The White Wolf

Chapter Nineteen

~Jake~ 

Our bed is in between two huge windows, I had quickly pulled the curtains closed earlier this morning, however, I hadn’t quite got them pulled completely in, so sun beamed into the room through two slits, I was laying facing away from Payton, so I sit up stretching out my body as I do. Once fully stretched out, I look back at Payton sound asleep, it is the only time she doesn’t look like the weight of the world as we know it is on her shoulders. I am her mate and yet I feel like I cannot share in her burden, maybe I was never meant too, but I want her to feel like she can share, that she doesn’t have to protect us all, I am here for her. I get up to get ready for the day, I shower, giving my body a good scrub, I look redraw when I step out of the shower. I dry off and wrap a towel around myself, brushing my teeth, and fixing my hair. I head back into the bedroom and Payton is still sound asleep, so I decided to allow myself to air dry, I take the towel off and hang it back up in the bathroom, then pull my suitcases into the walk-in wardrobe. I start with the smaller suitcase, putting away my boxers, socks, I have a few family photos that I stand on top of the chest of draws, I put on some boxers and socks, as I move to unpack my bigger suitcase, I hang my shirts, t-shirts and fined some trousers to wear, along with a t-shirt. Once I had unpacked both of mine, I put the bag inside the little suitcase, and then I put the little one, inside the bigger one, sliding them underneath my clothes. I know I had also packed some things in Payton’s suitcases, but as I go to bring them in, I notice that Payton was starting to stir, she stretches then relaxes, I start to move to her side, as she sits bolt upright, wincing and looking down at her side. She frowns like it should be healed already, and normally she doesn’t wake up until her magic is restored and she is healed, but somehow Thea knew she would wake today. 

She looks up, “Morning, how long was I out this time?” she shyly smiles at me. 

“Just overnight, it is only the next day. Thea will be here soon to check on your wound.” I move to the other side of the bed, I climb back into bed and put my arm out, she instantly responds and moves to curl up into my side, her head resting on my chest, I bend down and give her head a case, holding her tighter for a cuddle. I find the remote and we put something light-hearted on to watch, “Payton, we are resting today ok?” she nods, moving to get more comfortable to watch tv. I smile at her, not that she can see it. 

We hear a slight knock at the door, considering we are werewolves, we don’t need to be loud to be heard, “come in.” The door opens slightly, Payton moves in my arms, so her back is against my chest, and she can see better who is coming in, Thea walks in with a man I am yet to meet, Payton’s body didn’t react to the man at all, so at least he isn’t a threat. They look alike, but they don’t, maybe they are brother and sister. 

“Morning, glad to see you up and about Payton,” they both smile at her, “Payton you remember my twin brother Theo, don’t you?” ah that explains it. 

“Of course, nice to see you again.” She smiles.  

“This is Alpha Jake.” Thea turns to me, prompting Theo to talk. He looks nervous like he doesn’t want to be here, maybe he doesn’t want us as new Alpha’s. He wouldn’t be the first.  

“Forgive me Alpha,” He starts, this voice shaking and gravely. “I should not have waited so long to introduce myself. I find that new Alpha’s have huge crowds around them, and I cannot stand that, so I tend to keep away.” He doesn’t make eye contact and constantly looking down, he fidgets, making it clear he does not want to be here, “I tend to live in the hospital ward, away from the hustle and bustle of pack life, Max allowed me to get my food after the meal has been served, and I eat it in the quiet of the kitchen, I then return to the hospital. Now there are two packs here, I feel I won’t be coming back up for a little while, it all makes me uneasy. I just needed you to see me and know that I am in full support of you and Payton, as our new Alpha and Luna and I am sorry once again.” Once he has finished rambling, 

“Can I ask, is there a reason you have an aversion to pack life?” 

Thea and Payton, tense, 

“I want to be part of the pack sir, I am just unsure now, I have autism, which is rare in wolves due to our nature of wanting to be around other wolves, I struggle on a day to day basis, between being social and being overwhelmed.” 

“I see, well Theo, my door is always open, I will not lie to you, I do not know much about autism, so I will research it, once pack life quietens down, that is my promise to you, in the meantime, if there is anything you need or want, please don’t hesitate to contact me, if you want to try to be more social in controlled instances, I can arrange that, you are part of this pack no matter what though.” I smile at him, holding out my hand, I was unsure if he would take it but he did, 

“Thank you Alpha, Sebastian knew of my condition and didn’t care to help, or make an effort with me, I appreciate your willingness to support me in any way I see fit, this is why you will make a good Alpha here, you aren’t about what you think people should be doing, but what you can do for your people.” He smiles at me, and his smile looks just like Thea. They have the same brown hair colour, and the same brown eyes, Thea hair length is down her back, almost but not quite to her bum, whereas Theo’s hair is shoulder length, almost shaggy looking. They both have the same rounded eyes, that can look into the soul of a person, their body shapes are very similar too, both being more rounded than pole like. Their personalities seem to be very different, however, they both have found a love for medicine. “I am also here to check over Payton’s wound if that is ok? Thea just wanted to make sure I was aware of how Payton was treated on the day; in case she was busy and I would need to treat Payton.” He rambles, I wait for Payton to talk as it is her body, 

“Of course, the edges seem a bit tender,” she smiles at him and he moves to check out the work of his sister. He prods her wound, making her wince and him apologise over and over, she kept telling him, he is only doing his job, I move to talk to Thea. 

“Last night, Nick told me my sister have their appointments today, is it ok if Payton and I accompany them down to the meeting, Steph is nervous about being away from home and just need’s Payton and I reassurance?” 

“Alpha, of course, you can, the rooms are small so I suggest you waiting outside for the appointment, but if you show them how to get to us, and have a look around the hospital, then that would be beneficial for all of us,” she smiles at me. 

