Page 33 of Under A New Moon

Darla frowned, not knowing what to say. What could she say? She had done everything she was told, followed all the rules, and now she's being told everything she's done- all the blood, sweat, and tears she had put into her job was killing people. People that didn't deserve to die.

She looked at Galen, waiting for him to look at her with disgust. She expected him to hate her because she couldn't deny anything. PEACE was doing terrible things. Yes, PEACE was doing good things too. They helped where they could. There was a case in New York City where PEACE agents were looking into a series of dragon shifter murders because it seemed that humans were murdering dragons that belonged to Draconis Fire.

PEACE agents fed the homeless witches outside of Detroit.

She knew PEACE agents that helped the bear shifters when human arsonists had destroyed their forest reserves up in Alaska.

PEACE was the first to respond when cocaine laced with dead fae dust was discovered coming out of Mexico. They weren’t just about controlling metahumans. They were there to help them too. But like all organizations, they were imperfect. Populated by imperfect humans and imperfect shifters.

Galen looked at her softly though before looking back at Sol. "If you do this, you are going to start a war."

Sol clicked his tongue, "There is a war starting anyway. Malcolm has a plan, and it's the only thing that matters. The high elders can't be allowed to stay in power. Taking the humans out is the only way to our survival."

"That's ludicrous!" Galen growled, pushing at the guards. One elbowed him in the side, making him flinch in pain.

"It's fair." Sol countered, "Them killing us in cold vengeance is what escalated this. It isn't the other way around, Galen."

Darla scowled. She was always told that the reason they were killing was to balance out the numbers. She was told they were picking out the bad shifters and making the world a better place. How was she to know that wasn't the actual case? How was she to know she was just killing people, people that didn't deserve to die.

Her superiors were wrong, and they should have known better, but she played a hand in this as well. She wasn't clean, but she wanted to right her wrongs.

Twenty-Seven

Galen

Galen knew his frustration was at the very last of his thread. He had no more energy or time to just screw around and beat around the bush. He took in the situation, knowing that Darla might be able to get herself free if they needed to. He might struggle with three guys, and he was confident they were all shifters.

Sol leaned back in his seat, narrowing his eyes on Galen, "You honestly think that we don't deserve to be the superior species?"

He growled, "Why do you think I left in the first place?"

The surprise was written all over Darla's face, and he had to look away. "Humans and shifters can live alongside each other. We just keep fighting. If we could stop and just accept the differences we share, we could be at peace."

"You sound like an idiot!" Sol pushed himself up, walking back towards his liquor. "Humans will always be afraid of us, afraid of what we can do, and they will never accept us completely." He took a sip from his glass, shaking his head, "This had been brewing for a long time, Galen. You need to pick a side."

He wanted to get free and possibly rip Sol apart limb by limb. He thought of the people in the entrance who were desperate for a break. He thought of people like Darla that didn't know the truth behind PEACE. Sure there were bad apples that probably ran unsanctioned ops that Darla got caught up in. But PEACE as an organization was created because humans feared metahumans. People they called ‘abbies’ or abnormals. There were too many gray areas that he had to think about that made him know it wasn't simply black and white.

"What is Malcolm's plan?" Galen tried to get free, but the guard bent his arm back sharply once more, making him freeze.

Sol took another sip turning towards his window. "Revolution." He sighed happily, "And it will be wonderful." He tilted his head, sipping on his glass. "It's amazing the plan he had laid out. He had it done so neatly it made me think of opening a Christmas gift."

"What is his plan!" Galen snarled, angrily. He was growing tired of Sol stepping around his questions.

Sol turned towards them and sipped his glass once more, "War. We will get rid of the elders, which won't be hard because we have many other alphas on our side. Many are ready for a change."

Galen swallowed. That couldn't be. How could people so quickly think that murdering people was the answer?

"There is no way."

Sol smirked, "I don't lie. Many have lost important people to the humans. Many have lost family to the humans, and when you let anger stir well..." He chuckled, "It makes people agree to things."

Galen felt he was going to throw up. He knew he hadn't ever been in the pack long, not long enough to learn people's names and families, but he couldn't see them agreeing to something. Not like this.

"War will only kill more people, and your people will get hurt."

Sol filled his glass, "And that is a risk they are willing to take. Most want to sink their hands into some blood anyway." He flickered his eyes towards Darla, "An eye for an eye, they say."

Darla shook, but her eyes narrowed on him. As afraid as she was, she still stood her ground. Galen couldn't have been more proud of her.

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