Finding Hope

2

Ashley's POV

"He's my mate!"

Never did I think my little sister would shout those words. Never did I think she would shout those words the second the wolf council held a gun to Garrett's head.

"Your what?" Sebastian faces us.

If he was angry about Logan potentially being her mate he must be livid at the idea of Garrett being with her. Especially when he's trying to focus on dealing with the council and the situation at hand. This is the last thing he needs to deal with.

I look down at Michelle who is standing next to me and everyone else, and my jaw drops.

Sebastian ordered everyone to stay inside of their homes during this time. There's no need for anyone to watch what may occur tonight.

I fear for all of our safety tonight.

The council isn't something to be messed with.

They asked for Logan, Hudson, Tommy, and I to all be here because we live with Garrett. They want answers. The only reason Michelle is here, is because she pleaded with Bash to be here. I knew something was up, she's never gone out of her way to be involved in anything. Especially not since that incident two years ago.

"Is this true?" A member of the council speaks up and she steps forward.

"Yes, he's my mate! Please don't kill him, he's a human, but he's my mate!" She shouts again and Logan pulls her back.

"Michelle please." Garrett shouts back with pleading eyes. "Elle, it's gonna be okay, it's all gonna be okay!" He says louder this time and she starts to kick and scream trying to break from Logan's grasp.

"You can't kill him. I told you he was around for a reason. Please, if you take away her mate, you're as evil as I thought. First you hurt my Luna, now you attempt to kill my sisters mate?" Sebastian calls and I feel Tommy's hand on my waist as he pulls me back and toward his chest.

"Get ready." He whispers and I give the slightest of nods.

"If that is the case, why hasn't she marked him?" Another member speaks up and Michelle drops to her knees.

"Because he's human. Because I didn't want to scare him!"

"Elle, love, please. It's gonna be okay." Garrett shouts again but Michelle's tears keep falling as another man places a gun to her mates head.

"Is this necessary! He's a human who is my sisters mate. If you do this consider my pack no longer a problem part of your council. Consider this an act of war!"

I mean we planned on war regardless.

Tommy's grasp on my shirt tightens and I know shits about to hit the fan. Michelle and I were given specific instructions to run the second stuff starts to get bad.

"If you kill him, I die! What's wrong with you!" Michelle screams and Logan is trying his hardest to stop her from doing something uncalled for.

Nobody knew they were mates. I don't even think we had any ounce of knowledge that would've brought us to that conclusion.

The plan is not going as followed.

She's not gonna go run to safety if her mate is out here with a gun to his head.

"Elle, love, you need to listen to me!" Garrett screams and I drop down to grab her arm.

"Elle, fucking listen to me!" He screams louder this time and she looks up to meet his eyes.

"I'm going to be fine, I'm fine. Please, stay calm. Please just calm down, listen to your sister."

"Michelle, you gotta play along. You have to do what I told you." I mind link her and she nods before standing up and keeping my arm around hers.

"If she doesn't run, you have to still run. I'll make sure she's safe, but you need to take care of yourself first." Tommy mind links and I shake my head. "Ash, please." He begs again over mind link. He's never sounded so worried in all the years I've known him, so I look up at his eyes.

It's fear. All I see in his eyes is pure fear.

"Please." He whispers and I nod.

"I'll say it once more, either lower the guns and hand over her mate, or I'll take this as an act of war." Sebastian shouts and I take a deep breath. This is all about to get so much worse.

Of course I knew the plan from the second he came up with it, but that doesn't mean I'm not nervous about it.

This doesn't go very many ways.

I either lose people I love or I don't.

It's simple. I most likely won't walk out of this happier than when I came in.

That hurts my soul to think about.

"Then consider it an act of war." A councilmen speaks and immediately Garrett grabs at the gun being pointed at him and shots are fired.

The only thing I can do is grab Michelle's arm and run into the house.

"Michelle run!" I scream and she darts past me and towards the bunker door. I punch in the code as fast as I can.

Once Michelle is inside I take one final look outside.

Everything is going to change after this. Everything I once knew to be my life will change.

Without the council in our lives, we lose the normalcy a pack usually has when involved. There's a sense of comfort knowing you're involved in a group where your fellow wolves are all aimed at accomplishing similar goals.

This is not what the council was formed for. It was formed to keep packs together and working together not against each other. It wasn't formed to intrude and spy of its packs or attempt to murder its members mates.

The council can rot in hell.