Page 69 of Wulf’s Pack

I clear my throat and plaster a smile on my face. “Hey, everyone. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m Wulf Winters.”

“You’d have to live under a rock to not know who you are, Wulf,” Shayne quips, earning another round of laughter.

I roll my eyes. “Right, well, enough about me. I’d like to introduce you all to my mate, Skylar.”

Skylar blushes and squeezes my hand beneath the table, but she manages a beautiful, if shy, smile and says, “Hi.”

I kiss her temple before addressing the reporters again. “We appreciate you all being here and are especially grateful for your patience this last month as we sorted ourselves out and mourned the devastating loss of ten innocent shifters, seven of whom were pack.”

The mention of death sobers the crowd, and I have to swallow around a lump in my throat.

“There were a lot of reports of misinformation and speculation around the battle in Lapeer. What you need to know is that no humans were harmed in the attack. It was an underworld conflict that didn’t involve a single human and had no bearing on their safety, nor will it in the future. The danger has been eliminated.”

“Because you and your people killed them,” someone shouts from the crowd. “Do you have anything to say for yourself about murdering over twenty people?”

I clench my jaw, but keep the smile on my face. I knew there would be some hostility. It’s to be expected with a group of this many humans. Especially on the subject of such a controversial topic.

“My pack acted in self-defense,” I say coolly. “The incident was investigated by both underworld and human authorities, and no charges have been brought against any of us.”

“So you got away with murder.”

I grind my teeth, and Skylar sends me some calming power. “Again. It was self-defense.”

“It was vigilante justice!” another reporter shouts, earning murmurs and a few loud calls of support. “Shifters shouldn’t get special privileges. You should all be in jail!”

Beside me, Skylar sucks in a breath. Her guilt and sorrow throb through the bond.

I squeeze her hand and shift my voice to something firm, but not too hard or defensive.

“No one goes to jail for self-defense, and shifters don’t get special privileges.

We have different laws, and we broke none of those laws. ”

“Shifters shouldn’t have different laws! They’re not better than humans!”

Another heated agreement goes up in the room, and all the shifters present start to get antsy. The crowd is getting riled, and that’s the last thing we need.

“No one is saying shifters are better than humans,” Nora says, stepping in.

“Underworlders follow as many human laws as we can, but the simple fact of the matter is: We are not human. We have different capabilities and different instincts that can’t be ignored.

We need to be policed differently, but I assure you, we are policing our people.

Our laws can be brutal, but that is needed to keep the peace among us.

We are constantly working with human authorities to find a balance between your species and ours.

“This is a new world for all of us, and there is going to be an adjustment period, but the important thing is that we do all we can to keep everyone safe. And as Alpha Winters already said, not a single human was harmed in any way. Laws were broken, people were hurt, and underworld justice was carried out as quickly and effectively as possible.”

“We’re not here to get into a debate on human/underworld politics,” Shayne says.

“We’re here to give you facts and reassure you that the threat is over, and everyone is safe.

As is usual in the underworld, the shifters kept the conflict between themselves.

They had no reason or desire to harm humans.

You’re just looking to start drama. We have existed alongside you since the dawn of time.

The only difference is now you know we’re here.

You wouldn’t be complaining if it had been the FBI taking out a terrorist group that took over a family’s home, murdered innocent people, and held children hostage, so stop whining about us doing the same thing for our people. ”

I choke on a laugh, and Nora sighs. “Shayne. Remember we talked about tact.”

Shayne shrugs unrepentantly. “Sometimes you have to tell it like it is.” She gives a pointed look of disapproval to the reporters and says, “Now. Moving on.”

“Can you give us more information?” someone asks. “What happened? What was the conflict about?”

I sigh. So much for waiting until the end to ask questions. Before I can answer him, Skylar speaks up. “I was abducted,” she says softly.

Her sweet nature has the crowd settling without the use of any omega powers.

Like Nora’s siren allure, Skylar just radiates peace and calm.

The people quiet down and hang on her every word.

