Tanaka’s Return

Changed Alliances

Alpha Cortez POV

I knew planting a bug in that idiots office would come in handy. I had a feeling he was full of empty promises and I’m glad I followed my gut. He told us he wanted her dead but he really wants her for himself. Now I’m going to have to go with plan b, which means I’ll have to do a lot of groveling. I let out a deep sigh and roll my eyes at the thought. I thought I was going to have to cut Alvarez out of my plans once he found out what I wanted her for but he’s all aboard of course, willing to play the regretful father and everything. Once we have tricked her into thinking we want what’s best for her, we will capture her for my son and he will be rewarded greatly for his help. I go in search for my sorry excuse of a son and of course find him in his room. He is supposed to be going over the laws of the pack and studying our history but judging from the sounds and smells coming from his room, he is doing anything but. He is going to ruin the pack, which is exactly why I need Arya back here. We will be the strongest pack in the world with a dragon leading beside my son. We just have to get rid of Danvers and that Elf. I take a deep breath and kick the door open with a loud growl. Of course it’s Reina Alvarez. She’s thinks she’s the next Luna but she is so wrong. “Get out.” I say using my Alpha command. She hurries out with her head down trying to hide her embarrassment from getting caught.

“You know, continuing to do that is only going to give her the wrong impression” I tell him.

“What do you mean? I’m still making her my Luna.” He responds, “Arya is just a weapon we need to catch and imprison.” He finishes

This i***t. “No Rogelio, Arya is going to be your next Luna.” I groan. It takes everything in me not to beat his face in. How could he possibly want that bimbo for a Luna?!

“We need to get ready to go. Try and convince her we had a change of heart and bring her back where she belongs. Alvarez is coming too.” I say

“Does he know you wanna make Arya the next Luna?” He snorted

In an instant I’ve got him pinned to the wall by his neck. I’m tired of his insolence and it’s about time he knows who is really in charge here.

“Listen here boy, I’m getting sick of your disgraceful behavior. If it weren’t for the fact that you’re my only child I would’ve snapped your neck long ago.” I growl, “You are childish, inconsiderate, and just down right dumb as hell! At this rate I might as well forfeit the pack to another Alpha because you will NEVER be good enough to run this place! You. Are. PATHETIC!” I roar. By the end of my rant the entire pack house is shaking and I can hear pack members yelling and running about. I throw the i***t across the room and tell him to be ready in the next ten minutes or else before I walk out to the car.

2 hours later…

Me, Rogelio, and Esteban grab our things from baggage claim before flagging down a cab to get us from the airport to Silver Springs. I quickly brief him over what all he needs to say and the story to stick to in order to make this work. I start getting nervous the closer we get to the pack, everything needs to go as planned in order to keep our pack going. We can’t afford any slip ups. We finally make it to the gate and pay the cab driver while we wait to be greeted. Suddenly a honey blonde wolf steps out and shifts before addressing us. Before she can open her mouth, the worst possible word slips out of my i***t sons mouth.

MATE!

Rogelio’s POV

I am so pissed at my father. I don’t want Arya as my Luna. That honor goes to Reina. I don’t care that I’m not her mate and that she isn’t mine, I love her. She loves me just as much, so much that she rejected her mate so she could be with me. If I ever come across my mate, I’ll reject her on the spot. I know Reina wants Arya killed but knowing what she is, she’s too valuable to be killed so instead I’ll just capture her, I’ve already got it planned out. I’ve already given our contractor the layout for her house and I’ve spoken to a witch that will make sure to infuse a binding spell to the house to keep her from escaping unless I let her out. The witch even threw in a collar that won’t let her fly off pack territory, I’m much smarter than my father gives me credit for. She’ll be our own personal guard dog, er, dragon I guess. I chuckle to myself just thinking about it. No one would ever think to mess with us. Before I know it, we are at the gates of Silver Springs pack. A honey blonde wolf steps out from the trees and with her is the most heavenly scent. Eucalyptus and rain water. I take a deep breath, feeling at peace as I do and as I exhale the word slips out before I can stop it. “MATE!” She shifts back to her human form whispering the same word and I am blown away from her beauty. Honey blonde hair, green eyes the same color as the wonderful scent she has. She has freckles scattered along her cheeks and full lips that I want to claim instantly. Her figure is perfect, a subtle hourglass figure with perfectly round breast. I can only imagine what her a*s looks like. I’m brought out of my trance from my father snapping his fingers in front of me. Asshole. He’s gonna make me reject her, I just know it. I didn’t even notice the other wolf until he speaks up.

“Who are you and why are you here.” He asks

“I am Alpha Esteban Cortez of Red Moon pack and I bring with me my Beta Santiago Alvarez and son Rogelio Cortez.” My father announces.

“And you are here because?” My mate says

“Please, I need to speak with my daughter. I need to let her know how sorry I am for how I’ve treated her. She’s Arya.” Santiago pleads, putting on quite a show. The guy mind links the Alpha to let him know before we are escorted to the pack house. When we get there, there they are. Maverick and my soon to be weapon next to the former Alpha and Luna of Silver Springs. And boy does Arya look pissed about seeing us.

Arya’s POV

Why in the holy hell are these idiots here?! This better be good, especially given what we know about them. They’re probably here to scope out the place and report back to Orion. I don’t trust them one bit.

