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Chapter Thirty-Two

Drayton

T he room is silent after I finish speaking.

Wes would have been the better person to speak to the shifters, but when it comes to shifter hierarchy, it needed to be me.

The only chance we have of getting through to everyone and finding a way to unite shifter kind, is if it comes from someone in an alpha position.

Fucking biological politics.

Such a pain in the ass at times.

Braun, the alpha of the Treviro pack, looks ready to fight me, while most of the others just look like they’re in various stages of confusion.

"You mean to tell us that the actual fucking goddess of shifters is talking to your mate and wants us to go to war with a bunch of humans?" Connor, a panther alpha, asks with a shake of his head.

"You know this sounds insane, right?"

"In simple terms, yes. It's a bit more complicated than that, but that's the gist of it," I answer and glance back at Penn and Wes for help.

"Wes has been the one to do most of the research on this and can answer your questions better than I can."

"Where's your mate? How do we know she's a mythical? Don't expect us to take your word for it," Braun speaks, his deep voice reverberating with anger. "We all know the mythical shifters are a legend, nothing more."

"All legends have some basis in reality," Wes answers far more professionally than I could. "We also call them legends when in reality, it seems they may in fact be history. A history that is close to repeating itself. You would do well to pay attention to these legends in the coming days."

Braun goes to argue, but I raise a hand to stop him. "Talia will be coming out soon, but first we need to make sure all of you are calm and on your best behaviour. She is our mate and any aggression towards her is an attack against this pack. Starting a war between shifters is far from the ideal path to take right now."

"Understood," Derrik, another wolf pack alpha, responds with a stern look at Braun. Their packs have been allies for a long time, and you can see that clearly in this interaction. Braun immediately nods in compliance, and sits back with his arms crossed.

"There's still two other mythical shifters that must be found," I continue on, hoping this will be what entices them to behave.

"We have a meeting to get information about where at least one of the others is, so we will know more in a few days. Talia is just the beginning, we need to find the middle, and the end. Without them, we will fall to the humans."

The silence in the room echoes loudly as everyone processes what I just said.

They took in everything, but didn't seem to piece together that if Talia is the first part, we still have two more mythical shifters that need to be found.

"Does anyone have any questions before Talia comes out?" Wes asks the room, trying to redirect the attention back to the present moment. "We can answer them at a later time as well, but it's best to open the floor and make sure none of you have any pressing questions."

Miles raises a hand briefly before he starts speaking. "You said we should brush up on our legends to be prepared, which ones in particular should we focus on? It might help some of us to go through them again."

Wes smirks at his buddy, and answers for us. "You want to look at any legends that focus on the first war. In some it's called the War of Origins, in others it's the War of Makers. There's one book called The Creation of Shifters: A War of Faith that covers it the best, but any that cover that war in particular is what you're looking for. I can make up a list and send it to anyone interested."

There's a few eager nods throughout the group of Alpha and Beta shifters in front of us and the aggression from before seems to have dissipated throughout the group. I look over at Penn and nod to signal him to notify Forr and Talia to join us in the dining hall.

They won't truly believe and rally behind us until they see the proof of who Talia is with their own eyes. The folly of men and shifters alike, they must see to truly believe or it's simply called faith.

"Talia, our mate and a mythical peryton shifter, will be joining us momentarily. I am going to remind you that any act of aggression towards her is an act of war against this pack. She is the mate to all four of us," I say with a motion towards Penn, Wes, and Alaric. "As well as my brother Forrester. She is important to this pack and she's important to all shifters. She is meant to heal us, don't forget that."

Talia walks in with Forrester directly behind her, his glare swinging across the room to make sure every one understands just how much he's not to be fucked with. Tal makes a beeline for me, a soft smile on her face just barely concealing the nervous energy behind her eyes.

When she reaches me, she tucks herself into my side and finally looks out over the room and the shifters scattered around. I kiss the top of her head, encouraging her silently that she can do this.

"Hello," Talia murmurs quietly, but the silence of the room as everyone takes her in makes it easy for her to be heard. "I'm so happy all of you could make it today. I understand some of you are unsure of the truth behind who I am and the upcoming war between us and the fanatic humans of The Croises cult. Would it help if I shifted for all of you?"

A chorus of yeses and nods goes through the crowd. Talia smiles in response and steps away from me. Myself and the other guys step back, giving her space to shift.

Teal magic sweeps over her body and the most beautiful creature I've ever laid eyes on stands where Talia previously stood.

Her fawn coloured fur melds seamlessly into large, beautiful teal wings that are tucked along her back.

Her hooves click on the floor as she shuffles under the various eyes on her.