“Looks like it is healing well, the soreness is to be expected while healing, no heavy lifting, no bending down, and absolutely no more challenges, if anyone has a challenge our Alpha can sort them out.” he gives her a stern look, “you are not alone in this Payton, take time to heal.” Giving her a pointed look, her cheeks turn red, but she doesn’t argue, she knows he is right. 

Thea starts talking, “so we asked Max to postpone breakfast so that Payton could join when she woke, shall we head down now, they will be nearly done?” 

“Sure, one second,” Payton says as she jumps down from the bed, earning a frown from the twins, heading to the bathroom, we hear the toilet flush the sink run, the sound of her toothbrush and then she appears with hair in a bun, newly brushed, smelling clean, she heads down with the clothes I put her in this morning. As we walk in, Payton and I are accosted but both packs, checking on her, condemning those who tried to attack her, those that did keep well away from her, their heads down sitting alone in a corner. The pack was not ready to forgive them yet. Payton thanks everyone for their concern, that although she is tired, she is healing well, that I will be taking over all duties until she is better, but she is moved by their concern. She then starts asking them about themselves, how are they settling, or adapting to another pack, how are their children, she manages to keep it all up with a happy demeanour. Theo watches her with interest as he saw her thirty seconds before, looking tired and drained. He said back and just watched, I clocked Nick and Steph enter, Steph immediately goes to her seat sitting down and looking worn out, Nick comes and grabs me, 

“Can I give an update please?” his voice begging, he looked tired too, must be Steph and her pregnancy, the girls are about halfway through now, both having bumps, and have to waddle a little, both demanding people, their other halves do not stand a chance. 

“Of course,” I turn to him and we walk away from the pack surround Payton, she gives me a look over her shoulder but continues to play Luna with the pack. Theo watching Payton, as he could learn from her. “Everything ok?” I say as we head towards the corner of the room. 

“Yeah, everything with the pack is great, so far at least. Valerie has been going through what she does for the pack, and I went through mine, Sebastian was the face to the pack she dealt with everything, she seemed relieved that my role was more relaxed. This pack does run more efficiently though, they even have plumbers and electricians that are wolves, they allow their wolves to train in whatever the wolf is interested in.” he shrugs like he has gone off-topic, “So last night Valerie proposed wolves to go out tracking to make sure we are safe and that there is no one waiting in the forest for us, I originally said no because we didn’t want to put people in danger when our two strongest were weak. Valerie told me that they are trained in such a way that they won't engage in a fight, they will flee, they are sent out in pairs, with orders on how to engage a treat, i.e. recon, and bring information back, track and neutralise a threat, track and bring back, I thought some on it, and agree as long as they strictly did recon on anything out there. They went out at dusk this morning, and there is nothing out there, except wildlife, and the occasional human. Also, as I mentioned yesterday, the girls have their doc appointments today, Steph is worked up about it and wants Payton and you there, so please, come. I can’t deal with it anymore.” He sighs, running this hand through his ginger hair. 

“It’s ok, I spoke to Thea, she doesn’t mind us attending but we won’t be in the exam room with you.” I smile at him, “So they have trained trackers?” 

“Yeah, ours will learn it in their training, if they are really good, they will get a tracker title.” 

“Sounds good,” I smile at him, we head back to the group, Payton had managed to get to her seat, I join her, and Nick joins Steph. I noticed that Bree had adapted the table before my pack got here before it was just the Alpha, Luna, second and third in command who were seated up here, now its is from left to right, Zoey, Jamie who is third in command for the moon pack, then Steph and Nick who is second in command for the moon pack, then Myself and Payton, Alpha and Luna, then Valerie second for the Shadow pack, and Max and Claire, although they prefer to sit anywhere, during a formal event they will sit in their seats. Everyone starts taking their seats, and Max looks for any stragglers, once happy, he heads to the kitchen and the breakfast is served. I am served first being Alpha, then Payton and then the rest of our table, then the pack. Once everyone is served Max and Claire take their seats. I notice that Theo stayed for breakfast, he sat at the end of the table next to his sister, listening to the conversation, not adding anything in, but always listening, watching how people interacted. No one minded him being there, but they didn’t directly speak to him. He seemed ok with just watching and learning. 

Everyone had an English breakfast, whereas Payton had Yorkshires added to hers, she didn’t have as much other stuff either, but she happily started eating it. Once everyone had eaten, I try to take the plates, but she tells me she isn’t dying and therefore can do her own, I smile but I have to help her down the steps, we head to the kitchen and put down our plates, Payton finds Claire and Max and tells them she loved her breakfast, Claire gave her a tub full of leftover Yorkshires, one little girl was complaining she wanted one because the Luna had so it must be ok, the mother was trying to tell the little girl that they are for the Luna and it isn’t her place to demand. Payton approaches, the little girl and the mother who now looks embarrassed. 

“I am sorry Luna.” 

“no problem at all, she is a pup,” kneeling to be face level with the child Payton holds out the tub, “ you may take one and ill ask Claire and Max if they can offer them to everyone, you see, Yorkshires are very important to me, they remind me of my mother.”

“Mothers are important, aren’t they? cause, we won't be the adults we need to be without them.” the little girl smiles, 

“Absolutely,” Payton stands and faces the mother, “Sebastian may have had everyone believing that Alpha’s and Luna’s are more important than other wolves, but in truth, we should be a representation of our pack, and your daughter, doesn’t see a hierarchy, she sees role models and she wants to be like them, nothing wrong with that, while as adults we have a chain of command, Jake ran the Moon pack very different, everyone respected him more as a leader because he valued their individuality and wisdom. Your daughter is the perfect reflection of her brilliant mother, that she felt she could challenge you because she knows she is safe with you.” Payton smiles and gentle hugs the mother. 

“Thank you, Luna,” the lady smiled. 

As we head for the door, the moon pack returning to their rooms to unpack, the shadow pack going on to their jobs, or rest at home, Steph stops us, asking for us to attend the appointment, Payton smiles and says yes, telling Steph to meet us back here at twelve-thirty, as she wanted to show us something on the way. 

