CHAPTER 28: CHAPTER 28 SUBMISSION OR DEFIANCE

Silence stretched through the air like a thick layer of ice. The tension was so palpable that a knife would slice through it.

My chest heaved up and down heavily, with invisible smoke fuming out of my ears. The elders looked taken aback by the sudden outburst.

"How dare you raise your voice at us?" one of the Betas used his Beta voice on me, which made me whimper, but I refused to bow my head in submission.

Seeing this, the elders burned red. "Submit to me!" he ordered, his aura wrapping around me like a mountain. The pressure was so thick that I could feel my knees shivering, my fingers clenched around the table.

’If I submit now, how could I raise my head again?’ My fingers dug into the wooden table. "NO," I yelled at the top of my lungs.

Growls vibrated through the air, the chairs screeching against the ground. The elders stood up with their fangs baring at me.

My head was hurting so bad, as if it was going to burst out from too much pressure. The first rule of business is gaining your opponent’s respect. Maybe it is not the general first rule, but that was my personal first rule.

My knees bent slightly, as I was on the verge of falling to the ground, but I held the table tightly as support.

"Submit, you lowly Omega," one of the elders growled, his claws elongating.

The tension was so tense that I thought Damon would step into it, but the dumbass stayed seated on his seat as if this was the most interesting event that had ever happened in his life.

A groan escaped from my lips as my eyes turned blurry.

"Alpha, she is not obeying the hierarchy of powers. She must have gone rogue—that must be the reason she doesn’t submit to power," one of the elders turned to Damon.

The elders’ eyes widened in surprise, as they believed that was the only reason why I was able to resist their aura and command.

"How can she be a rogue when she is still in her human form? Ninety-nine percent of rogues stay in their wolf form, and apart from that, does she exhibit any characteristics of rogues? She doesn’t look like she has gone crazy," Damon said nonchalantly.

Then, his eyes narrowed, piercing at them. "Are you all telling me that you could not get an Omega to submit to you?"

Hearing the disappointment in his voice, one of the elders lunged towards me, his claws aiming at my face. My eyes widened in horror as I stared, frozen to the ground.

But before his claws could reach me, a dark shadow blurred from the corner of my eyes to my front. Damon effortlessly caught his hand, his dark eyes swirling with irritation and disappointment.

"Stand down," his aura spilled over the room, and the elders could not resist his command. They bared their necks in submission, even though I could not resist his command.

"Let me say this one last time—if any of you lay a hand on her, you’ll be paying with that hand. So keep your hands off my property," he warned.

He turned around, heading to his seat, a smirk curving on his lips. "Since you all were unable to get her to submit, you will listen to whatever she has to say without any interruption."

His words earned a disapproving growl from the elders. Yeah, how could these old creatures bow their heads down to a lowly Omega like me? But their growls died down immediately when Damon shot a look at them.

They sat grumpily on their chairs. My trembling hands tightened around the table. Pulling myself up to stand on my feet, I straightened my spine. I could feel the cold sweat dripping down my body.

"Like I said earlier, we only need a modification to the already planned plan. For example, instead of using sandbags, we can build a low wall with large rocks stacked tightly together, then layering them with thick mud and woven grass to bind it all. This wall can absorb water pressure and can stop flooding from reaching homes." I paused to gauge their reactions. A slight relief washed over me when I saw them deep in thought.

"And for the other solutions, I have to see the land to know what is causing the flooding, so I can offer my best help," I added.

"Are you sure this solution could work? And where are we going to get enough workforce and rocks to build the wall? This will cost a lot of expenses for the pack budget," one of the elders said with furrowed brows.

"It isn’t as expensive as it sounds," I said. "All we need are a few able men, and even teenagers who can move rocks. I don’t mean enormous rocks. And this can be done in just a few matter of days."

Elder Dominic, who had kept quiet all this while, opened his mouth to speak. "You have talked about the geographical disposition of the land. We can depart tomorrow, so you can oversee the situation of the flood," his voice was bitter.

I turned to Damon to hear what he had to say. My eyes met his, which held a proud look on his face. "Elder Dominic is right. We will depart tomorrow. Alaric has sent me a message that the flooding is getting worse," he said with a nod.

"I’ll assign this project to both Elder Dominic and Ember. You will oversee the situation together. Since we have gotten a plan, the meeting is dismissed. We’ll meet by the castle’s gate tomorrow at seven o’clock in the morning," he said before standing on his feet.

"Come with me, Ember," he said as he strode out of the room. I respectfully bowed at the elders before running after him, my legs trembling as they touched the ground. Although I had managed to stay clear-headed throughout the meeting time, currently, my head was spinning and my gaze blurred. I felt the earth tilt. Before I could hit the ground, a couple of hands caught me midway.