I slid to the edge of the couch and addressed them as honestly as I could.
“Listen, the main reason I am here is to find out what sort of damage the Council has done over the years, and if I want to be part of a solution,” I admitted. “Because being the High Warlock will mean basically giving up all my freedom, and then I’ll be fighting tooth and nail for the rest of my life to help people the Council doesn’t want me to. I want you to know that despite this legacy, I am on the complete other end of the spectrum. I am aware I have to prove myself to you, but I wanted to tell you myself.” I caught my breath. “So please... help me understand what your life is like. What would you change? If I had the power to help, what help would you need?”
The Alpha and his mate exchanged a look.
Then the Alpha asked me, “Are you serious?”
“As a seizure.” I said, using one of my mother’s old expressions.
“You want to know... how to improve our lives?” he asked again. It was as though the thought was incomprehensible to him.
I frowned. “Well, yes. Unless you think your lives are perfect, and don’t want anything to change.”
I bloody well hoped that wasn’t the case. How could anyone be happy to be so poor, so undernourished, so...
“No! We’d change a hell of a lot if we could.”
I cocked my head at the Alpha. “Again, excuse my ignorance, but why don’t you?”
These men were strong, and fast, and capable. The Council had to have something to do with how badly they were doing.
“Why do you think we don’t?” He threw his arms out carelessly, his eyes at half-mast.
I grimaced. “It has to have something to do with the Council.”
My voice was flat.
“Of course, it does. They put taxes on everything we make and try to sell. They use magic to destroy our lands and crops when we don’t pay. We can barely grow enough to feed our children, and they take the animals we raise for meat.”
I shuddered. “That’s disgusting. How are you surviving?”
The men around me, who hadn’t made a noise since I arrived, chuckled.
The Alpha laughed in response. “We’re tough. Let’s just say that.”
I slid along the couch, getting as close as I could to the power couple.
“Tell me everything,” I said. “Don’t leave anything out.”
Chapter 17.
THE ALPHA DID SPECIFICALLY as I requested and told me everything about the struggles their pack face. The forced labor. The fight to stay alive. The restrictions on trade and lack of technology or electricity and other comforts. By the time we got back to our realm in my father’s offices, I was exhausted.
I flopped down on the couch, ready for a shower if only to wash the day away. “I didn’t think it could get worse than the Fae realm, but freaking hell... seriously.”
I rubbed my hands over my face and groaned.
Those poor people!
Thinking about them did nothing to help me make my decision.
I pushed myself to a more upright position so I could accept the drink Tavlor had made for me. Some sort of sweet liquor. I needed it.
“Thanks.?
?? I took a sip and hummed. Yum...
Then I looked up at my father, who was taking his cloak off and hanging it on the wall in his office. He seemed much more relaxed than I was, as though he was used to seeing and experiencing such horror stories.