“Luna,” Bree calls out before we leave. Payton and I turn around to see Bree walking towards us, 

“Everything ok?” Payton responds, 

“Yes sorry Luna, with everything that happened yesterday, I forgot to mention that your old apartment, I had to use it to house some of the moon pack, hope you don’t mind?” she says looking kind of nervous, 

“I don’t mind at all, I am a little sad, obviously, but you did the right thing, what about my stuff though?” Payton says, looking resigned, and now sadder. 

“I put it in your childhood room, your books, DVD, Clothes, Makeup, everything that was personal to you. Again I am so sorry, I should have asked for permission.” Bree looking more and more panicked. 

“Bree, it is ok, you did the right thing, I would rather the moon pack are housed than have them living in the dining room or something ok?” 

Bree just looked relieved and nodded, “I shall get back to work”. 

Payton waved her off, and we headed back upstairs, I could tell she was tiring and the thought of all those stairs must be daunting, 

“Jump up I say,” she laughs and jumps at me, I catch her, and I head up the stairs with Payton on my back, we stop off at her room, I put her down and as she opens the door, I cannot believe my eyes. It is pink. Princesses and pink. She rolls her eyes at my expression heads straight to the DVD stand and pulls out a big box and holds them to her chest. 

“Bree will have to redecorate this room when we have our children,” she says. 

“unless it is a girl.” I counter. She just gives me a look and I follow her out of the room and into our room. 

“So, shall we unpack now? Or later?” she says as she puts down the DVDs. 

“I did mine, it’s just yours, so now, it won’t take me long, you have to stay seated and shout out where you want things,” I reply. She pulls the seat from the dressing table and sits in the doorway to the wardrobe, munching on the now cold Yorkshire puddings. I started with her big suitcase, emptying my bits into draws, then putting her bits away, moving on to the big case, hanging things up and putting them in the wardrobe for her. Once we are finished, I put the small case inside the big one, and then find her bag, I empty the contents into a draw on the dressing table, and then put that in as well, zipping up the case and putting under her clothes. There was a separate shoe storage area, so I put them all away properly after. 

“So, have you always had a craving for Yorkshires?” I ask, be good to know more about her, as she puts the first DVD of many into the player. 

“Erm yeah, I guess so, they were always my favourite, mum and I used to sneak down to the kitchen when he” rolls her eyes, “was looking and make them, we would eat them, and try different things with them, such as golden syrup, or chocolate spread, it became our thing.” She responds getting lost in her memories. 

“That’s nice that you had that relationship with your mum. My parents cared and loved me, but I was always next in line, I was always meant to be Alpha, so I never really got the same childhood my siblings got.” We climbed onto the bed and cuddled up just in time for the main screen to load, Payton pressed play all, and supernatural season one started. We cuddled up pulling the covers over us, and we watched an episode and a half before we had to meet Steph and Nick. Before we leave and Payton gets off the bed, I pick her up so she’s standing on it, 

“Stop being so silly” she laughs, 

“Come on, you need to conserve your energy,” I smile back at her, I turn about and wait for her legs to wrap around me, I feel her body warmth as they do, this makes me smile, I feel her head lean against my shoulder, and her hands draping around my neck, 

“I could get used to this,” she whispers into my ear, kissing my neck and sending goosebumps all over my body. 

We get to the dining hall before Nick and Steph, I gently put Payton down, she instantly cuddles up to me, and I kiss her on the forehead. We stand there cuddling until they interrupt us, Payton’s demeanour changes as she sees them approaching, it's like her side doesn’t hurt, her magic isn’t drained and she would take on the world to keep them safe, I love her for love of the pack, of our packs, but I wish she would look after herself. 

“Hey, how are you both?” in Payton’s usually bounce self-tone. They nod and mutter their answers, Payton just nods in acknowledgement, “come on then, we are heading the long way as I have a room I want to show you,” she laces her fingers in mine and we set out, turning left and heading towards to dungeon, Steph and I freeze as we notice the door, neither one of us have acknowledged our father being down there, he was taken there on the day of our arrival, kind of job he’s being fed at least. Sensing our hesitation, “don’t worry, we are going up not down.” She didn’t smile, and her tone was passive, so now I am not sure if going up is any better than going down.  

She opens the door, the door opens there is a step then a platform, with stairs going up and down, Payton steps through then turns and heads upwards, I follow and then Nick comes through steps down two stairs, then helps Steph manoeuvre the steps, I take her hand and guide her upwards. Before we reach the top, Payton stops and turns so she is facing us. 

“I am showing you this for a reason, Jake being Alpha, Nick being Second and Steph being Jakes sister and Nicks mate. Like me and Valerie, Steph will eventually be trusted and confided in, but to truly understand the shadow pack, you need to understand how Sebastian used to treat them. Sebastian inflicted more pain on a pack than you have ever seen, the scars of this pack will be seen for generations. Those who displeased him in any way, those that betrayed him, or rogues, were all brought up here. However, two types of torture took place in this room, those being physically tortured and those having to torture. Those having to torture did not enjoy it, they did not feel powerful or take pride in their work, usually, they were torturing their family, their mate, or in some instances their adult children. Those who were doing the torturing were forced, it was psychological torture that scared many family members. Sebastian broke this pack in many different ways, physically and psychologically. If the packs end up clashing it will be us having to reason this out, and I need you to understand the standpoint of the shadow pack because it truly won't be their fault, it will be their jealously, and inability to cope with the fact your pack wasn’t mistreated by their Alpha, this pack was loved by their Alpha, will be reacting to that, the pain Sebastian put them through, yes they run efficiently, that is because they are scared to challenge their Alpha, yes they are obedient, that is because they are scared of their Alpha. This is ingrained in them, and for change to happen, for them to realise we are not like that, that we will not torture and demand, but ask and encourage, and that we stand with them, beside them and in front of them, that their lives are just as important to us as our own, there will be a rocky patch, but please understand, please navigate this with sensitivity, with understanding, with care and love that your pack taught you.” I could see the pain in her eyes as she spoke the words, I could see the tears build up as she remembered the pain she endured and those tears finally fell as she turned and walked through the room. The room of pain, of fear, so much so, it was tangible. Steph quickly glanced around and went to instantly comfort Payton, who sobbed into Steph’s arms, while Steph rubbed her back. Nick and I looked around pretty good, being nosy and look through all the instruments, to get a clear picture of how evil this guy was, and I got to say, I don’t even know what half this stuff does which is more worrying, on how sick he was, and how he treated Payton. I could feel my anger rise, I crossed the room to Payton, who I know had been in here before, had been torturing people, and took her in my arms and cuddled her tight, my t-shirt was soaked through along with Steph’s. Nick handed Steph his Jumper. 

