Book 1: Chapter 60

“How did it get here?”

“Nailed to a tree outside the territory.”

She clicked her tongue. “When?”

I glanced outside. “I don’t know…I’ve been holed up in here.”

Sighing, she put her hands on the sides of my face and pulled me down. Our foreheads touched and my eyes closed.

“Don’t make the same mistake Father did.”

I growled loudly. “I’m not letting those bastards get…”

“Silas.” She cut me off, voice harsh. “I don’t mean that. I mean, thinking you can take this on alone. You’re not alone.”

My eyes opened and she was staring into my own, seeing the anger she also had. The fire that I had been feeling in my own soul but hers smoldered instead of exploded. It didn’t come out in a blind rage. Sighing, I shook my head.

“I know. I just…”

“You obviously don’t know. Three days, Sil. You’ve been holed up here three days. Haven’t spoken to anyone, haven’t reached out. Even if you didn’t want to speak to your pack about it, you have me. Not just your sister or some rogue, but it’s my duty as First Alpha Prince as well.”

Leaning back, she continued, eyes locked with mine. “At the very least you should trust Nate and Sam. This…” Aelia gestures to the room. “…does nothing to the situation. We knew the rumors might be true. If anything, this may confirm the rumors that are far less savory. We will deal with this and they will all die for their stupidity.”

She started to get up but swayed and I caught her. “A…”

“Come on, Sil. Out of this room. Start with a shower. I’ll ask Mer to make some food and we can start a game plan.”

I sighed and nodded. “Do I smell?”

“Do you really want the answer to that?” Her smirk made me smiled and I shook my head.

“No, I guess not.”

We got up and I helped her to the door. When I opened it, Noah was leaning against the wall on the other side. His arms were crossed and eyes closed. As soon as he heard the door hit something behind it, his eyes opened and he was standing up. He reached out for her and Aelia, not quite willingly, was pulled into his arms.

“Alpha.” He was pissed.

“Beta.”

I quirked an eyebrow up to see if I would get some talkback but he didn’t say anything. All he did was run his hands through Aelia’s hair and kiss her head.

Nodding to them, I just stated, “I’ll be back.”

She nodded back. “I’ll have Mer start on something, or Noah.” Her smile would have made him so anything I was sure but Noah didn’t look happy about it. “Then we can start talking.”

Turning, I headed up the stairs to my room, ignoring Nate who was sitting in the kitchen. Opening my room, I shut the door behind me and just undressed as I headed into the shower. The water felt good. Releasing some of the tension I had left after speaking with my sister.

*'She would have been a good Alpha.'*

I rolled my eyes. *'She is an Alpha. But yes, she is definitely made to be an Alpha. Maybe even more than I am.'*

*'It’s amazing since she was never raised as an Alpha. Never had the training for it.'*

Shrugging, I started to scrub my hair. *'She’s got Alpha blood in her. Plus, when she was small, she took care of Nate and I like she was already Alpha. That was a task all on its own. We were little shits.'*

Eros laughed. *'That’s true.'*

We lapsed into a peaceful quiet as I finished off my shower. Eros was still forward though, his tail swishing in my mind.

*'We will destroy them, Silas. Unlike with your father, they won’t get away with threatening our pack. Not this time.'*

Looking up into the water, letting it beat down on my face, I steeled myself. *'You’re right. They won’t realize how much they fucked up until it’s too late.'*

Heading down stairs after shaving and dressing, Nate was still sitting in the kitchen. Meredith was cooking at the stove and Sam was sitting next to Nate, his tablet out. Noah was leaning against the wall next to the door that was open to put back. Aelia was pacing on the grass, shoes off, talking animatedly on the phone.

“Alpha, good to have you back.” Meredith smiled at me and everyone’s attention except Aelia’s turned to me.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean…”

Sam was the one who waved me off. “Don’t worry about it, Alpha. As long as you can tell us what the hell is going on.”

I nodded and sat down. Leaning back, I looked out the back door. “Who is she talking to?”

Noah shrugged. “Sometimes it sounds like Keri, sometimes it sounds like her old man. So it might be both.”

“Keri?”

Nate answered me. “Her Gamma. The one I told you was doing the digging into the rumors.” He looked at me. “Is that what this is about?”

“Yeah. Partly. We need to…”

Meredith interrupted me. “Eat first, business after. It’s been days. I’ve got extras for you boys as well.” She smiled at Noah. “That means you too.”

He smiled back, the rare times outside of Aelia and Finn I had seen him playing nice. “Thank you, but I’m good. We had already eaten by the time we came over.” His face couldn’t hide the grimace.

“Aelia said Finn was having a time with food a few days ago.” I touched the subject, wondering if that was the grimace.

His hollow chuckle clued me in that I hit the nail on the head. “If I have to look or smell another pancake after this pregnancy, I will wear a condom from now until eternity.”

Everyone laughed, but I think Meredith laughed the hardest. “Oh sweetheart, I’m sure it’s rough. Wolves and pregnancy cravings can be rough. There are no pancakes though, I promise. Just a healthy vegetable omelet, bacon, sausage, biscuits, and potatoes.”