She takes a breath, and though I can tell she doesn’t want to drudge up a painful past, she’s determined to ease their curiosity and concerns.

“I am an omega wolf. It’s a rare type of shifter with unique gifts that make me valuable to any pack.

Unfortunately, there are many bad people willing to go to extremes to use me for their own purposes.

I have never been free. As a child, I was raised by vampires who treated me as property.

I was a toy to be played with and an object to use for their own personal gain. ”

Soft murmurs sweep the room.

Skylar ignores the whispers and continues sharing her nightmare. “At fourteen, I was kidnapped by my own parents and then sold as a slave to a corrupt wolf pack which was heavily involved in drugs, weapons, and both human and shifter trafficking.

“I was beaten and tortured daily and forced to use my gifts to manipulate and control shifters so that my master could gain wealth and power. And because I’m a shifter, I heal quickly, so my punishments were brutal.

It takes a lot to kill a shifter, and I was often brought to the brink of death for no other reason than the pack’s amusement.

I lived that nightmare for eight years.”

You could hear a pin drop. I’ve never seen a group of people this large so completely silent. Their stunned and horrified faces are riveted on my mate.

“Just over a month ago, on the full moon, it was one of those nights where they nearly killed me. They poisoned me, cut me up, and beat me so severely that if they chained me up in silver like they usually did when they left me, I would have died.”

Skylar closes her eyes, and a single tear escapes down her cheek. I feel sick to my stomach and so full of rage that I wish I could bring Victor back to life and torture him for a decade. His death was too quick.

I squeeze Skylar’s hand, and she crushes mine in return.

Her voice shakes with the pain that still haunts her.

“For the first time in eight years, I was left alone without being chained or locked up. My body was broken, and I was unable to shift and heal, but I knew it was my only chance. I still don’t know how I found the strength, but I escaped and found my way to Detroit, where I stumbled into a bar and met the other half of my soul. ”

Skylar gives me a watery smile, and I don’t care about the cameras. I claim her lips in a tender kiss, as if it might take her pain and replace it with love. I wipe away the moisture on her cheeks and whisper, “I love you.”

Skylar’s tension slips away. She murmurs the words back to me before addressing the reporters once again.

“Wulf and I are true mates. Two spirits destined by the moon goddess to become one soul.

We complete each other. Humans call it soul mates.

Wulf and I knew what we were to each other the moment we met.

Our lives changed in an instant. He was mine, and I was his, and we would never be able to live without one another again.

“It’s a very rare, very special blessing to find your true mate.

Sacred, even. And it’s so much more than an emotional connection.

It’s a literal linking of two souls. We feel each other’s feelings; our hearts beat as one.

If one of us dies, the other most likely won’t survive.

The connection is physical, binding, and unbreakable.

“When my old alpha found me and took me again, Wulf had no choice but to follow. Our bond wouldn’t allow anything else. He acted on instinct, as wolves are meant to do, and he saved my life because of it.”

In a blink, Skylar’s entire being fills with flinty resolve, and her voice comes out stronger and more determined than I’ve ever heard it.

“Victor Santos was an evil man who did unspeakable things and hurt countless people, both human and underworlder alike.

And if he let me live, he would have used me to hurt even more.

He was a true monster, and his pack was no better.

They were a scourge on this Earth. There was not one innocent among them.

“Wulf, along with our entire pack, acted with strength and courage most people are not capable of. They are heroes. Every single one of them.” Her voice softens, and her eyes drift to the back of the room.

To our pack. “I am humbled and honored to stand with my mate at the head of them as their luna.”

Many of our pack members wipe at their eyes, and a dozen sniffles from the sea of reporters fills the silence.

Now would be a good time to move the conversation along, but I can’t resist adding a few words of my own. A warning, if you will.

“While we’re on the topic, I want to be very clear on something.

Skylar is mine . Our pack is her family, and we will not tolerate anyone trying to harm her or take her from us.

Ever. We may be few in numbers, but we are far from weak, and we will destroy anyone who challenges us just as we did the Vail pack. ”