Only Human: Before and After

Chapter 151: Lannister Fleet

Change of POV

I had just barely saved June from those mermaids, and now some other vile creature had gotten ahold of her. Maybe Hoen had a point. Vania was no place for a mortal angel like June. In Alturess I could at least protect her and keep her secure within my herd. She would be respected there. Revered. My herd also travels, so June wouldn't feel as stuck as being holed up in some estate or tree somewhere. Even werewolf packs hold territories. She would be free and best of all safe. When we got her back, I would have to speak to her about it, because unlike her other partners I understood that she was an individual who had the right to make decisions and ignore advice. It was hard to remember that when it came to June. She was so special and so important that I could understand some feeling that the ends justified the means, but I would never. My Amorita was a partner I could never own, nor could she ever own me. Our bond was a mutual offering of ourselves to the other. It was built on what we could give more than what we could get.

For now, I had to get her back. When Hendrix described his plan in detail, I didn't like it. Instead of immediately heading to my Amorita in need, he wanted me to play distraction with him somewhere across town from her. I argued that I could storm her place of confinement single-handedly, but Hendrix set me straight. Not only would I be vastly outnumbered, but there were two large factors working against me. One was these strongholds were designed to be a maze of narrow weaving halls. A unicorn such as myself in my most powerful form would not be able to navigate them well, and would leave me at a large disadvantage. The other was that Dracula apparently was known for using firearms. Guns were the bane to a unicorn's existence. It was one of the many reasons that unicorns ceased all connection to the human continents. There was something about the gun powder that these weapons required that made them deadly. It soaked in all the demonic energy and emotions from the air it wove through and injected it into its victim along with the blasted bullet. It was like poison for us, and worse still it was a poison we couldn't heal from.

Guns were outlawed in Alturess. All gun powder was heavily taxed, monitored, and used sparingly; but any weapons that used it were strictly prohibited. It was an agreed upon law, because the other species did not want to enact the ire of the unicorns. We were too valuable, too powerful, to let vanish entirely. Even in Vania they were rarely used, because it was normally seen as a badge of weakness. That, and werewolves and vampires are unbothered by taking a few rounds. That did not stop some weapons from getting smuggled into Alturess from Vania, but with gun powder being so expensive and regulated most of these weapons had limited ammo or no bullets at all. I myself have thankfully never been at the end of a gun, but I knew their dangers well.

Discovering that my talents were not suited for a swift rescue in this case, I decided to go with Hendrix's plan. I had to help in any way that I could, and if that meant distracting a group of vampires away from June so that she could be rescued by a pack of werewolves, then so be it. June's mate would be leading the charge of her retrieval, and my team would aid Hendrix. Everything felt promising, until my role was finally given to me. I was to be June's stand-in.

"Why me?" I asked surprised.

Hendrix handed me a long, hooded cloak. "You have the right height for a werewolf, you're lithe enough to pass for a woman, and you even have white hair. Out of all of us, you would be the most convincing." He explained.

I narrowed my eyes. "Are you trying to insult me?" I asked.

"Why? Have you been confused for a woman before?" He asked with a smirk.

I in fact had, but June didn't see me that way did she? She knew I was a full stallion, right?

"Don't worry, Lannister. You are still masculine, but with the cloak on that won't come across as well." Tala explained. "Besides quite a few women like pretty men."