continue to dress the way they did during the era they lived before becoming immortal. It's a silly thought because where would a viking or an ancient egyptian find or use such stereotypical outfits?

Kian and the man who I figure is Lord Amr are talking about cats. He stands next to his Egyptian cat statue, explaining to Kian that killing a cat, in his time, was punishable by death. He and Kian both share the same love for solitary animals and Kian expresses his sorrow for having never seen a real life cat. I make an exasperated face because I know for sure I told him I was going to take him to see cats and humans and everything else he wanted to see, but before I can even say anything, the cat statue melts. Literally melts right before my eyes. Kian gasps, his hands covering his mouth as the statue oozes into another solid state, but this time, a living, breathing solid state. A cat.

A white, female cat emerges from the golden goo and Lord Amr quickly reaches down to scoop her up. She's cooperative and hangs in his arms as if she's boneless. Lord Amr brings her over for a squealing Kian to see.

Kian slaps my arm and exclaims, "Bridger! Bridger, it's a cat!" As if I'm not experiencing the same thing with him.

"Your first time seeing a cat!" I say as Lord Amr holds her out for Kian to pet.

"Her name is Latif," he says, "she's very gentle, go on, take her. She's one of the few cats who enjoy affection. My others don't."

"How many cat statues do you have?" I ask as I watch Kian gently hold the furry thing in his arms as if he might break her. She stares at him warily as he gently pets her down her back. His heart is racing but not from fear, excitement. I fear he might pass out.

"Many," Lord Amr answers, "too many to say. Only a few turn into real cats."

"Do the cats serve you the way witches and warlocks adopt Familiars?" I ask, vaguely remembering a book I read about magic wielders. I do understand that not all magic is the same and that even the same species of magic wielders can possess and use magic differently.

Lord Amr shakes his head. "Angels do not need familiars because we do not need protection or aid for or in our power. My cats to me are like cats to anyone else: companions. Not to mention, I serve them more than they serve me."

I look at Kian and wonder how Lord Amr is going to get Latif away from him. Kian is looking at that cat as though she were the love of his life and I fear that Lord Amr is about to lose one of his companions all because he was a bit too nice. When I look back to the Lord, I can tell he's thinking the same thing.

That's when I notice that the room is full and I elbow Kian to get him to stop giving Latif all of his attention. When he looks up, his eyes go wide and he almost drops the cat in his lap.

Before us sit six other angels excluding Lords Mikel and Amr. All of them display themselves at different ages. Where Lady Ariha takes the form of an old lady perhaps in her 80s, the others range from youthful to elderly as well. It's quite odd to look at, knowing that they're way over thousands of years of age. It's especially unnerving looking at one who looks as though they couldn't be any older than eighteen. Marquise himself is in his 200s which is hard to believe considering he looks even younger than me.

Lady Ariha goes around introducing them all to Kian and I. They offer us warm smiles, slow nods, and bows. Kian looks flustered with all the attention, but I enjoy it, still finding it insane that I'm sitting before demigods in their humble farmhouse while also being the best dressed in business casual attire. Now I regret wearing it and I wish I had listened to Kian.

"I want to get straight to the point so young Marquise here can show Kian and Bridger around Sephael more, can you believe he only showed them Usin and not even the best part! He only showed them the marketplace."

They all shake their heads, casting dissatisfied looks Marquise's way who just slumps in his seat and purses his lips. He mutters something about being on time, but they either don't notice or don't care as they turn their attention back to Kian.

"We have read through your files," Lady Ariha says, standing as though she's the head of this gathering. She probably is. "At first, I thought I'd let the Gold Court handle your case, it's certainly a Gold-Standard, but I couldn't help but believe that they wouldn't have the resources necessary so truly see you up for success. We have a bit of a...selfish reason as to why we want to help you as well. I want to be clear with you before we continue."

I frown. I understand that angels aren't perfect because nothing is perfect, but selfish and angels simply don't go in the same sentence. I can feel Kian tense as well so I offer my hand under the table which he quickly takes. Marquise himself looks a little surprised as he sits up straighter, his brows creasing with confusion.

