Braided Fate - A Werewolf Romance

Video Conference

(Mari POV)

 My new mate was amazing. I loved her already. She was kind, loving, and sexy as hell. She was tiny and sweet so it was a marvel to see how she got everyone to hop to and listen to her. She had a quiet power that I had to witness to believe. I had thought Hannah had our house running well before, but Aria had only made it run smoother. Hannah and the rest of the pack were just as enamored with our new Luna as I was.

      They spoiled her terribly. It didn’t matter the time of day, if Aria wanted something, my pack would make it happen. It made me feel good that my pack valued this young woman as much as I did. I was worried that I would have to stress over her protection, but my pack did that for me. Without me even asking, Anthony had assigned her a couple of guard teams to shadow her. Simon had increased security almost to an unnecessary level. But, I noticed that it seemed to help Aria relax, so I didn’t worry that they might be going overboard. She would tell us if we were getting too intense.

      With the pack under good eyes, Simon and I were able to focus on planning with the other Alphas. I did not want to risk my new mate, which the other Alphas understood, so we were more a financial backer than anything else. 

      The most interesting part for me was dealing with Alpha Jaxon. I hadn’t met him since I was a child, so I had little knowledge of him. But he proved time and time again that he was level headed and smart. Thankfully, all of the meetings were on video and phone conferences. I was never at a point where I had to face him on my own. I remembered the moment of surprise crossing his face when he heard me talk on the video conference for the first time. He moved on so quickly I had almost convinced myself it was in my head until all the other Alphas asked me about it via personal messages. Alphas were the worst when it came to gossip.

       “It’s been eight months, Chris. I can’t hold back the Pearson brothers much longer.” Jaxon warned Alpha Chris. I watched Chris weave his hands together thoughtfully. This was our third video conference of the day, and everyone was getting quite antsy.

       “If we have to, we will lock them up. Our intention is to save every pack member, not just a couple.” Chris almost snapped. I felt his irradiation. The Pearson brothers had proven to be temperamental and had a mind of their own. They were incredibly impatient. They had almost blown our operation more than once.

        “Alpha Jaxon, I can send my Beta and his team to secure the brothers. I have the best warrior team in Shifter Country.” I offered. The other Alphas chuckled. I was not shy when it came to my successes and my spectacular defenses and security team was not exempt from that pride.

       “I’d appreciate that, Alpha Mari.”

        “Jax, my brothers are going to fight really hard.” My attention was drawn to the background of Jaxon’s video. A tiny woman stood in the background. Jealousy zipped through me. I squashed it. His mate was none of my business. I had my own mate.

        “My team can handle it, little one.” I brushed off the warning, addressing the woman directly.

         “This is my Beta Carson’s mate, Miranda. She’s not wrong, Alpha Mari.” Jaxon corrected my thoughts. I kept my face firm so that my relief could be hidden from the others. 

       “Thank you, Beta Miranda. I will take that into consideration as I am building my team.” Simon nodded his thanks, covering up for my awkwardness. I was mated for Goddess’ sake! Why did I care about Jax still?

       “Okay, that’s settled. We have four packs ready to take in new pack members. Alpha Harrison, have medical supplies and healers been assigned to each one of those packs?” Chris moved the conversation forward. The other Alpha sighed.

       “We are having a little bit of a shipping issue at the moment. But, the supplies should be dispersed by Friday.” Harrison admitted. Chris nodded and jotted a couple things down.

        “The council has officially approved our mission, so once we have everything in place, the pack can be dismantled.” Chris added. Everyone seemed to breathe in relief.

       “Have we determined exactly what happened?” Alpha Jake asked. I nodded in agreement. I wanted to know as well. Jaxon took the lead.