“Why are you here?!” I demand.

“Arya, I just wanted to show you how regretful we are about how you were treated. We aren’t expecting forgiveness right away but we plan on doing whatever it takes to get close to it. Starting with everything we know about Orion and his plans.” Santiago says. He seems to really be laying on the acting.

“Do you believe them?” Maverick links

“No, but the information might be useful.” I link back.

“Come with us.” Maverick instructs.

Once we make it to his office, we all get situated and wait for them to start talking. Rogelio excuses himself giving some lame excuse. After he leaves I give the two men a questioning look. Alpha Cortez rolls his eyes before explaining.

“One of the wolves at your border is his mate. Honey blonde wolf?” He says

“Ah, Tessa. She’s a very sweet girl, one of our best warriors too…I’ll be sad to see her go.” Melonee says.

“She may not be leaving. Rogelio already has a Luna picked out.” Esteban says.

“Why on earth would he not make his fated mate Luna?” I ask.

“It would cause problems to change now, Reina has already gotten comfortable with being Luna.” He responds. I can’t even hold back the laughter that explodes from my mouth. The pack is gonna go down in flames with her leading with Rogelio.

“I see…”, is all I say. “Now what all do you have to tell us?”

“Do you know why he wants you Arya?” Santiago asks

“Yes.” I answer, “He is Onyx’s very first mate, from her first life on earth. I’m not sure how he accomplished it but he is back, though not as a dragon. He wants to separate Onyx from me so they can run away together.” I finish.

“Do you know he has traps for you? Informants here in the pack? Witches aiding him?” Santiago questions.

“Traps? What kind of traps?” Melonee asks

“Specifically made to weaken and imprison dragons.” Esteban explains. “He has made it clear that if you don’t come willingly, you will be forced.” He finishes

“I didn’t know he had traps. I didn’t see any at the location he just had me at…” I say

“He just had you?” Esteban asks, clearly shocked.

“Yes they attacked us yesterday evening and she just got back shortly before you arrived.” Melonee explains. Before anything else can be said there is a knock before Rogelio peeks in smiling from ear to ear.

“Come in Rogelio.” I say. He walks in hand in hand with Tessa. Upon closer inspection I see that they are already marked. I can’t help but to smile, we all are…well except Alpha Cortez.

“What have you done?!” He hisses.

“I’m sorry dad but I want Tessa by my side leading the pack. We will deal with Reina ourselves when we get back home. That is if it’s alright that she comes with us…” he says looking at me and Maverick with hope in his eyes.

“Of course she is, we would never stand in the way of a mate bond.” Maverick says

They immediately thank us before running back out to get Tessa packed and ready to go. You would think Cortez would be happy for his son but if anything he seems furious. Odd…

“Alpha Cortez, Beta Alvarez. Can you please give us a list of the people you remember coming across while working with Orion.

“Yes Luna.” They both answer. The both start writing down people and packs they know of that is helping Orion. The end result is mind blowing. They all have different reasons for helping him but most want me as a weapon or a breeding machine to make strong pups. I’m both disgusted and disturbed after hearing everything. Orion is clearly giving them false hope for helping him. Which makes me wonder…

“And what did he promise you for your help?” I ask, dying to hear their answer

“He was going to help us get your forgiveness for how we treated you. But here lately I get the feeling he was never going to do that.” Santiago says

I don’t believe it. There’s got to be something else.

“Let’s just double check what they’ve given us to make sure it’s accurate info and then we will decide from there.” Maverick links.

“We appreciate everything you’ve given us. We will review it over and come up with a plan moving forward. We have people to escort you back to your rooms for the night.” I say. We say our goodbyes before heading back to our own rooms. I’m not sure how to feel about all of this. Part of me wishes I would’ve stayed hidden, but a bigger part of me knows that wouldn’t have changed anything. I shower and change into my night clothes and join Maverick in bed. He starts rubbing my shoulders, peppering kisses along my neck where his mark should go. I’ve really got to stop stringing them along. Shortly after Jax enter the room, back from seeking some info on what could give us the upper hand.

“Was that Alpha Cortez and your father I just saw?” He asks

“Yes. It appears people are starting to see that Orion is using them for his own gain with no intention in giving them what they want in return. Thanks to that, we have new info.” I say. Maverick continues on with everything we were told and Jax gets angrier the more he talks about it.

“So what? They think they can just come in here and automatically get forgiveness?! Ha!” He scoffs

“I don’t think that’s what they want. I get the feeling they are keeping something from us.” I say.

“If they really wanted forgiveness, they could’ve just came to us. Not go to someone else that has I’ll intentions. Something isn’t adding up.” Maverick adds

“This is all just so frustrating! I just wanna disappear for a bit. Leave all this crap behind!“ I vent.

Jax suddenly wraps me in a hug, instantly calming me down some. “It’s going to be ok,” he says, “we are gonna figure this out and handle Orion” he tells me. He starts trailing kisses from behind my ear down to my collar bone while Maverick is rubbing circles on my thighs. A soft moan escapes my lips. I wish we could stay like this forever, full of peace and relaxation.

“I don’t want to wait anymore. I’m ready.” I say. I can’t postpone this any longer, with so much going on I can’t afford to wait until after. What if it never ends? I want my mates and I want them now. I’m not waiting anymore.