Danielle left me at the steps, and I gulped as I looked up. One lone wolf stood at attention guarding the large door above. He was tall even for wolves and very muscular. Native decent, long dark black hair tied in a slick ponytail at the base of his head. He eyed me wordlessly as I walked the steps and then opened the door as I arrived.

I walked through and my heart raced fiercely.

It opened to a large single room. Up on a stand sat five wolves of various ages and genders behind a long wooden table. In the center sat a very old man with full wrinkles and white hair. A blonde man and a grey-haired elderly woman sat to the left of him. A black-haired woman and a dark-skinned man with a long scar under his eye sat to the right. I briefly wondered how badly a werewolf needed to be hurt for a scar to form. All seemed to eye me, not with anger, but with curiosity.

I looked around and noticed windows high at the ceiling allowed light to filter down and large parchment posters with slanted writings hung on the walls. Seemed similar to what I'd consider the declaration of independence to look like. A large bowl of fire was in an elaborate stand to the far-left corner. There were two desks taking up the rest of the wall direct to my left, with Adam sitting at one. I gave a nervous smile to him, and he nodded his greeting. On the other side of the room was a larger desk, possibly Nate's as it was empty, and he was walking the floor eyes directed on me.

"Elise," Nate came and held my hand. "You made it."

I nodded. The blood thundered in my ears as it pounded. Nervous fear now replaced any speck of grief in my tired soul. I hoped I wasn't too fevered from the walk and tried to ignore the pain still shooting down my injured arm.

"Council, this is Elise Winters." He spoke to the row as he turned me straight to their sights.

"Goodness," the white-haired man in the center spoke. "Alpha, she needs to be taken to the hospital wing. Is that wolfsbane poisoning?" I followed his glance to my battered aching arm and hurriedly held it behind my back like making my arm disappear would help. At least my shirt had longer sleeves as to cover Cassandra's cuts.

"She has gotten a round of injections," Nate replied.

"You should schedule another round. Her arm is covered in veining," he cautioned.

My hand squeezed into Nate's, and I whimpered a pleading.

"She'll be alright."

"I see," the councilman wasn't convinced.

"Shall we continue?" Nate urged irritated.

"Yes. Apologies Alpha Nate. ...Elise," greeted the white-haired man in the center. He had such authority, but still a sweet, concerned smile. Something like you'd imagine a loving grandfather would have. "You have been called here on matter of the treaty with Wilde Claw pack."

"Yes," I nodded.

"Alpha Milo has specifically included you in his draft. He wishes that you be given back and live at Wilde Claw. And you being human, we cannot understand."

My face showed the apprehension I felt. I didn't want to live at Wilde Claw. Would the council make me go to agree to the treaty?

"Do you have any idea why he wishes this?" He looked between Nate and Adam and resumed, "Alpha Nate and Beta Adam have differing opinions."

I looked to Nate and the council man continued. "Alpha Nate believes that you are the mate to young Alpha Junior Timothy Thatcher. Beta Adam adamantly disagrees. What say you?"

I stuttered, "I...I don't know. I don't think I'm Timothy's mate."

"Then do you have any idea why you are wanted at Wilde Claw? Does it have something to do with your cake? Perhaps he wants your specialty baking for himself?" He glanced to Nate and I's entwined fingers. "Maybe he just wishes to disable Alpha Nate?"

"Maybe he just wants to kill me, after me making a fool of them with that specialty baking." I said truthfully. Hadn't they thought that he probably just wanted to murder me?

"Your safety is also specified under Alpha Milo's clause."

"What?" I was taken back. That didn't seem like him. He killed everyone around me. I might as well be included in that massacre as it's my fault. "It is?"

"Yes. He has guaranteed your safety, and asks you return to live within his packhouse at once."

Return.

I considered the thought, swallowing hard. I couldn't go. Even if he did command my safety. I wanted to stay at Lone Raine. I felt wanted at Lone Raine.

"Do you have any idea why he wants you there?" He reiterated.

I was silent. How much could I even say? Milo didn't still feel something for me? That was eight years ago.

Did he?

"Go ahead girl."

I looked down to the speckled tile floor. "Alpha Milo..." but I choked on the words.

Nate gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "Go ahead."

I couldn't say it.

I glanced around the room looking at all the faces, council, Nate, Adam. Adam gave me a small nod to go on.

I took a deep breath and looked up to the council man. "Alpha Milo thought I was his daughter for sixteen years. Maybe those feelings don't go away, even when he knows it's wrong."

Eyes broadened all around.

No one expected such a thing.

Silence.

"What?" even Nate looked appalled. "He thought you were his daughter?"

The dark-haired council woman to the right bellowed, "he couldn't have believed that! How could he ever believe something so ridiculous? You are human."

"Yes," I answered painfully.

