Chapter 33

Violet

A few moments of silence passed and I turned back to my laptop to pick up my work, discarding options and keeping others.

“Why would you want to build a college?” I set my jaw at the question. “The Academy’s not good enough for you?”

I took a deep breath and looked at him. I wanted to tell him it’s none of his business, but I refrained.

Maybe… Maybe if he saw that my stance on the issues of women’s rights and agency in Midnight wasn’t a new thing it might help open his mind.

I took a deep breath and turned back to my laptop.

“Given the alpha king’s overarching laws, there is only so much that women can do or be. Many young women—omegas and those who aren’t—want education. They want jobs and opportunities, but they can’t get that kind of higher education in Darkmoon. Their families either won’t pay for it or won’t let them go to the Academy or anywhere to pursue it.” I glanced at him. “They’d rather keep them in the territory and going to mating balls instead.”

His expression shifted slightly, a mix of guilt, but it was short lived.

“I understand that being the alpha’s daughter gave me a certain amount of privilege, so I’m using my position to make it accessible as much as I can.” I shook my head. “I want to give all I can a better chance of standing on their own, so they aren’t forced into bad situations simply because they don’t have the means to better themselves. This college would provide them a chance to stand on their own, to learn and grow in ways that would empower them.”

“Your mother was a breeder.”

“And she was highly educated,” I said, cocking an eyebrow. “What’s your point?”

He winced. “That’s… unusual for a breeder.”

“My mother was from beyond the borders.”

His eyes widened. He looked down. His eyes shifted from side to side.

“Have you ever gone to where she’s from?”

I narrowed my eyes. “Why do you ask?”

“Curiosity.”

“Yes,” I said. My lips twitched. “I went there several times before she died.” I sighed. “I haven’t been able to in a while with all the changes going on, but I plan to make a trip soon.”

Theodore hummed. “You really think they care all that much about college?”

“I think they care a great deal about not being at the mercy of whatever man is deemed good enough for them.” I replied, my voice steady with conviction. “Education is the key to independence. Independence can lead to choices, and I can’t conceive of a world in which a woman having choices about how she can live her life could be a bad thing.”

He looked out the window. “You feel strongly about it.”

“I think most women do, but they don’t have the platform to say it. They deserve to.” My eyes stung a bit. “I always thought that if I had a daughter, I would want her to have all the freedom I had and more.”

Theodore nodded slowly, clearly mulling over what I had said. “It sounds like a noble cause, but it’s not going to be easy. You’d need the alpha king’s permission to open a university.”

I scoffed. “No, I don’t.”

He frowned. “I’m pretty sure the law says that you do. For accreditation to be applicable in other territories, you need the sanction of the alpha king.”

“Or…?” I asked, staring at him expectantly.

He frowned, blinking. “Or nothing.”

I sighed. “A college is designated a college, fully accredited and established if at least half of the professing staff were educated and accredited at the Werewolf Kingdom Royal Academy.” His eyes widened. “If a majority of a class of the college can test into the Werewolf Kingdom Royal Academy’s graduate program, the college will then become a collegiate university.”

“But you can’t get half a college’s worth of professors in such a short time frame.”

I smiled at him. “Can’t I?”

He blinked. “You can’t.”

“If you say so.” I chuckled. “But you’re wrong.”

The carriage jolted slightly as we hit a bump in the road, but I held my laptop firmly and took another note.

“There’s no way you can convince upwards of thirty graduates to come teach at your college for a bunch of people that barely got out of high school.”

I glared at him. “Darkmoon’s women have a 95% graduation rate with an above B average, and I don’t need to explain my plan to you.”

He scoffed. “I’m just trying to understand your hang-up on all of this. All that stuff you were talking about with Sophia before, this college deal… I get that you’re a good alpha, but the hold you have on Darkmoon is different than mine. I built Midnight. The fears you have about your people don’t exist in my territory.”

I studied him. I didn’t bother to educate men often, but I did understand that Theodore had been… more sheltered than the average man, and as much as I hated it, he was in a position to do a lot more a lot faster than I was. I closed my laptop and turned to him, wondering where best to start.

“You may have built Midnight, but you’re not that much different from me.” He narrowed his eyes. “You were born a prince. Yes, you went off to build your own pack, but that doesn’t change the fact that you are the former alpha king’s son. Your understanding of power is colored by that… and narrowed because you have no concept of someone else having absolute power over you.”

He blinked.

“Your mother did.”

He went still. “My mother… wasn’t… It’s not the same.”

“I’m not saying that it is. I’m saying that thousands of women, millions of women, across the country experience that same helpless, hopeless, trapped feeling with me who are their mates, who aren’t their mates, who have a good deal with their fathers…” I watched the look of horror on bloom on his face. “Imagine if an omega had a job and a means to support herself. Would she have to rely on her father to sell her off to the highest bidder? If her purchaser got tired of her, would she be a rogue if she had the means to support herself? Even if her family blames her, would she be scraping by to survive if she could work?” I set my jaw. “Would she even be in the position if she had the power to chose who she mated with? If she had the choice not to be sold?”

I shook my head. “So many factors that will ultimately decide a woman’s face have been removed from their control in our country. That’s the reality, whether you want to acknowledge it or not.”

He leaned back against the carriage seat, his expression contemplative. “I guess I’ve never thought about it like that… my mother… is from beyond the border as well, and I didn’t study the law that closely.”

“Imagine if she’d found refuge somewhere she could have gotten a job.” His eyes glossed over, and I softened my tone. “I imagine you’d be a very different person.”

“...maybe.”

I looked out the window and took a deep breath, thinking about the first time I addressed Darkmoon when my father started to fall ill. It had been my first move to do away with a father’s right to sell his daughter, omega, breeder, or not, in Darkmoon. I made it hard for men from elsewhere to come in and take women from the territory. The number of women I’d saved from being trafficked over Darkmoon’s border rang through me. A memory buzzed at the back of my mind. I could see my father. I could hear his voice, but what he was saying I couldn’t make out.

“We should be focusing on the meeting with Owen,” he said, glancing over my legs still on the bench. “You’re not exactly giving off loving vibes.”

“You think finding your fated mate is love?” I asked, staring at him. “You really are a romantic, which is odd considering.”

He winced. “Maybe I’m just hopeful.”

“Or delusional.” He scoffed. “I’m not going to get involved with your family problems. Whatever resentments he has toward you and you toward him, you’re going to have to deal with on your own.”

“It will be if he decides to just give Darkmoon to Lucas.”

“If you plan to renege on our deal, go ahead and say,” I said. “I’m sure I can afford the legal fees.”

He scoffed. “I’m not, I just—”

The hair on the back of my neck stood up. The carriage jolted suddenly, the wooden wheels rumbling over uneven terrain. My heart raced as I heard a howl in the distance. Theodore snarled and turned to the window to look out the window.

Then, I saw the burning red eyes rushing toward us through the forest.

Rogues.