“Maybe we would throw all this stuff away, and use this room for something else?” Nick offers, 

“Maybe in the long term we can, but honestly this is part of their story, their history, I don’t think they are ready to let go just yet.” She gives a small smile, “We should head down this way,” she says pointing, she starts walking taking my hand and squeeze it. I follow along with Steph and Nick just behind us, we follow down the stairs, they were dusty, probably haven’t been used in a long time, but it looks like they are swept for cobwebs, at the very least. We make it down to the ground floor. It is disorienting using the servant or hideout corridors, we walk down a long corridor Payton slows as we come to the to a bookcase, running her hands over the middle shelf of the books, she gets to the end and presses the panel at the end of the bookshelf, as the door swings open, there is a heavy-duty metal door, where Payton punches in the code, with Nick and I watching over her shoulder, 7368. Now to commit that to my memory. Before we head down, Payton turns around and starts speaking, “So there are easier ways to get here, Valerie will show them all to you Nick when she goes through the current system. So, during the reign of Sebastian’s dad, this place was bombed, leaving the castle, and harming half of the pack. So, when rebuilding, some of the pack had trained to be architects so he asked them to design the new castle, somewhere where we can retreat and be safe, so they designed this place. During times of war, we hide out vulnerable, elderly, and children down here. It is designed to survive bombs, nuclear bombs, if we need to retreat during the fight we can, we can safely get here, the doors of the castle will give us enough time, and there is a button that those in down there can press that hides our scent. So, they can’t find the doors, or so we have a chance to escape. All our food stores are down here, our medical centre and plenty of room for everyone to live. We can plan attacks from down here, using the castle as an advantage.” She smiles, and heads down the stairs, once we reach the bottom Payton turns left, and heads to the desk, she books us in. I notice there are signposts for where everything is, as I doubt there is a map for this place or even a record of it somewhere. As we walk Payton continues talking, “so this place is completely human, vampire, and rogue proof, and they also studied magic so ensure that it was complete magic proof.” She smiled at us all, once we near the end of the hallway I see a lady standing there in a nurses uniform.

“Hello, my name is Paisley. I am one of the maternity nurses and I am going to show you around the maternity ward.” The nurse says, she is standing there in a blue nurses uniform, I would say she is around 40years of age, her blonde hair pulled up into a bun on the top of her head. 

“Hi, I am Steph and this is Nick, the moon pack’s second in command, I brought the Alpha and Luna down as I am very nervous about having a baby during this time, and they will be the baby’s uncle and aunt.” She smiles at the lady, looking nervous. 

“Ok, not a problem, I don’t blame you if I am honest, traditionally, the Luna oversees all births, if that is something our Luna would like to continue” she looks at Payton, who nods and smiles enthusiastically, the nurse smiles back, looking genuinely happy and relieved. “Due to you and your sister being pregnant at the same time, we don’t want to crowd the maternity ward, and maybe your brother, the Alpha, would feel better manning the pack and preparing to introduce the child?” she looks at me, and I jump on the chance not to be in the delivery room. 

I do not want to see my sister like that, “knowing that one of my second in command is down here, I would prefer to be organising the babies introduction party and helping Valerie oversee the Pack” I smile gratefully at the nurse, Steph pouted at me but now I know I don’t have to be here, I can stand my ground, and I will have to ask Valerie how to organise the introduction party as I have no idea. We didn’t do that in our pack. 

“So” she smiles sweetly, changing the subject “now that is all sorted, this is the maternity ward, here is the birthing pool, the beds you can use, the birthing ball, plus all the technology you need, If your child requires a child incubation set up, Theo is a world-class surgeon, and Thea specialised in paediatrics, she is also, world-class, both finishing the highest in their fields, and both being the highest two graduating doctors that year from all the doctorate programmes all over the world. We know childbirth can be a scary time, and we are set up to help you and your baby, Thea will see you now, and she will go through feedings, and set up a birthing plan with you.” The nurse moves her arms to show Steph and Nick where to go, she returns from the room seconds later and heads back to the entrance. 

I take the end seat in a row of comfortable seats opposite the room, I pull Payton onto my lap. She relaxes into my body, resting her head on my shoulders, closing her eyes, and I stroke her hair. I feel her breathing change. 

A few minutes later Zoey and Jamie turn up and take a seat, Zoey looking annoyed, and Jamie looking tired. Zoey paces up and down reading the posters that lined the hall, 

“Hey man, you ok?” I say looking at Jamie who kept glancing at Zoey. 

“yeah fine, having a pregnant wife that you don’t know, isn’t easy.” He shrugs, “She asleep?” 

I nod, “yeah, being upbeat for everyone tires her out, especially as she’s got a deep cut and she used a lot of magic. She is still healing.” 

“Yeah, I was surprised to see her up so quickly, I guess she has two packs now to keep the peace. She probably forced herself to wake as she thinks the packs will go mad without her” he rolls his eyes. “She has always been the same, she will continue until it kills her, or you manage to talk her into resting”. 

“I am getting that, I learn new things about her every day, just like you are with Zoey, I know how Zoey is” I smile at him, he nods. 

