Part of the Promise (Book 3 in the 'Part of' Series)

Chapter 30 All in this Together

Extra cool points for getting the reference :D

Chapter 30 All in this together

-Aiden's POV-

Over the next couple of wintery weeks we had managed to contact seven packs. Each of them greeted us with apprehension but they agreed that our cause was a valuable one. We could all agree that Travis had to be stopped, it was personal for each and every one of us in some way or another.

We couldn't use our packhouse as a base, it could hardly fit us all at this point. We had to use the Russeton packhouse. It meant quite a bit of travelling, which was rather difficult for Harlow and I as we liked to visit our mother. We were extremely lucky that we paid for metro tickets that would last an entire year. It would've caused us an arm and a leg otherwise.

It was incredibly fascinating, meeting other werewolves and seeing how other alpha's worked and managed the pack. There were some polar opposites in our group. The alpha of the Snewbrac pack, Arkin, had a similar style to what Lathen had. The pack lived in the woods in a rather small house. He had many strategies put into place and was rather traditional. On the other hand, The alpha of the Fearmast pack, Rasmus, was extremely similar to Travis, he seemed well integrated in human society and lived in a massive packhouse. Though, he seemed much nicer than Travis.

We were currently sitting around a very large table, it reminded me of the Arthurian legend of the round table. The walls were a plain forest green and the floor was dark wood. Harlow sat on my right and Ralph on my left. All of the pack had joined us on this journey, We weren't going to risk leaving anyone behind. We were stronger in numbers, even though I felt pretty useless the majority of the time. The only time I had come in useful was drawing maps. Though that went pretty successfully.

"Right, thank you all for coming," Ashton said as he stood at the back of the room. Beforehand, I thought the use of a round table was so that nobody was above anybody else, yet Ashton still seemed to manage it. "We are here to discuss ways in which we can stand up for our lives and homes against Travis Sparsfeild."

Immediately, mumblings started to be heard. "What can we do other than fight him?" Dillion, the alpha of the Herbrogh pack, questioned. "We can fight, or we can infiltrate. The group would be nothing without its leader." The room divided into shakes and nods of heads.

"Violence doesn't have to be the answer," Carme, the alpha of the Chaiseker pack pointed out. "We could do what he did, get higher in human society."

"That'll take too long," Arkin bluntly stated. He rested back into his seat and folded his arms. He had talked to us a little bit before the meeting and it was his first time here as an alpha as well.

"I could help with that," Rasmus had lifted his hand before interlocking his fingers together. "I've got a hold in the human world." I looked towards Ralph and nudged him slightly, he bit his lip and spoke up.

"We've tried human influence," he paused for a little bit. "As soon as it went public, Travis attacked my mate's mother and our pack." Most of the room averted their eyes. There was a very strange and awkward moment of silence before someone else cleared their throat.

"We wouldn't be able to do anything without making it public," Waverly, the alpha of the Westkin pack, said politely. "Not with the humans anyway." I bit my lip, I wanted to tell them about what had happened when we made the petition, but I didn't feel like I had a place to speak.

"Violence has always worked for me," Dillion muttered under his breath before sighing. "Travis doesn't know how many of us there are, we have to be at least one hundred in number."

"I agree that violence does sound like the most plausible course of action," Kian, the alpha of the Hischwich pack, announced in a very formal tone. He had his back straight and he made eye contact with everyone as he spoke.

"I'm not one to be against violence," Alora, the alpha of the Pikewich pack, paused for a moment. "We don't know how many he has. He's already taken over several packs by threatening their homes. There might be more than a hundred." Dillion shook his head slightly at her words.

"There's no way to know," Ashton lifted a hand for a moment before pressing a button on a remote. Some packs such as Arkin's and another who I haven't met yet, all looked in shock as a projector turned on. I saw a bit of fear flicker in their eyes and they stiffened before realising that the projector wasn't anything harmful. "This map shows Travis' pattern. It took quite some time to figure it out." Yes it did, I made that map and it took me a few hours of research.

"So...there's a pattern? Does that mean he's actually taken over those packs or has he just torn them down?" Alora asked with a hand on her chin.

"Efforts to contact them have failed," Ashton looked down solemnly. "That's why we can't assume he doesn't have fighters on his side."

"He has interrogators too," Ralph spoke up again. "We dealt with one of them, he told us that there were others that he was forced to interrogate. He was the intimidation factor. He attacked our allies after they were interrogated."

"This all seems to round back to you," Kian said coldly. "How are we supposed to believe that it's not just you who is being attacked? Personal vendettas have nothing to do with us." He started to stand from his seat but Arkin's deep voice made him freeze.

"Our homes are being attacked, it's not just the Quartvear pack. These very forests are being pulled down to get revenge. This map-" he gestured towards the projector as he stood up slowly "-proves to us that he's after us all." The room was silent for a good minute or so before Arkins sighed again. "You're either with us, or you're going to lose everything that you hold dear, your home and your family."

One by one, alphas and their packs started to stand. They started to nod.

"We'll stand with you," Alora stated firmly, "We'll attack, we all have different skills and ways to get information. We could blend all our opinions together. We can take every course of action we can think of."