Chapter 53

(Tommy POV..earlier that same day)

After getting off the phone with Eli, my father and I set out to gather the entire pack to the meeting hall.

“Everyone, we are here because Eli has found where Maya is being kept. I know many have you have yet to meet her and she has not been officially introduced to the pack, but she is your future Luna. I ask those willing to volunteer, to come with us to bring her home. So, who is willing to come with us?” My father announces.

I turn to watch the faces of the members of my pack. Some understandably seemed unsure of what to do. Maya had not been made a member of the pack yet, and since she became my mate we have been on alert ready for invasion form an unknown enemy. Some who had found out that the future alpha was sharing his mate with two other members of the pack. No alpha as far as any of us knew shared a mate. It was unheard of and many seemed to think it would cause a rift in the pack and make us seem weak.

Of course, it made me furious when these concerns were brough to my father’s attention, but I didn’t care what those people thought. I didn’t understand why I ended up sharing a mate with my two best friends, but I trusted Eli and Noah and we have been like brothers since we were kids. I trusted them with my life, and I felt like if I was going to share my mate with anyone, I was glad it was them. Strangely I wasn’t as upset about it as maybe some of the pack expected me to be. I was to be the next alpha, and my Luna needed to be this perfect woman in their eyes. Our pack was a little traditional, and I had the same thoughts when I would imagine my mate.

Then I saw Maya, and she was sad and broken. She was different than I had imagined my mate would be like, but she was beautiful and sweet and so many wonderful things. Just being around her made me happy, and nothing about her would change those feelings. Even the traditionalists in our pack would have to go through me if they ever said a bad word about my mate. So when my eyes fell along the crowed, these ones avoided my eyes. Some raised their hands to volunteer instantly, but there were many who were thinking hard whether to risk their lives to help Maya.

It made me furious that so many were willing to fight if our enemy came to our land, but now they were cowering at the thought of taking the fight to them. This was an issue we would need to face soon enough, because bringing Maya home would bring an end to the amount of trials we would face.

“Thank you to those willing to come with us! We will leave tonight, so please be ready and at 7 o’clock we will meet by the south border.” My father thanked everyone and ended the meeting.

He turned to me with an apologetic look. “I am sorry that only a small group is willing to go with us son. There are many who are still unsure about Maya being part of the pack. Your unique situation is not widely accepted yet. Your mother and I haven’t known Maya long either, but she is special to us already. I hope you know we will love her like our own daughter, she deserves a family after everything she has had to endure.”

I smiled at him. “Thanks dad. I know this isn’t easy for everyone, but they will have to learn to accept Maya eventually. She will be the next Luna, and I won’t have the pack fighting against her even if they don’t like our situation. We need to find a way for them to accept her.”

My father nods his head and sits on the chair beside me.

“People are afraid of things they don’t understand. I know there is still much more we need to address, but first let’s bring Maya home.” I agreed with him.

We wouldn’t be able to fix things over night, and it was clear that it was going to take a lot of convincing before the pack would welcome Maya fully. But first we need to bring her home, and I would have to hide her away and hold her for at least a few days before I would be ready to let her leave my side.

“What is your plane for when we reach this pack where Maya is being held?” I ask my dad.

“I was thinking wee knock and see who answers.” He says with a laugh.

My father had always been thee type to try negotiation before a fight. Not many people knew this about him because he had always been a kind and loved alpha to our pack, but he would fight anyone to the death for our pack if he had to. Thankfully, most of the conflicts in the past had not been severe enough for a simple negotiation not to work. Most of the alphas in this area knew and respected my father. That could also explain why so many were not willing to just run into a fight, after so many years of peace.

“I am not sure whoever answers the door will be willing to talk.” I tease him.

He turned to me and lifted an eyebrow at me. I knew what that meant. My dad never went looking for a fight but there was never a fight he didn’t win. My father was one of the most powerful alphas in our state. Known as being one of the most intimidating wolves you never want to meet. The pure power that he exudes is enough to make anyone agree to his demands.

“Let’s go say goodbye to your mother before we go. You know how emotional she gets every time we leave.” My father said patting me on the back.

I agreed and took out my phone as we left the meeting hall. Eli hadn’t called me again, and it had me a little worried. I followed my father on the short walk to the main pack house, and found my mother feeding a few members of the pack who were hanging around the house.

“Mom, what are you doing?” I ask her.

“Well, these boys need fuel for the raid thing tonight.” She said pulling more baked goods from the oven. I glance over and see Will sitting among the others. He gives me a weak grin.

“She wouldn’t let us leave until we ate.” Will said with a groan and dropping his head on the counter.

“Mom, I think they have had enough.” I say resting a hand on her shoulder.

“Oh yeah I guess I made enough muffins.” She said setting down the pan of muffins she had just taken from the oven.

“Mom I know you are worried,, but it will be fine ok? We will bring Maya back and we will make sure no one comes after her again.” I tell her wrapping my arm around her shoulder.

“Just make sure you and your father come back too. We have avoided such things all these years, I would hate to lose one of you.” She says, her voice cracking a little.

“I promise we will all come home. Will you sit with Noah while we are gone?” I ask her.

“Of course. How is he?” She asks.

“They took him off the medication you know, but when I called a couple of hours ago they said he still had not woken up. They said sometimes it can take a little while for someone to wake up, so we just need to wait. But they said he had started feeling the effects off not bonding with Maya. He had emotionally bonded to her enough where his wolf must have been hurting not being able to complete their bond. They think that if we can bring Maya to him, then maybe it would help. He needs her, just like the rest of us do.” I explain to her.

“Poor thing. An emotional bond is very strong, no wonder he was so determined to get to her. His wolf must have been going crazy.” I nod, but Noah had not said anything when we were searching for Maya.

He seemed persistent but he did not tell us how strong his bond to Maya had grown. He was always so cool and collected, and never complained. I wish he would have told us how bad he was feeling. We had only known Maya for such a short time, but she already had such an impact on us. We were hopelessly attached to her, and she didn’t even realize it. I was going to makes sure she knew how much we needed her once she was ours again.


(Later that night…)

“Tell everyone to surround the entire entrance an along the tree line as well.” My father tells each group when we arrived at the location Eli sent me. “Stay as silent as possible, the protection spell will most likely make it difficult for them to pick up our scent, but they can still hear and see us.”

I stood not far from my father, but I kept my eyes fixed on the entrance. I wanted to rush in and take all of their pack on my own, but I knew I couldn’t. We needed them to come to us.

We sat waiting for a few hours then suddenly there was a loud sound and we all turned to see smoke and flames coming from above the trees. There was shouting and the sounds of howling and chaos. I stepped forward, but my father held me back.

“We still can not get inside. Let’s just hope Eli is in there, and he has Maya safe.” My father whispered to me.

“And what if he doesn’t have her? What if he has been captured? We need to get in there now!” I growled.

“Son, I know you want to get to Maya but there is nothing we can do. We need to wait for a way in.” My father warned me.

His grip on my arm loosened but he stayed close to me.

It sounded like chaos across the border, and not long after the explosion several groups of wolves gathered in front of the pack entrance. They shifted and more joined them bringing them clothes and weapons. They organized themselves, standing guard less than a mile from where we were standing beyond the trees. But they had their backs turned to us. They weren’t guarding for someone to get in, they were trying to stop someone from getting out.

Had Maya escaped? Was she with Eli?