Those In The Forest

Part 94: Iris

Leaving our Elders and Alphas to finish things up with Dean and Alan, we followed after Reagan, who was ignoring us and calling her name.

          Never in our lives have we seen someone from another pack kneel for someone in an opposite pack, especially if they weren't family.

          We have no idea why the Dean did it, but it shocked us that he did.

          "Reagan! Wait up!" I said, finally making it to the front of the house. She turned around, fire in her eyes.

            "Why are we so quick to forgive him?!" she asked angrily. I mean... is he not one of the main reasons we had to be fearful of Alan? Dean was a guard dog for him..." she paused. We can't trust him," she expressed angrily, her nose flaring.

           We all looked at each other and then back at her. "Our trust is not given without thought, Reagan. We know to be wary of him, but if he is willing to do a blood deal, we must give him the benefit of the doubt." Hazel said softly.

            "I am going to kill his sire," she said with very little emotion. It was a strange shift. "How can one be okay with that?"

            "He is my sire too, but you don't see me angry about you or anyone else wanting him dead. In fact, I praise the fact that you do." Ivy said with a snuff. "I have my own feelings about Dean, but I know he didn't make this decision lightly. I know I didn't when Alan abandoned me. At some point before your kidnapping, Dean made his own decision about Alan."

           Reagan narrowed her eyes at Ivy. "You would defend him after... after he threatened us?"

           Ivy snarled. "I'm trying to move on!" Reagan's eyes widened when Ivy raised her voice. "Dean is a piece of shit, I agree. He takes after Alan in that regard, but he isn't violent. It was all an act. You know better than all of us that Alan was ruthless. I know it sounds like I'm making excuses for Dean, but he is trying to find a way to move on. We need to do the same."

           Reagan shook her head and scoffed. "What if he wants more? What if Dean rallies against us and blames us for killing his sire."

           My shoulders fell. Reagan, I know you don't give your trust easily, but we aren't asking you to trust Dean. We are asking you to trust us." I could hear our Elders and Alphas approaching the house with Alan. "He kneeled in front of you. You aren't an Alpha or an Elder; you aren't even part of his pack, yet he kneeled for you."

          I don't think she understands how degrading that can be for a werewolf. He even did it in front of other werewolves. He clearly had no shame. That is serious.

          "I have many things to learn about your kinds customs." she grit, and then rolled her eyes. "My bad, our kinds."

          Rose sighed. "Reagan!" she was irritated. "What just happened would never happen to anyone else! You... you are rare for us. For our kind. Let us deal with Alan and move on. Explore this side of you, enjoy life, because now we have years of life to experience." Rose was breathing hard. "I know we throw the word mate around loosely, but it has significant meaning. Most werewolves don't get that privilege. We have something incredible. Let Dean do what he wants. It shouldn't matter to us. With Alan dead, our biggest threat will be gone."

          Rose was right.

          "There are too many negatives to this life I have now," she said, her bottom lip bobbling.

          "Yes, but there are many more positives. Like us having more time together, you being stronger and faster," I grinned. "Rare. When we were looking for you, the witch in the city told us that you could rule over our kind," I said in awe.