Nick and Steph come out and Thea calls Zoey and Jamie in. Payton wakes up slowly as she realises that people are nowhere. Payton doesn’t move, Steph sits beside us and moves so she is facing Payton and shows us the sonogram, tells us she is having a boy, what to expect during labour, how she will know she is in labour, Payton pretended to look interested were as I looked disgusted. She went into so much detail that I did not need to know. Then Zoey came out with the news she’s having one boy and one girl, and that she was done with children after that. She murmured something that made Steph and Payton narrow their eyes at her and Jamie dropped his head and standing back. 

Something tells me them having kids so early in their relationship wasn’t a good thing. I know some couples it works out ok, I guess some pull together and some pull apart, this isn’t meant to happen to couples who are true mates though. We all got up and walked to the elevator, Steph walking with Zoey talking to her, Nick and I, and then Payton dropped back and was talking Jamie, he looked down, she was nodding a lot, and playing bits throughout the link. We get into the lift, and Nick does the number, we get upstairs, the door open we walk through and when I look back an entire bookshelf had moved. Payton and Jamie as they were last in, they were first out, Theo called Payton’s name making her jump and grab Jamie, who laughed. She glared at him. 

“I just wanted to tell you, that Thea and I talked, and we believe you should shift today, it will help with the healing. Don’t worry you won’t pull a stitch, no fighting though ok?” Theo says once he was close enough. 

“Ok, thank you, Theo. I will discuss it with Valerie and Nick.” She smiles back, “Thank you for coming to talk to me.” 

He nods and turns towards the library desk and starts talking to the lady behind it. 

“Take me, please?” Jamie says under his breath, looking at her pleadingly. 

“Come on let’s find Valerie.” She smiles at Jamie, “Zoey, do you mind if I steal Jamie this afternoon?” Payton asks hopefully. 

“No, you take him, he’s useless anyway.” Zoey answers dismissively, I can see the shock on Payton’s face, and pain in Jamie’s. That’s it, I can’t believe she is treating him this way, 

“Zoey,” I shout making my way to be closer to her. Steph jumps, making me a side glace to her, “now I know being pregnant isn’t the easiest especially as you are carrying twins, Jamie and I have made allowances for your behaviour, but no more. It takes two to tango young lady and therefore this is part of your responsibility, Jamie is a good guy, he is trying to please you, but your demands from him are outrageous. You have a premade home, with all the baby stuff you need, Jamie has rearranged the room for you three times, he gets you whatever you need in the middle of the night, during meals he puts your plate away for you, he helps you up and downstairs. He has kept you safe and will continue to do so until he dies, he is a strong member of the pack, both the Shadow and the Moon pack love him, and you treat him awfully. Grow up and realise what you have before it is too late. He treats you like a queen, start acting like one.” I growl at her. To start with her posture showed her as defiant to my words, but as I continued, I could see the pain in her eyes, the realisation that she is indeed acting like a brat. She does not handle things well; all this could be over the fact she doesn’t fit into her clothes anymore and is having to wear maternity clothes. Who knows with her? 

“I’m sorry, I will try harder to not let the hormones run me,” she says looking at her feet. 

“Ok then, you are dismissed,” I say as I walk into the hallway, I turn towards the dining room, as Payton will need to eat, to find Valerie talking to Bree, Payton walks up to her, 

“Valerie, could I have a word please?” 

“Of course,” Valerie says turning her attention to Payton, 

“Valerie, Theo said that I am allowed to shift, I was wondering if Jake and I if we take a small team as I am not allowed to fight, not that there will be that problem but you know just in case, with us, if you could arrange it, Jamie would like to come, I would prefer if you or Nick make up one of the team, and then one person from each pack?” Payton says hoping she can go. 

“Ok, I will send trackers out again, meet me at the gatehouse in an hour, I will have an answer for you, and hopefully a team together.” She smiles, Steph had gone back to her room, and she heads to where Nick is talking to Jamie, 

“Also, the thought occurred to me, that one the packs start training together we need to set up a war plan,” Payton says, 

“Yes absolutely, Nick and I have already started on making a list of our recommendations,” Valerie said, “about what we’ve seen and heard so far.” 

“I think you miss understand me, there will be no recommendation sheets given, we will be doing it a different way, we will be doing this as a team, I am going to build each wolf within our two packs a card, together as a team we will fill out the information about the wolf, and then as a team and with Owens knowledge we will give people jobs, and those to report too, their talents, that kind of thing.” 

Valerie smiled, “I never liked the old way, we never built up an idea about someone as a group. Owen made the decisions on people he didn’t know, and Sebastian used to execute the plan. Then Owen would be the target of his anger if it went wrong, this way, Owen isn’t put under so much pressure. Good plan.” she said as she walks away. Payton looked particularly pleased with herself. 

We walk hand in hand towards the dining room, crossing the hall, to where the kitchen is, we open the door and see Claire working, no one else is in here. 

“Hey Claire, how are things?” I say as we approach her. 

“Very well thank you,” she smiles and turns to face us, “would you like some lunch?” 

“yes please,” Payton smiles, Claire nods and starts making lunch, 

“Payton, do the shadow pack not eat lunch? I know we provide dinner and breakfast?” Claire asks inquisitively, looking straight at Payton. 

“Erm, not really no, from a young age we are trained to eat a big breakfast and a big dinner, and therefore limiting the need for lunch. Sebastian said it would teach us to not need food if we got separated from the pack.” 

“Oh ok, I sometimes feed the Moon pack as they get hungry,” she replies to Payton sheepishly. 

“That’s ok, it's hard to adjust, maybe talk to Max about getting some lunch stuff in, such as sandwiches and whatnot for a lunch buffet, if people want it, it’s there then,” I say. I don’t want her to feel bad she feeds our pack. 

