25. Making New Friends

Eric

I went straight to my office. As I walked up after parking the car I saw lots of people walking to the packhouse. Fuck, what was going on now? I sat down at my desk. “Come in one by one and shut the door behind you.” I yelled from my desk. The first person in front of me was a young man. Wasn’t he supposed to be in school? Before he even started to speak, I asked “Are you supposed to be in class?” He looked a little ruffled.

“Alpha, I asked to come see you before I went to school. I had to talk to you, the teachers excused me.” I nodded. This would of course be permitted at our pack school. “What is it you need?” I asked. “The Luna, she is too tough. I mean training yesterday it was difficult.” I was flabbergasted. He was here to complain about training being too tough? “Do you think you should not be pushed. That training should not be hard?” I asked. He looked around. “It should, but that was impossible.” I sat back in my chair. “Do you want to be well prepared?” He nodded and went to speak but I cut him off. “I suggest you work harder. You need to be better and get stronger. Don’t complain again. Now get to school.”

The kid was left to be replaced by someone complaining about training. Saying the same thing, in which I gave the same response I had before. Then there was another, only this time it was complaining about how they didn’t like that she belittled them, calling her a drill sergeant. “Get over it. You will become stronger and that is the goal of training, we should have thick skin.” I was tired of this. It was apparent none of the people who were there for training could keep up with their Luna, which was disheartening. I had not realized the pack had become so lazy and sensitive. Lilith, I think, is just what we need.

A mother came in to complain. She had a daughter and son in training. She had come yesterday to see what Lilith would do. “Alpha, I don’t want my son to see his Luna like that. She had practically no clothes on. Then my daughter. What if she thinks it is okay to dress like that. And her language. This is not the moral standard we uphold. How can I tell my kids to act a certain way when their Luna, who is close to their age acts the way I say is not acceptable.” I rubbed my temples.

It seemed the older ones in the pack had some concerns. I needed to address this all at the same time. I didn’t want to spend my whole day listening to all the same complaints from this long line of pack members. “Please go out to the front of the packhouse.” The mother looked confused. “Go on, I will meet you out there.” She nodded and left. I mind linked the whole pack. “Everyone is to meet in front of the packhouse. No exceptions school will resume after. Your jobs will be there when you get back. We will all be meeting in an hour. Yes, this includes you waiting in line to see me.”

I leaned back in my chair. I would give everyone an hour and then tell them all the same thing. I knew they wouldn’t like what I had to say. But Grey Crest Pack needed to grow and expand. We needed to be better. This holy than thou art was not going to cut it. The pack had two days of training under Lilith. They did not come to me yesterday morning? No only today because I had not gone and watched training yesterday.

I sat there texting Noel telling him what was going on. “That is stupid. Honestly, I think it is most of the elders pushing these kinds of thoughts.” Noel texted. Maybe he was right, but I planned to nip all of this in the bud. When the clock let me know, it was time to meet I walked out to where the pack was meeting. Everyone was quiet and waiting for me to speak. “Grey Crest Pack I know a lot of you seem to have problems with the Luna and how she is training you all. Or you are upset about the way she speaks or dresses, but did you ever stop to think about the fact you can’t keep up with her. You know she is half shifter. She did not grow up in a pack, instead of being concerned about the stuff you are concerned about, you should worry that this is how other packs and even rogues are?”

I went on. “She did not have the support of a pack and yet she can kick all your asses. That should not make you want her to stop teaching you. You should want to be that good. If she can fight and do what she can, so can others and we are not up to par with that. I know you remember when we were attacked by the Draco Shifters. Maybe it wouldn’t have been such a massacre if all of you were trained as well as your Luna. About her clothes and speech, grow a backbone. If you don’t like that then don’t do it yourself.” There was still grumbling.

I didn’t want to do this, and I wouldn’t have if Lilith was not capable. But, with so much of the pack complaining I said. “Okay since all of you have thoughts against who I was fated with, I will give you a chance. If one of you can prove to me, you can best her, I will have her go easier on the training. But I will not tell my mate how to dress or speak, so you will have to get over that. I am taking no questions or comments on this subject. So go back to your day.” I walked back into my office.

I had to send a text to let Lilith and Noel to let them know what I had said to the pack about the pack members being able to challenge Lilith. Her response was “Okay, I don’t give a shit.” I snorted. I liked her attitude about it. Noel on the other hand had a lot to say. I did the rest of my stuff and headed to Rob’s Gym. I wondered if the shifters were going to be there. They could be in school like Lilith.

Lucky, I found a few inside and there was no sign of Rob. I hoped he was out for the day. He could be, I thought. He doesn’t live here obviously. “I remember you. You are Lilith’s boyfriend.” I remembered the guy, this was Mor. “Yeah, I am more than that. I am her mate.” He looked at me funny. “Yeah, I don’t know what that is.” Okay, so Rob was not telling them about the mate bond, just like with Lilith. “You met my brother earlier this week, Noel.” I said. He nodded.

“Well, I am the alpha of Grey Crest Pack. I know Noel asked if you and the other shifters wanted to come for a BBQ or something we may host at the pack, I thought I would come and formally invite you. We are having one next weekend.” Mor looked at me. “Yeah, we would be down, well I think so. I know I am interested. Here hold on.” Mor then called out and a few other shifters came forward. Mor started pointing to the guys as he spoke. “This is Tate, Percy, and Marcus. There are more of us, but they aren’t here right now. You know with Rob obviously.” I gritted my teeth. Mor continued. “We four are probably the closest you know. I like to think of us as a clique in the gym.” I nodded looking at them.

Tate and Percy looked similar with brown hair and brown eyes. Then there was Marcus, he was the shortest and had bright red hair and freckles. Mor had a completely shaved head and was the tallest of the bunch. Mor stood there explaining my invitation. Percy asked. “Dude, why don’t you ask Rob, he would have told us.” I frowned. I was trying to be polite. “Rob is not welcome at my pack lands.” Mor asked “Why? Oh, wait do you know about what he does?” I didn’t know if I should unload on them. I wondered if they were as close as Lilith was to him. “Let’s just say we are not on good terms, but I have no problem with you guys, though I will say no crime is allowed while you are there.”

Mor turned his head, but Tate was the one to reply. “Yeah, Marcus and Lilith are the only ones out of the four of us that do that. Well, we do fight, Mor told us about you being at the fight, so I assume you don’t have a problem with that. But Marcus really doesn’t do that much. He is a mechanic, so he really doesn’t even work for Rob. He just strips the cars so I don’t know if you would really have a problem with that. The other shifters that come here do a lot more than even Lilith. But I guess she told you that. They aren’t here right now because they are with Rob doing fuck knows what. The rest of us have regular jobs.”

I could feel his distaste for the man. Maybe they too didn’t like him. “Do you not like Rob?” I asked. The young men looked at each other. No one else was around. Finally, they all shook their heads. Mor said “We don’t hate him, he took us in. So, he is okay but his personality sucks. He is only nice to Lilith. Even the guys who work under him don’t get special treatment. I think because Lilith is a chick he spoils her. But I don’t know for sure. We came here because he lets us use the wheel in the attic. So, we are okay with him. Plus, he lets us fight in the ring on fight nights. But is not like we want to hang out with the guy, our relationship with him is more of just a benefit thing you know?” I understood. I gave them all my number and told them I would stay in touch.