Valkyrie's Revenge

Chapter 6

                Across the city a very frustrated Thoren entered his home and went straight to his office to try to understand what had come of his day. Piled high on the desk were the files of the pack members that had come from the once elite Grace Wolf Pack, and any documents related to their demise. He needed to understand what had happened to them and why this mate of his seemed to be so hostile towards the idea of being his, he never expected that he would find a mate that would be against becoming part of his life. As he took a seat at his desk he tried to decide where to begin, he knew that the previous members had been invited to rejoin their previous pack, this posed an issue for him. When the Grace Wolf pack had been destroyed his pack had grown considerably by taking in their displaced wolves. If they left now, they would not just be taking the original Grace members, but their families as well. This would lead to a large security threat for his pack, and without knowing how many would be leaving Cross Woods as well he could not be certain his pack would be safe from attack. As he looks over the piles on his desk he swipes his hand through his hair with a sigh, deciding first to start at the history of his mate’s pack. Without understanding why, they were destroyed he will not be able to understand who his mate is now and what has brought her back.

                Picking up the first file which details intel on the Grace Wolf pack he dives into the family history and what the pack brought to the area. Once led by Lorenzo and Eliza Grace, they were a pack that had a deep connection to the area. The lineage of the Grace family could be traced back to a time when the packs lived in territories, and they lived more in communes than as urban packs mixed with humans. Both of Valkyrie’s parents were not just of Alpha blood, but old blood; stating that both their wolves were pure black. Thoren read the information twice, that was impossible, no Alpha’s were still completely black, it had died off decades ago with the end of the Lycan blood lines. Thoren knew that even his own wolf form, while impressive and nearly completely black had a small shine of grey to it, mainly just at the end of his tail. He knew that perhaps if his mother had been Alpha born this as well would have changed the look of his wolf, it would not have made him the pure black that was spoken of as a legend. Thoren put down his files and left the office to head to where the Elders had left the books that stated the types of wolves in the world.

                As he walked through his home with his head full of questions about what had been and what all this could mean he did not notice his mother approaching him from the other end of the hall. She had clearly been filled in by his Beta with news of the day, just hopefully not all of it, and was looking for information on what had happened. She briefly studied her son before speaking up, she knew what he looked like when he was lost in thought and recognized that something was troubling him.

                “Thor darling, I hear there was quite a bit of excitement at the school today. Anything you care to share?” She asks with a sickly-sweet smile and a batting of her eye lashes. That may work on his father, but Thoren had always seen through her charade of kindness to her true nature. She was just as cutthroat and devious as any other Alpha’s mate would be. She knew when there was an angle for her to work and she needed to find out everything she could. It is part of what made her a great Luna before he was named Alpha, she was always able to use her charms in a meeting with another Alpha to find out exactly what they needed.

                “Mother, yes, there were some surprises. I have it under control for now however, when I have more information, I will share it with you and Father.” He says as he tries to get past her to quench his need for understanding what he has walked into. She steps aside with a slight nod, but a smirk on her face; if no one told her about his new mate it will not be long before she knows. Thoren knew in that moment that he is on a tight timeline to ger this solved and get everything under control.

                Once he made it to the records, he searched for the volumes that would help him understand what he was finding. Finally, he laid his hands on a book that seemed to be a mix of fact and fiction, listing the origin of the original wolves with a parable. Flipping through the pages he found information about wolves that had long since been assumed to be long dead. The pure white lycan, heralded as being a born healer and saviour of the old kind. The black lycan, known to shimmer like the night sky in wolf form, and destined to be the strongest leader of the land. The black lycans were the original blood line of the Alpha bloodlines, but according to his reading the last known pure black wolf was decades ago. He continued to skim through the text, finding that there were other wolves he wanted to learn more about. Putting the first book back he sighed trying to decide what exactly he was looking for, what may help him get a step ahead of the others. Then he saw it, a small book that seemed to be written by a current elder, listing the Alpha’s and their known blood lines. The book explained which wolf lines had a direct connection to the original lycan blood lines.

