His Warrior Alpha

Chapter 18

Melody’s POV

Alpha Jacob was delusional and my parents' meeting seemed to be the catalyst that threw him completely into insanity. One thing still wasn’t making sense though. Why had he made the alliance with my father to begin with? Was it all a ploy? The first domino in a sequence ready to be knocked down or was there something else he wanted? I needed the rest of the story. I sipped from my own cup, preparing to ask more questions. I needed to know everything.

“So, next time they meet it would be at the Alpha training, at the castle, right? What happened there that made him extend an alliance to my father?” I knew this much from the stories I had been told by my own father. That he had met the Alpha of the Black River pack when he was at Alpha training at the castle. He never spoke negatively of Alpha Jacob when I was young.

“Yes, that was the next time they met. After that day at the castle, Alpha Jacob only mentioned Margaret once to me, stating that Alpha Frederick would pay for him stealing his mate from him. During Alpha training, he went out of his way to spar with Alpha Frederick every chance he got. This was why I became close to both your fathers.” Martin gestured to myself and Quinn. “Alpha Jacob made it seem as if he really did want to be friends. He told him that as their packs bordered, he wanted to make amends for the issues he had in the past with Alpha Stanton and form a good relationship with them.”

“Didn’t he look for his own mate so he could be happy?” Quinn asked. She was just as invested in the conversation and had been listening closely.

“Alpha had no interest in that. He said he knew that Margaret had been his fated mate, so there was no use looking for her. Instead, he had his own father hire a powerful witch to dispel any spells that were over the River Mist pack. She assured him she had, and warned him that she had not seen any dark magic being used, but Alpha Jacob disregarded her. When he was invited to the Alpha and Luna ceremony, he cornered your mother, but when he reached for her he didn’t feel the mate bond sparks. He thought the witch had tricked him and left the River Mist pack before the ceremony started. Having failed a third time, he took a chosen mate, the daughter of a Gamma from a far away pack. The pack was poor and essentially traded her to him for the dowry. Luna was great at her job, sweet to all the pups in the pack, she was obedient to Alpha, but she always seemed lonely. Alpha Jacob invited your parents to his Luna ceremony and extended an alliance the same day. Alpha Frederick agreed and brought Margaret along, who was pregnant with Malcolm. Luna fell pregnant with Dawson shortly after Malcolm was born. A few years later, Margaret had Melody and this is when Alpha started to form a new plan. If he couldn’t have Margaret, then he would have Dawson marry Melody when she turned 18.”

“Over my dead body.” Reed growled, barely containing his wolf as his eyes shifted colors. I laughed at his response. It was sweet he thought he needed to fight for me.

“You’d have to beat me to him. There is no chance in hell I’d agree to that.His whole family line is poison”, I assured Reed.

“Now that we have got that out of the way, can I finish? When I came to your pack those years ago, I carried the proposal that Melody be married to Dawson at 18 to become Luna of the Black River Pack and strengthen the alliance between the two packs. When I discussed this with your father though, he said he would not agree to the marriage. He said that when you were of age he would hold a mating ball for both packs and he would not object if you chose to be with Dawson, but he believed it was everyone's right to take their fated mate. Alpha Jacob did not like this but there was nothing he could do at the time. The River Mist pack had prospered with your father leading it. He formed alliances with all the surrounding packs, stating he wanted to make the whole Eastern Province stronger. Then, a few years later, Luna got very ill and passed away. This put Alpha Jacob over the edge. The doctors said she had a rare form of cancer, but Alpha insisted she had been poisoned. He got it in his head that it was Alpha Frederick and that he wanted to weaken the Black River pack. I was sent away to the castle to report the news of her death and request an investigation be opened with Gamma Derrick. During the time we were away, Alpha stated they found the bodies of several pack women on the border and infiltrated the River Mist pack, stating that they had violated the alliance by killing our pack members. It was a complete surprise attack and the River Mist was decimated.”

