"Gather the teams! Send two out back and come up behind them! Send one to the ladies and kids! Collect them all in that new house thingy! Beast team! Shift and do your thing! And water, we need water! Lots of it! The wall is already burning!"
"It is dragon fire! It has to be the fay!"
I growled and called for Cedric through my link, and I wanted him and my closest warriors and dad by my side as I addressed those cowards! Within minutes we were all here, dressed up in our hard leathers. Plated shoulders and chest, mid-thigh, and down between the eyes. Covering the nose bridge. It was heavy fighting armor, incredibly uncomfortable to move in, and warm. But it was a direct attack. Our homes, families, and everything we loved and held close was here. As the gates were pushed open, my warriors stepped backward. Their job was to keep our homes safe. Everything and everyone on the inside of this fence was their responsibility the moment I stepped outside. There was no doubt it was the fay.
The king himself sat lazily on a portable throne by the forest edge and watched how his men rampaged out village defense. Dragon fire and magic, cowards! Standing with their head held high behind him were the five members of the council. Watched with cold faces as our homes were about to get burned.
"What is the meaning of this!"
My voice roared, and I waited until I was close enough to see how his head slumped out of his hand as he rested it on the chair. A moment of shock and confusion turned to a dark grim as he spotted us stalking toward him.
"You marched on my and! Took one of our girls, almost killed two of mine, and took one hostage! You declared war! Now won it!"
I scoffed,
"I didn't talk to you, Council? What is the meaning of this? Are you not supposed to be neutral between clans, packs, and species?"
The oldest of them, I recognized him as Alazzar. A rule-driven ass, but I also remembered him from the fair. So what is up his sleeve?
"Alpha Toke, I guess that is what I should call you now. Even if you are young, you know our rules. You trespassed, kidnapped, and attacked people on the fay's land! This is a war declaration. Sure you were expecting this!"
"Alazzar, old man. I think you need to stick with how things used to be done."
"Rude puppy! What is that supposed to mean?"
"Checking the facts before acting or making rash decisions! One. The fey trespassed onto OUR land and kidnapped one of our girls. Two, they treated her like garbage! You should have seen the bruises and wounds on that poor girl! We did not only retrieve what was already rightfully ours. We saved her from a dreaded faith! And that hostage you talk about? We don't have any hostages. But we do, however, have a fey in bad shape resting in the infirmary after his fellow men attacked him."
The king tried to break in with a disgusted scoff and loud words of protest, but I abruptly cut him off. And to his displeasure, Alazzar held out his hand for him to be quiet.
"I'm not finished, King! To top all of this up, the girl they so brazenly decided to steal and claim to save is my destined mate. MY mate! My pack's rightful Luna and my by right!"
"These claims will, of course, have to be proven! Give us the girl and hostage.. I mean patient so that we can interrogate them. Mate? That is a rather far-fetched claim, my son! Especially since I see you are not marked!"
"No, that will not happen. I will, however, invite the councilmen in to meet them on safe ground. You surely understand my concerns after this!"
My hand swayed over the burning battlefield behind us,
"And I do understand this concern. However, it seems like the rules are a bit different when it comes to marking with a true mate. My wolf has tried several times, but as long as she has shown clear signs of not wanting or being ready for that. He retreats with his tail between his legs!"
He nodded slowly while fiddling with his beard, then he turned to his fellow council members, and a discussion with wide gestures and heated words took place. I watched my burning wall impatiently. Fury roared in my head and sulked,
"I do not! You are a liar, Toke!"
"Shut up! I know! But do you really want to lose are pack for this? Watch it burn and then lose her on top of it all? A little white lie, anyway. You haven't gone out of your way to mark her either. So let us just pretend it is because we need her to want it!"
Fury rumbled in response and retreaded. Utterly displeased, but he had no argument for the moment, so he let it be the way it was.
"We will pause this, and we will meet the girl and fay you have with you. There are also some other factors and claims we need to discuss residing from the barbarians Alpha."
I frowned,
"Verry well, but I have no business with the barbarians. Haven't had it for years! Do not see how any claims or statements can be justified from their side regarding anything at all."
"We will see. King! Stop this right away. We will see where this leads us, and we want you to hold the ground here while we follow Toke. And I mean it, Fay King.. NOTHING is to be done or happen to this place while we are inside. That will cost you more than you are willing to pay. Do we understand each other?"
I held back a smile, and it did not go unnoticed how the councilmen spoke to the high fay king as he was a rebellious teen with the attention span of a toddler.
"Led the way Alpha."
"Follow me, and let's get this over with."
I ended up walking next to Alazzar, and out of curiosity, I had to ask. Our two packs had not been in contact for ages. The war ended almost 20 years ago, and every type of contact and trade ended with it. We became estranged packs located on each side of the realm. Maybe they wanted to rebuild what once was.
"So tell me, elder Alazzar, what is the barbarian wishing to address with our pack?"
"Oh dear boy, they don't wish to address anything. They claim the girl is theirs. That your human girl has blood from their pack and has a mate there."