Page 8 of The Alpha's Mates

She cocked her head, studying me. “I’d begun to lose hope that I would meet you, child.”

My brows drew low as I frowned at her. “What do you mean?” All thoughts of escape dropped, at least for now. Her eyes were so genuine, I wanted to trust her. I scolded myself for being so easily distracted.

“May I sit?”

“It’s your pack,” I told her with a shrug.

Her beautiful dress flowed around her legs as she moved. She looked like she belonged at some fancy party, not like she was a shifter living in the middle of the woods. Granted, from what I’d seen of their house, they had the same amenities we’d had at the coast. Only their house was well furnished and was much nicer than any I’d lived in. If they had a home like this, I doubted their people were living in hovels built into the ground.

Only your pack lives without luxuries.

She gave me a winning smile as she sat down at the desk. She motioned for me to take a seat on the bed. “Please. We have much to discuss.”

“The only thing we need todiscuss,” I replied, “is your alpha letting me go, so I can go find my pack. He has no right to keep me here.”

Her lips twitched, but she waited silently until I sighed and sat on the bed. The chain rattled as I moved.

“What’s your name?”

Considering my choices, I looked around the room again, avoiding her gaze. I shouldn’t be here talking to her. Ishouldleave before those alphas came back, but her gentle grandmother-like nature was comforting. She reminded me of my mother. Missing my mother was a constant for me. She’d been the only bright spot in my life—besides Emma—and the night she died a piece of me had left with her. The guilt of her death was a living, breathing entity inside me.

“Reese.”

“I’m Vera. Soren sent me in here to speak to you about The Moon Goddess.”

That got my attention. Sitting up straighter, I nodded for her to keep speaking. Me and my pack had been trying to figure out a way for females to get out of being forced into cadres against their wills. That wasn’t the teachings we’d grown up on. The stories we’d been taught were full of love and acceptance between cadres and their females. The Moon Goddess chose mated pairs, and later, mated cadres. While some thought she had abandoned us for good, my mother hadn’t believed it. She thought that the Goddess’s magic was fading, though she hadn’t known why, and that was why there were fewer and fewer mated cadres every year. Why there were fewer females being born.

Emma and I had been searching for answers. Maybe Vera and the Venat Pack could help us find some of those answers. All we knew for sure right now was that no one seemed to care whether she was blessing cadres with their mates or not. They just took the females they wanted. The women we’d rescued from abusive packs hadn’t been mated to them. Not officially in the way of our kind. They’d just been too weak to defeat a pack of alphas to gain their freedom. Anything Vera could tell me about The Moon Goddess and the shifter’s plight might help with our own mission. It was our last remaining hope at a free life.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed,” her tone was droll, “that the packs are turning away from our Goddess’s teachings.”

“They think she’s abandoned us,” I said by way of agreement. Telling her too much could put our own agenda at risk, so I was careful in my answer.

“It’s hard to blame them,” she admitted. “But turning from her is only hurting us more. It’s bad enough that we lost the ability to sense our fated mates. With the population decreasing the way it is, we can’t afford to lose each other to pointless wars.”

“I agree,” I said with a sigh. My grandfather had begun a war years ago. I’d only been a pup, but the fallout of the major battle had sent a shockwave through our species. Packs didn’t trust each other anymore. They stopped working together to solve problems, isolating themselves and hoarding their goods. The smaller packs died out, unable to fend for themselves against the humans or from simple starvation. What was left were the few packs who’d managed to survive. Survive being the key word. We weren’t progressing, we weren’t thriving. We weren’t going to make it very long as a species if we didn’t change what we were doing.

“My pack has traveled from ocean to ocean,” I told her.

Her eyes widened. “So far. You must be a skilled warrior.”

My smile was humorless. “Not really. I’m adept at hiding.”

Vera cocked her head as she studied me. “Why do I get the feeling you don’t give yourself nearly enough credit?”

Shrugging my shoulders, I continued on, “We haven’t seen any packs on our journey that are following the old ways.”

Vera nodded. “It’s what we’ve observed as well. We’re the last.”

My mouth turned downward in a frown. “You’re telling me the Venat Pack still follows the Moon Goddess’s teachings?” I couldn’t keep the disbelief out of my tone.

She smiled at me. It was a soft, reassuring gesture. “I know it must be hard to believe, but we do.”

“Your reputation-”

“Is only for our protection. Nothing more.”

“So you don’t tear intruders apart, limb from limb?” I asked, my tone cynical.