       “Honestly, what’s left of the pack is in complete disarray. The pack was taken over some four years ago, but two to three years ago, they used a pack Cleanse to officially kill any faith in the old leadership team. All three are dead. As far as I can tell, their Alpha bond was not passed on. RedTide doesn’t exist anymore. Miranda and her brothers are all that's left of the leadership line. Pack members are being kept in terrible condition, abused repeatedly, r***d, and more. The man claiming to be Alpha goes by Simon.” Jaxon explained what he knew. I wasn’t the only one to growl. A pack Cleanse?? That was insane! I saw Alpha Chris’ face tighten. I made a mental note to ask him about it later.

      “I feel like that’s a gross understatement for what actually happened.” Miranda hissed.

      “No one is discounting what you and your pack went through, Beta Miranda.” Jax’s voice was firm. He was obviously trying to curb a fit of rage. I wondered with amusement how often they had had this particular argument.

      “I agree with your Alpha, Beta. We are not trying to discount or dismiss anything that you went through. Can you tell us what to expect?” Alpha Zed asked calmly. Miranda paled, but her jaw was firm. She looked very determined.

      “He brainwashed everyone. Honestly, even we went with it for a while. It was easy to get by if you listened. But Alpha, and Beta and our Dad didn’t want to listen, and we waited too long to help them and now everyone I called family is dead. And then even after that, I was only kept there as a plaything to hold over my brothers and keep them in line. These men are monsters.” Miranda’s voice shook. But I marveled at the strength it took to share her truth with people she had never met.

       “That does sound problematic.” Alpha Zed mused. A couple of the other Alphas nodded.

       “How does that change anything? We already know he’s despicable!” Alpha Richard interjected. 

       “My personal reservation would be that we do not know if the pack will let us save them. We cannot go in assuming that they will be on our side, given this new information. Especially if they used the disappearance of Beta Miranda and her brothers as leverage. RedTide might think that he has them.” I explained. All of the Alphas looked up at their screens in shock. I usually tried to stay quiet in meetings, but this felt important. Jax looked quiet.

       “I agree with Alpha Marigold. It would be foolish to walk in assuming they would help us.”

       “Do we have enough manpower to take the pack as a hostile party?”

       “Who would lead that fight?”

       “How would we transport so many hostages?” The video conference began to burst with questions. All of the sudden, everything went mute.

       “Alphas, Alphas! Calm down. We will go one at a time and if you are worried about forgetting your questions, please type them in the chat box. Alpha Zed, you first.” Chris gave control back to everyone.

      “Thank you, Alpha Chris. Alpha Marigold is right and I do think we need to take RedTide as a hostile entity until we can determine who has been brainwashed and to what degree. From what I heard, it took very drastic circumstances for Beta Miranda’s brothers to break the hold Alpha Simon had on them.” Alpha Zed pointed out. Miranda turned a deep red. Zed wasn’t wrong. It had taken men beating their blood relative until she lost her pup for them to see the need to leave.

       “Not only do we need to prepare to take them as a hostile entity, but we need to be prepared that Alpha Simon has set up a plan to explain where Miranda and her brothers have disappeared to. The remaining pack might not trust them.” Alpha Zed continued. I nodded firmly. I could see the chat box dinging with the other Alphas’ questions, but I just focused on Jaxon’s face as he thought all of this through.

       “Alpha Marigold will lead the strike team. I would recommend that you have two other Alphas back you up, Alpha, but you are one of the strongest strategists in Shifter Country. I will leave the decision up to you. Alpha Richard, I’d like you to be responsible for coordinating prisoners. As of right now, everyone on those lands, until proven differently, will be considered an enemy. Is that clear?” Alpha Jaxon ordered calmly. 

      I froze, looking at the screen in shock. Jaxon had made it his life’s mission this year to avoid me. I had heard he had volunteered for guard duty during the last Alpha meeting. He had just sent me neutral terms via a messenger a couple days after the Alpha Meeting. He had no ill will towards me and my people, but no intentions of an alliance this year either. This was a major move seeing as we were unaligned. He was pretty much declaring a firm alliance with Lunar Pack. I nodded my agreement before the offer could be taken away.