Chapter 101
Daniel POV
I had just put Charlie in the bed, she barely reacted when I stripped her clothes off of her, I loved how peaceful she looked when she was sleeping. I left the bedroom and retrieved our bags, I stripped off, put our clothes in the bags and put them away. I climbed in next to her, but couldn’t sleep, I had too much energy. I checked the time difference and emailed Ben, he should know I marked Charlie, and I needed to update him on what we knew so far. I typed up the email quickly and read through a couple of others while I waited for his response, I wasn’t looking forward to the lecture I was no doubt going to get, so when my phone pinged with the email notification, I groaned quietly, before opening it.
“I'm happy for you, you know that, but the elders won’t be, they’re nervous about Charlie’s powers, and what she could do when she learns to control them, or worse, what she could do if she can’t control them. Maria and I are doing what we can, but if you don’t come back with some answers, I don’t know if you’ll get the response you’re hoping for. I’ll get Ms Michaels to look into this Pinchas guy, but it doesn’t ring any bells for me.” He wrote back, I was furious with the elders.
“Don’t tell anyone we are coming back, we won’t be staying long, and I’d rather not get delayed by questions that can wait until we’ve dealt with the other Alphas. I need you to write a quick memo, about how you found out about the coup, how we narrowed down the families that could be involved etc. Have the prisoners said anything useful? Have there been any new developments in the intruder investigation?” I had been so busy, and wrapped up in Charlie, I hadn’t noticed a lack of reports from the warriors until I had checked my emails while waiting for a response.
“We kept the patrols around the pack house, hoping we would pick up on something, but there’s been nothing, and with the increased border patrols, we are spread too thin. Which is why I gave the order for the reports to only come to me and the majority of those have been oral. I don’t know how much longer I can keep men at the house, especially when no one is there.” Ben wrote back.
“Alright, pull them from the pack house, but make sure a scout is sent to check out the woods from the border patrol daily until I’m done at Hyacinth’s. Have there been any vampire sightings? Or any more breakout attempts?” I knew it was unlikely, no matter what was going on, if something had happened Ben would’ve called me immediately, but I had to ask.
“You think it's my first day or something? I would’ve told you already if there was... but there is a feeling in the air, a lot of the pack is aware something is coming. I tried to keep a lid on it, but people know something is going on, and Mom isn’t helping. She’s convinced there’s a threat out there, something gearing up for a fight.” He wrote, concerning me.
“I think she’s right, I felt something at Hyacinth’s, and with what we’ve been told so far, we should be preparing for war. I’m hoping to get the other Alphas to agree to join forces and have our warriors train together so they fight as an army... I think we are going to need it.” I replied, admitting my concerns for the first time.
“I will start preparing contracts and a few options for training, neutral locations, or an exchange, a way for each of the packs to send warriors to train within the other packs. And I will start ordering supplies, we will need to share our bullet tech with the other packs too, so I will get an agreement drawn up for that. Should I order the warriors to start fortifying our borders?” He asked, and I felt the self-doubt creep over me. Would it be wise to have the warriors sidetracked by digging ditches and building fences when I needed them focused on preparing for war?
“Yes, to securing the borders, but I don’t want the warriors distracted, they need to focus on protecting the pack and training... pull the gardeners off whatever else they are doing to dig the ditches, and the builders and handymen, anyone you can to build walls and fences. And make an announcement, we are preparing for war, we will need volunteers, and we need to move all the prisoners to the lowest floor. It’s the most secure building in the pack, and I want to house the children and elderly on the upper levels should the worst happen.” I wrote back, my heart in my throat.
“Are you sure it’s that serious?” He replied, eventually.
“If what Charlie has seen comes to pass, I need to know I did everything I could to protect the weakest in our pack, and this is the best way to do that. I don’t want to wait until it’s too late, instruct everyone to have a bag packed, if the alarm sounds, they are to head straight for the prison, the guards there will need to prepare, and have supplies sent there, cots, blankets, food, and anything else you can think of. We need to be ready.” I informed him.
“Won’t that cause panic? Shouldn’t we tell everyone it’s a training exercise or something? And the meeting hall is bigger, shouldn’t we send people there?” He asked, after several tense minutes. In truth, it was where we had sent people in the past, whenever there was a conflict, but this was bigger than that. If the vampires got into the pack, the prison was the safest place for everyone, they would be able to break into the meeting hall in no time, there were too many entrances, it would be a bloodbath.
“I don’t want to lie to our people, they need to know what’s coming, and the guards will be able to protect them easier than at the meeting hall due to the layout. Loop Dad in, he will help you come up with a speech. If I’m not done by Monday, make the announcement, start the preparations, and put Maria in charge of the pups. If the worst should happen, I want her to be the one to get them from the schools to safety, she should also be put in charge of the shelter. It’s important everyone has a strong leader to get them through.” I wrote back, my mind was spinning with hypotheticals and plans for what could happen.
“How bad do you think things are going to get?” He succinctly wrote.
“I don’t know, and that’s what worries me, but if we prepare for the worst, we have the best chance of avoiding disaster and keeping the pack safe,” I replied.
“Alright, I will arrange everything.” He said, I could tell he was worried, and stressed, but I needed his support while I was away. My eyes drifted to Charlie’s peaceful form, she looked radiant, I felt a rush of fear thinking about what was coming, and how she could be hurt. I wasn’t tired but I wrapped my arms around her and settled in, hoping her scent was enough to calm me.
I woke up what felt like minutes after I fell asleep to Charlie’s sweet voice, I reluctantly got up, I had planned on asking her to marry me last night, but the question was nagging at me. I couldn’t wait any longer, so before we left the bedroom, I retrieved the ring.
“I was hoping you would introduce me to your mother as your fiancé?” I asked, nervous about her reply.
“What about the pack?” She asked, my heart constricted painfully, how could she really not know I would give up everything for her?
“I told you before, I rule with you or not at all. I’ve been waiting months to find you, and I’m willing to wait as long as it takes until you’re ready, but I was hoping, seeing as you’ve already chosen me as yours, you would say yes to marrying me too. Please say yes?” I asked, terrified of her answer.
“Yes, I will marry you.” I heard her say, I leapt out of the bed and wrapped her in my arms and kissed her deeply, before I slipped the ring on her finger, I was ecstatic that she had said yes.
The next couple of hours passed in a blur, I was so happy, all I could concentrate on was Charlie, and the way she smiled whenever she looked at the ring on her finger. We got back to the pack house a little after three in the morning, disorientated but content and we still wore silly smiles whenever we caught each other’s eyes.
“We are going to have to leave in a couple of hours if we are going to catch my mother before she leaves for work,” Charlie said as we dropped our bags on the floor of the bedroom.
“How long does it take to get to your mother’s house?” I asked, as I realised, I didn’t know where she lived.
“About an hour, the town is called Elizabeth, it’s southeast of here.” She said as she started removing her clothes, and my mind went blank, my only thought was touching her again. I followed her into the bathroom, discarding my own clothes as I tailed her to the shower. She started pressing icons on the touchscreen and I took the opportunity to move her hair aside and leave hot, open-mouthed kisses along her shoulder and neck before I sucked on her fresh mark. My erection became painful with every gasp and moan that escaped her beautiful mouth, but I lost all control when she cried out my name. I turned her around and lifted her, determined to spend as much time as I could worshipping her body before we had to leave.
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