“If it isn’t in the budget, I will pay for it,” Payton says, “and it will be in the budget when we do the meeting. Jake is right, we should accommodate the two packs.” Claire hands us our lunch and we eat it in the kitchen, talking with Claire, about how she is finding it here, how everything is with Max. She blushes every time one of us mentions him, she tells us they are taking it slow, as she doesn’t want to rush anything, but will come to us when we need to perform the ceremony. Claire likes it here, and happy she has found her mate, which is good. She tells us, that while this is only the second day, that the waters will eventually start to wave as people settle in and find their feet, as the shadow pack are run more harshly than they are used too. Payton tells me that it is time we need to leave to see Valerie, so we thank Claire for all her effort, and head off towards the gatehouse.  

As we start to approach the gatehouse, Payton squeezes my hand and smiles as she sees the group waiting for us. Elijah, Valerie, Jamie who was stood to the side, Noah, and Thomas, were waiting for us. Valerie was giving the boys commands on how to behave, how this is organised. She turns to us, 

“and you,” pointing at Payton, “do not fight, we can protect you if you let us.” she gives Payton a stern look, Payton nods, like she’s a schoolgirl being told off. I smile, it’s nice Valerie cares so much about Payton’s safety. We all shift before we leave the safety of the castle. Payton and I stood in the middle, Valerie and Noah take our left flank, Thomas and Elijah take our right, Jamie takes the position behind us. He nipped at anyone standing too close to him, so his wolf is just as worked up as he is. We leave the castle walls, crossing over the drawbridge, Payton takes charge on navigation as she has a clear idea of where she wants to go, Payton’s wolf loved being let out, yapping, nipping at me to play, rubbing her nose on me, like wolves do to show affection. Everyone kept quiet, listening for threats, watching, sniffing to ensure we are safe. We are about 20 minutes, from the castle when we happen upon humans, you can tell by their scent, their noisiness, and their total disregard for the natural.   

‘Stay calm get down low behind bushes.’ Payton commanded, I see her lay down in long glass she was a fraction ahead of me due to her larking around, her wolf almost hidden from sight, then I felt the strong smell of grass and the cool breeze of air. Payton was using the elements to hide us from humans, and hopefully, the elements will guide them home. Once we could no longer hear them, we came out of hiding and Payton carried on, we all followed suit. We come to a river. Where everyone stops. 

‘Jake and I will be continuing by ourselves from here, we won’t be far and completely hidden we will be completely safe, no-one knows about where we are going, so ensure yourselves are protected, mind link us any trouble. Jake will come back and help’ she nods at them 

‘yes, Luna.’ They respond. They all lay down by the river, as wolves our hearing is great so they would hear anyone approaching them before they could attack. Payton walks into the water, turning and walking upstream to a little pond. This pond looks just like the one I had at home, and this makes me smile. Payton shifting to her human form, so I follow her, seeing her naked, even with a nasty cut on her side, still catches my breath. 

“Is it like home?” she shakes her head, 

“That would be too easy, people would know there are two identical spots and would know about what we know.” She smiles at me, as she heads in deeper into the pool. 

I move to stand next to her, and she takes my hand. She goes under the water, pulling me down too, once I was under, she starts swimming towards the edge of the pool. I panic trying to pull away and she looks back at me, sending calming thoughts through the link. We enter a tunnel through roots of a tree that stands strong by the edge of the pool, we glid to a stop, Payton standing in what seems to be a pool in a cave. The cave looks identical to the one I have at home, I pick Payton up and sit her on the side, I then jump up and walk deeper into the cave where I see the bed, a sleeping bag, a small burner, and a waterproof bag. 

“This is my hiding hole, I used it when I left the pack so that I could be safe, this is the only entrance in and out, and it is exactly like yours, I thought we could use this place if we ever needed to hide out,” she smiles at me, “and if we are still here when we have children we will teach them to hide here if we ever need to hide when we are out beyond the wall.” 

“Good idea,” we get up and head into the cave more, I watch her as she wonders round. You could smell no one else has been here, the thing with closed spaces, the air doesn’t circulate as well, meaning scents last longer, this cave only carried Payton’s scent. 

“

“Jake the goddess has shown me the future, she cannot see the evil coming for us, but she has shown me different outcomes of our choices, in all of them we have children, some the evil comes before the kids and they are our happy ending, some of them we have the kids and then the evil comes. What I do know the evil brings sadness with it, for us and the pack. I do not want the evil to tear us apart.” she gives me a small smile, the happiness it represents not reaching her eyes. This could be that she has already seen me die, and nothing I can do will stop the pain of seeing, of knowing she has the potential to lose her mate. I feel sorry for the person, or group of people responsible for my death, I know because I would kill anyone who hurt her. 

I take her in my arms, snuggling into the warmth of her body, the gentle beat of her heart, the supple touch of her skin. She draws me in closer tiptoeing to kiss me, which I respond, I grab her legs, lifting her so she doesn’t she need to stretch so much, I gently push her up against the wall to hold her there, she wraps her legs around me and they draw me in closer, making me catch my breath, both being naked, means my wolf wants to take hers, but due to her wound I wait for her to make the moves, it goes as far as she wants it too, I kiss down her neck, as she pulls me back into kissing her lips giggling, I feel her move so she slides down onto me. I gasp as I enter her fully, I carry her over to her bed, I lay her down gently, as I thrust inside of her, I can feel as she nears orgasm, making me want to as well, I hold out for as long as I can, she flips us over and rides me, her lips never leaving mine, my hands go to her waist, just as she finishes all over me, I can't help but finish myself, she lays on top of me, kissing me until we are interrupted by Valerie telling us we should head back. Glad that wasn’t thirty seconds later. We laugh as we head back over to the pool, Payton sitting down and I jump straight in, turning around and lowering her in, as I do I notice her wound is red around the edges, and I mind link the Thea to meet us at the gatehouse. We swim back to the pond, we both swim to the top of the pool. 