Reactions vary from disbelief to awe in the crowd before us.

"Holy shit," Theodora, another wolf alpha that has been silent up until this point.

"I've never seen a creature like her before."

"She's a pear-ee-ton?" One of the bear shifters asks from the back, sounding out the word slowly.

"What exactly is that?"

"She's part doe, part bird, with a special affinity for healing as well as skills that help her hide and blend in," I answer the questions and barely stifle the chuckle when Tal whips her doe eyes in my direction. I can practically hear the say that again? from her. "You can shift back now, baby."

Talia's peryton form is washed in that same magic until she's standing in her human form again, a perplexed look on her face. I step forward and pull her into my arms, whispering in her ear that I will explain later. Talia is crazy smart, but she was also super sheltered and abused, it's no wonder she hasn't put two and two together to understand why she can move through things and heal from a distance.

There's a lot of low talking throughout the crowd so I step forward again.

"We have a beautiful buffet dinner planned for tonight as well as a bonfire event to welcome all of you to our packlands," I address everyone. "Please take the rest of the afternoon to get settled into your cabins and talk all of this over. We do understand it's a lot to take in and we will address any and all questions you have. Let's reconvene tomorrow at the same time and place."

With the approval from all alphas, we move towards the exit. That went as well as it could have, but I highly suspect a lot of questions will be coming tonight and tomorrow. First step is uniting these shifters, from there we can hope they will rally with other packs until all of shifter kind can be united for this fight.

“Do you think she can actually do it? Heal all of shifter-kind?” Derrik steps up beside me, his question simply curious, not a hint of animosity.

"I think she already is," I respond to him inquiry with a nod in Talia’s direction.

Talia is surrounded by shifters of all types, laughing and answering all of their questions with so much grace that seems to just come naturally to her. She healed the arm of Braun, who is now her biggest supporter and has started acting like a big-brother bodyguard for her.

"If she can so easily win over Braun, I think she'll have no problem healing the bonds between shifters and in turn, healing us as a whole." I look over at Derrik, his dark buzz cut hair creating a harsh image. He's one of the most stoic, yet trustworthy alpha's I've met in my life. He looks rough and mean, but he's simply weathered and logical.

"You do have a point," he answers with a nod. "It's about fucking time shifters reunited. We were never meant to be this divided. Yes, we're territorial, but we're all also animals that thrive in groups. You can count on Moniteurre pack to be by your side in this."

"Thank you, Derrik. With your influence and alliances with a lot of the other wolf packs, I know that will mean a lot will follow in your footsteps," I acknowledge the weight of his words. "I appreciate you believing us, and standing with us in this."

“After seeing your mate, it would be impossible not to. You’ve got one incredible woman right there.”

“That’s for damn sure.” I laugh as he squeezes my shoulder. “Thanks again.”

He walks away from me, moving towards a few of the panther shifters that are off to the side, talking amongst themselves. Having him on our side is a huge win. One that the others will want to know about as well.

Forrester is close behind Talia, so I walk away to find Wes, Penn, or Alaric. Penn is telling jokes with his mom and some of the beta's of the other packs so I leave him there and find Wes and Alaric talking to each other on the outskirts of the celebration.

"Derrik has given us his support," I say as I approach. "Even without his support, Braun clearly supports Talia which means he will be supporting us as well."

"Good," Alaric grunts out. "Those two have the most sway out of the wolf pack leaders."

"Miles is obviously in support as well," Wes chimes in. "He has a lot of sway with the bear dens so I don't think it'll be hard to get them on our side."

"That leaves about six other sections of shifters to rally together," I say with a sigh. "None of the mountain lion shifters showed up today, but the coyotes seem to be following the wolves from what I've seen so we can most likely count on them as well."

"The larger cat shifters are our wild cards at the moment." Alaric looks over at the alphas by Talia.

"Do you think the panthers will come around?"

"Maybe?" I shrug and look away.

"They've always been far less likely to interact with us. I don't think we'll know which way they'll fall until they tell us. I'm surprised Bastian didn't come. He's normally the panther alpha we can count on."

Wes coughs and smiles. "Yeah, he's having troubles with his brothers. The one has gone almost completely rogue so he couldn't step away to come."

"I know what that's like."

“We can touch base with them afterwards,” Alaric states with a nod.

“That meeting is in two days and once we know more, we’ll reach out to everyone that couldn’t make it and have our new allies do the same.”

“Sounds like we’ve got a plan,” I clap my hands together and look at Wes and Alaric.

“Let’s get a drink and mingle. The better they all see us, the more alliances we can make and the better chance we have of saving shifters.”