Page 63 of Wulf’s Pack
Chapter
Thirty-Two
I t takes hours to deal with the mess at the coyotes’ compound.
Oliver and Enzo are quick to arrive, but with them they bring the FUA and the FBI.
When Oliver removes the suppression collars from Skylar and the coyotes, my bond with Skylar rushes back to me.
I nearly collapse from the sensation. I feel whole again, and yet, not.
Something about being without Skylar for those hours has made the fact that our bond isn’t complete much more apparent.
There’s an urgency to claim my mate once and for all that wasn’t there before.
I think Skylar feels it too. She hasn’t left my side—has hardly even stopped holding my hand—since she shifted back.
I have a feeling truly solidifying our connection is the first thing on both of our checklists when we get back home.
After the collars are off and everyone can shift, Enzo gets to work healing the worst of all the injuries.
Not a single surviving member of my pack came out of the battle unscathed, and a couple of them were very near death.
Thankfully, no more lives were lost beyond the seven who were taken down during the battle, but it was a close call.
After that, the questions start coming. Agents Johnson and Ralston talk to every person involved.
They’re relentless, but at least they aren’t rude or hostile to my pack.
They save all the anger and resentment for me.
My interview is more of an interrogation than simply taking my statement, and I’m fairly certain that if not for Nora and Gorgeous, I’d be locked up while they questioned me.
Bree stays with Skylar and me while Easton, Ben, and Isabella take charge of getting my pack cleaned up, fed, and rested. The coyotes are more than happy to let us use their homes while we’re still being forced to stay put. They offer up beds and showers and make a huge meal to feed everyone.
I’m sitting on the couch in the security office with Skylar and Bree on either side of me, while Agents Johnson and Ralston rail on me, and Nora and Gorgeous play peacemaker between us.
Nora and Agent Ralston are sitting across from us.
Gorgeous is holding up the wall near the door like usual, and Agent Johnson is wearing the carpet thin, pacing back and forth in the small room.
I start out completely fine, more than happy to answer all of their questions. But the more they talk, the more their questions turn into accusations, and the angrier and more frustrated I get. Finally, I lose my temper. “I’m not the bad guy here!” I snap. “Stop treating me like I’m some criminal!”
Agent Johnson stops her pacing to glare at me. “You and your pack just murdered twenty-five men.”
I hold back a groan, but still nearly rip my hair out, yanking on it. “It was a rescue mission. It’s not like we just decided to go on a murder spree. We came to get Skylar, and they attacked. Anyone my pack or I killed was in self-defense.”
“You broke in here. You instigated this battle.”
If I could punch her in the face without getting arrested, I might just do it.
The heartless woman is driving me crazy.
I slam to my feet and throw my arms out to the sides.
“They had my mate!” I yell. “They were torturing her! They killed half of this pack and took over their homes. They were holding people hostage. Women and children. Was I supposed to do nothing?”
Agent Johnson balls her hands into fists and glares at me. “You were supposed to come to us. You should have let the authorities handle this instead of taking matters into your own hands, like some vigilante gang.”
I grind my teeth so hard it’s a miracle I don’t break my jaw.
Skylar clasps my arm, sending some of her calming influence my way.
Part of me just wants to be angry, but she’s right.
Yelling at these people will not help anything.
I take a breath, and when Skylar gives me a gentle tug, I sit back down again.
She leans against my side, taking my hand in both of hers.
I cling to her. Let her wolf reach out to mine. Allow the bond between us to soothe me.
Seeing me calm down, Agent Johnson dials back the anger too.
Agent Ralston uses the pause in the argument to jump in with his two cents.
“I understand why you felt the need to act,” he says in a placating tone that pisses me off almost as much as Agent Johnson’s aggression.
“But we have laws for a reason, and you are not above them, no matter how justified your cause was.”
I hold back a growl, but my wolf rises to the surface. “It was pack business. The FUA has always allowed underworlders to deal with our own problems.”
Agent Johnson slashes her hand through the air.
“That all changed with the outing. Humans are aware of you now. They watch your every move. You especially, Mr. Winters. They’re nervous enough about your existence.