“Payton, I know I never say this, I do love you, with all my heart, and I will fight and survive for you, for us. You are the most beautiful person I know, inside and out.” I lean down and kiss her, a completely different type of kiss that before, it is the kind of kiss that unite souls. The kiss that every girl wants from her guy, the type of kiss that is written about in books or seen in movies. 

“I love you too” she smiles at me, leaning into my body for comfort. As we walk to meet the others. We shift as we near them. 

‘We need to leave now you guys.’ Jamie’s panicked voice makes us more a little faster. 

‘coming’ is all I reply, 

‘everyone ok?’ Payton links panicked. 

‘we heard voices, though they were human, they aren’t, they are wolves, heading for the pack.’ Jamie links back. 

Payton’s hair stands on end, and I know she is doing magic, finding them sensing where they are, how far to the pack if we can make it there first. 

‘Ok, so there are five of them, all experienced trackers, I have been covering our scents, so they won't know anyone has left, we need them to not know, they won't leave until they are sure, and we can’t stay out here and wait for them to leave. Jake, you need to run back with the others, Jamie and I will wait it out ok? We will try and get in if we can. Jake the pack needs a leader, and I am wounded, I won't be able to make it back, I will keep Jamie with me, we have been fighting together since we were young, he knows how to fight with me wounded, we will be safe I promise. You have to go now. Be safe’ she links to us; we take off running. 

‘Always for you, once I am safe, I will link, then I want a full loop on you.’ I say, 

‘Ok. Always.’ I can feel her and Jamie running as fast as she can while concentrating on hiding all of our scents. I concentrate on heading back to the pack, Valerie mind links ahead telling them to drop the bridge and for when they see us, to start drawing it up, means we will have to jump and slide down it, but least they won't see it being moved. I finally stopped feeling Payton following us but could sense her unrest. Once we made it to the pack the bridge started to be raised, we all jumped over and side down the other side, landing with a thud, we were presented with clothes once we were there, I heard a thud of the gate shutting, and someone said that the trackers were waiting in the forest line, they didn’t see anything. 

‘safe’ I link to Payton, I sit on the steps to the castle, where she starts allowing me to see what she sees. 

They are running the long way around, 

“Tell the archers not to shoot Payton and Jamie, they are approaching from the west, where no one is watching,” I yell out. Not talking to anyone specific. 

“Ok, tell her we will through over the robe so she can climb up,” Valerie says, 

“She can’t, she’s too weak, she will swim in. It is how we got in before.” I say, “keep an eye out for anyone chasing Payton and Jamie or lingering in the shadows.” 

“She can’t enter the moat if anyone is around. They will know then.” 

‘Payton, check around that no one is watching you.’ I link to her. 

‘too tired. We have hidden archer posts; we are hiding there. I can’t carry on; I can’t use magic to hide us. Ask Valerie if there is a way, we could create a zip line, or we will have to wait till dark.’ 

‘Ok, stay hidden.’ I reply. 

“Valerie, Nick, Thea and Owen office now. The rest of you, keep your eyes peeled, and let those on the west side know that Payton is hiding out there and to keep an eye open for her safety.” I grumbled as I headed into the castle, walking to the office. 

“Idea’s please?” I turn to them

“Alpha, I mean no disrespect by why is Nick here? he doesn’t know the land?” Owen responds. 

“I am here, purely to learn your land, your ways, and to keep Jake in check. When Payton is involved, he is not rational, and therefore needs someone who has known him a while.” Nick shrugs. 

“Ok, so Payton and Jamie are trapped, she mentioned zip wire?” 

“Only works if she is higher than us, anyone remembers the old archer's posts?” Owen says, 

“Yes, vaguely, they were a network of lookouts high in the trees, Payton used to play on them, I caught her a few times, she said they were once attached to the castle, but Sebastian thought they would allow invaders away into our camp without our knowledge. Payton wrote a paper about them,” Valerie said, “hang on, I’ll ask Luana to find it and bring it to us, the teaching team filing everything anyone of us has written” she says to me. 

“Ok while we wait, let’s think of ideas, if she needs to wait till dark, they are going to need food, and drink, right?” Owen points out, 

“Yes, and how is her wound, you called for me before all this happened?” Thea interjected. 

“Red around the edges, she’s also really tired,” I reply. 

“Ok one second, I am going to mind link Jamie to send me what it looks like.” She nods, “Ok, so she needs antibiotics, new stitches and some energy stuff. Can an archer shoot it over to her?” Thea says, looking at Owen, 

“Yeah, good idea. It can’t be too heavy though” he replies thinking about the archers.  

“It will be pills, we can’t send food over, but we do have tablets for that, so it will be light.” 

There is a knock at the door, Luana sticks her head in, “this is Payton’s essay she wrote, I also got her notes, and her sources, would you like me to help as I am quite adapt to finding information in a large number of texts by skimming?”

“Yes please, that would be great.” Smiles Nick. 

She comes in with a huge amount of paper, and textbooks tucked under her arm. 

“So, first things first, Payton says, they used to have special bows and arrows, she said that Sebastian never got rid of stuff like that, he hid them at the back of the armoury, behind a special door, this is in her notes. So, in theory, we can shoot across to her and she can slide into the compound. However, strategy-wise, we don’t want anyone to see she was outside the wall.” 

“Nightfall is in 1 hour, we can send over the pills, tell them to use them before they swim in?” Owen says, 

“The water will make her wound worse.” Thea counteracts. 

“Hang on there is another entrance to the castle?” Nick frowns. 

“Yes, it is how Payton and I got in undetected and killed Sebastian, only Jamie and Payton knew it was there,” I reply. “We can meet her where she comes in? Plus Jamie can swim with two people? Even if we use the other way, there is no way to guarantee their safety, people can shoot guns from the floor, or arrows, even with our great marksmen, the safest way is to have her use her magic to get herself and Jamie into the moat and swim underwater. That way they aren’t visible, or open to shots, plus they have nothing to slide here on.” 

“Ok, yeah, can Payton use her magic?” 

“I’ll ask.” 

