23

The growls started the moment I came into view.

Eyes, clouded with viciousness, stared me down, silently daring me to take another step forward. Sharp teeth were bared, ears were flattened back, and the almost shadow-like wolf moved into an attack position—well, it attempted to, but given that it only had three legs, the wolf struggled.

"What's his name?" I asked Emilia, not drawing my attention away from the wolf.

"Alastor," she replied and the dark wolf's eyes immediately shot to her. "He's been one of the more difficult ones to get through to. From what his file says, it seems like they put him in the ring quite often prior to his injury. He's gotten so used to seeing other wolves as enemies that he immediately attacks when we get too close."

Alastor awkwardly circled the room, almost as if he were waiting for something.

"What's he doing?"

Emilia sighed. "Watch how you move. He likes to wait for an opening and try to take off. He hasn't succeeded, but he continues to try."

Alastor's snarls grew louder and I frowned before couching down. The wolf immediately tensed up and watched me with suspicion shining in its eyes. It didn't attack though. I assumed that was because Emilia and I were just barely inside the room.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Alastor," I called out softly.

Something I'd picked up was that the rescues almost seemed confused when they heard their names. I assumed that when they were with Alfie, they weren't often referred to by them so I hoped that by doing so, it'd help pull them from that fight zone they seemed to be trapped in.

"I bet that hurt, huh?" My eyes drifted to the area of his missing leg. "They didn't take good care of you did they?"

Alastor's tilted his head and huffed. It almost seemed as if he could understand me, but I wasn't sure.

"You don't even like fighting, do you? You're just scared."

His grey-brown eyes fluttered and his stance relaxed slightly. I took another step forward, but his growl was much quieter this time.

"I know you're confused after being taken from a terrible place and being placed in a strange new environment, but I promise you this one is much better. Nobody here will hurt you and if they try to then I'll take care of it."

His eyes flashed and I moved once again. His growls quieted and I offered him a smile. I slowly took a few more steps toward him and when I was within reach, I started to stick my hand out. My eyes were glued to his.

Slowly...slowly...

I could practically feel his breath against my hand.

A large smile broke out on my face and I started to rest my hand against his head. "See? That—"

Alastor's loud growl filled the room and in the blink of an eye, he lunged in an attempt to bite my hand. Before he could do so, I pulled back, but that didn't stop him from attempting to attack. Even with his missing leg, he proved to be quite fast. It was only when I was completely out of the room that he seemed to calm down. His eyes narrowed on me before he returned to his spot in the corner.

"You weren't exaggerating," I said to Emilia.

I watched as he stalked around, pausing temporarily to examine his missing leg.

"I'm assuming that's recent?"

"From the files, it seems like it happened a few weeks before we raided the site."

I frowned. It was fair to see why he didn't trust other wolves when they were the cause of his pain.

"If she's up to it, try seeing if Alani can get close to him," I said, referring to one of the few non-werewolves in the pack. "Maybe he'll have a better reaction to someone who isn't a wolf. Have two of the warriors on standby just in case."

"You think sending in a witch will work better?" Emilia asked doubtfully.

"Honestly, I'm willing to give it a try if it could potentially help. Besides, Alani has a way of getting through to people."

It was a common belief that werewolves and witches didn't get along very well and in some cases, there was some truth to that statement; however, I'd known Alani for as long as I could remember. Our mothers were practically best friends and in some ways, she was like a sister to me. I trusted her enough to give it a shot.

"I'll let you know how it goes," Emilia said.

"If that doesn't work, I might reach out to the council and—"

"Alpha Slater," Edison, one of the warriors on border patrol interrupted. "You're needed at the eastern border."

My brows immediately furrowed. We weren't expecting any visitors today. "For what reason?"

"The two wolves from before have returned."

I didn't need him to elaborate to know who he was talking about. "Don't waste any time on them. Send them away."

"They aren't alone," Edison responded.

"What do you mean?"

They weren't alone? I knew that they weren't a part of a pack and when I dug into them, they didn't seem to have any more living family members.

"They've returned with Councilwoman Mira and they're demanding that you release their son."

...

Over the years, the pack had its fair share of run-ins with the council. Typically, it wasn't for anything bad. Dad and Mom had often collaborated with them in cases of rescues or other similar situations; however, it was rare for us to be the ones under investigation.

When I reached the border, I was immediately met with the faces of Milo's parents. They stared at me with unfiltered smugness and I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes as I approached Councilwoman Mira.

"Councilwoman," I acknowledged her. "What can I do for you?"

"Hello, Alpha Slater, I'm here to investigate—"

"She's here to tell you to return our son," Milo's mother interrupted all feigned sweetness from before gone.

Councilwoman Mira's eyes immediately flashed. "Please do not interrupt me."

I fought the urge to sigh.

"As I was saying, I'm here to investigate the claim that you are holding a wolf hostage."

"Hostage?" I questioned the outlandish claim. "Milo is by no means being held hostage. If he wished to leave then he could, he simply does not wish to return to his abusers," my eyes drifted to his poor excuse for parents.

"We did not abuse him," his Dad snapped.

"He begs to differ."

"He was kidnapped and then ended up in a strange place, of course, he's going to agree with whatever claim you put in his head. He's terrified!"

I couldn't stop a small laugh from escaping at that. If only they knew of the firecracker Milo was. They hadn't been there to witness the hell I went through just to get him in the bathtub or dressed; they hadn't seen just how opinionated and feisty he was.

"You can say what you want, but the reaction he had to seeing you speaks volumes. That can't be faked. You'd think a person who was kidnapped would run toward the arms of his parents, not away from them, no?"

Their faces turned red and they opened their mouth to retort, but Councilwoman Mira raised her hand, silencing the group of us.

"Calm down," she said. "Continuing this meaningless argument will get us nowhere."

"Then what do you propose, because we're not leaving without our son?" Milo's father spoke up.

"That's fairly simple," she told the man. "It's only right that the wolf in question gets to speak for himself."

Milo's parents glanced at each other and they attempted to speak, but the Councilwoman beat them to it. She turned to me and said, "I would like to speak to Milo."

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