Freeing Starr

How in the world could I negate this fight without causing dissatisfaction among the pack? It was impossible. It wasn't my place to get involved yet I couldn't just watch as they fought either. If a doctor and a warrior fought it's obvious who'd win. Doctors were a necessity for our pack right now. We couldn't afford to lose any of them.

I sighed, getting ready to take a step back and allow this to play out.

"Do it."

I froze as Zion's voice entered my mind and my eyes immediately searched the crowd for his familiar face, yet I couldn't find it.

"Get involved."

Suspicion and unease immediately surfaced as I considered his words. Why did he want to get involved now of all times? Usually when I complained about things like this he always brushed me off... so why was this time any different when he was always so concerned about the pack causing an uproar if he were to try and change how they ran things.

I nodded my head, knowing he could see me from wherever in the crowd that he was observing from then took a step closer to the scene.

"You're not allowed to kill him," I spoke to the warrior, who immediately bared his teeth at me and growled his protest but I placed a hand up to stop him then turned to the doctor, my eyes softening, "your daughter is mated now. When she tried to run away, imagine how hurt he as her mate felt. How betrayed. It's reasonable that he'd lose control and hurt her but he'd never kill her."

The doctor stared at me in disbelief and shouted, "Are you kidding me!? As our luna, can you really tell me that this situation is fair!? My daughter was forced to mate with someone who's not her mate! She was raped, abused and starved!!! Yet you mean to tell me I should let her go as is right in this barbaric pack!? Anyone here could see why she wanted to run away! Whose side are you on!? Did we really come from the same pack? That bastard wasn't hurt! His pride was!"

I winced at that, my stomach churning guiltily as I suddenly had an urge to bow my head in shame. He was right. We were from the same pack, a pack with morals and yet here I was telling him to abandon those morals and give his daughter up to a beast.

"I know. We're not accustomed to living the way that they are but it's not right to completely shun their culture either. How about this," I glanced at the man pointedly, "You need to refrain from beating your mate to near death. She's new and she's not accustomed to the culture of this pack. You can't expect her to change overnight."

The man growled, "who are you to tell me how to take care of MY MATE? Do you tell the Alpha how he should treat you?"

I grimaced slightly, "Of course I don't. I follow whatever Alpha Zion wants me to. However, in order for our pack to thrive we need our pack doctors and you need to restrain yourself because this doctor might very well be the one to save your life if you were ever injured AND he's your mate's father and the grandfather of your future children. Family is important."

"Who are you to-"

"What's going on here?"

The crowd parted as Zion finally made his presence known and came to stand at my side. I lowered my head slightly and stepped back to give him full control. After listening to the complaint of both men, Zion stood there silently contemplating.

The man stepped forward and bowed towards him, "Alpha, as Rhea's mate, I'm allowed to do whatever I want with her. This is the rules of our pack. No restrictions. No one is supposed to poke their nose into our business, not her father... nor the Luna. She had no right to step in."

Zion glanced across at me blankly then back to the man as he nodded, "you're right. Even as the leaders of the pack, we're not here to dictate how you choose to live your life... however, Dr. Romney is a very important asset to this pack. If you beating on his daughter affects his work, our pack's growth might come to a stop, no?"

"But-"

Zion waved a hand at one of his main betas, "take the girl and get her treated by another doctor," he shot a warning glance at the man, "Keep your family drama behind doors and we wouldn't have to interfere in the matter. Refrain from killing either one of them."

The doctor hastily bowed his head, "Thank you, Alpha."

Zion waved his hand dismissively, "don't thank me. I'm just thinking of our pack's progress," then he raised his voice and addressed everyone around us, "don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to go against the rules of our pack. However, there are some cases where we must try to get along with our own in order to get stronger. In regards to breaking the pack's rules, we, as leaders, always take responsibility for our actions. Starr."

I looked up at him expectantly then flinched when I saw his hand swinging towards my face. I stumbled slightly at the force behind the slap, a whimper forcing its way pass my lips as my hand came up to caress my throbbing cheek. Tears gathered in my eyes as I bowed my head, confused.

