Alpha Dom and His Human Surrogate

Chapter 237 – Human Meeting

Sinclair

It’s no easy feat to calm my wolf.

The moment he sees the cold-hearted human who confronted us after Damon’s rogue attack at the Solstice, he begins clawing at the surface of my skin, begging to get out. I desperately work to keep my face blank, though I know my mate can sense my surprise and fury. She rests one small hand on my thigh, gently caressing my tense muscles. My wolf relaxes slightly, but not nearly enough. He’s growling in my head all the way through the introductions, which take much longer than I’d like.

When it’s my turn to greet her, I summon my strength. “Madame Mayor.” Somehow I manage to say it without enmity, “I didn’t realize it was you who would be joining us.”

“I think you’ll find I’m the only reason anyone is joining at all.” The former Moon Valley mayor, a woman by the name of Sabina Kelly, replies coolly. At first her words don’t make sense, but then the video pans out, revealing that she is far from the only guest joining this call. Grim-faced men line the table on either side of her, and though some are as unknown to me as any stranger, others are surprisingly familiar. I see legislators, governors and leading activists from the human world, even a few politicians to whom we reached out with no reply. I can scarcely wrap my mind around the assembled delegates before Sabina is speaking again. “Nor can I rightly claim the title of mayor since Damon saw fit to depose me.”

“Well with all due respect, you are an elected official – Damon is not.” I reply, falling back on my diplomatic training to smooth the troubled waters between us. “So I would prefer to call you by the title your people afforded you.”

general. I’ll never forget the way she sneered the words “your kind” at me that day, foisting blame for the attack onto all wolves as if we’ve all been cut from the

hesitantly. “Though I want to be very clear that we only agreed to this meeting to hear what you have to say. Those of us in power have known about shifters for some time now, but the last month has inflicted lasting

steadily. “Our own people are suffering gravely under his tyranny, and it is our greatest wish to remove him from power.” I turn my gaze on each of the humans individually.” Whatever Dmaon has led you to believe about humans and wolf-kind, I’m here to tell you that he does not speak the truth. We are not all

you think?” A man I

would be best if you heard from someone to whom the knowledge of wolf-kind came as a very recent surprise.” Gabriel suggests,

was raised among humans in Moon Valley. In fact, I believed I was human until a couple of months ago, so there are actually a

made it impossible to deny. It took a lot of time for me to adjust to the new reality, to understand the way of wolves and my place in this world. I’m still learning every day, and it isn’t easier just because my wolf is now awake. But part of what makes adjusting so difficult is that shifters are as varied and diverse as any other society.” She pauses, making eye contact with each of the faces on the screen. “I would never dream of meeting someone from Sevka and assuming that they represent every being on that continent. There are good and bad people in every

deal in common biologically, culture and personality are different matters entirely. Damon is, in my opinion, the worst of the worst. It would be a mistake to judge him for being a wolf, because that isn’t the proper frame of reference. He didn’t take over our home because he’s a shifter, he did it because he’s a power-hungry narcissist with too many resources in

the centuries and centuries you lied to us?” Another human

to one another in order to advance their own peoples? Have you all announced every technology, innovation and defense strategy your country employs? Or have

we aren’t all separate nations.” One of the activists objects, “as you said,

because of their expertise in their fields. Our governments have been working together all along, and though the secrecy among the general public may not inspire trust, any rational actor can understand why it might feel necessary. We wanted to avoid precisely

to you that this scenario only occurred because of the secrecy, not