It's Lord Mikel's turn to speak as he clears his throat. "In the past, we have been alerted of the corruption within different species especially werewolves and have tried to fix it for years. We have tried to collaborate with The Elders, but their original purpose has been lost after long generations of passed-down stories and new eras of Elders creating new stories and completely ignoring the foundations that your court was built on. Once we realized that the older and current eras of Elders aren't interested in collaborating with us or helping omegas, we have – in their eyes – gone against them and interfered where we are not wanted. We have helped many omegas by creating safe houses and such, but The Elders are not happy that we are messing with their people and overstepping and they have retaliated against us before. As you know, we angels are pacifists, we don't encourage war or engage in war. But we have had many...how do you say...disturbances from them since we have began our efforts that have caused us great worry and fear that our peace is about to be broken. That is the last thing we want."

So, the Elders have actively worked against omegas? I'm not sure why that surprises me so much given their history. I guess I just thought that maybe omegas were on their radar, and they were at least concerned about a huge demographic of their species being targeted by the masses. That's just wishful thinking, I suppose. It makes sense considering The Elders are roughly 100-150 years old. Negative rhetoric surrounding omegas have spread just a few years after their first appearance on this earth, so long before the current court.

It's just very discouraging knowing that the people who essentially give us rights and are the most powerful are actively working against those who need the most protection. It's dangerous.

Lord Mikel continues. "The Silver Court has kept our safe houses for omegas, but in order to keep that court and those involved safer, we figure putting them into a pack dedicated solely to protecting them would keep The Elders off of our backs but also make it harder for them to send their people to attack because it'll be a moral concern. Our selfish desire is to basically tell the Elders to stick it where the sun doesn't shine. We found a loophole. Isn't it just lovely to defeat the Big Bad...well–" he chuckles, "the Big Bad Wolves?"

I could crack a smile if we weren't also wolves.

"A moral concern? Do they even have morals?" I ask, half jokingly.

"Morally, they can't send someone to attack you since you are a pack. They don't want us messing in packs because we are not werewolves. Their main concern is us "disturbing" packs."

Kian shifts. "But... How will I protect my pack if they do? Or if other werewolves try to attack...or...what are they called–"

"Hunters?" I ask and he snaps his fingers with a nod.

"Hunters, yes, them. How will we have protection if you are pacifists?"

Lord Amr raises his finger up to speak. "We tossed the idea around of encasing only your land in our magic, we do not cast spells, so it won't be a protection spell, but your land will have a barrier."

"I don't know if that sounds...secure," Kian continues. I try to keep my shock unnoticed. Before now, Kian would never be having such a constructive conversation with comfortable confrontation. But looking at him now, he looks confident and ready to make these connections and alliances without an ounce of fear coursing through him. Seeing him so serious is almost a turn-on, but I quickly bite that down.

Jace hums. 'Don't bite it down'

'Shut it, I'm biting it down'

"It does sound flimsy, but I understand Bridger had another idea," they all look at me and I look back at them in confusion.

I never once discussed with these guys any ideas that I had, if I had any. I have no idea what–

'Idiot,' Jace chastises with a sigh, 'he's talking about the conversation you had with Corzo all those months ago. They must have figured it out somehow ...perhaps through the file thing they mentioned'

"Oh," I say, remembering suddenly, "yeah, I was just thinking since we're connected to elves, we could request their help. It's very wishful thinking and unlikely to happen considering elves are completely isolated from other species even within their realm, but it was just an idea. We just need someone with defensive magic."

Elves were alive far before werewolves were a thought. Their Goddess, Ayona, is the older sister to our Goddess and, according to some texts, had created the Primerials as soon as she was born. We are related to elves through them. I haven't heard of Elves acknowledging us as their distant cousins and we haven't ever tried reaching out to them either. That I know of. Elves have their own issues anyway.

"A great one, nonetheless," an angel says, "that would take a lot of time and Heavens knows how exactly you would ever contact an elf. They haven't sent their kind out in a long time since they've been experiencing disturbances on Codoa and surrounding planets. We haven't heard a word from their kind in over a century."

"So, for now, we can only focus on what's available," Kian says slowly as he wraps his head around the conversation, "and it seems only you, Lords, are available. I will take as much help as I can get and your aid will be greatly appreciated."

