True Beta

Babies and Blackmail

Brea's POV

“Ugh! Just come out already!” Lacy yelled at her swollen stomach. She was only 4 months pregnant, but she was pregnant with twin boys. She looked like she was at the end of her pregnancy. Mya had given her one more month before they would induce her labor.

It had been a rough time for her. She was constantly nauseated, grumpy, had strange cravings that we weren’t allowed to mention, and no one dared tell her how beautiful she was. The last time Axel tried she went into a fit of hormones, crying and screaming before throwing things at his head and going back to crying.

I just sighed sadly. We had all learned to just let her complain. I helped her sit in the gliding chair in the nursery. I was folding clothes when I heard a giggle coming from the next room and the door was slowly pushed open.

Reese came waddling into the room, his bear tucked safely in his arm. He reached up for Lacy to pick him up. No matter how awful she felt, she never turned him down. He nuzzled her belly before setting his bear on her tummy and sliding from her lap. He waddled out of the room giggling away.

Though he was good at walking and could talk, he didn’t do it very often. At 7 months, he had perfected his motor skills and would spend most days asking one of his aunts or uncles to read to him. He loved having so many people to play with, but no matter what, the only person who could hold his bear, which he had named Shirt, was his Aunt Lacy. He only gave it to James when the scent was fading, and I had to sneak it away just to wash it.

“Please tell me, they stay this cute forever,” Lacy asked.

I laughed, “Have you met Ky?” Though Ky was a fantastic Gamma, he was incredibly childish. When James' siblings got used to being in a pack where they didn’t have to hide, Ky started up a massive game of tag every Sunday. The entire pack had joined in and it was now a tradition.

Lacy laughed, “True.”

I put away the last of the clothes, closing the drawers. I double-checked that the cribs had been set up right before getting the sheets put on them. James and I had gotten the twins stuffed bears with their initials embroidered on them. When Axel asked why, not wolves James said we still weren’t sure if he wasn’t part were-bear. Axel didn’t find it funny.

Lacy had fallen asleep in the chair. Grabbing Shirt, I turned down the lights and softly closed the door. She was exhausted. I helped clean up their apartment before I handed Reese his bear and we went to James’ office. He had picked up an open-door policy. He wanted our pack to know he was there for him anytime. Reese waddled into the large room, finding his play mat and pulled out his favorite truck. I sat in James’ lap.

“Hello, beautiful.” He kissed my forehead, “How's your day going?”

“I was just helping Lacy with some things in their apartment. I know how busy Axel is with training the warriors. I wanted to do something nice for them.”

He smiled at me, “You are amazing.” He kissed me deeply. “Did you make it to see Mya?”

I shook my head. I hadn’t had my heat since James had marked me. Though I knew it was insane to have another pup so close after having Reese, I could just help but get excited about carrying his pups.

He brushed his nose over my neck, sending sparks down my neck straight to my core. He inhaled deeply groaning as he smelled my arousal. “You smell good, Brea.”

“James not while the door is open.” I chastised him, playfully slapping his chest.

“Tonight then. I’ll have Mom take Reese, and I can take you.” He brushed his lips over my mark.

I jumped out of his lap and ran into my own office. I loved how he heated my body. My need for him was overwhelming. It was still disconcerting that I hadn’t had a heat in months. I figured I would ask Lei again.

Lei, why haven’t we gone into heat?

Soon. She gave the same answer she had been giving me. I could feel her hiding something from me, but whatever it was, she kept it locked tight.

I brushed the feeling off, starting my own paperwork. James handled the finances, Axel handled the pack and one on one pieces of training, Ky made the patrol schedules and, since he had technically been training longer than Axel, he oversaw our warrior training. Lacy, Kara, and I handled everything inside the house. Dinner schedules, birthdays, holiday parties, hiring staff. We were in the process of enrolling our younger pack members in the schools around us.

We were growing quickly. We had gained 15 new pack members over two months, not including James' family. I had already petitioned the council for more land. I was on the phone with yet another contractor to see about building 4 more cottages, when I heard James growl and throw something across his office. Reese quickly waddled under my desk clutching Shirt tightly. James very rarely showed his anger, especially in front of Reese.

I went to stand in front of his desk. He was pulling at his hair.

“James, what is going on? You scared Reese!”

He sighed deeply, “It’s been weeks, and no one can find Raymond or Alexander. That was the investigator. Another pup from Blackstone has gone missing. No one can figure out who is taking them or why.”

I closed my eyes and focused on Gray. I could feel his anger. Gray was furious. He didn’t like the fact that they were still alive. They posed too great a threat to his family. He wanted their heads. He hated the idea that someone was taking pups from their mothers. He felt like he had been ripped from his own mother.

