The current pacifists

Joshua sensed that she was afraid. He hadn't actually felt fear in a long time, or rather he hadn't felt it since he was born. He had always been calm and collected, with little capacity for empathy, and there were few people or things in the world that could make him feel emotions.

For the first time, he understood her fear acutely.

Not from her shivering body or frightened look that she knew she was afraid, but subconsciously from her position.

He felt frightened too.

How was she to conceive a child when she was still so young, still a delicate little girl. The mere thought of it was terrifying.

He shifted his pale gaze to Barry's face, a warning. And Barry also felt bad about talking about it in Joshua's house, especially as his sober-elves was frightened by his words.

Joshua didn't want to talk about it anymore and wanted to talk about something else instead.

But for the first time in his life, he had scruples.

He lowered his eyes again to the young girl at his feet, who was still frightened and timid, and his next words might make her even more uncomfortable.

He pondered for a moment, gazed at her and whispered, "Will you like to go to the holding room for a while?" His eyes moved down to the plate she was holding in both hands and he tried to communicate with her, "I will ask the maid to prepare something to eat. Have you had enough to eat? Would you like another steak?"

Letitia struggled to discern what he meant, pursing her lips to calm herself slowly, so frightened was she, like a bird flying under someone else's roof.

"I'm full." She said timidly.

Joshua knew she must not have eaten enough, but it was natural for her to be easily frightened when she was in a new environment. He whispered to a servant to prepare some fruit for her and sent them off to the sober-elves holding room.

He watched as her back disappeared under the eaves of the porch to the sober-elves holding room at the end. She was still wearing the same silk nightgown, and her beautiful butterfly bones were shrouded under it, even in her utmost panic, as she straightened her spine. In this way, she looked like a swan forced to leave the group.

After making sure she entered the holding room unharmed with the other sober-elves, he withdrew his gaze and took a sip of coffee.

Barry thought it was a bit strange, but didn't know exactly what was strange. Unable to figure it out he once again blamed it on the Alpha's sense of territory. He prodded, "What do you think? You're leading her home, a lot is going on out there."

Joshua's tone was calm, he was always so cold and calm when it came to business, "I don't see sober-elves the same way my father does, and what they call 'peace' isn't really peace."

He let out a long inward sigh, he could not agree with his people on this matter.

In today's society, the werewolf pack was divided between the radicals and the pacifists, with the biggest point of conflict being over the way the sober-elves were treated. The radicals have always believed that the sober-elves have inhibitors in their genes, and once they have researched them, there will be no need for the sober-elves to exist, so this is why they have been searching for and killing the sober-elves.

And the attitude of the pacifists is not the same as what they held centuries ago. Their attitude towards the sober-elves was limited to ensuring their physical and mental well-being as much as possible, but they remained on the fence about true equality.

Joshua had no opinion on this, except that all this struggle bored and left him breathless.

But he was the only son of his family and had to learn to deal with these troubles by nature. Long ago the wolves wanted to live in peace with the sober-elves race, using intermarriage as a solution to curb lycanthropy. Their relationship was equal, the sober-elves had their own jobs, their own studies, their own lives, and they were free to walk the streets and choose whether they wanted to marry a werewolf or not.

But after all these centuries of werewolves encroaching on the dignity of the sober-elves, they have also become the most inferior of playthings. They have become accustomed to the sober-elves being owned by the werewolves, and aggression and torture have occurred from time to time. In recent decades, it seems like the last line of shame has been breached and even the sober-elves breeding centres are not prepared to let go.

Even the current pacifists are only concerned with their physical and mental health.

"The sober-elves breeding centre has been sending out successive requests for help and the number of female sober-elves has been decreasing dramatically. I saw a couple of the Gerrard children in Spring City yesterday and one of the sober-elves was taken just after she became pregnant." Barry speaks of these things with a rather bemused tone. He had thought about getting more sober-elves over the years, but the truth was that he just couldn't.

The Gerrard family were the leaders of the radical werewolves, and over the years they had become so antagonistic that they just barely managed to remain superficially friendly.

"They might as well give money to support the drug research centre to update the real inhibitors." Joshua's head ached as he listened, the emotion in his eyes fading like a tidal wave and his tone rather cold, "What good can sober-elves do when they're all dead."

Joshua didn't go on, but Barry, his best friend, understood him at once and continued, "Of course, it's no good, the sober-elves breeding centre will at least keep the major herds supplied. Now it's gotten to the point where everyone is in so much trouble that a couple of my cousins aren't even getting sober-elves right now."

Joshua couldn't help but sneer at his annoyed frown, "Maybe if you wait a little longer, your sober-elves will be pregnant, and then wait a few more decades, maybe it will be their turn."

His comment was meant to mock Barry for the remark he had just made. He always thought of the little girl's frightened face and wanted to be sarcastic with his best friend.

Barry blushed and subconsciously said, "Are you kidding me! That's my sober-elves, how old is she?"

Joshua raised an eyebrow in surprise and Barry, who hadn't noticed his look at all, said in a panic as if he was desperate to prove something: "How worthy are those little bastards? Not even pureblood is worthy of my sober-elves ..."

He stopped talking before the words were finished.