by Meg Ripley
“I should have kicked you out already,” he snapped back. “But I guess that wouldn’t matter to you. You’d just run off with your bears.”
“I want now what I’ve always wanted. Peace for every clan in the area.”
15
Mason
We headed to the room we’d booked to meet in. Since Owen was the head Ranger, it was easy for us to get a room at the park in one of the event pavilions. No one usually used them at night, anyhow.
Grace and I arrived first with Owen and Ezra, but it wasn’t long before bears and crocs alike started to trickle in. When the time came for the meeting to start, we waited another few minutes to make sure everyone who confirmed they’d be coming was there. But really, Owen and Adam were there, and they were the most important members in attendance.
I looked over at Grace and squeezed her hand. “Ready to do this?”
“So ready.”
We stood and I called out to get everyone’s attention. “We’re going to get started with the meeting now, if everyone would quiet down please.”
Grace said, “Thank you all for coming. I think we all know that this feud has been going on too long. We all want the fighting to come to an end.”
I nodded and added, “This is the first of what we hope will be a long understanding between the clans. We’re hoping for a way we can all work together to make the Everglades National Park the best it can be for everyone who wants to come and enjoy it.”
“Without having to worry about attacks or prejudice or anything else,” Grace added.
“Is this just about your relationship?” someone in the crowd shouted.
“It is,” Grace admitted, “but only a small part of it. We don’t think anyone should be threatened just because they want to date someone of another species. But it’s much more than that. Our clans haven’t been at peace for many years. It’s time the attacks and the killings and yes, the prejudices, come to an end.”
“We want to make sure both sides are heard, and that both sides have equal representation,” I said. “That’s why we’re all here together. To find an agreement between us that works for everyone.”
“Are you giving us the park, then?” a croc shouted.
Grace jumped in. “That wouldn’t be what’s best for everyone. The park is a huge area and it can’t belong to just one clan or another. That’s why I work there now. To help balance things out.”
“But you’re a traitor,” another croc said. “You’ll just do what’s best for the bears.”
Grace shook her head. “When Adam came to me, with my family, and asked me to give up my dream of becoming an environmental lawyer to go work in the park, I did it. Adam was actually using me to spy on the bears, but there was nothing to find out. But when my own clan attacked me and attempted to brain wash me and keep me quiet about the truth, I knew I had to do something. I am loyal to my kind. But we need leaders who won’t lie to us, and we need to know the truth on all sides.”
“We have a few ideas to make things in the ‘Glades more equal,” I said. “It’s been suggested that the crocs have a sort of reservation in the park, a sanctuary area just for them.”
“So, let’s give them what they’ve attacked us to take?” Noah shouted. “How is that what’s best for everyone?”
“The crocs weren’t here many years ago when the initial shifter rules were put into place,” I explained. “They didn’t have proper representation like the other clans did.”
“That didn’t help the panthers,” Conner said, looking over at Britt.
“There’s no denying that there have been major issues,” Grace said. “The crocs have not gone about things the best way. That’s why we want—”
“Why are the crocs always the ones to blame?” Adam got to his feet and marched toward us. “I’ve been sitting here, listening to you two go on and on about how terrible the crocs are. It’s bullshit. It’s nothing but lies. We’ve been pushed aside, pushed out, given nothing but rules and no say.”
“That’s exactly what we’re talking about,” I said. “We’re trying to find a place of more equal representation.”
“No, you’re trying to control the crocs even more,” Adam said. “You want us to feel like we have more power, when we won’t. I know how the bears do it. The same way they’ve taken over the entire Everglades and have put themselves into all the ruling positions over the other clans. Why would they suddenly play fair?”
“We’ve always played fair,” Owen said, joining us at the front of the room. “We’ve made rules that protect everyone. We’ve kept the park safe for all. We were one of the first species on this land and had to set things in place the best we saw fit all those hundreds of years ago. This is what our ancestors planned. And now things have changed and we recognize that.”
“Bullshit.” Adam stepped up into Owen’s face. “This is just a trick. This whole meeting is probably one big ambush. You want us dead, and now you’ve planned this meeting to get us all together so you can kill us all at once.”
Owen tried to respond, but it was too late. When Adam spoke those words, the crocs reacted. They were on their feet, shouting and pushing each other. The room exploded in chaos.
I waved my hands to try to get everyone’s attention, but it was impossible.
Then I heard someone shout, “He has a gun!”
I couldn’t tell who had said it or who supposedly had a gun. All I knew is that the next time I looked out into the crowd, I saw many guns and knives being pulled. I saw fists flying and more pushing and slapping.
I looked at Owen, who had his defensive face on, and we moved forward as the crocs came toward us. I wouldn’t have thought a scene like that was possible; not amongst civilized people. But it was a war.
I hadn’t heard gun shots, but as I dodged a punch, I heard someone smash a chair into a wall. There was so much shouting, I couldn’t even hear myself think. We had to defend ourselves. And we had to do it in a way that didn’t end up with a bunch of shifters dead.
