The Rising Moon Pack

Chapter 24

Jake POV

“Two mates? Wow Squeak. That’s a lot!” Noah exclaimed. “How are you holding up?”

“ Food. I need food.” Was her only response and I chuckled to myself.

Mrs Davies was resting on her rocking chair in the kitchen, a cup of tea sitting on a saucer next to her. She saw Maria enter the kitchen and jumped up to greet her.

“Sweet girl! Sweet, silly girl!” She scolded lightheartedly. “You don’t skip meals, do you hear?” She tapped Maria’s hand lightly and Maria smiled warmly at her.

I loved watching how Maria interacted with the pack members. She treated them like they were all family, and Mrs Davies was almost like a grandmother to her. Which reminded me, we hadn’t heard from Ben about Kate since she was admitted to the pack hospital.

As if he could read my mind, Jase pulled me gently to one side, and I watched Maria as she ushered Mrs Davies back to her rocking chair and set to work heating all of our forgotten dinners.

“Dad just linked.” He told me. “Mom’s still not awake.”

“Okay.” I answered. “Where do we go from here?” I asked. This wasn’t my pack, and I was a guest here. I didn’t want to overstep.

“I’m appointing guards to watch her on 24hr surveillance.” He told me. “ I know she’s my mom, but after everything we’ve learned today, I can’t risk any more of my pack’s safety. As far as I’m concerned, what she has done is irredeemable. It will be up to my father whether she is banished or not, but as far as I see it, she is an enemy to this pack and not to be trusted.”

I looked at him with a new found respect. Jase was only 19, but he was a strong man. He would be an even stronger Alpha.

“Man, I don’t want to take your Alpha title from you.” I told him. “And I don’t want to give up my title either. So where do we go from here?”

Jase shrugged. “ We could merge.” He said.

“We could both keep our titles, but we would be one pack. Sapphire Rising Moon has a nice ring to it, what do you think?” He asked.

I chuckled quietly. “I kinda like that. And it would be an honour to serve our packs by your side.”

“I’d love nothing more.” Jase told me sincerely, and shook my hand.

I turned back to watching Maria, Noah and Matt in the kitchen. I thought that I would feel some sort of jealousy, watching how she reacted to him, but I couldn’t. I saw how happy he made her, and it made my heart feel fuller.

“Let’s not make any permanent decisions until we’ve had a chance to speak to Kate, and before we get to chat to the others.” I told Jase “This is definitely a team decision, one that affects both of our packs greatly.”

“I agree.” He said. “Besides, nothing can happen until my father steps down.”

“That’s true.” I answered. “Do you think he’ll be available to speak to tonight? Just to give him an update on everything going on.”

“Sure,I’ll link him.” Jase replied. “Let’s go eat! I’m starving!”

We joined everyone back at the table, Maria positioned between Matt and I. We chatted away like old friends, and before we knew it, Mrs Davies had gotten up and said her good nights. I turned to Maria, and found her deep in conversation with Matt. I decided that I’d let her have this night to get to know Matt better, so I kissed her on the forehead and washed my plate up in the sink. She came over and pulled me into a hug.

“I’m still going to save myself for you.” She whispered shyly to me.

“Baby, if the opportunity presents itself, by all means if you feel ready, then don’t hold back on my account.” I told her, gently. “It would be wrong of me to deny you that, especially when I didn’t save my firsts for you.”

She nodded slowly, chewing her lip.

Matt came over to wash his plate, and brushed past us both. It felt like a static shock, and I found myself jumping in surprise. I’d never quite experienced anything like this before, so I backed up quickly.

“You okay?” He asked me, quizzically.

“Did you feel that?” I asked him.

“The electric shock? Yeah.” He answered, amused.

“I’m confused, I thought I’d only feel that with Maria.” I told him, shaking my head.

Maria smirked. “Maybe Matt is your mate too.” She joked.

“Yeah..maybe?” I said, confused. I definitely didn’t feel anything s****l towards him, but maybe the Moon Goddess knew something about my sexuality that I didn’t.

“Hey, you guys. What are your sleeping arrangements gonna be tonight?” Jase asked us, and we all looked at each other, unsure what to say.

“What do you want to do, Maria?” Matt asked her, hopefully.

“I’d like to stay in Jake’s room, if that’s alright.” She said, and I secretly sighed a breath of relief. “But, I’d like to have a bed brought in for Matt, too. I don’t want him to be super far away all night.”

“Is that cool with you, man?” Matt asked me, and I nodded.

“Yeah, that’s fine with me. Besides, I need to go and speak to Ben anyway. Maybe that’ll be good for you guys, to spend a bit of time getting to know each other.” I answered honestly.

Maria clapped her little hands excitedly.

