He Will Be Mine (New Horizon Book 1)

The Elders Convene Part II

The Elders reconvene a week later after thoroughly digging into the backgrounds of both of Alyssa’s potential mates. Again, Elder Gerard arrives last, but this time he brings a stranger with him. The other Elders seem curious about this new addition, but no one speaks out about it. Instead, Elders Antonio and Benjamin rise to retrieve a seat for the man, their version of a welcome for him.

Elder Stirling again calls their meeting to order, then briefly reminds them of where they left things the previous week.

“Elders Vivian and Norissa, you were assigned the task of tracking down the birth certificates, yes?” he asks of the two women to his right.

“Yes, and we were able to do so,” Elder Vivian answers for them both. “Interestingly, we discovered that both boys were born at a hospital not far from here on the same day, mere moments apart. I have my suspicions, but as instructed, I turned the information over to Elders Gerard, Antonio, and Benjamin.”

“And we ran with it,” Elder Benjamin says with a chuckle. “Elder Gerard looked into the circumstances of Tyler’s birth, Elder Antonio worked on what became of Matthew, and I took the lead on sorting out how Tyler ended up in New York. I’ll start with that if that’s alright, Elder Stirling.”

“Certainly. Proceed,” Elder Stirling urges him on.

“Actually, let me just tell you what I learned about his birth. I’ll be brief, but we should probably start at the beginning,” Elder Gerard suggests.

Elder Benjamin gestures as if to invite him to the floor and sits down to listen to what he will say.

“Tyler was indeed born without a heartbeat,” Elder Gerard begins. “He was the smaller, frailer brother of a set of fraternal twins, although interestingly, the documentation available about him does not reflect that. His birth certificate shows the correct date, place, and time, but lists only his adoptive parents as though they are his birth parents and hospital records show him as a single birth. However, I tracked down a nurse who assisted with the delivery, and as you know, I have my ways with a person’s mind. I learned that he was a twin from her, and also that she believed that his birth parents rejected him on sight. There’s more to that story, but we’ll get to that later. At any rate, his heart stopped during the delivery, but he was able to be revived. He needed some intensive care, and it was a bit touch-and-go for a while, but eventually he recovered and started to get strong and healthy enough to be released.”

He sits and gestures for Elder Benjamin to proceed, knowing that whatever he discovered likely ties in at that point.

Elder Benjamin stands once again and clears his throat. “Tyler was adopted by a couple who lived in the same county as the hospital, a young soldier and his wife. I don’t have the details of the man’s military involvement because most of it is restricted information, but I do know that he was killed overseas when Tyler was only 18 months old. His now widowed mother took them to New York, where her family is from, and he grew up there as the only child of his single mother. Oh, and it was a closed adoption, and I gained only limited access to the information available about it, so I do not know the identities of his birth parents.”

“Which brings us to me,” Elder Antonio cuts in. “I did not discover information about Tyler’s birth parents, either, for the record, but I did follow the trail for Matthew. His family is from around here as well, and if I’m correct about this, I think their home address at the time of his birth is located in Silver Crescent territory.”

“You are correct,” Elder Gerard confirms without looking at the information in the packet in front of him.

“I’m going to guess you discovered that as well, then,” Elder Antonio says, taking in Elder Gerard’s affirming nod before continuing. “When Matthew was an infant, the family picked up and moved to Wisconsin. I’m hoping you can fill in some of those blanks, Elder Gerard, for I did not discover their reasons, nor did I ever reconcile why they lived here as humans, but I’m going to move on for the moment.”

“I never found any record of him having a twin brother, deceased or otherwise, or any other siblings,” he continues. “I don’t know much about his extended family, but I did learn that his father took a job as a mechanic and eventually went on to buy the garage he worked for, while his mother is an accountant and manages the office of said garage to this day. Matthew has a stellar school record dating as far back as you can go, has never been in any trouble that I can tell, and at one point was even a literal Boy Scout. And that’s what I know about Matt.”

“Why am I getting serious grade school book report vibes from your report, Antonio?” Elder Norissa teases him, and he laughs with her.

“Probably because that’s what it feels like to me, too,” Elder Antonio admits. “I struggled with this, in all honesty. I didn’t find much that was useful for answering our questions.”

“Well, then I suppose it is a good thing that Elder Gerard has brought a guest to speak with us today,” Elder Stirling seizes the opportunity to introduce the stranger. He gestures to where the man sits, quietly listening to their discussion, and introduces him, “This is Gabriel Taylor, the boys’ grandfather.”

