Seven

Vali

“And who might you be?” One of the men sitting at the round, mahogany table asked. He was wearing a well-tailored suit, all black with a navy tie. His ears were pointed, shown only because his longer strands were tucked behind his ear, showing off the shape. The Fae King Adonis.

“Thought that my hair might be a giveaway, but obviously your kind are more daft than I thought.” I replied, looking around the table at the shocked faces and the lack of a chair for a wolf representative.

“Your kind aren’t welcome here.” My eyes turned towards the one face I had cared to remember from Jackson’s tutoring.

“King Traian Dracula, I thought you might say that.” I replied, looking at the two vampires that stood behind him. One was the Korean vampire lord, Mun Kang-Dae, the other was Prince Mircea. The Prince’s eyes were locked on mine, the confusion in his irises was quickly schooled into a cold indifference.

“There’s a reason you thought that. The Summit is no place for animals-”

“I know you did not just call me an animal.” I said, cutting the Vampire King off who looked at me with such fuelled hatred you would think I had done something to him personally. I hadn’t. Not yet at least. “I am a person, just as you are. Which means not much of one, but still one nonetheless.” I argued, he seemed like he was about to retaliate but his son got in first.

“The wolves waived their right to a seat at the table millennia ago.” He said, his voice calm as he watched me with heavy eyes.

“Untrue.” I responded. “Your kind waived it for us.” I said, looking around the room again. “Technically, according to the laws of the treaty signed between all of the races, every being must have a representative at the annual Summit. Since this is the first one since the treaty signing where a wolf has been present, all legislation, programs… anything that has been created over the last thousand years is null and void.” My eyes then landed on Traian who’s anger seemed to continue growing. “Would an animal know that?” I asked him.

“Ianthe, is this true?” The leader of the mortals asked, Derek if I remembered correctly. He wasn’t a king, he was voted into his position and had taken years to learn the ins and outs of this system. Although he probably learned it from vampires… or the humans who had taught him had.

“Technically, yes.” The Witch Queen responded, her blue eyes were focused on me as she replied, but I didn’t linger on her for longer than a second.

“There’s no ‘technically’ about it. If I wanted to, I could call for a repeal of everything that has ever been done in this room, and you would have to do it without argument. However, I am willing to look past it all if we can agree to make a new law…” I trailed off, turning to Jackson to take a copy of the files I needed. “And what does it take to get a fucking chair around here?” I asked, watching as Derek turned to talk to his two advisers, one of which ran off.

“What law are you wanting to enact?” Lilith asked, the aptly named Queen of the Demons. She had been quiet up until now, had been keeping to herself. I only spoke again once the mortal came back with a chair for me and I squeezed in between Derek and Ianthe. It made me rather happy that the evenly spaced chairs were now out of balance.

“I want to enact law that prevents the hunting of each other’s races.” I said simply, and I heard a dark laugh from across the table. This was why I chose to sit between Derek and Ianthe, because I wanted to be able to stare Traian face on. I wanted to watch him squirm at my stare and my words. No, I needed him to.

“The Hunts are the only way we can keep your kind under control.” He said, my eyes looked to Mircea in hopes that maybe he felt remorse or something that could make me think he wasn’t an asshole like the rest of them.

“Also untrue.” I said as Jackson began walking around the table and placing copies of the files in front of each leader and handing more to their advisers. “Maybe it was useful a thousand years ago, hell, maybe even a couple hundred, but not anymore. Since becoming the White Wolf I have changed much about how my people operate, one of the first things I did was instigate a census. Obviously I don’t have every single wolf on here as some prefer living in solitude among the woods and not contacting anyone to protect themselves and others, but most are very happy to do it. Why? Because my people understand we need a numerical way of showing that the Hunts are no longer fulfilling their purpose and that they are instead extremely archaic and destructive.”

“That is-” oh Traian, I’m not done yet.

“If everyone would look at the handout that my Third just gave you, you will see evidence that backs my claim. Since starting the census I have also made non-consensual biting illegal, which means no one has been turned against their will or if they have I have dealt with the culprit. In the first year of the census I had twenty-eight-thousand wolves. I have been in control for six years, and the number of wolves has dwindled to barely fifteen-thousand. Almost half of my people are gone because of the hunts.” I said, but I hadn’t finished yet.

“I understand how the Summit works, that we bring up the topics we wish to be discussed and then go off to think, research and plan. I know that this will likely be put off until last because no one seems to care. This will be discussed because it was brought up during the initial planning meeting, but I need to make sure everyone understands the situation. If any of you think that the Hunts will stop after wolves are extinct because of the ‘ritual’ I am warning you that you are wrong.” I said, breaking my eyes away from Traian to look at Mircea. Maybe he didn’t know this, so I would have to gauge his reaction to see.

“The vampires won’t give up their yearly bloodbath, and the reason I know this is because we have evidence they have put demons, fae, witches and humans as prey in these hunts already.” Mircea’s eyes widened for a split second. Maybe not enough of a reaction for anyone else in the room to notice, but I did. What I didn’t know if it was shock over the information or shock that I had it.

“I am not just looking to keep wolves safe from their grasp, I am looking to keep everyone away from their fangs.”