I grabbed a man’s hand and twisted his knife away from him, kicking him in the knee to drop him to the ground. He lie there, cursing me and holding his knee, but he was down and out of the fight for the moment.
My gun was on me, but I kept it holstered. It would be too easy for me to start taking crocs out, and I didn’t want to resort to that; not unless we absolutely had to. I still had a responsibility to uphold the law.
A croc came charging at me and I used his momentum to send him flying into a mass of chairs. I turned to make sure Grace was still by my side, but I didn’t see her. She had been right there a moment ago. Panic flooded over me, and I searched the room for her.
I stood on a chair and finally saw that she’d been pulled across the room. It looked like Adam was holding her. I pushed my way through the fray to her.
Adam pointed a gun at me. “She stays with her kind.”
I weighed my options for a moment. In the end, I knew my years of training as an officer had to outrank whatever training he might possibly have, so I lunged forward, ducking, wrapping my arms around Grace’s waist. When I had my arms around her, I spun, throwing my elbow into Adam’s side as I freed her from his grip.
I let her go for a moment, then threw an uppercut into Adam’s stomach. He bent forward just enough that I was able to twist the gun from his hand.
As Adam tried to claw me to get his gun back, someone grabbed it from my hand. I looked over and saw Grace holding the gun. She pointed it straight in the air and fired several times.
16
Grace
The loud shots rang off the walls, creating an almost deafening wave of sound. The room went quiet and my ears rang; I’d never shot a gun before, and it was much louder than I’d expected. I shouldn’t have fired it so close to Mason, but he seemed fine. I assumed he was probably used to that sort of thing as a cop.
I waited a few seconds for everyone to look in my direction, and as I opened my mouth to speak, tears came to
my eyes. I swallowed to blink them back, but they still made my voice waiver.
“This has to stop,” I said. “This fighting gets us nowhere except hurt or killed. Even now, as we all come together to find peace, the crocs have acted first. Don’t you see this? Adam convinced you all that the bears were lying, that they did this as some sort of ambush, when there was no proof of that at all. Where is this ambush? Where is their big attack? I see bears taking weapons from crocs and not using them. In fact, look around. Who has the weapons? Who is using them? Who is really doing the fighting and attacking here?”
There was murmuring as they looked around. They had to be seeing what I saw, that it was the crocs, once again. We’d been at fault so many times over the years. I had to find a way to get them to see it; to see that we should be grateful for any olive branch of peace from the bears.
“In the midst of all this, it was a croc, my own leader, who held a gun to my head, then pointed it at Mason to keep us apart. I don’t blame Adam. I’ve looked into the history of our clan and I know that there’s a long line of lies before him. He’s been lied to by those above him, and he’s believed those lies and is now passing them on to us. But know this. They are lies. You can choose to believe whatever you want, but look at the proof. In the last few years, there have been more than ten attacks committed by crocs in the ‘Glades. Do you know how many attacks the bears have committed? Or the panthers? Or any other species in the park? If you add up all the attacks committed by non-croc shifters in the last six years, you get a big, fat zero on the other side of our more than ten. You tell me what the truth is. We’ve been brought here to find peace; we don’t deserve that. We haven’t been a beneficial part of the ‘Glades; we’ve been a blight. Yet, the bears are still willing to go out of their way to make it better for us. Which side do you really want to be on?”
I lowered the gun and tucked it in my waistband. “Take a moment and really think for yourselves for once. Do you want the fighting to stop? Do you want things to be fair? Or do you want to keep attacking and being responsible for the killings in our homeland? Do you want to be on the side of peace or war?”
Mason pulled me in for a quick hug. “Is anyone seriously injured?” he asked the crowd. “We do have people here who can give first aid.”
Noah came to the front with a cut over his eye. Then a few crocs made their way forward, too, with similar injuries. By the time we’d sorted it all out, there didn’t seem to be much more than a few bruises and cuts. No one stabbed or shot. No one killed. That alone was a miracle.
“This gives me hope,” Mason said loudly to the crowd. “In a room of so many people, with so many weapons, no one was killed or seriously injured. That shows me that we all want peace. We don’t actually want to hurt each other, and I’m grateful for that.”
Once everyone had been cared for by those shifters who worked in the medical field, Mason stood to address the crowd again. “I know it’s getting late and that we’ve been here for many hours. But I’d like to see our leaders sit down and talk. Anyone who would like to stay is welcome, and anyone who needs or wants to go is also welcome. There may be a vote at some point.”
I was at his side and couldn’t stifle a yawn. We had been there a long time, and we’d likely be there much longer. “I saw my parents once after the fight. They were fine. Have you seen them again?”
He shook his head and looked out over the crowd. “Maybe they decided to go. Is Tyler home?”
I nodded. “I’ll text them to make sure they’re okay.” I sent a quick text to my mom, and when I didn’t get an immediate response, put my phone back in my pocket. They’d been fine after the fight, so there was no reason to think anything was wrong. They were probably just driving.