“For which boy?” Elder Millicent asks.

“Both,” Gabriel responds as he stands to address the room, eliciting a few surprised reactions. It strikes a few of the Elders at about the same time that the man smells and carries himself distinctly like a werewolf, though the boys are human.

“You can call me Gabe,” he introduces himself. “And if you’ll allow, I’d like to speak to you today to fill in some of those gaps in your information. First off, let me dispel the rumor that Tyler was unwanted by his parents. It’s simply not true. They made the heartbreaking decision to leave him in the hospital’s care because he was small, frail, and in poor health, but it wasn’t because they didn’t love him. It was because they did.”

“If I can interrupt you for just one moment?” Elder Gerard politely cuts in. Gabe nods, curious what the man will say.

“I feel it important to explain something about our pack, mine and Gabe’s, Silver Crescent. I’ve lived here a long time, and one thing that has been true of the people here for as far back as I can remember is this staunchly held notion that humans are inferior, and that by allowing them to live among us and mate with our kind, we make ourselves weak. I believed it myself for most of my life, in fact.”

“It’s a common problem among our kind, it seems,” Elder Stirling comments, which serves as a bit of a shock to the others. They would not expect that the oldest of them would view that way of thinking as problematic, as many of the younger, more progressive generations would.

“Indeed,” Elder Gerard agrees before continuing. “I also remember when Gabe, who was at that time one of our best hunters and a gifted scout, was discovered to have a true mate who was human. It created quite an uproar, and his decision to accept her and bring her to live among us without turning her forced him to accept a new position among the lowest ranks of our omegas. I also remember that he received his fate with a smile, despite being assigned the most undesirable and demeaning tasks our outraged Alpha could think of for his punishment. I tell you this because I just thought you all should be made aware of the context here, and of this family’s history.”

“I appreciate that, Elder Gerard. I’m honored that you know so much about me,” Gabe tells him, seeming a bit awestruck. “What he says is true. I took a human mate, and together we created five perfect children. Two boys who were werewolves, or half-humans as the people here like to classify them, and three girls who were human but no lesser than their brothers in our eyes. The rest of our pack, though, did not see it that way. The boys they accepted well enough, though they were bullied a bit about their mother. The girls we chose to school at home and keep away from the pack for the most part because outside our loving home, there was nothing for them but jeers and insults and being made to feel incomplete.”

“So tragic,” Elder Norissa comments, holding back her more emotional responses.

“Well, after my older son came of age, he discovered that his mate was also human. I worried for him. It was already bad enough that his father was a lowly omega, but now here he was bringing another human into our midst. And then when she became pregnant and the twins were born, not only were they human but one was too frail and weak to stand a chance with the people here. It was a miracle that he even lived, and his parents wanted to give him his best chance at a happy life with a loving human family, so they made the decision to give him up.”

“It really is tragic,” Elder Vivian agrees. “Heartbreaking. I take solace in knowing that he did seem to live a good life with his adoptive family.”

Gabe nods, a hint of tears forming at the corners of his eyes. “You don’t know what it means to me that he has been found. It was a closed adoption, as mentioned before, for the reason of my son fearing that if the boy ever came looking for them, he would walk right into a death trap here on pack land. So, in addition to sealing all the information, some records were also destroyed or altered to make it harder to trace the path back to his birth parents.”

“But then why did your son leave to Wisconsin? Couldn’t they have kept both babies if they were only going to leave anyway?” Elder Millicent questions. Of all the Elders, she seems least forgiving of the idea of the boys’ parents choosing to keep one boy over the other.

Gabe sighs, the situation still hitting him hard to this day. “You’re right, but that wasn’t the plan when the boys were born. Eventually my son made the decision to leave because his mate was so unhappy and worried for their other boy. Bringing a third-generation human into the world only made relations with other pack members go from bad to worse, and my son even started to receive anonymous threats. It broke their hearts all over again to have to leave because they realized they could have kept both boys, as you said, plus leaving the territory unauthorized meant my son gained rogue status. He didn’t wish to wait around to see if anyone made good on their threats, though, and so bypassed official means of separating from the pack. Once they had gone, my other son decided to follow suit, transferring to another pack in another state. When my daughters were grown, they left too. We only see them all once a year now, though when all their kids were younger, we also went camping together for a week every summer. From what Elder Gerard told me, that’s how Matt met his mate, by returning to our campsite near his mate’s pack.”

