Chapter 121 - The role of an Alpha

**Hopes pov**

I hurried up the stairs to our floor, I had everything planned. First I would pick up Anna and Thomas, they would get to help me set everything up, they would like that. Everything would be ready until Callum arrived. Then we would have a cozy dinner, good food, caloric dessert before games and a story. I missed time with the children and I know Luna wants to spend time with Anna, she wants to erase all the horrible memories of a white wolf from the girl. If I could persuade Callum to put the kids to bed, I’d run a bath and light some candles in the meantime. Tonight I would really take care of my man. I felt some butterflies in my stomach as I took the stairs in double steps.
“Hope!” Anna lit up and ran right into my arms when I opened the door to their room. I held her tightly and breathed in the scent of the sun from her hair.
“Hey sweetie, oh how I’ve missed your hugs. What are you doing?”
“I am drawing! I have drawn Greta in the kitchen, do you want to see?”
“Of course I want to, show me!” For being so young, she was very talented. I could make out Greta, a robust woman with the apron she always wore. A stove, fridge maybe? And something that looked like a table with bowls.
“Rocky Road?” I pointed to the bowls and hoped I guessed right.
“Yeah Rocky Road!” She giggled charmingly, melting my heart. I looked around and realized that Thomas was not in the room.
“Where is your brother?”
“He’s playing, in the game room.”
“Okay, come on, let’s get him, I need your help with something important.” She immediately put on her shoes and ran for the door. We picked up Thomas who would have liked to stay and play but also seemed to be looking forward to an evening just the four of us. On the way I explained what I needed help with and they both rushed forward, picking up linen cloth and linen napkins from the storage room on the way.
All three of us were very surprised when we opened the door to our room and Callum was already there. He was sitting on the sofa with Anton in his arms. I could see bruises on the boy’s arms, his face was red and swollen, not only from crying, he had been beaten.
“Callum, what happened?” I linked him so the kids wouldn’t hear.
“His father did this..he usually seeks shelter with Zandra, but as we know, she wasn’t home” The tone of his voice was not only anger towards the boy’s father, it was disappointment towards Zandra as well.
“Anna, Thomas..changed plans, we need to set the table for one more, we have a guest of honor! Can you bring Anton to the kitchen and help Greta?” Anna started to protest but Thomas who was older understood and took the lead and brought them both down to the kitchen.
“I will kill him! I warned him, if he hurt the boy one more time it would be the end of him.” Callum boiled with anger.
“Calm down, we need to figure this out.”
“There is nothing to figure out Hope, my law is clear! Children should not be harmed in this pack, not under any circumstances.”
“I hear you honey, and I’m not saying you’re wrong, something has to be done. But if you dole out that punishment, seed him to death or banish him from the pack, what happens to his sick wife? What happens to Anton? We have to have a plan.” I put my arms around him to try to calm him down and I felt him relax, not a lot but a little. “What do you suggest?”
“Well, now the surprise is ruined but that doesn’t matter. We eat with the kids, have a cozy night, make Anton’s bed at Anna and Thomas’s. When they sleep we visit his parents. Sound good?” He let out a deep sigh and relaxed further, nodded and pressed me a little harder against his chest. Okay, not how I planned the evening but it was still about making my man feel good.
Greta had really saved me, her steak was perfect, right pink tone and so tender that it almost fell apart in the mouth. Oven-roasted vegetables, homemade béarnaise, garlic bread and a fresh salad. Wine for me and Callum and soda for the kids. For a moment we forgot all our worries. Abusive parents, elusive hunters, erratic vampires and stubborn witches, they all fell away to the sound of laughing, chattering children. I looked at Callum over the rim of my wine glass and my heart swelled as he smiled and winked at me, he was in a completely different frame of mind than when I found him in the room just moments ago.
We closed the door to the children’s room. Anna had fallen asleep on my lap while I was reading a story, but the boys were far too giggling but promised to try to calm down.
“Ready?” I looked at Callum and kind of hoped he’d want to put it off until tomorrow but his gaze was determined as he nodded. He went into Alpha mode, he took on the role of protector of his pack members automatically, nothing was more important.
“Hope…I need to be allowed to do this, in whatever way I see fit.”
“Okay...” I looked at him, not really understanding what he meant.
“What I mean is that this consequence is mine to dole out, not yours and not Luna’s. I was the one who warned him.” Suddenly I realized how big a place I had taken, my word had pretty much become what counted. Not Callum’s, or at least not in the first place. He must somewhere feel pushed aside, minimized. After have ruled the pack alone for so many years and in a relatively short amount of time pretty much gotten rid of the leadership. Luna whined in my head, she felt it too and knew it was because of her, her aura. She had never had an Alpha as a mate before, she’d never had to think about sharing leadership with anyone. She automatically took the lead like she always did. “I’m sorry Callum.”
“Huh? For what?”
“You shouldn’t even have to ask me to step back, I never wanted you to have to.” He sighed and smiled his crooked charming smile as he wrapped his arms around me. “For you my love I’ll gladly take step back, I just need to be the one to do this tonight, I know him.” He gave me a deep kiss and I wanted nothing more than to pull him into the room but I bit down and counted to 10 and as if he could see my lips moving he chuckled and pulled me towards the stairs.

“Anton, you better have a good explanation for why you’re late! You want to worry your mother? Huh? You want to make her feel worse than she already does? Come in here and look at her!” Anton’s father slurred out loud from what I suspected was the living room when he heard the front door open. Callum hadn’t bothered to knock, if the door had been locked he probably would have kicked it in. The words that came out of the man’s mouth caused the blue eyes to darken, Beacon was just as pissed off as Callum. The house was a mess, it wasn’t just messy, it was dirty. The floors hadn’t seen a vacuum cleaner or a mop in ages, the air was full of aromas like sweat, smoke, alcohol and sickness. In the living room, Anton’s mother was lying on the sofa. Her eyes were wide as if she were looking at something beyond this world, her lips were slowly moving in a soundless murmur. The man sat in a worn armchair, a bottle with a torn off label in his hand.
“You little..” the words got stuck in his throat as he turned towards us, expecting to see Anton.
“Take her to the clinic, she needs help.”Callum's voice was dark and authoritative, a mix of his and Beacon's. I nodded and walked over to the woman. Her skin was dry, thin and waxy. Like it hasn’t been taken care of or seen the sun in a very long time. Her hair was thin and ragged and lay in dirty tresses around her face. What kind of man lets his mate decay like this? Luna, I need power. I felt her sorrow for the woman’s condition as she strengthened my muscles. However, the woman was feather light in my arms, she was so malnourished. I left Callum to deal with the man, in this situation I didn’t care what punishment he thought was best, my focus was completely on the woman in my arms. Can you find her wolf Luna? Can you see why she doesn’t heal her? I let Luna search as I quickened my steps, I could hear the woman’s heartbeats, they grew weaker, they became fewer.