SWNOVELS Chapter 26 Council of War
The sun rose, the gargoyles turned to stone for their daily slumber and the werewolves padded into the house to tumble into their beds. We got a good couple hours of sleep before we woke up and gathered ourselves. I needed to confer with my wolves about how we wanted to handle Dakota and Tate. I made sure there was lots of coffee brewed and ready. My pack sauntered out of their rooms and mingled in the living room. I thought about inviting Chance but decided against it because his presence may upset my wolves.
“Thank you for joining me. We have a decision to make. Chance offered to bring in several of his men to kill Dakota and Tate’s pack. I am inclined to let him because it will keep us from danger and possibly death. What are your thoughts?” Drew asked, “Since when do we shrink away from a fight?” “I think Reese has a valid point,” Casey reasoned, “The last couple years have been non stop violence, blood, and death. If we can spare ourselves, I think we should.” River nodded in agreement. Ellis sided with Drew, “Do you not remember how terrible Chad was? Now there are two of them! This is between us and not, we shouldn’t involve humans to fight our battles!”
Quinn argued, “I for one am tired of all the constant fighting. This cannot be how life as a werewolf is supposed to be.” “Just because we are predators, does not mean we have to be monsters,” I added. “But the monsters are knocking down our doors,” Kai exclaimed, “We need to stop it once and for all! This blood feud has gone on long enough!” I held up a hand for silence, “Ash, Dylan, we have not heard from you. What do you think we should do?” Ash gestured for Dylan to answer first. “I am with Reese. It’s true I’m the newbie around here. I don’t like fighting. I don’t like inflicting pain. I will if I need to, but I will avoid it at all costs,” He replied.
“Thank you Dylan,” I began, “Ash, your turn.” He took a deep sorrowful breath, “I lost the love of my life to war. That is a pain I would not wish on anyone. If we can avoid war, I think we should.” My heart broke for him, I remembered how happy Ash and Max had been before Artemis murdered Max. “Do we need an official vote or can we all agree to use Chance and his hunters to rid the world of Dakota and Tate,” I inquired of the group. Kai, Drew, and Ellis begrudgingly agreed. “I will inform Chance,” I replied.
As I opened the front door, I saw Chance pack up his gear and load it onto the truck. “Chance, what is going on,” I asked. “My daughter is no longer part of your pack, Silver. I only offered my services to keep her safe. I will not endanger my life or the lives of my men for just anyone,” he said matter-of-factly. His response made sense, but he had caught me off guard. “We just now decided to accept your help, but if your offer is no longer on the table….well we will have to make do without you.” “It probably won’t mean much,” Chance explained, “But I’m rooting for ya Silver.” I frowned and mumbled a sentiment of gratitude. I walked back into the house and he drove away.
Everyone watched me as I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Chance has withdrawn his offer to help us as Peyton is no longer part of the pack. He refused to devote himself or his men to our fight without her.” There were mixed responses among the wolves. “It seems like the gargoyles are our only allies unless someone has another idea,” I announced wryly. “I don’t have any allies up my sleeves, but I might have a few tricks. I’ve been on a military documentary binge. I have a couple ideas that might give us an edge.” “Excellent,” I acknowledged. “Does anyone else have anything they want to add?” I scanned the room, no one reacted.
“Great, thanks guys. I’ll get with the gargoyles and tell them what has happened. I guess the meeting is over.” I headed into the kitchen and gathered the ingredients for chocolate waffles. I needed a sugar rush. Quinn came in and helped me. My pack mingled in the living room for a bit and talked about this werewolf threat. I didn’t pay too much attention as I focused on my waffles. A couple of them broke off from the group and went back to their rooms presumably to sleep.
“Ya know,” I mentioned to Quinn, “I’m kind of considering becoming nocturnal with the gargoyles.” Quinn pondered my words for a minute, “Not a bad idea, what brought it on?” I shrugged, “Seems to me like everything important is happening at night.” Quinn shrugged, “There has been increased activity recently. Well if you are going to commit to this idea, today is a good day to start. We were up all last night.” I complained, “Yes and now I’m cranky. I’m cranky and hungry. After food, I want to go back to bed and cuddle.” Quinn smiled, “Sounds like a plan to me.” The green light on the waffle maker flashed and signaled the waffle was done. Quinn and I collected our food and disappeared into our room.
The pinkish orange glare of the sun woke me up, “We need to get black out curtains,” I muttered to myself. “Yes we do,” Quinn groaned as she stretched. I wrapped my arm around her torso and cuddled up to her. She stroked my hair and whispered to me, “Reese, what are we going to do? They outnumber us even with the gargoyles.” I took a deep breath, “We are going to have to fight harder and smarter. We will exploit every advantage we can find. We are going to do everything we have to succeed. Failure means death.” I drew abstract shapes on her belly. We laid in each other’s arms in silence. The sun finally dipped down below the tree line, it was time to strategize with the gargoyles.
Quinn and I disentangled ourselves from each other’s arms and dressed. Quinn chose a dark sun dress while I selected my favorite comfy oversize hoodie and gym shorts. We walked hand in hand, ready to face the night, through the house and into the backyard. The gargoyles stretched and yawned, they had just woken. “Greetings Reese. Greetings Quinn,” Goliath’s powerful voice boomed. “Good evening Goliath. Good evening Lilith,” Quinn and I greeted them. “Forgive me, Goliath, I am unable to arrange a meeting for you with Chance. He left once he heard that his daughter refused to be a member of our pack.” “Do not apologize for things out of your control,” Lilith gently chided.
I smiled meekly. “I’ve been trying to tell her that for so long,” Quinn teased. I gave her a playful dirty look. Goliath and Lilith laughed. “I know where you sleep,” I playfully threatened. “Yep, right next to me, ya goofball,” she replied. I shook my head and smiled. “On a serious note, now that Chance has gone, it will be just my pack and your clan against the invaders. One of my wolves has a few ideas that may help us in the battle.” Goliath nodded, “Very good. We need every advantage we can get.” I agreed wholeheartedly.
“If you excuse us, Reese and Quinn, we must hunt,” Goliath excused himself and Lilith. All four gargoyles took the sky. I watched them disappear into the darkness. “I need to find Ellis and have him explain his ideas to the pack and the clan,” I muttered to myself. “Good idea, You do that and I’ll whip up something for food.” My eyes lit up, “Can we have homemade pizza? Maybe a stuffed crust?” Quinn’s eyes glowed “Girl you read my mind!”