“How many is that?” I asked.

“That makes 3.”

I nodded. The council had the former Alpha Julius in their custody, so he wouldn’t know that his children had been brought to Cold River. It was possible that Alexander had a spy left in Blackstone, but no one would be able to escape the council investigator and council guards. I pulled up a map of all the territories in the country. Blackstone was the oldest in the state. Originally, the territory encroached on what was deemed no man’s land. No one had lived in the hills in over three decades. Blackstone’s pack had gotten smaller, and they never informed the council of their extra land. James pulled up the satellite view, right on the edge of Blackstone was a hunting cabin.

“That’s how he’s doing it. He’s not taking them off the territory. He’s right on the edge. No one would know it was there. Most people don’t go that far north into the hills.” James sighed. “But what is he doing with the pups?”

That I couldn’t answer. We called the investigator back, informing him of the cabin. Thinking about the fact that pups were being taken from their mothers made me want to go hold my own son. I went to find Reese, he had crawled from under my desk. Axel was crawling around on his hands and knees barking like a dog, Reese giggling away on his back. I smiled at the large bear man being so gentle.

“Momma, Bear puppy!” Reese gave me one of his rare sentences.

“Bear puppy. Is Uncle Beta a bear puppy?” I laughed.

Axel swiftly stood up, holding Reese on his shoulders, roaring like a bear. Reese’s giggles grew louder. James came in and started to roar too. They tossed Reese between the two of them. I laughed as James set Reese on the ground before jumping on Axel’s back. They started to play wrestle like bears, roaring every time the other landed a swat. Reese was clapping his little hands together when I heard my phone ring.

“Hello?” I was still laughing when Axel sat on James’ back.

“Where is my mate?” The man on the other side growled.

“Uhm, who is this?”

“You know who this is, b***h. Where is my mate?” The tone of his voice sent shivers down my spine.

“Alexander.” I set my voice to keep the fear out.

“Obviously. Now answer my question: where the f**k is my mate?”

I could tell him I didn’t know, and it would be the truth. After we left Golden Sun, she was free to do whatever she wanted, and she chose to stay. We didn’t ask and Leon didn’t like talking about his pack members’ personal lives. But what fun would that be? I had my own questions I wanted to be answered and he thought I had leverage over him.

“Why are pups going missing from Blackstone?”

He growled.

“Answer my question and I might tell you where she is.” I kept my voice even.

“How am I supposed to know? I’m not there! You ensured that.”

“Don’t lie to me. There’s still a council member there. He would be able to tell if someone were smuggling them out of the territory. Where are the pups?”

“Why do you care? They are just as useless as you! Now tell me where she is!”

I gave a dry laugh, “You didn’t answer my question. Tell me where they are.”

The phone suddenly went dead. He knew I would never tell him where she was. We would find the pups and I would rip his heart out. I quickly called Leon. Brenda was still at Golden Sun. She had started training and was excelling at it. I told her about the missing pups. Hearing her breath catch, I knew it was what Alexander wanted. He was trying to get to her. It means everything we thought was true.

According to Brenda, there was one she-wolf who had always done what Alexander wanted. She would be able to get the pups to Alexander easily. No one would suspect anything from a breeder taking pups. It was how things were done. Once the pups were old enough to feed themselves, they were taken from their mother and given to a different breeder each week, keeping them from getting attached. Axel and James heard my conversation, stopping all giggles and playing. We quickly made a plan.

I called Deacon, besides the fact his mate was one of the most powerful beings, he was a hell of a fighter and we could use him. As much as Axel wanted to go, he couldn’t bear the idea of leaving Lacy while she was so far along. In place of him, we were taking 5 extra warriors, Lukas included. Ky wasn’t excited about it, but Kara was the best way to get into the packhouse. There were secret tunnels that not even Lukas knew about. By the end of our strategy meeting, we had close to 800 people coming.

It was a lot and James had to remind me that most of Blackstone had ranked blood. They would be stronger and faster than one of our warriors. Just as we were wrapping up, the phone rang again. I answered it and put the call on speaker.

I waited until he spoke first. I knew exactly who it was.

“Bring Brea to No Man's Land, and I will hand over the pups.” It was Raymond that spoke this time.

“Counteroffer, you let the pups go, you sick son of a b***h, and I’ll kill you slowly.” Ky snarled.

“Tonight. 9 p.m. Just the b***h. If I sniff out a single wolf, I will kill them all.” He clicked the phone off.

Well, s**t.