Lady Ariha smiles. "Our barriers aren't the strongest, but they can certainly withstand a normal werewolf or Hunter attack. You will only need to be concerned about those who wield magic or those who have magic on their side. I'm sure you won't be about making enemies with them, however, so it is no major concern right now. If, say, Alpha James's pack were to attack you, they wouldn't be able to find your pack let alone get inside. Alone, that is."

"Any protection is better than none," I say and Kian nods, squeezing my hand.

"I just want everyone to have a little sense of security. Until I can create protection of my own. We will need outside protection."

"And we will give you that," Lord Amr assures, "we all have also agreed that we will like to fund you. Packs get their riches from long lines of generational respect and worship of your Elders. You do not have that and we have more than enough to fund you for...well...forever. This way, you will no longer need to call on the resources of Alpha Corzo's pack. We – or Marquise – will give you exactly what you need."

Kian's eyes buldge out of his head and I might also look the same. It's true that The Elders fund every single registered pack, but a packs wealth is based off of its longevity and strength. Having Kian's pack funded by immortal wealth having just started and not ever stepped foot in a tournament is absolutely unheard of. It sounds insane.

Goddess, Kian is about to make history in a way so many people will hate. I'm so happy that he chose me so i can witness it all. I feel like nothing but an onlooker, but I am still so excited.

"You already know that I want to stay within Kian's pack?" Marquise asks, surprised by a completely different thing. He hasn't said a word until now.

Lady Ariha rolls her eyes. "Of course, we know everything, Marquise, you know this. We do not mind it, actually, we prefer it. It's easier to pass down power when you're at the source of it. Plus, you and your lovely partner can keep an eye on the barrier."

"Of course," Marquise nods. "I will certainly do everything I can."

The rest of the conversation continues with more details on how the angels' funds will aid Kian's pack as well as how they will go about spreading word about his pack without alerting the wrong people. An angel explains that their Courts have somehow mastered the ability to go undetected in packs to assist omegas in running away, so it will be no problem for them to send omegas Kian's way. Kian and I listen intently as the Lords explain that they will keep track of Kian's progress through Marquise and biannual meetings with Kian since it takes too much energy to focus on Kian's every move by themselves.

They also explain that in order for the barrier to work properly, there needs to be land between Corzo and Kian's packs. Which makes total sense to me since most werewolf packs have a No Man's Land between them so as to not step on each other's toes. Kian will need to move further west just until there is at least five miles – almost two hours – between Oasis and Blue Palm.

I'm not sure exactly how much of the area Corzo owns, but I also hope he understands the Lords' concerns and why Kian needs to move. I'm not sure how we'd go about moving the packhouse, but Kian asks that before I can even think about it. They explain that once Kian gets the go-ahead to move, they will attempt to move the packhouse where Kian needs it.

Afterwards, Kian sadly has to say goodbye to his beloved Latif. He tearfully hands her over to Lord Amr who promises that one day he, too, will have a cat who will love him the way all of Lord Amr's cats do. I've never seen two people so passionate about cats – or any animal – as Kian and Lord Amr.

"Promise, Noble, that you will take our guests to other parts of Sephael or at least, more scenic areas of Usin," Lady Ariha says to Marquise as she walks us out of the house.

"Yes, yes, I promise, Lady. You made it clear that my job depends on it."

"Don't get smart with me, Frenchie–"

Seconds later, I find myself in the middle of a busy market. Angels weave in and out of shops and by vendors. The heart of the market is built like a strip mall, but more stimulating. There are countless bakeries and cafes, clothing and shoe shops, salons of all kinds and beauty stores, restaurants and more. Vendors are out selling jewellry, produce, and other services.

"Do you make money here?" I ask, "in werewolf packs, the money is kind of just recycled because it's not like we have a big government paying us, you know? I mean, there are some huge metropolis packs who have actual Treasuries and banks, but that's not the norm."

"The Lords believe that money is the root of evil," Marquise says, "they think that even with the most compassionate and loving, we would always want more and wanting more of something constantly isn't good, it can drive someone insane. We use our talents and knowledge to pay for things instead, like a trade and bartering system. It has worked out so far, of course there are disagreements especially when it comes to angels who are used to money. But we also have money. The Silver Court gives allowances to angels who travel outside of Sephael. Money doesn't have any value here, though."