“Risky place to camp for your rogue son,” Elder Benjamin points out.

“It’s near the territory, but still in a neutral zone. We would meet at a campground that is frequented by humans, so anyone could go there. It’s not that far from here, but far enough that he was safe. He knew better than to set foot in New Horizon territory, though, so he was always mindful of where he was stepping.”

“Gabe, we appreciate you sharing your family’s history with us,” Elder Stirling speaks up once a few moments of silence have passed. He senses that Gabe has finished what he came to say, and the other Elders have asked all the questions of him they intend to.

“Of course. It’s been my honor to speak with you all,” Gabe tells them humbly. “And I appreciate having your ear to explain to you all that has happened.”

“Are you aware of the full context of what we have been discussing in regard to your grandsons?” Elder Stirling asks.

“To some extent. I know Matt found his mate, or rather the other way around since to my knowledge, my son has chosen not to share with Matt the full truth about our family. He wouldn’t know about mates. I’ve also gathered that Tyler is somehow involved.”

“Yes, that’s correct. We have been reviewing the possibility that both boys share the same mate. She is expected to become the next Alpha at New Horizon and discovered that your grandson Matt is her fated mate. Now, interestingly, he and your other grandson already live together. They’re close friends, and she has gotten close to Tyler in the process of trying to get close to Matt. So close, in fact, that she told Tyler about our kind, not Matt, and brought him to visit over a break from their school, during which time he decided to attempt the mate trials to prove to her that he could be a good mate for her.”

“Alright, well now I’m confused. Aren’t she and Matt already engaged?” Gabe wonders.

“No, she’s been struggling to get close enough to Matt. We’re uncertain as to why,” Elder Gerard explains.

“What’s her name?” Gabe asks, now wondering if the girl Matt is engaged to is not his mate like he assumed.

“Alyssa Bentley, Alpha Kane Bentley’s daughter,” Elder Norissa informs him.

“Oh. Oh, I see. Well, I can tell you the problem,” Gabe offers. “My son never suspected that his human son would have a mate, so Matt has never been prepared for that possibility. He’s gone and gotten himself engaged to the wrong woman, last I heard anyway.”

“Oh dear,” Elder Millicent blurts out.

“Ah, see, that’s the missing puzzle piece. I had wondered how it could be so difficult to get close to the one she knows is her true mate and yet be so easy to get close to the one she doesn’t know about,” Elder Norissa comments. “Although, there is still one thing I’m not understanding. Alyssa told me that when she makes love with Tyler, Matt seems to experience some mild pain and discomfort from it. That shouldn’t be happening if Tyler is also her true mate.”

“In most cases where there is a twin pair of mates involved, the twins are raised together and aware of their relationship,” Elder Stirling begins to explain. “They find and pursue their mate together. This is not the case here, and I would suspect that pursuing her separately is responsible for the pain when only one of them mates with her.”

“What do you mean?” Elder Norissa asks. “I’m not following.”

“We’d have to ask Matt to be sure, but I would suspect that along with the pain he feels an urge to join them whenever they are mating. It is fighting that urge and failing to take his rightful place by their sides that causes the discomfort to worsen. Beyond that, if both boys were to consent to her union with them both, then in time that discomfort would diminish until it is gone entirely. He would still feel that pull to them, but it would be his choice whether to act on it.”

“The more we speak on it, the more I become convinced that these two boys are in fact both her true mates,” Elder Antonio gives his opinion, belatedly. Everyone else is already of that mind.

“We need to inform them. All of them, Alyssa and the two boys,” Elder Norissa suggests decisively. “She intends to choose one over the other, last I knew, and most likely Tyler based on the complications with Matt.”

“And if they are both her true mates, linked with a twin bond, rejecting one would mean rejecting them both,” Elder Vivian completes the other woman’s thought out loud.

“I’ll be seeing my son for Christmas and intend to tell him it’s time to reveal the truth to Matt,” Gabe informs them. “Since he is already close to and living with his brother, it won’t be long before they all know. Perhaps it can still be salvaged.”

“No, this is time-pressing. Sure, you should talk to your family, but Alyssa needs to know now before she unknowingly does something she can never take back.” Elder Stirling worries, contemplating their plan of action. “Get Alpha Kane on the phone,” he commands. “And hope that we’re not too late.”