Finding Home

Chapter Twelve-Nathan

Five Years Ago
Manila, Philippines

"Look all I'm saying is that Authoritarian systems rely on the threat of expulsion to keep its people in line. It creates out groups which have the potential to be a threat and so there's even more loss of life. Are they going to kill everyone who disagrees with them? And if they're not, then expelling them allows them to band together and then in turn attack the those very people who cast them out, only to set up a new authoritarian government. It's been done, time and time again. If they didn't cast these people out, if they worked with them to help them be a part of society, then maybe there wouldn't be so many problems."

Nathan smiled as Paige continued her drunken rant. The rest of their group had gone to bed hours ago. Paige said she was fine own her own but Nathan didn't want to leave her. He had become entranced by this human who seemed so sure of herself.

"It's even worse when the line for in group and out group is arbitrary. Take the wolf packs for example,"

His head jerked up. Why would she mention wolf packs? Humans knew about the supernatural world, it was impossible not to, but they didn't know much. Why would she bring up wolf packs as an example?

"I once saw a guy tossed out because he looked at an Alphas daughter in a way the Alpha didn't like. He wasn't leering or anything, they were just talking at a party and suddenly dudes out in his ass. Or, OR OOORRRRR" She got louder and more emphatic with each 'or'. "What about females who are thrown out because they dare to have children by males who aren't their mate." She held up her beer and made a face as if you say 'see, this is an even better example'.

"And, of course, by females, I really mean girls who are coerced into sleeping with these men in the first place because they're to young to think straight. Sex is natural and a normal part of development. And because wolves can't find their mate until they're 25 but puberty starts much earlier of course they're going to be having sex with someone who's not their mate and not all birth control is 100% effective. So these girls have sex, get pregnant and are punished for it. As if it doesn't take two to tango. But it's only the females who are punished, who take the hit. It's total bullshit." She took another drink and looked out at the view. They were on the back porch of their hostel which was on a hill over looking the city.

"How do you know so much about wolf packs?" Nathan asked. He was trying to be casual but there was bit of panic that slipped out. Did she know about him? He had been hiding in the human world for about two months or so now and he thought he was doing pretty good at it but maybe he wasn't as slick as he thought he was.

She cut him a glance at the panic in his voice trying to keep her own off her face. "I took a class in college," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "The point is, the packs reliance on total submission to the Alpha weakens the group as a whole."

"But if there's a strong Alpha, it stands to reason the pack is strong."

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "That presupposes that the Alpha is a good male. When the position is handed down through family lines instead of selecting the best wolf for the job, that's not a guarantee. If the packs could chose their leaders then maybe they wouldn't be so fucked." Nathan smiled, he hadn't missed how she said 'wolf' instead of 'male'.

"But that's not how it works," Nathan replied. "It's worked this way forever you can't just change something over night."

"I'm not saying it has too. What I'm saying is that the superiority they wield over everyone, the absolute obedience they require, the complete lack of access to air grievances creates conditions for their own downfall.

'If you suffer your people to be ill-educated, and their manners to be corrupted from their infancy, and then punish them for those crimes to which their first education disposed them, what else is to be concluded from this, but that you first make thieves and then punish them.'"

"What is that?" Nathan interrupted. "I've heard that before."

"It's from Utopia by Thomas Moore. It's a socio-political satire written in the 1500's."

"No I think it's from a movie." She rolled her eyes at him. "No it is! It's that one with Drew Barrymore."

"She quoted it in Everafter, the point is, the packs expel anyone who might be a threat, leaving them without resources, and then are surprised when they attack." She took a drink of her beer and stared out into the night. Nathan thought she might have talked herself out until, "AND THEN!" He jumped. "They use those rouges as a fear tactic to keep the rest of the pack in line. It's all a big steaming pile of shit but it doesn't have to be. It can be better, but no one is willing to make it better." She slumped down on the bench where he had been watching her pacing as she ranted. He was intensely aware of just how close she was. "Those in power don't want to give it up and those without are to afraid to say anything."

"Well," he cleared his throat, "All it takes is one. One person can change the world."

She sighed, "When the packs are self contained and education doesn't go beyond what is necessary for pack survival, it's a lost cause." She laid her head on his shoulder and he had to repress a shudder at her touch. "If they're never exposed to Moore, or Paine, or Locke, or Wells, or Dr. King or any number of the great thinkers, then they get stuck in their ways and can't move forward. There is no one to change it."

He didn't know what to say so he just sat quietly with her. He had never thought about it before but her passion on the subject, drunk as it may be, made him think that maybe there was another way. He had always accepted the way the pack was, always accepted that the leadership of the Alpha was the best way to do it. It certainly had been for him. He was descended from Alpha's so naturally he was biased towards them but he knew that all Alpha's were not created equal.

"Paige?" He asked, her head was still on her shoulder but she had been quiet for quite a while. "You alright?" He heard a soft snore and knew she was asleep. He tried shaking her gently to wake her but she was out cold. Gently he lifted her head from his shoulder, stood and lifted her into his arms. As gently and as quietly as he could he carried her into the room they were sharing with the others. He set her down on her bed and made sure she was comfortable and on her side. Then he got a bucket and a water bottle and put them by her bed just in case.

He quickly and quietly made his way out of the hostel and out of town. He needed to shift and get some of his energy out. Paige was stirring up feelings in him and he wasn't sure how to handle them. He knew there was no way he could be mated to a human. And he knew he'd have to return to the pack eventually. But Paige was making him question all of that. If he wasn't careful and didn't rein in his feelings, he knew that he'd give up everything for her.