Surrender -Under Re-Write

21

"I want to first say thank you to everyone who made the time to come out and train with us this week." My dad starts.

We all stand in a curved line side by side. Daniel to my left, and Maya to my right. Both of them still clutching my hand tightly as the fire burns 10 feet behind us.

"As all of you know, the reason we are here is to train as many members of our pack in defensive hand to hand combat. After facing now 3 attacks to our extended pack leaders from Colorado, we thought it would be best that as many of you as possible would be able to protect yourself in an emergency where our fighters couldn't get to you."

"I thought there were only 2 attacks!" A woman calls from somewhere in the crowd of people.

My dad nods. "As of early this morning there has been a 3rd. Which is one of the reasons we are meeting tonight." He continues.

"The first two were merely break ins. Men who seem to be looking for information as the break ins occurred in the private studies of the leaders. During the 2nd attack one of the men was captured, however he wasn't willing to give up any information about who he worked for." My dad clears his throat and takes a breath before continuing.

"Unfortunately the third attack was more than a break in. Marcy James, the daughter of pack leaders Anna and Arthur James, was killed."

Gasps were heard all through the crowd as well as mumbling. I squeeze Daniel and Maya's hand a little tighter when a few of the eyes on all of us turned into angry glares.

"As many of you know, Anna James was killed 6 years ago during the war against the pack based in Sonora, Mexico. So this death has taken quite a toll on Arthur. Because of this, Arthur has chosen to step down from his title as leadership."

More and more mumbling could be heard from the crowd. I've never known a leader to step down from their title, and I'm sure most of the people here haven't either. When I glanced over at Lilith she had tears streaming down her face as Kai held her close to him. My heart broke for her and Arthur.

"Funeral services are being made now, and information will be sent to each of you by email. I understand you all may be reluctant to attend being that traveling to Colorado could be unsafe, but we hope some of you decide to attend. Arthur is a member of this pack, and he needs all of us to get him through this difficult time." My dad says taking another deep breath.

"Now I'd like us all to take a moment of silence for Marcy. A young life taken away too soon." He says as everyone falls silent. In these few minutes small sniffles and cries could be heard through the crowd. I couldn't help but let a few tears slip myself. Daniel released my hand and wrapped his arm around my waist and pulling me closer to him. He kissed my temple and rested his head on top of mine just as Maya squeezed my hand and rested her head on my shoulder.

"Thank you everyone." My dad finally says. "I'm going to hand it over to Nicholas who has more information about this attack and the men who were apart of it. Nick" my dad says nodding towards my uncle.

Nicholas steps up and everyone focuses their attention on him. "During this attack, the man that we had in custody was broken out, and they have not been located as of yet." More mumbling and angry glares were sent towards us. It felt like I could feel everyone's emotions just based on the look they gave each of us.

"That being said. We're officially stating that our pack is under attack. We are asking you all to take precautionary measures which includes leaving your homes to one of our many private lands all around Texas. Many fighters are now being stationed for your protection in these parts, if you chose to stay in your homes, please let us know so we can make sure your home is also guarded by our fighters. We've asked our allies from Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas to assist with us in this new protection detail, and they have all generously provided large numbers of their own fighters to assist us. Right now we have no idea why our pack is being targeted, but until we know that our pack is 100% safe, the leaders who intended to retire this year which include Johanna, Ryan, Elise, Damien as well as Daisy and I will not be stepping down just yet."