We can’t have a bunch of underworlders running around killing each other without any consequences.
The humans will riot. It’ll be pandemonium. ”
I get what she’s saying, to an extent. But she’s only thinking about humans.
She’s not considering the needs of underworlders.
“So what are you going to do? Arrest me? Throw me in prison for rescuing my mate from a group of psychopaths and saving the lives of nearly a dozen innocent women and children? You do that, and you might appease some of the humans, but every underworlder in the country will revolt. You forget, Agent, that underworlders are just as nervous about humans knowing of us as they are. More even, because we’re the ones who are truly in danger.
If the human government starts overstepping on our way of life, if you oppress us and punish us unjustly, you’ll have a war on your hands. ”
Rage flashes in Agent Johnson’s eyes, and she shouts so loudly that no doubt every shifter in the compound can hear her. “Underworlders are not above the law!”
I lose my temper again. She just doesn’t get it.
Slamming to my feet once more, I snarl. My eyes glow with the presence of my beast. “Human laws!” I roar.
“Underworlders are not human. We need different laws. We run on baser instincts. You can’t ignore our natures.
You will have chaos on your hands if you do. ”
Skylar stands up and threads her arm through mine again, but this time she doesn’t fill me with her omega power.
Somehow, she knows that I need this. I need to remain in control and get my anger and frustration out.
These humans have to learn. They’ve got to understand that they are dealing with an entirely different species, and their ways are not always going to work for us.
Still, I can’t help relaxing from her touch.
“Agent Johnson,” she says calmly but firmly, “you can’t expect a shifter or a vampire or a fae to ignore their natural instincts any more than you can domesticate a lion or a shark. ”
I preen on the inside when Agent Johnson calms down too.
She may not be a shifter, but even she can’t help responding to Skylar’s soothing presence.
The frown stays on her face, but the nasty glare disappears, and she unclenches her hands, opting instead to fold her arms across her chest. “Even wild animals have to be controlled,” she says coolly.
I almost lose it again. She thinks we need to be controlled? I’d like to see her try.
Skylar squeezes my arm in a gentle warning, and I take a breath.
Agent Johnson lifts her chin a fraction. “It may be a lion’s nature to be a predator, but you can’t just let it run wild. If it starts attacking humans, we’re going to put it down.”
I growl again. There is a big difference between what my pack did and a feral beast going to town on a bunch of innocent people. “Did my pack attack any humans? Did we run wild without regard to public safety?”
Agent Johnson huffs, and Ralston tries once again to play the good cop. “Look. We agree with you that Victor Santos needed to be stopped. No one is saying otherwise. But you should have let the proper authorities handle it.”
I close my eyes and count to five. “You don’t get it. You’re still thinking like a human. Underworlders, shifters especially, think in terms of dominance and strength. I am a new, untested alpha. My pack is small. And we have something that every other pack in the world wants.”
I glance at Skylar, and she gives me a soft smile.
I calm even more as love washes over me, sweeping away my anger.
“Omegas are precious, powerful, and highly coveted. It’s bad enough that someone was able to take Skylar from us.
If I sat back and let the cops deal with my problem, I would be seen as weak.
Every alpha in the world would come to challenge me for Skylar.
My mate—my entire pack—would never be safe. A show of force was necessary.”
Agent Ralston frowns, and Johnson purses her lips, scowling so deeply she looks downright constipated.
“He’s right,” Gorgeous says, jumping in to back me up.
“About all of it. He had to act in order to avoid more bloodshed. It’s just the way shifters work.
You’ll never get them to suppress their instincts and conform to human laws.
That’s why underworlders have always been allowed to police themselves.
It’s the reason the FUA exists in the first place.
Underworlders are not human. They need to be governed by other underworlders. ”
Johnson throws her hands up in exasperation. “You can’t just allow underworlders to disregard human safety!”
I smirk when Gorgeous rolls his eyes. It’s Nora who responds next. “No one is doing that. When underworlders threaten humans, we step in. You step in. But no humans were threatened tonight.”