Chapter 130

Olivia POV

I tried to tell myself I was happy to oversee another meeting of the White Paw Initiative, even though it was the second WPI meeting that week.

This was the kind of administrative micro-oversight that killed organizations, yet no one around me seemed to recognize the danger of having yet another gathering to make speeches to each other. I listened while a Ravencrest Ambassador droned on about basically what she’d talked about last time: they needed to avoid being the “bad” Pack.

OK, I thought. Behave better; now shut up.

Though the room was large, it was overly warm with so many sitting in the rows of chairs facing the panel where I and Ines sat. Emma was sitting in the front row in an eye-catching dark red dress and kept turning her head to look back over the audience whenever anyone spoke. But then, most wolves were turning their heads; Emma just seemed to making more a point out of it.

Finally, the Ravencrest Ambassador finished and it was Ines’s turn to speak. She made a nicely concise report about the progress of the omegas in her care. I was nodding in agreement when a beta from Eclipse broke in.

“I worry about this broad-scale sweeping up of those alphas who may not have even been involved in this criminal enterprise,” he said as though he were worried about the presence of gluten in his noodle soup.

I thought about the best way to reply to that, just for a moment, but then Emma had turned her head again and was speaking, and all thoughts flew from my head.

“Everyone will be offered due process and a fair review,” she said. “If anything, casting so wide a net will lessen the stigma of being reviewed.”

While I was trying to figure out whether that were reasonable, she continued. I couldn’t help noticing how good she was at talking quickly while sounding logical.

“We just need to spread the word that we’re looking at all alphas who could possibly be involved, including those who turned a blind eye or otherwise passively allowed things to happen.”

“Things?” I echoed. “That’s a bit vague. Shouldn’t we make sure the parameters of the investigation remain clear? We said last week—”

“We all know what sort of things we’re talking about here,” said Tamala, an omega member of White Paw. She gestures to Ines. “We need more of the sort of justice that Ines’ disgrace of a mate faced.”

I felt my eyes widen in alarm while several in the chamber muttered their agreement.

Ines held up a firm hand. “What happened to my mate was not a good thing. He should have been taken to trial, his crimes spelled out, and justice for my son made a permanent part of our judicial history. Without such written record and uninterrupted process, our rule of law will collapse.”

I opened my mouth to agree when Emma said, “We need to respect Ines’s take on this fully. She and those of White Paw, indeed, any Rogue who has ever set foot outside the walls of Lunaris, knows the importance of the law and a solid system of justice.”

Many slapped their hands on their thighs in approval.

“Thank you, Emma,” Ines said warmly, which struck me as odd, though I didn’t know precisely why.

“Life was horrible outside,” said another omega I recognized from White Paw, though I didn’t know his name. “And it wasn’t just the lack of protection. We were outcasts even to our own families, hostages of a system that allowed us to be rejected without due process.”

“We were cold, hungry, and aware that any minute we might be attacked,” said another whose face I couldn’t see.

“Emma is right. It was the worst kind of torment, and Ines is all that kept us alive,” said yet another anonymous voice.

“I can’t imagine the horrors you faced,” Emma said, and there was more thigh-slapping throughout the chamber.

I held up a hand before Emma could continue. “I don’t think there’s a wolf here who doesn’t realize how bad it was, and for my own part, I don’t have to imagine; I saw it for myself. But what I would urge now is to remember that you did survive that nightmare.

“You overcome incredible odds because you worked together,” I continued. “And now I ask you to continue to work together to make a better life for yourselves and for all of Lunaris in this new future we face.”

There was a sort of lull of energy when I finished, though a few nodded their heads.

Then Emma slapped her thigh vigorously and announced, “Yes, I feel that very same thing as I sit here with you. We all need to take what we have learned and make it so what happened never happens again.”

Applause and thigh-slapping followed.

When the noise abated, which took a while, Emma stood up and turned to me. “Luna, may I address the White Paw Initiative?”

What do you think you’ve been doing since this meeting began, I thought? But I just nodded with a smile and said, “Of course.”

Emma left her seat and went to the front of the room to stand in front of the table and give me a great view of her back. I glanced to Ines, but she was just nodding and smiling with encouragement—not for Emma, I realized, but for the crowd.

“Ravencrest knows that the most important thing for omegas is the family, and by extension the Pack. Pack is also paramount for betas and alphas, but omegas appreciate and can exploit the power of the domestic life in ways unknown to other wolves. That is their special gift from the Goddess.”

Though I thought the words were a little conservative, if not old-fashioned, much thigh-slapping followed.

Emma continued, “In Ravencrest, we promote that domestic power through what we have come to call ‘congregations,’ but in reality they should be called ‘mixers.’”

Several laughed.

“Basically, Ravencrest Pack sponsors get-togethers for single wolves of all ranks, and we monitor them carefully to make sure everyone has a safe time while they’re having a fun time.” She spread her hands. “I am here to invite all of you who are single, and any of your single friends, to these mixers. Let these parties be something all in Lunaris can enjoy, not just those of Ravencrest.”

Applause and slapping again.

“Not only are these mixers a great way for singles to meet, they also promote interrelations of all kinds among Lunaris’s many packs. It’s hard to be unjust to friends, and I call everyone here my friend, and with me comes the word of my father, Ravencrest Alpha Hermes.”

She bowed her head slightly as the accolades sounded out again, then turned to smile brilliantly at me and Ines before returning to her seat.

An omega near the back stood. She looked vaguely familiar.

“I call for Emma of Ravencrest Pack to serve on the WPI Steering Committee!” she called out.

“Seconded!” said a voice.

“What a splendid idea!” Ines said, standing. She looked at me, and her eyes were almost manic. “Shall we put it to a vote?”

I wanted to ask, “Since when do we have a Steering Committee?” But I had a feeling that wouldn’t go over well. Instead, I nodded and said, “The White Paw Initiative should follow the best interests of Lunaris.”

“To a vote, then!” Ines called out. “All those in favor, stand!”

Pretty much everyone stood. Those still seated, I noticed, were mostly older wolves, and many of them were scowling.

Ines clapped. “So passed!”

Emma stood up again and smiled to the whole room, but as her eyes briefly met mine, her smile looked more like a smirk.