Mason gripped my hand and squeezed it tightly. “I thought I was going to have to call for back up for a minute there and pull the cop card.”
“It was bad,” I agreed. “But, like you said, no one got seriously hurt. Even if Adam did point a gun at us both.”
He put his hand on my cheek. “I want to make sure nothing like that ever happens again. I’m glad my training allowed me to act quickly and not have to shoot him.”
“Me, too. That might have escalated the whole situation.”
He nodded. “Let’s see if we can get this settled.”
He pulled me back toward the front of the room. “Owen. Adam.” He gestured for them to come forward. Owen came first, then as Adam realized that the crowd was watching him, waiting for him to make a move, he came to the front, too.
“Let’s sit here right now,” Mason said. “And hear both side’s terms. What will it take for there to be peace? What are your demands to make some kind of treaty that will end the fighting?”
We pulled up several chairs and all sat in a circle. The crowd was still loud and moving around, but had settled considerably during the time that the injuries were being assessed and taken care of.
Once we all sat, they thankfully quieted even more. My throat was already aching from having to shout so much, I wouldn’t want us all to have to keep straining our voices to be heard.
Mason looked at our clan leaders, taking the natural position of mediator. I loved seeing him in a place of leadership; he really excelled in the role. I wondered briefly how he’d come to be third in command behind Owen and Ezra and thought I’d have to ask him the story sometime. It would be interesting to see how the bears decided their hierarchy and compare it to our system. Our leaders were decided mostly by force under the guise of a vote. Whoever fought the hardest for it, got the votes. The candidates would usually coerce and manipulate to get votes, sometimes even threaten. Adam had been in power for two years now and had eight years left in his term, unless something changed. There had to be a better way.
Mason asked Adam and Owen, “Who wants to speak first?”
Adam didn’t hesitate. “If the bears had the park for so long, we should have it now,” he said.
“I’m sure we can work out some equal agreement, but we’re not going to just hand over complete control of the entire Everglades to you,” Owen countered. “You haven’t proven you can handle it.”
“You haven’t given us the chance! We’ve always been repressed. We had no choice but to fight back.”
“I’m sure it seemed that way,” Owen said. “But you always have a choice. Will you agree to stop attacking? To stop coming against us in every way?”
“That depends. What will you give us to do it?”
I heard the crowd start to speak up again, but they couldn’t be allowed to get involved now. It would only derail things and interrupt progress.
“Please,” I said loudly. “If everyone can sit down. I’m sure there will be time for a vote, but for now, let’s allow our leaders talk this through. That’s why we’ve chosen them to lead us, after all.”
Adam gave me a look. I wasn’t sure what it was, exactly. Appreciation maybe that I still considered him my leader and that I was letting him take charge? I didn’t care as long as they could figure it out.
“What do you think about having some kind of sanctuary for just the crocs?” Owen asked. “A part of the park that could be all your own.”
“We want half.” Adam crossed his arms.
“There are a lot of species who live in the ‘Glades,” Owen countered. “We can’t just let you have half of it. I’m talking about a section where no other shifter is allowed to go. If you want a bigger role in the leadership of the park as a whole, we can work that out, but if you’re going to be unreasonable, we’re never going to get anywhere.”
“So, you’re still trying to control things,” Adam snapped.
Owen put his face to his hands. “The bears are in the position of authority, currently. It is actually well within our rights to not only remove all crocs from the ‘Glades, but also, given the number of attacks, to ban the crocs forever, and according to the old laws, hold the croc leadership accountable for those past attacks with their lives.”
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Adam ground his teeth and raised a fist like he was going to punch Owen.
“But,” Owen said, holding up his palm. “We haven’t done any of those things, have we? We’ve never done one thing that’s been unfair to the crocs. We’ve tried to have peace, and we’ve defended ourselves and others when necessary. We’ve only killed when an attacker couldn’t be brought down and out of self-defense.”
Adam crossed his arms. “How much of an area are you thinking?”
“I don’t know for sure,” Owen said. “We’d have to find the best place for it. Somewhere with plenty of saltwater or brackish water, of course.”
“And you’re saying this would be our land where no shifter could come and no one could have a say over it?”
“You’d still have to obey the general laws of the land, of course, but it would be croc territory. And might I point out,” Owen said to the crowd, “that no other clan or species has a sanctuary of land like that. Yours would be the first.”
That seemed to finally resonate with Adam. “Okay. We’ll agree to that as long as we get a nice chunk of quality land. At least a few hundred acres.”
“I’m sure a few hundred acres would be just fine,” Owen said. “But I want a guarantee of peace. And the understanding that any attack by the crocs will end whatever treaty we hold, including your sanctuary.”
“We can’t hold all crocs accountable for one croc’s actions,” Adam demanded.
“Then it’ll be your job as leader to carefully select who gets to stay on that land; to make sure everyone knows the rules and follows them. If you can prove that you’re taking action against any rumor of attack and that you’re willing to reprimand your own if something happens, then maybe we can work in some conditions that would allow the uninvolved crocs to remain if there were a situation like that.”