He smiled. “I might then. Aelia’s been sweet in making me more healthy stuff while catering to Finn’s whims. I want to make sure she doesn’t collapse though.” Noah’s eyes fluttered to the door, her continuing to keep up the pacing.

She was swinging her arms around and I could see a cigarette in her hand, seemingly forgotten in whatever she was talking about. A plate was placed in front of me and it smelled delicious. My plate was piled high with food but Sam and Nate’s looked like a normal amount. Smiling, I took the fork and started to eat. I underestimated how hungry I was until Mer placed seconds on my nearly empty plate only after a few minutes of chowing down. Whereas my Beta and Gamma still were working halfway through theirs.

“I couldn’t give two shits what those little sniveling assholes have to say. I swear to the Goddess, if I die I’ll come back as a zombie just to take the fucking throne if they think they have any choice in this matter!” Aelia was now yelling and Noah smirked.

“They want to be king? Well, this is what it fucking means! Grow a pair! Either I’ll de-ball them or I’ll have my army look into if they’re colluding with them. I’ll bring them up on charges and kill them myself. With pleasure. Make them do their job!” Aelia was waving her hand around and then took a drag of the cigarette between her fingers.

Noah chuckled. “The princes must have pushed back. It’s their funeral.”

“She’s getting the other princes involved?”

“Not here, no. But each Prince has their own pack and so they would be handling things in their territory as well as heeding the call of the Alpha King when necessary. Because we are rogues, we are a little more flexible in what we call our territory. But this problem is more widespread than just your pack. It seems like the Hunters are making their move. Everywhere.”

We were silent for a moment for Aelia threw up her hand and growled. “I don’t give a flying fuck! Tell them if they don’t, they can expect a visit from me with a week. Period. Keri, get me what you have in writing as soon as possible. I’m not going to sit on my ass just because I’m dying.”

With that, Aelia pulled the phone away and shoved it into her pocket. She stomped into the house after putting her butt out on the ashtray at the outdoor table. Noah went to help her but she growled at him.

“I’m not in the mood to be babied. Not when I’m about to go on a killing spree.”

I chuckled as she plopped down next to Sam. Noah was trying to keep from laughing but he sat down at the end of the kitchen island. It was the first time all the stools in the kitchen were taken up.

“Mer, do you mind if I have a biscuit?”

“Is that all you want dear? I have enough for multiple servings.”

Aelia shook her head. “You can give a plate to Noah. I’ll just take the biscuits. Thank you.”

Food was distributed and we all ate in a comfortable silence. Sam and Nate did end up with seconds when I finished my thirds. Noah finished his one and Aelia just ate two biscuits plain. Noah was rubbing her back when she wasn’t eating and I looked at Nate but he didn’t seemed bothered by it at all. I knew something happened between them or at least they were able to talk a little. As much as I was glad, my heart still hurt for the two of them. His snapping over the mate bond and the lack of respect for it was understandable.

“So, what do we need to do to get started?” Sam pulled out his tablet and stylus.

I leaned forward, narrowing my eyes. “We need to up our border patrol. Make sure there are no gaps.”

“The issue is the city.”

“If we tried to shut down the borders and tell everyone not to go into the city, we’d have a riot.” Nate chuckled. “Especially among the kids. That’s their hangout.”

I clicked my tongue. “We may need to implement the group system. If you go, you need at least a group of three.”

“I’ll call in some of my guys. See if we can’t keep an eye out. It won’t be on your pack but it will be for Hunters. Maybe it will deter them for setting up shop in the city.” Aelia grimaced.

Noah pulled out his phone. “What group?”

“Maybe five? Or seven? They are both close.”

He nodded. “I’d stick with seven. Five can be a little…”

“…trigger happy. Yeah. I know.” Aelia snorted. “Seven it is. If you don’t mind putting in the order.”

Noah got up and headed out the door, pulling his phone up to his ear. Aelia watched him with a smile on her face before turning back to us.

“We will at least try to keep them out of the main city. I would make sure, that when you advise of the groups, you prepare the pack for losses. They won’t die, they will be experimented on. They won’t have an operation close by, so it’s not something we can just look locally to try and find them. So understand that if a pack member goes missing, they aren’t coming back.”

I wanted to be angry at her but I knew I couldn’t. I knew she was coming from the side of experience, both personal and professional. After years of hunting them, after getting taken herself, she probably was a better expert than most.

“How bad is this going to be?” Sam looked up from taking notes on his tablet.

“It depends, honestly. It depends on how many of the rumors are true. If they are getting most of their wolves from other packs…”

I furrowed my brow and leaned forward. “What do you mean other packs?”

Aelia looked from me to Nate. “There are rumors that some Alphas, in exchange for protection, are turning a blind eye to missing members. Specifically, Alphas who have let humans start to live on their territory. Opening up themselves to Hunters anyways.”

“Who?” My anger rolled.

“Most of your alliances, Silas. The ones that are hellbent on ruining our lifestyle.” The bitterness in her words shocked me a little.

Sighing, I rubbed my eyes. “We need to focus on us. At least for now. I’ll speak to the other Alphas when I feel we’ve passed this danger.”

“So, we just defend and hope that we can keep them away?” Nate asked, looking at all of us.

“Until we know their end game. Until they make a bigger move, yes. That’s all we can do for now.”