Despite all the obstacles I foresaw, there was much nodding and murmuring of agreement to the idea of fire. I bit down on my lip, resisting the urge to point out the many obstacles in the plan. Right now was not the time to discuss detailed strategy anyway. That would come later, once the wolves had agreed on the general way forward.
The next leader who stepped forward—of the Kaelin clan—suggested an all-out, physical attack. All of us would gather and launch into the base at once, swarming their compound and buildings and flooding them. In some ways, this was a savvier idea than relying on fire. If all of us launched at once, we would not be as easily put out as fire. However, this idea would result in a staggering number of casualties. I had seen those mutants they kept with my own eyes. A werewolf was simply no match for one. How could even the strongest wolf be a threat, when the mutants could fly and breathe fire? The only thing a werewolf could do in the face of such a creature was run.
Next came the Cuthral leader’s suggestion. His I found to be the most interesting so far, though I could not quite see how it would ever work. He suggested that we contrive a way to bait a large number of hunters away, rendering the base more empty and vulnerable to an attack. I was not the only one who found this idea interesting, but when asked, the Cuthral leader could not provide any details regarding how we would do it. He said that we would need to discuss it further amongst ourselves.
The suggestions that followed his were mostly repeats of the first three, and those that weren’t went gradually downhill in quality, until it got to the point where some ideas became so far-fetched that I wondered whether some chiefs were putting forward ideas simply to be contrary to the others.
Once every tribe had finished putting forward their suggestions, it was time for Sergius and Brucella’s. Sergius claimed that they were torn between the idea of fire and baiting the hunters into a trap.
Sergius then announced that we all had another half an hour to think everything over before deciding which route to vote for deeper discussion. When it came time, I raised my paw in favor of baiting. And I was not alone in this. The majority of the hall elected to discuss this route. It was hardly a surprise that the Kaelins’ suggestion of a brute-force attack was the least popular; everyone knew that it would lead to an unthinkable amount of bloodshed.
Thus Sergius announced baiting as our topic of exploration. As conversation broke out in the hall again, so did the bickering. Nobody could agree on any particular way of going about it, and to me, everyone’s suggestions seemed doomed to failure. As the hall again descended into chaos, with some wolves even beginning to arch their backs and snarl at the differences of opinion, Dane’s voice boomed out around the hall, so loud and pervasive that it stunned everyone into silence.
“We already have a hunter in our midst! Why don’t we just ask her?”
Victoria’s breath hitched. My eyes froze on the man. He had swiveled in his seat and now was gazing directly up at our balcony. Directly up at her. I wasn’t even sure how he knew that we were up here. From the corner of his cunning eye, he must’ve seen us enter the stairwell.
Every other wolf in the hall followed Dane’s gaze, all of them on Victoria, as she stood, staring down at them.
My blood was boiling. How dare he. I had already explained countless times throughout our journey to various wolves who had asked about Victoria that she was not a hunter, and that she had no affiliation with them whatsoever other than the fact that she was a human. I’d told them that she was from The Shade and her people disagreed with everything that the hunters stood for. Still, she had received suspicious glares from them, which had been yet another reason why I had been anxious to keep her up in the trees at night and distance ourselves from the other wolves.
And now here Dane was, stirring up the storm of doubt that I had fought so hard to quell.
Victoria took a step back, the blood draining from her face.
“She is not a hunter!” I bellowed down.
“How do you know she is not one?” Dane asked, finally having the courage to look at me directly. The challenging tone of his voice brought me to the edge. It was a good thing that I was not down there with him, because I might not have been able to restrain myself from flying at his throat.
“An absurd question,” I shot back down. “In making such a wild accusation, the onus is on you to prove that she is one.” I tore my eyes away from Dane, and addressed the rest of the assembly. “As I have already explained to many of you, Ms. Vaughn lives in The Shade. Her parents are supernaturals, as are all of her family.”
I couldn’t stand the doubt in the wolves’ eyes—doubt instilled by Dane’s injurious statement. I glared at my aunt sitting next to him. Fury welled within me at the look of smugness on her face. I was sure that she had something to do with Dane’s behavior.
I continued glaring down at the wolves until finally, they turned away. Sergius drew their attention back to him by saying, “I fully believe that my nephew speaks the truth.” I had never felt more grateful to him than in that moment. “I request that we turn our thoughts away from the human and return to the matter at hand. Let us resume our discussion, but this time without arguments. Remember, no matter what differences exist between us, we are all in this together.”
I caught Brucella scowling at her husband for his prompt change of subject. I was just relieved that the wolves were no longer glaring up at Victoria. For several tense moments, I had been terrified that they might all come rushing up to her in a rage. I might be strong, but I wouldn’t last five minutes if this crowd washed over us. I would be ripped to shreds and so would Victoria… if Dane didn’t have something else in mind for her first.