“With Elena. He knows... about the baby.”
Gosh, so she finally told him? Why now? I hope it goes well...
The rest of the day is spent talking about security measures, emergency situations, and how to organize the gathering. Everyone is getting tenser by the hour, including Damian. Neither of his brothers shows up, and soon, it’s the end of the afternoon and time to go...
Black cars are all lined up outside of the building, and Damian and I take the second one, with Vane driving us. A lot of the lieutenants shape-shifted to follow us in their wolf forms— the others are going by car or motorbikes. It’s really intimidating to be moving along such a vast group. Damian doesn’t let go of my hand a single second. As agreed, only fiftyof the Blood Moon Clan members are going, and Isaac left us about an hour earlier to meet with Nathaniel.
It takes half an hour to get to the stadium, and we left only a little before sundown. I try to reach out to Liam again, without success. I really hope he is okay...
When we arrive, Vane parks away from the gathering point, and we start walking towards the stadium, followed by fifty men and wolves altogether. To my surprise, the Jade Moon Clan, led by Vince, appears as soon as we approach. They only give me a quick bow of respect and move along.
As we get closer to the stadium, my nervousness rises. Not only that, but I also hear a great hubbub, coming from a large crowd. How many people came? I knew a few Clans were willing to come, but... It’s still early, and I hear a lot of voices.
For the occasion, all fourth gates are wide open, allowing us to walk into the stadium easily. When Damian and I finally come in, I can barely believe my eyes. This is such a large crowd!
Did Neal say we should expect a few hundred? More like a few thousand! The stadium’s benches are literally full of people! With the Blood Moon and Jade Moon packs arrival, a hundred more people add to the number. Despite the number, it is quite organized, though. Each pack stays as a group, sitting together and keeping their distances from the others. This way, it is easier to differentiate the bigger packs, with their leaders in front of them, from the smaller ones. Still, I have never seen so many werewolves gathered in one place. It is both impressive and scary.
Even with my Alpha features, I can feel the tension in the air. A lot of it. Everyone is eyeing each other. Those whohaven’t shape-shifted are ready to jump into their werewolf form at any moment. Moon Goddess, can this really go well?
Our arrival is actually the main point of focus for most of the people present. I have never felt so many eyes on me, and if it wasn’t for Damian holding my hand tightly, I would be petrified. However, I can tell they are eyeing the both of us. No one can look at Damian directly in the eye. However, people are still intrigued by the Alpha King, who only rarely appears in public. Whispers come from all around, but Damian is perfectly indecipherable. His stone-cold expression, dark allure, and tall stature are enough to impress. Still, most of all, his Alpha aura is radiating, intimidating everyone around us.
“So that’s him...”
“Is that the Luna who contacted us? She looks like a child!”
“He really looks like his father...”
“Hey, don’t stare. Show some respect.”
“I’ve never seen that girl before! The Jade Moon, she said?”
“You really think she is a Royal then?”
“I was wondering if they would really come...”
“He is really marked? What about the Gold Moon daughter, then?”
As we walk toward the center of the stadium, where a large stage has been installed, I look around, trying to find out which packs actually came. I notice Nathaniel, standing with Isaac on one side. What’s wrong with him? He seems impassive, but I can tell he seems... annoyed? His eyes look a lot like Damian’s when he is unhappy. Is it about the meeting? I hope this has nothing to do with his conversation with Elena earlier. I try to look around, but I don’t see my cousin anywhere. Is the White Moon Clan there, as promised?Suddenly, I catch Marina and Grandpa Seaver’s eyes, in front of the Sea Moon Clan. They both salute me in a very discreet but respectful gesture.
Next to them, to my surprise, is Lysandra Jones. So, the Purple Moon Clan came, too! Moreover, the other pack on their left must be her father’s, the Violet Moon Clan. The man in front looks a lot like her, with his dark skin and amber eyes. His name is Andrew Jones, Neal mentioned him during our lessons.
I don’t recognize any other group, though. But a lot of them are smaller, meaning they are smaller packs like the ones Neal mentioned earlier. But as I try counting, I found there are roughly twenty-five different groups around us. Even if not all of them brought fifty members, it’s still a lot of people... A lot more than we expected. And the number keeps growing with the arrival of other groups behind us. I notice no one from William’s Clan is here yet, but we still have time.
Damian helps me up to the stage, and we are now literally standing at the center.
This is... impressive. Hundreds of pairs of eyes are on us. I don’t feel as intimidated as I thought I would, though. My wolf feels confident enough, especially with her pair right by her side.
“This is great, Boss. A lot more people than we thought come,” says Neal.
“They are wary of us, though. Most of those wolves are warriors...”
They look at me, surprised. This is a bit new, but my wolf is observing our surroundings, and can quickly find which wolves are actually warriors or not. I can’t say I’m surprised, though. With the Blood Moon Clan’s reputation, we shouldn’t have expected people to react any differently. Its obviouspeople are here to hear what we have to say, but do not trust us for a second.
The sun slowly comes down, and everyone awaits. There isn’t as much noise as people lowered the chattering to listen to what the Alphas have to say. All of the leaders are standing in front of their packs, within a reasonable distance from each other.
I only recognize a few of them for now, but it doesn’t really matter. Suddenly, I see Sean running to us.
“The rogues, they started moving.”
