Chapter 319: Oh Too Human
Killian was aware of this. According to the information that Seth had given to him, the Silver Dawn Pack had only eighty-four families. Far less than what a strong and able pack that could defend itself would have. But that was only on paper.
"And what about the human authorities? They don’t care that there are a bunch of shifters living near them?"
"That’s quite simple. Our ancestors moved here when no such nonsense as Zealots existed," explained Drakon. "Our forefathers learned how to integrate themselves into the human community, and we slowly and steadily made our way right into the heart of this human community. We have a history older than the zealots could ever have, so they leave us alone. Because we have everything that we need to pass off as humans. Jobs, resources, education, degrees and even our own little chess club— the Zealots don’t doubt us for a second. If anything, they just take us as some preppy humans who don’t like trespassers and guests." He sounded quite pleased about it.
The car started to slow down as they passed by a family of four; the two human children raised their hands and waved at Drakon, who waved back at them with apparent ease as if he did it every day.
"And you have also allowed humans to stay with you?" Finn observed.
"Well, it’s easy that way. The Zealots get doubtful if we don’t let human families move into homes, shelters or apartments that are up for sale. So we can only let them in the city and stay with us," explained Drakon.
Killian frowned. "And what about—if one of you shifts in the presence of the humans?"
"That has never happened. Not for like fifty years, and when it happened the last time, we took care of it," replied Drakon. "Ever since then, we have worked hard on our control until we chained our beasts instead of letting them chain us."
Killian studied the profile of the man in front of him. He was a confident man, despite being very young, no more than twenty-seven years old, and yet he carried himself with such grace and an air of confidence that he looked way different from any other shifter who had chained his beast. There was no wild glint in his eyes as if his beast was pressing against him, trying to free itself of the restraints. Even the desire to look for the wilderness was missing.
And that’s what makes these people dangerous. His beast spoke in his mind.
And honestly? Killian agreed with him. There had been shifters who did try to rein in their beasts, but they had never succeeded. If anything, those shifters lost their minds and became rogues.
"Is that why you have picked up titles from the human law judiciary?" Killian commented, remembering the man who greeted him and Finn at the entrance of the city. He called himself—
"Chief Kai?"
"Haha, so you ran into Kai?" Drakon chuckled. His eyes crinkled as he laughed lightly. "Oh, we had to do that. You see, the humans are all about law and order. They felt it was weird and odd that we didn’t have a police station, so we had to arrange for one. It was quite a hassle, preparing all kinds of paperwork."
"You guys built the police station?" Finn’s eyes went wide, and Killian didn’t blame him.
’Law enforcement’ was a term that had little to do with the shifters. After all, they had had free will for years—maybe centuries. To believe that a pack actually started following the laws and rules set by humans was something strange. Since when did shifters start suppressing their instincts and following human laws and policies?
"We had to if we didn’t want to be tracked down by the Zealots," remarked Drakon. "Sheriff Carl, Chief Hart and our very own alpha, Alpha Edward. They had been working as the heads of the police station for more than fifty years; one after the other, they had taken over the positions and made sure that no human would sense anything amiss. Most of the positions in the station and the head office are filled by the enforcers of our pack, so everything is under our control."
The street turned wider, and the houses also started to look a lot bigger than they did earlier. The entire city looked uniform and well organised, as if it had been planned before being built. However, as the street started to get wider and with more and more houses popping up on the sidelines, Killian noticed something. There was no presence outside these houses. No human or shifter could be seen.
Even the sound of children was missing. Wasn’t it winter vacation in the human schools? How come there was not a single child outside the houses? No one was walking on the street, even when the ice cream parlours were open, and playing the tune that children just loved. It was just too silent, too devoid of life.
Didn’t Seth say that this pack was preparing for a banquet in honour of the Moon Goddess? How were they going to arrange for a banquet when something—when the members themselves were missing?
"And the humans are alright with this?" Finn questioned.
"They don’t know that we are shifters, and Alpha Edward has always been a bit lax with the regulations when he needs to be. It benefits everyone, so even if the humans sense something amiss, they stay quiet." Tapping on the steering wheel with his fingers, he continued, "Anyway, even if we are a weak pack in the eyes of others, we are still quite strong when compared to the humans. So we can easily take down these petty criminals. Crime rates are almost zero here. So humans like to stay with us."
Of course they did. Even the weakest shifter was stronger than a human, so it wasn’t a surprise that they were able to suppress the criminals easily.
"And what do you do with those who break the law established by you?"