                Flipping through the book Thoren realized the book is alphabetical, making it easy to find the information he needed. First, he looked up his own bloodline, finding his fathers line is traced back to a Lycan Alpha and one of the less powerful wolf breeds, the grey wolf, known for its strength and courage. This made complete sense, from the colour of his wolf to his personality both in wolf and human form. Once satisfied with the information he turned to find the information about the Grace line, something he was not prepared for. Both the last Alpha and his Luna’s bloodlines originated as Alpha Lycans, which was consistently only mated to another pure-blooded Alpha’s. This did not always mean both parents being Lycan, but enough so that the percentage of Lycan blood in their bloodline has been maintained above 40%, something that has not been seen in hundreds of years. Suddenly their destruction made sense, someone had destroyed them to end an exceptionally powerful bloodline and make the race weaker. As he read, he discovered that Luna Eliza had a brother, Blair Wolfe, who had survived the attack, along with his sons. This also listed Valkyrie and Raven as deceased, which is now known to be false.

                Hearing footsteps approaching he wanted to limit who saw what he was looking into, but before he could hide what he had been reading one of the Elders, Nicholas Agostino, and his father, Augustus Prince. They studied his expression, and the text he held before his father stepped forward to speak. “Your mother informed us that you had come here after some excitement at the school today, she also mentioned your office is full of the files on the Grace Wolf pack and their members that joined us. Would you care to fill us in on what is going on?” He asked. Thoren rolled his eyes at his mothers very obvious snooping, he would need to remember to lock the door to his office and change the locks, clearly, she could not be trusted to stay out of where she no longer belong.

                “I had told my dear mother that I would share the information when I had something concrete to share, but clearly she is not happy with the idea of not knowing what is happening.” He started, motioning for the two men to follow him back to his office, if he was going to tell them what is happening, he is going to do it somewhere comfortable. “Today three new wolves showed up on campus, the one that stood out the most is the Alpha, who also happens to be a female. She claims her name is Valkyrie Grace, and she is here to reclaim her lands and seek revenge on those that killed her family.” The look of shock on their faces was to be expected of course.

                “This is impossible,” Nicholas started. “The Grace children were found dead two days after the attack, it is impossible that she is who she claims to be.” He was obviously put off by the idea of someone claiming to be part of this family, but he had not been there to see what Thoren had.

                “She is not lying; Oliver was with me, and he has confirmed she is who she claims to be. They grew up together, and she has intimate knowledge of the pack lands as they were then. That is not all, she is strong, during a fight between us and her Beta’s she pushed me, and I could not stay standing. Even when she allows her Alpha aura to be shown I feel her power, it is like nothing I have felt before.” He left it at that, not wanting to say yet that she is also his mate. He needed to know what his family knew first and if there was possibly someone he could not trust in his midst.

                “If she is who she claims to be that would make sense, they are one of the oldest and strongest bloodlines known to our kind. You said Beta’s, as in two? If she has survived, then I would assume the rumours are true and a handful did make it out alive. This would likely mean her Beta’s are a blood relative to her, the Wolfe twins, I forget their names, but their father was a doctor at the hospital. I will call up the chief tomorrow to see what he knows.” Augustus stated. He seemed to be handling the news well, also wanting all the facts before he decided.

                “Nicholas,” Thoren began, turning to the Elder. “Where were the bodies of the Grace’s found? Did we ever see proof of their demise?” The question made the elder panic slightly, knowing the answer would raise more questions than answers.

                “Your mother did go to witness the discovery, as she is from the pack where they were discovered, the Cross Woods pack. As Luna and being related to the Beta of that pack she was trusted to bring back that information for us.” He told her, which made Thoren pause briefly. He loved his mother dearly, but he knew she is much more cunning than many ever gave her credit for. She can spin a web for what she wants and walk those around her into her trap.

                “Until I have more information none of what we have discussed here leaves this room, and that includes to mother.” He states staring his father down, “I cannot have this information getting out into the world before I am able to understand what is happening, and if those bodies were planted to throw all of us off and assume they were dead we need to know by who and why.” They finished discussing what had happened all those years ago before he dismissed the older men, needing to be alone with his thoughts. He discovered that the perpetrators of the attack have never officially been discovered, but there were a lot of theories. Most of the theories pointed the finger at rogue wolves and human hunters, the motivation being the destruction of the strongest bloodline.

                It would seem whoever had done this all those years ago had failed, which Thoren could not be more thankful for. His first meeting with his mate may not have gone as planned, but he knew for a fact that he would not be able to live without her. As he went to his room to end the day, he received word that his officer has been threatened by Valkyrie, which made him smirk, she is definitely an Alpha. He knew he would need to work hard to start over with her and gain her trust, first step would be getting her to talk to him without her trying to rip his throat out.