The scarred man to her side questioned, "why would such a mistake be made? That is silly. It makes no sense."

I shrugged and looked away. "I don't know."

Lie.

My nerves upped dramatically.

The room quieted with wonder.

Adam's hands were then softly around my other arm. I followed his hold to his imploring face. He looked intently to me, blue eyes blazing. "Miss Winters. You're playing your nails again. You know something. What is it?"

I looked back down to my hand and stopped my fingernails sawing across each other. I didn't even realize I was doing it.

My face came down in fear. "Adam it's... it's not my secret to tell."

I'm afraid.

Adam touched delicately at my chin, bringing it upwards to his studying eyes. "Milo has scared you. But we need to know what you know."

Nate squeezed the hand he held, and I turned to him. "We will protect you, Elise."

"He'll kill me for telling. Treaty guarantee or not." I spoke in despair.

Adam reached for both of my shoulders taking me from Nate's grasp. "Elise. We can protect you, but we need to know how exactly to do that. Why did Milo think you were his daughter? Will you tell us?" His hand then brushed over my hair imploringly.

I nodded and Adam stepped away.

I took a deep centering breath and then looked around the room. "Timothy isn't Alpha Milo's first born."

The room was silent.

I continued. "He had a daughter first. She would have been heir to the alpha throne of Wilde Claw. I guess female alphas are rare, you all would know better than me, but I understand that female alphas are frequently in danger when they grow up from other packs or even wolves within their own pack not wanting a woman ruler. They often don't live to see the alpha ceremony and are killed when they are a child and still weak. Alpha Milo and Luna Evonne decided they would hide the girl. They told everyone their child was male and stillborn."

"Who would believe that?" Asked the black-haired woman in disbelief. "There had to have been attendants at the birth to see the gender and that she wasn't stillborn. This story is flawed."

Nate narrowed his eyes at her. "Of course Milo would have alpha commanded them to be silent." He looked back to me reassuringly. "Elise, keep going."

"They told everyone their child was stillborn, and they hid her at an elderly couple's home that bordered Wilde Claw territory. There she would be protected enough being close to Wilde Claw from other packs, but not within the border and arouse suspicion from their pack. She would be raised as a human until time came for her wolf to come out and they'd reintroduce her to that world."

"That makes no sense. Any wolf in the area would be able to scent her as a junior alpha." The scarred councilman.

Nate looked questioningly to Adam. "But there was so much wolfsbane on the property. Maybe they wouldn't."

I nodded. "It was planted it to cover her."

"Then what does this have to do with you?" The elderly councilman said.

"I grew up in that household. It was only me. On my sixteenth birthday Alpha Milo and Luna Evonne came forward as my mother and father. They took me to the packhouse and," I gave a sad smile, "and they told me I would change into a wolf on the next full moon. It was quite a shock as you can imagine. I then got a crash course in werewolf for two weeks after that."

"But you didn't shift on the full moon," the blonde man from the left speculated.

I nodded my head as agreement. "The full moon came, and I didn't change." My voice got small as I took in Adam's horrified expression, him backing up to his desk in tiny shuffling steps. "Milo started into an absolute rage about infidelity and affairs and was so furious he killed Luna Evonne right in front of me and Timothy."

"That's dreadful!" cried the older grey-haired woman.

I looked up and met her shocked eyes. "Timothy was only ten at the time. He saw his mother murdered in front of his eyes. By his own father." My voice was soft. "I thought she was my mother at that point too, so I guess it was like I saw my mother get murdered as well." I took a breath. "Milo was grief stricken at the loss of his mate at his own hands. He shrieked at me to leave. I was so scared. I didn't know what else to do so I went back to the old couple I knew as my grandparents."

I bit my lip, holding tears in.

Nate's arm came around me pulling me to his chest. His dark eyes looked so sorrowful. "Then he killed them too."

I nodded and swallowed the lump at my throat leaning into him. "A few weeks later he showed up at my grandparent's house demanding to know where the real Elise was. He was screaming that had I even been part werewolf I would have shifted. If I were Evonne's, his or not, I would have become a werewolf. I couldn't be the child that was left to their care. My grandparents were not able to tell them where she truly was, so they were slaughtered."

Nate rubbed a tear from my cheek when I looked up. I tried to stay strong.

"I think she must have died as an infant, and my grandparents were too afraid to let the werewolves know and replaced her with me." I sighed. "They had reason to fear. They were killed for it after all. Milo warned me if I ever told anyone anything about werewolves that I would be punished the same way."

Nate flinched.

I continued, turning to the council. "I ran the miles to the diner and my boss Marjorie let me live with her. I never told her what happened, and the authorities ruled my grandparent's deaths an animal attack. That the livestock they kept drew in cougars. I never said anything. ...until now."