I nodded, pushing the tears back as the memories of that night flooded back to me. Why hadn’t we told dad how Malcolm was feeling? He always told us our guts were our best tool in a fight. Only, there were no fights that day. The surprise attack was not a fight, it was a m******e. The sounds of fighting plagued my mind. The Delta’s yellow eyes were like the eyes of a snake as it hunted its prey. Too many people had died that night and for what? Because my mom didn’t love Alpha Jacob. I felt anger bubbling beneath my skin, some primal part of me wanting to give in to vengeance. No, I would not act rashly, I had people I cared about to look after. Still, the chaos inside my brain swirled in my head, threatening to drown me in my fury.

“Melody? Are you okay?” Reed's voice was concerned as he placed his hand on my shoulders, staring into my eyes. I felt the tingles from our bond and focused on them to calm down.

“I’ll be okay, it's just a lot to take in.” Trying to hide those feelings inside me.

“Your eyes…. Nevermind. I’m here for you.” My eyes? I hadn’t felt Aria trying to fight me for control.

“So Alpha Jacob wants me to marry Dawson? No thanks.” I said, trying to change the subject.

“Well, he did. I don’t know if that is still the plan though. After Reed and Dawson returned from Alpha training, all he’s talked about is having Dawson win over the Queen as her chosen mate as she is being forced to take a husband. “

“But what if she doesn’t want him? I mean, its not like anyone would blame her. Dawson is a prick.” Ryan crossed his arms.

“Yeah and you are his new Gamma, isn’t that wonderful?” Quinn said sarcastically.

“Okay, so for now we don’t worry about it unless something comes up. We need to get any proof showing what Alpha Jacob is doing.” I chimed in, causing Martin to sigh.

“That is the hard part, at least, it has been the hurdle so far. I can't get proof of anything and I’m not sure what Gamma Derrick has left. Maybe I should see if I can find anything when I visit your mom later.”

“And while you do that, Celia would like to research and find some connections between the Blue Ridge and Silver Mount packs. She said that it would be nice to share with the children from those packs.”

“I will pull out some books before I go.” Martin downed the rest of his tea before standing to head towards where I assumed his library must have been.

“So what is the plan, Alpha?” Quinn asked as soon as he was gone.

“Same plan as always but now we have some deadlines. First we need to pass the Warrior trials. Then we collect enough evidence that we can try to convince the Queen to take us seriously. After we get an audience with the Queen, we can plan our next move. In the meantime, we will pray to the Goddess that Dawson doesn’t get any funny ideas.”

“At least Alpha has given you both an excuse to come here more freely. Since he knows that I plan to take Quinn as my chosen mate, I will need to help train her so we don’t have to sneak around as much anymore.” Ryan smiles, one silver lining to today's events at least.

“Well, Quinn will have more freedom. I’m not sure we should try to draw attention to ourselves. By the way, where did you get the spray that hides your scent from? Quinn is basically out and I imagine Celia and I will still need to be incognito.”

“Oh!” Ryan smirks as if he has a funny story to tell. “Once upon a time, before any of us were born, my father had a fling with this druid girl who he saved from rogues. He was insistent he would take her as his chosen mate. However, a few weeks before the ball, she broke it off with him. She told him she had a vision that he would meet his fated mate soon. He originally was insistent that he would reject her, but the druid refused and said they would both find happiness. They did stay close friends though. She actually went with him to the ball that day and met a druid from the Southern kingdom who she settled down with. Anyways, Aunt Liz is a huge fan of mischief and was happy to help me sneak around.”

“Ugh, you have always been her favorite,” Reed groaned.

“I’m her favorite because you are a wet blanket, Reed.” Ryan teased his brother, causing Quinn and I to giggle. It was odd seeing their normal family dynamic. Mother, father, brothers who got on each other's nerves. True family is something that was stolen from us all those years ago and while we had formed our own, it just wasn’t the same. I would put an end to the family that had continued to loom over my family like a dark cloud for generations so I could find peace.