Beyond the Pack’s Law: My stepsister or nobody else

Aiden’s POV

Hayley and I noticed as we traveled through the forest that it was filled with noises from all around, signs of something that wasn’t human, while making our journey back to join the pack. The moon loomed high, illuminating the forest with an ethereal glow, gesturing us on. My head was spinning with thoughts and emotions, even though the scenery around me screamed peace. Seeing Ethan had been strange, the change from my lost brother to a leader of rogues twilight-shimmered and powerful.

Ethan’s announcement about the cult made everything a thousand times worse. The council meeting to come was a critical moment where the township’s packs came together and considered our collective future. The damage the cult would inflict if they were able to do what other groups failed to do was unfathomable.

I mulled over my conversation with Ethan as we walked. It was a reasonable demand for assimilation, but one loaded with pitfalls. The rogues had been outcasts, pariahs that could debase us of our similitude. It would be incredibly difficult to change those perceptions.

“Then we best be about our business,” Hayley snapped, cutting off further debate. She at least sounded calm, but she was in a rush. Ethan agreed to tell our elders.

I nodded, a fierce determination settling into me. We will talk to them first thing. And they need to appreciate the seriousness of it.

The noise of the animals accompanied us through the lush thickets that we had to cross, leaves shaking as they were moved by invisible things. She and Hayley, faced with the battles that had yet to be fought, formed their bond nonetheless. Her strength and reassuring buoyancy kept my feet from totally drifting.

We finally approached the forest rim, and I could see our pack settlement light in the distance. It was a welcome sight, but it also served as a reminder of what he stood to lose. In the days ahead, our home and our people rested on those actions.

Soon we approached the main hall, a stone and wooden creation that had been passed down from generation to generation of Urizen werewolves and that echoed with our pack history. The earlier would be trotting somewhere, an idea in conversation simply because they continually accomplished at this time just offshore. Hayley and I looked at each other, preparing for what was to come.

The interior was charged. The elders, seated at a big table, all turned and watched us enter the room. Their arms were more or less crossed, and their faces were a mix of wonder and alarm, as were some kind of state visit.

Aiden, Hayley,” Elder Marcus had called to us with his deep voice. What are you doing in the middle of the night?

“We bring urgent news,” I began to say as we turned our gazes on each elder. “Ethan found out about the cult’s plan to strike at the council meeting.”

The whole room rippled in a gasp of shock. With piercing eyes, the wise and insightful Elder Lila leaned forward. Are you sure about this information?Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Ethan is heading up the rogues,” was Hayley’s explanation. He’s been fighting back against the cult from within. He never has to lie to us.

The old ones looked at each other, and then the information sank in. The air between them grew heavy, and Elder Marcus spoke sympathetically. If these things you say are correct, then we have to act quickly. See you at the council meeting days away.

How about we strengthen the congregating base?” Ethan and the rouges like us have stood behind the vertical god. They know where the battlefield is and can advise us on getting ready.

Elder Lila mulled this one over, her face far-off and devoid of thought. That’s a bold choice to include the rogues. That would take trust on both ends.”

‘It is a gamble,’ I confess, ‘but it is worth the risk on this occasion. The rogues want to integrate, and for Ethan, he wants a rogue at our pack table. If we make it, the whole push would pave the way for a more firm handle that could take on threats in the future.

The elders shifted into silence, considering the implications of my words. Finally, Elder Marcus nodded. “Very well. We will cover this more in depth and get into the necessary planning. He could have lifesaving information about your brother.”

The relief came over me, sufficing. I knew this was only the beginning. We had left the hall, and I felt refreshed again as we walked back. We were setting off on an adventure that would challenge us to the core and change our fate forever.

Days later, I was just a black. A warning message was sent to the other packs. Fortified within the glade, it was used as a meeting site, with visible perches held by both pack members and rogues. However, amongst the strained feelings, we began to bond in a brotherhood of sorts, traversing worlds.

Ethan was a complete resource, as his knowledge and leadership helped walk us through the preparations. And I watched how he moved with the members of our pack, commanding respect. And yet he had shown me that, in spite of his troubled past, there was a way to lead with dignity and grace.

One evening, after the sun had set, he tracked me down. We walked up to the edge of camp, with crickets lazily hummed through in a warm breeze and owls calling far off.

He sighed, his voice laden with the gravity of words not spoken. Aiden… “The other thing is something you have to be aware of.”

A weight clung to his words, so I rested my gaze on him instead. “What is it?”

Our ranks have been infiltrated by the cult,” he said, a grim expression on his face. The Dems are talking decisively to their soldiers: “Spies walk among us, carrying gossip back to the tent of their leaders.”

The news was a body blow, and the ramifications were cataclysmic. The last thing I was going to be able to afford post-9/11, which sort of underscored the worst lesson you don’t want your kids learning about how fragile trust already is and how close it comes from being torn apart by things that can so easily threaten everything we’d worked for.

“Do you know who they are?” I inquired, contemplating what that entailed.

Ethan shook his head. “Not yet. But I’m working on it. We just have to be careful and watchful.”

I nodded, their weight washing over me. “We’ll find them, Ethan. Together, we will overcome this threat.

Standing there together, my link with her had never been more intimately connected. The trials were hard, but we shared a single purpose: to protect our friends and create a new world free from the shadows of the past.

As night went on, its anticipation of the future built to a peak. We were primed for battle, whatever the challenge, and set on victory to forge a world wherein everyone had their own space.

Yet unbeknownst to us, the real test of our loyalty and bravery is on its way over the horizon.