Chapter 246 – Human Camps


    Sinir


    I don’t depart for the human refugee settlement alone. I take every Alpha I can find, but I take special


    care to rope in Kieran. The wolf has been shooting me subversive nces since we arrived. He’s been


    perfectly attentive to the shifter refugees, but it’s almost as though he’s angry I’m making him care


    about them – that I’m confronting him with their pain.


    It’s a short trip to the human camps, and we promised the pilots we would return by the scheduled


    departure time. This only leaves us about an hour to actually get a sense of the situation. Before we


    arrived I was worried this wouldn’t be enough time – afterwards I realize it was too much. The scene is


    so overwhelming, so distressing that even a few minutes amidst the chaos is overwhelming.


    If we’d believed that the plight of shifter refugees was grave, it’s nothingpared to that of the


    humans. After all, the shifters understand why their lives have fallen to ruin, the humans arepletely


    in the dark, and they’re not coping well.


    We hear the camp before we see it. This isn’t much surprise with our supernatural hearing, but the


    sounds that float to us through the forest are not the desperate cries of people in need. It sounds like a


    battle.


    Eventually we reach the crest of a hill overlooking the sprawling camps – if they can even be called


    camps. “Holy Goddess.” Gabriel says beside me, his dark skin going remarkably pale.


    A vast field of ck and blue tarps sit in deep mud, propped up on shabby poles and sticks. They’re


    supposed to be tents, but they look more like the squalid dwellings often built by those experiencing


    homelessness inrge cities. The ramshackle structures are on the verge of copse, and there is no


    sign of any food or fresh water. The stench is incredible, and it’s immediately apparent that there is no


    one governing this ce.


    The disconste cries of women and children rise through the air in a miserable symphony, while the


    voices of angry men explode in violent shouts. It seems like there’s movement everywhere, but none of


    it is positive or productive. There are fights breaking out every few feet, peopleshing out over thest


    piece of fire wood, or using one another of thefts and attacks.


    Utter dread fills me as I wait for the inevitable castigations from the other Alphas. And you want us to


    bring these wretches into our world? I imagine Kieran saying, with disdain dripping from his tongue. A


    crash sounds in the distance, and terrified screams break out as the humans whip around, searching


    for the source of the disturbance. It’sing from the Northern mountains– the opposite direction of


    the shifter camps – and it sounds like nothing more than a rock slide. However to their ears it must


    sound like an iing army, and their fear is so potent my heart aches.


    “I’ve never seen anything so…” Cahan begins, trailing off before he can find the right word.


    “Hopeless.” Of all the members in our party, Kieran is the veryst man I expected to find an ounce of


    empathy for these people. Still, the pain and concern in his voice is clear, and I find myself even more


    on edge than before. I can’t make sense of his behavior today. One moment he’s so tense and on


    edge, looking around at the other summit attendees with such suspicion and distrust that I wonder what


    on earth is going through his head. The next moment he’s acting as though he actually has a heart,


    and I don’t trust it for one moment. Something is going on with him, whether thistest show of emotion


    is to throw us off the trail, or he’s internally ovepensating for his treachery. I have a terrible feeling


    that Kieran has not only made his decision about where to pledge his alliance in this war, but that he’s


    chosen the opposition.


    __________________


    E


    He’ste. The lying fink promised me! But here we are five minutes after the designatednding time


    and the airfield ispletely devoid of nes.


    “Something’s wrong.” I fret, looking back and forth between Henry and Isabel, eager for their


    perspectives.


    “They probably just got caught in a headwind.” Henry answers, squeezing my hand. “Flight timetables


    are an estimate, not an exact science.”


    I gnaw nervously on my lower lip, focusing on Isabel. Surely she’ll support me, I think, with James away


    as well. “They did radio when they departed the coast.” She reminds me, the traitor! “We have no


    reason to think anything has gone awry.”


    My wolf grumbles mutinously in my head, and I’m already wracking my brains for some way to go after


    my missing mate. There aren’t any nes left here in the capital – at least, not any that belong to the


    King. “Do many Vanaran citizens own private nes?” I ask curiously, trying to keep my voice innocent.


    “Don’t even think about it.” Philippe growls from behind me. “For my sake if not your own. Dominic will


    kill me if I let you anywhere near an aircraft.”


    “Let me?” I mutter under my breath, my wolf roiling against the idea that anyone but Sinir should


    give us orders. “I ought to– look!” I exim, interrupting my own train of thought as a dot appears on


    the horizon, zooming towards us.


    “There, you see?” Henry chuckles, “they’re just running a little behind.”


    The wait is much easier then, but still frustrating. The delegation isn’t on the first, second or third


    transports tond, and I realize my noble mate probably waited until everyone else had departed


    before taking off himself. Finally thest ne taxis over the field,ing to a stop mere meters away.


    The cargo door starts to descend before the ne has even finished moving, and then Sinir is there,


    bounding out onto the pavement.


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    I throw myself into his open arms, feeling every muscle in my overwrought body finally rx. “Seven


    minutes, Dominic!” I tell him furiously. “You are seven whole minuteste!”


    “I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He breathes against my ear, squeezing me so tightly I think I might burst. “But


    I’m here now.” He purrs, “I’m here.”


    I pull back only far enough to kiss him, tears of relief stinging my eyes. Sinir hungrily takes my


    mouth, and he lets his power pour off of him in heady waves. The wolves around us shrink back at the


    force, but my own inner canine only swoons. I don’t understand why he’s unleashed his full strength on


    the airfield, but I’m too caught up in the delicious feel of him to care at this moment. It goes on and on,


    until everyone around us retreats to the intake tents. Even James and Isabel, who were trying to


    pretend they didn’t want to be wrapped around each other in precisely this way, eventually slip away


    hand in hand.


    It’s not untilter, when we’re alone in our rooms, that he exins himself. First he tells me of the


    human camps, which devastates and horrifies me in equal measure. It’s easy to understand why he


    would feel so on edge, and as terrible as it sounds I wish that was all there was to his temper. Instead


    he exins about the Storm Forest Alpha’s most recent offenses. “Kieran was acting very odd today.”


    He confesses, sprawled naked beside me in bed. “On edge, cagey, even after the danger had passed


    and we were on our way back. It set off rm bells in my mind, so I wanted to remind him of exactly


    who he’s dealing with – just in case.”


    “Then you mean it wasn’t for me?” I pout, my body still flushed from his thorough loving.


    “Not entirely.” He grins wolfishly, caressing my belly. “I knew you’d enjoy it and I wanted to let go for my


    own sake, but I also needed to send him a message.”


    “Well it worked.” I assure him. “You should have seen the looks on their faces when they first felt it?”


    “Should I take that to mean you were looking at other wolves while I was kissing you?” Sinir growls


    yfully, making me squirm with renewed heat.


    “I was just curious.” I shrug, blushing. “Besides, my wolf liked seeing all those big tough Alphas run


    away with their tails between their legs.” I admit, rubbing my body against him.


    “Oh?” He inquires, eyes glinting.


    I nod eagerly, unable to hide the sensual pleasure in my voice. “They looked like childrenpared to


    you.”


    “Now you’re just ttering me.” He teases, kissing my nose. “And if you keep this up then we’re going


    to get distracted and end upte for dinner – which we can’t afford. Not with Kieran acting so shifty and


    the summiting to an end tomorrow.”


    My desire is immediately banked. “You think he might betray us?”


    Sinir grimaces, “I think he’s hiding something… and we need to find out what it is. We don’t have


    much time left.”