Nate's arms tightened around me in an embrace.

"So," the grey-haired woman started, "Alpha Milo still feels for you as this daughter, because he's never found her." She turned to the others. "Maybe he's still searching for her."

I shrugged, but others on the council filled in. "Yes. That fits. Breanne would have been exactly her age. Maybe Milo came to believe she was his real daughter."

The blonde man to the left spoke. "Alpha Richard and Luna Jill fought him when he infiltrated our pack all those years back. Maybe they were trying to save Breanne from his clutches and Breanne was killed accidentally."

"Or purposefully when he realized she wasn't his Elise."

Nate growled a warning.

My eyes widened. Were they talking about Nate's family? His parents? And a sister. Nate said his family was killed by Milo too. A sister murdered maybe only because of mistaken identity? Unspeakable. I curled my arm around his and squeezed reassuring him now. He knew the same pain of everyone around him dying by Milo's hand that I did.

The center elderly councilman agreed. "Yes. Milo must be going from pack to pack to find this girl. We must offer our aide. We could place in the treaty help for his mission."

"You can't do that." Nate cut in. "They will know Elise told. He would not excuse her telling his confidences. We must protect her first."

"Well, how do you assume we proceed?" The black-haired woman scoffed.

"We ignore this new information. And we reject his claim to her. He can't have her. She stays here. He doesn't need her anyway. She is human, she is not his Elise."

"We can't just hide her here like some sort of prisoner."

"Could we...?" I announced, but gulped as all eyes came to me, "could we make a counteroffer? They burned my home to the ground. What if I stayed at Lone Raine but we countered that I would live back at my farm on Wilde Claw's border if they rebuild it?"

Nate got the idea. "And we want all of her grandparent's acreage granted back as neutral territory."

I smiled up at him. "Could we really ask that?"

"Yes," he continued. "Then this will be on them. If they want her back so badly, they will agree to right this grave misjustice. Otherwise, she stays with me." His arm came around me and pressed me into his side.

The center councilman looked around to his fellow panel. "I see no problem with this solution. Any disagreements?"

I looked to the panel as each looked around. I then saw Adam seated on his desk, body curved in, hands threaded into his hair. He looked in terrible distress. I twisted to go to him, but Nate's arm solidified around me.

Nate commented to the others, "it will do."

"All in favor?" The center asked.

A chorus of yeas sounded.

Nate turned to the blonde man at the far left. "Please draft up a response Councilman Daniel. Include that Elise's farm will be rebuilt, her family's acreage returned, and only then will Elise live at that home inside of that neutral territory." He looked down to me with a grin, "and only that, if she wants to move from her new home with us, at the time the farm is rebuilt."

I buried my face into his side. "Thank you."

He held my head against him, holding his comfort to me. "I told you Elise, we'll protect you and your life. You're part of this pack now."

"I guess I don't have anywhere else to go."

Nate kissed the top of my head. "You can go anywhere you'd like. We will help you do whatever you need, but I hope you wish to stay with us."

I pulled away enough to see his smile and followed with one of my own. "I do want to stay. Your place felt like home the moment I saw it."

After a few minutes of silence, Councilman Daniel lifted his pen. "Alright, the counter is written. Alpha Nate, Elise, I'll have you both sign your acceptances."

Nate stepped us both up to the panel and he read over the updated version and then signed his name with a handsome font.

I looked at the parchment.

Counter 4.2: Elise Winters will not be moving to live at Wilde Claw with Alpha Milo and Alpha Jr. Timothy. Elise Winters will continue to live at Lone Raine until Wilde Claw releases all Elise Winters previous territory to neutral ground and her farm rebuilt by Wilde Claw as once was. She will then only live at said farm. Hereto will be abided, or Elise Winters will remain at Lone Raine until she wishes different.

Nate searched my eyes. "Is that acceptable?"

I nodded.

"Then sign."

On the line I wrote out my signature. It looked so plain next to Nate's.

"It is done," spoke the white-haired councilman in the center. "All in favor of bringing this treaty council to a close?"

Yeas sounded.

"Then this session of treaty correspondence is dismissed."

Men and women stood and started to speak informally amongst themselves.

Nate squeezed my side. "Let's get you back to the packhouse. Maybe I can grab one of those cupcakes before they go out for dinner."

I gave a halfhearted smile. I felt spent from bringing emotions up that I had buried for so many years. And all that even after everything that happened just yesterday. But I felt rewarded that maybe my farm would be rebuilt.

I would survive.

Nate grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers. I smiled and followed his lead to the doors, but we stopped at the sound of Adam's anguish filled voice.

"I beg the council to reopen."

Nate and I turned to see him centered in front of the panel, bent to the floor in true pain.

"I offer myself up to the council for disciplinary action."

Disciplinary action?