I only did what he told me to do. Why did he hit me?

"My mate overstepped her boundaries by poking herself into your life. I apologize on her behalf," he hooked his arm around my waist and tugged me into his side, nodding his head at the man, "we'll take our leave now."

Then he dragged me off behind him and back to the pack house, Niah trailing cautiously behind us.

I wiped a tear that slid down my face and tried to stop myself from sniffling. My cheeks stung and my heart was beating a mile away in fear. This was the first time Zion had hit me in a while outside of our training. I had finally gotten accustomed to being around him and my fear had almost vanished. However, now it was back. Not as strong as before but strong nonetheless... however I was also confused. I couldn't understand what I did wrong.

I let him lead me into the office and watched through teary eyes as he sat in his office chair then pulled me down to sit on his lap, resting his head on my shoulders.

"Why?" I murmured.

Zion sighed and placed a kiss against my neck, "I'm sorry but I needed to use you if I wanted to resolve that problem without facing criticism from the pack. It had to be done."

My lips tugged down into a frown as I turned to face him, "why didn't you just tell me?"

"It was better that you not know."

My frown deepened, "why? I don't think me stepping up deserved punishment though?"

"It was because his authority was being questioned," Niah commented from her place sprawled out on the sofa. She raised an eyebrow at us, "He questioned Zion's dominance in your relationship and Zion had to make sure that everyone knew that he was still in control. He just didn't want to outright admit it. Pfft... men and their pride."

Zion growled, "enough."

Niah shrugged her shoulders but kept her mouth shut.

I turned my gaze back to Zion warily, "is that why? Because I made it look like I was the Alpha in our relationship?"

"Technically, you are an Alpha. Zion just has a weird superiority complex."

"T'niah!" He snapped.

I rubbed his arm gently and eased my frown slightly, despite the knots that my stomach was in at the moment. My wolf brooded inside me at the thought of our mate humiliating us in public but she refused to voice her displeasure. We didn't like what happened earlier... but there was nothing we could do.

"Calm down," I murmured, resting my head against his chest and allowing him to pull me closer to bury his nose in my hair, "I'm sorry. I'll try to limit my actions next time."

Zion hummed and placed a kiss on my head, "that'd be for the best."

"Are you sure you're not an omega in an Alpha's body?" Niah mused at me.

Zion rolled his eyes and straightened up, "Did anything happen while I was gone?"

"We were just discussing that before the commotion actually. I'll let Starr explain it to you," Niah nodded at me.

I frowned as I voiced my thoughts, "our medical supplies are running out again. We'll need more soon."

"Mmm then we can just take some from another pack."

I shook my head, "we need to stop expanding for now. Not only do we not have enough manpower to occupy our large territory, we also need to be more cautious. We can't go out offending the entire continent if we're not strong enough to contend against it yet."

Zion sighed, "then what do you suggest? How else are we to get the supplies we need?"

"Through the black market of course," I declared.

"The black market?" Niah asked in confusion.

I nodded my head, "yeah the black market. As a rogue pack you probably haven't heard about it but the black market is a system of illegal trading throughout all of the major kingdoms. It's also a neutral ground for both werewolves and humans alike so we don't have to worry about that. Since it's illegal though, most packs try to avoid it as much as possible because once caught, their pack will be given harsh penalties. I'm only considering this option now because our pack isn't legal in the first place so the black market is perfect for us."

"So how do we get in contact with them? If they're illegal, their businesses are probably carried out secretly," Zion asked.

I hesitated slightly before admitting it, "if we ask my father, he should be able to connect us to someone on the inside. He's called the dealer. He smuggles goods outside of the human and werewolf kingdom."

Zion raised an eyebrow at me, "your pack was involved in black market trading?"

I shrugged sheepishly, "my father was involved, not our pack."

He nodded and glanced over at Niah, "go contact her father and ask him to give us the dealer's contact information," then he nuzzled my neck gently, "Let's go for a run then head home."

I nodded in agreement and allowed him to tug me out of the pack house and towards the forest.