I guess their system makes sense. Sephael is a pocket realm which means it belongs only to one or two species, doesn't include other planets or galaxies, and isn't as complex as other realms. Only angels live in Sephael, occasionally visited by nymphs where realms like ours is shared among multiple species such as werewolves, humans, vampires, and Meri; realms like the Elven realm are huge and shared among elves, unicorns, fairies, dragons, and more. Sephael is one of the few pocket realms out there; some could argue the Moonlands are a pocket realm as well.

Our conversation comes to a halt when I realize Kian is no longer with us. I can hear him giggling and when I turn to look for him, I see him standing with women in a cafe called Coffee Books. The two middle-aged women coo and dote on him, one of them placing a gentle hand on his stomach.

'They don't have to be so touchy, do they?'

I agree, but the way Kian covers her hand with his tells me he likes it. He wants to show off something we made together, I can't argue against that. I stand next to him, taking the two women off guard for a second.

"Oh is this your handsome fella?" the one not touching Kian asks, "Oh Betty, look at him."

"Your little baby will be so beautiful with your curls and his eyes," Betty says, "you werewolves are always so gorgeous, so either way, your pup will be beautiful."

"I'm not sure I'll know how to care for its hair if it has my hair," Kian pouts, "I can hardly do my own."

Betty's wife's hands are in his hair fast.

"Sweetheart, just a little TLC will take your curls a long way. There's a hair salon just a block from here, go in there and they will treat you well."

Kian spends more time in the cafe-bookstore before we leave. I end up carrying twelve books (which he got for free) along with a basket of baked goods while he and Marquise walk arm-in-arm down the block to a hair salon. He speaks highly of this salon, stating it's where he used to go before he got locs. His partner also goes here from time to time, but when they moved to Hesana, getting to the salon was too much of a hassle for them.

As soon as we step foot into the salon, we're all being dragged into chairs. I didn't think I needed anything done, but my hairdresser quickly pulls out some oils and scissors to give me a trim I didn't know I needed as well as a shave. I'm not angry with the results at all and when I look over at Kian, who's receiving a full facial massage while his hair dries, I can tell he's also not angry either. I allow myself to relax as my hairdresser dots some type of oil on my face and slowly begins to massage in circles.

At some point, I feel like I might have dozed off, but I'm being shaken awake by a giggling Kian. I must have done more than dozed off. I can't believe my hairdresser allowed me to do that. When my eyes open, they're met with the most angelic being among all of Sephael. Kian beams down at me, his hair cut and curlier than ever. Whatever they did to him, he's absolutely glowing. He might as well be an angel with how his skin shines. Where his curls are usually frizzy and going in different directions, they're now coiled into tight, moisterized ringlets falling into an oval-like shape around his perfect face.

"They taught me how to take care of my hair at home!" Kian exclaims as I sit up, "doesn't it look better than before?"

"It looks beautiful as always," I say honestly, "and your skin, look, it's glowing like the angels."

His face turns pinkish as he smiles. "They taught me skincare too."

It makes me incredibly happy that he's learning about things as simple as hair and skincare – things his parents should have taught him when he was a child. But it's no matter, he's learning now and he's more beautiful than ever with all the excitement. And when more omegas come to our pack in the same situation as Kian, he will be able to teach them what they need to know.

I think that's one of his bigger fears when it comes to leading the pack: not knowing how to do things. Seeing him learning how to care for himself is beautiful.

This little trip is definitely doing more for us than I thought it would. I certainly don't feel as stressed as I did before we came to Sephael and Kian looks more than relaxed as we wander the streets of ...I can't quite remember what city Marquise said we're in. We have long left the countryside and now walk among tall buildings that mimic New York. To my surprise, there aren't many angels walking about nor are there any cars. I'm not surprised that angels are anti-car environmentalists.

Kian and I walk hand-in-hand with Marquise in front of us. I look down at Kian and he has his head up and eyes closed, a smile resting on his lips. I release his hand and bring him in to my side, wrapping my arm around his shoulders. He opens his eyes just as I press a kiss atop his curly head.

"I love it here," Kian says, "it makes me feel hopeful."

"Me too," I say, "we have a good future ahead of us."

He smiles at me and for the first time in forever, I feel like confident in the direction my life is going. I feel at peace and most importantly, I feel happy.

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Word Count: 4210