“Yaaay! Sleepover in Jake’s room.” She laughed.

We all laughed with her, and I kissed her on the forehead again.

“Jase, are you all good helping these guys getting that sorted?” I asked him.

“Sure thing. I already have Omegas on it!” He answered.

“Well, in that case. Maybe you’d like to join Noah and I in a visit to the hospital?” I asked him.

Noah finished up his glass of juice, and rinsed it under the cold tap.

“Right behind you both,boss.” He answered.

“I’ll see you later, baby.” I pulled Maria into a deep kiss.

“I love you. Stay safe, okay?” She responded.

“Of course. I love you too.” I turned to Matt before adding “Keep her safe, bro.”

He nodded, and we left, making our way to the pack hospital.

Ben POV

I sat next to Kate’s bed, head in my hands, listening to the machines beep. Exhaustion, that’s what Dr Jenkins had told me it was. Her body had shut down because she was overworked. I wasn’t sure if that was the truth, or if she was just pretending because she didn’t want to face the truth.

How could she not tell me that she was responsible for Bella’s death? How could she hide this from me? I wasn’t sure I could ever forgive her. 22 years she had been my mate. We had been married for 20, and had 2 beautiful children. How could she throw it all away like it meant nothing? My tears fell silently, splashing the cool tile floor and pooling together gently.

I heard a quiet knock at the door and I got up to answer it. I was surprised to see Jase, followed closely by Alpha Jake and his Beta, Noah.

“Gentleman,” I addressed them. “What can I do for you?”

“Here. Mrs Davies saved you this, and Maria heated it for you.” Jase passed me a large plate covered with a plastic dome. Steam rose, and my mouth watered. My stomach growled, and the boys laughed.

“Just like Maria. Now I know where she gets it from!” Jake chuckled.

I smiled warmly at him, comforted by his lighthearted mood. I opened the door a little wider, and welcomed them inside. Kate lay motionless on the bed, her breathing steady.

“Dad, there’s been some developments.” Jase informed me.

“Oh right?” I listened intently as I dug in to Mrs Davies’ chicken pot pie.

“Well, obviously you know how Bella died.” Jase began. I nodded, and he continued. “Well, you probably didn’t know this, but Matt, our future beta was actually meant to be Bella’s mate.”

I dropped my fork in shock, and stared at Jase with my mouth open. Noah picked up the fork, and rinsed it under the tap. He handed it back to me, then leaned against the bottom of Kate’s bed, arms folded.

“Does Maria know? You need to tell her.” I told him, firmly.

“Already ahead of you Sir,” Jake told me, respectfully. “They’re still mates.” He confirmed.

“Damn. That’s rough. How are you holding up?” I asked him.

“I’m ok.” He shrugged. “ I just want her to be happy. We’ll find a way to make it work, even if it means rearranging a few things.”

I smiled proudly at him. “ You know, both you and Mathew are fine young men. I couldn’t wish for anyone better for my little girl.” I told him.

“I’m truly grateful you feel that way.” He looked me in the eye and said.

Jake’s eyes glazed over suddenly, and I watched as his sight cleared and he started watching Kate’s heart monitor. Where it had been steady before, it was slowly beeping faster. I felt the buzz of a mind link coming and let it through.

“Dad, she’s awake. She’s pretending to be asleep.” Jase told me.

Sure enough, when I looked, her eye lids were flickering gently. I signalled them to carry on talking whilst I watched the monitors.

“So,I left them to have some time getting to know each other. Maria wanted to ask him about what happened when Matt found Bella’s body in the woods. We’re hoping that maybe there’s some clues there about what happened to her.” Jake finished.

Kate’s heart monitor was sky rocketing, and I suddenly felt a wave of disgust wash over me.

“Quit pretending Kate. Get the f**k up.” I told her bluntly.

Her eyes snapped open, and she looked around the room. She registered Noah at the end of her bed, and edged away from him a little.

“Time to start talking, Kate. There’s no way out of this now. “ I told her. “May as well come clean, and save me the pain of having to torture you myself.”

“You wouldn’t do that to me.” She told me. “I’m your mate. You couldn’t hurt me if you wanted to.”

“No?” I challenged her. “Well, when this is all over, I want a divorce. You will be stripped of your Luna title, and you will hand over Maria’s birth right. We will go our separate ways, and never meet again. Am I clear?”

“Benny… no.” She said softly, so softly it was barely above a whisper.

“Start talking.” I told her defiantly. “Or, I can let Alpha Jake take over. And he definitely won’t show mercy.”

My anger was rolling off me in waves, and as I looked at the woman sat in this bed, it was like I was seeing her for the very first time. Everything about her was wrong, and I hated her.