‘Payton?’ I send to her, 

‘Yeah’. Her reply is groggy 

‘How are you using magic?’

‘erm yeah I can do, Jamie did a quick scout, there are only the five men trackers, we can safely using air to cover is get to the water and swim in’ 

‘Ok, Payton, I need you to double-check with air and earth that there is no one, no camera watching you from a distance, ok? We don’t want them finding the secret way in.” 

‘Ok.’ She replies, her voice getting smaller, weaker. 

‘I checked, there is a camera, looking for us, we are covered right now, if we move into the open, even out of the trees canopy, it will know exactly, where we are. The safest way, is over, they know we are out of the pack, so doesn’t matter, even if they start running towards us we will be over before they can do anything, and I can use the wind to keep the camera from knocking us down. Can you talk with Jamie now, I am tired and need to rest.’ She sounds defeated, tired, and a little angry. 

“Ok, so she’s replied, the only way to get them here is by over the wall, there is a camera looking for them, which means they know she is out, she can’t use magic to hide them as it will still be obvious what they are doing. I am worried about her, she doesn’t sound good, and asked if we can contact Jamie instead.” I tell the group. 

“Ok, I am going to get the medication she needs, we can then send them over, we can find the bows and arrows she is talking about.” 

“from her notes, I can find it,” Luana says. 

Everyone gets up and starts moving, I follow Owen and Luana to the weapons room, Luana walks to the back of the room, 

“there’s no door,” she frowns. 

“it’s probably a hidden door, like the rest of the castle,” I say, 

Luana looking through Payton’s notes. She stands by the table and then puts her hand underneath pressing a button, and double doors swing open and mounted on them are heavy-duty bows, Owen wolf whistles when we see them, there are also draws with labels on them, pulling the one what says zip lines and arrows. We open the draw and my god they are heavy duty. We can send it across, Jamie and Payton and come back and then there is a button you press on it to arm it, then we can deactivate it with a remote in the next draw up, meaning no one else can use it. The whole wire burns by the look of it. Helpful, plus there were some heavy-duty arrows that also went with this thing. They look they are exploded.  

“Wonder why he has hidden these; they would be helpful in a fight,” Owen says, Luana looked at him rolled her eyes, 

“Probably because us black wolves don’t need them,” she raises an eyebrow, “Also fight wolves are fighting on a field, and this are shot, they are killing everything around them, so not helpful, whereas an arrow kills a target. They would be helpful if a situation like yesterday though, although we have limited arrows, making it hard to train with.” She shrugs, picking up what we need and heading out to the west wall to meet up with the others. Nick and Valerie split up, one at the gatehouse, the other waiting on the wall. We arrive as Thea does with her medical bag, as she opens it inside is two little bags, 

“They have instructions on them, to make sure they take them right.” 

“We also have a seat thing that Payton can be strapped into, so she doesn’t fall off. We will send them all over individually.” Luana says. Wonder where she grabbed them from, I didn’t see them in there. 

They send over a test arrow first, with an item of clothing on to see if it lands where we hope. Which it does, we can now see Jamie, there seems to be a hut over there, so Payton is probably hidden in that. Jamie takes the jumper off the arrow and waves, so next, we send over the medication, and a small bottle of water to help them go down, we wait for Jamie to reappear, and we send over the seat and the arm thing for him, he takes them, then we send over a note telling him to hide with Payton, and we will send over the zip wire, as they are higher than us, it would be good to use. He hides, and we let loose the arrow, landing dead in its mark. I smile. We then anchor the other side to the metal casing that no one noticed before, we tug on it a few times and it holds steady. Jamie comes out and sets up Payton’s seat, he had, he had also made her put the jumper on and cover her face so that they don’t know its Payton out of the pack, it could be any one of the pack. Archers had lined up some targeting the forest line, and some higher looking for the camera, in the hopes to unsteady its picture. Jamie then adds his onto the line, clipping it in, thankfully the seat was harnessed because she’s swaying quite a lot. I could see the air stir around her, she was calling it to her, once they were both in, Jamie nudged Payton off of the ledge, and she came flying towards us, she was using air to slow herself down, then Jamie wasn’t far behind her, I welcomed her off the swing unplugging up and taking her into my arms. 

“Always,” she muttered, 

“Always,” I repeat. Once Jamie was unattached, Luana pressed the button disarming the devised and the wired went up in flames, Thea appeared touching Payton’s head,

“She needs to be in the hospital, Jake,” Thea speaks up. 

I nod, and turn to follow her, everyone else clears everything up, with Nick instructing them. Least she is safe within these walls, I repeat to myself on the way to the hospital. 

“Alpha and Luna have their wing in the hospital, they don’t usually like to show they can be ill or hurt too.” She says I get it, I am not like that, being hurt or ill is part and parcel of life, but I don’t care as long as Payton survives, I lay her gentle on the bed, which is slightly wider than a normal hospital bed, Thea starts to get to work, hanging bags, inserting a drip into Payton’s arm, cutting the jump of her, leaving her in the nude, then ordering the nurse to get hospital attire. Which consisted of some weird looking nighty and special tracksuit bottoms. There Payton laid. Unmoving. 

“Jake you can leave, shower, get changed, do some pack work and come back after dinner, I will request Claire or Max to bring food to Payton the second she is awake.” Thea looks at me, “she loves you; she will always come back to you. She needs you to look after the pack” giving my shoulder a little squeeze. I nod, I don’t trust my voice, I don’t trust my anger at letting her leave my side, I should have carried her, I should have done something, I knew she was weakening, but I didn’t say anything, all this was my fault. I close my eyes, I will not lose my temper, both these packs need me now more than ever, 

“Ok, thank you, Thea, can you request that Theo looks after her if you’re not going to be beside her, I do not want another person with her. No nurses, I want to ensure she is getting the best possible care if anything was to go wrong. I will be back after dinner. Thank you for all your care, Thea.” I half-smile at her and walk away, I head straight for the office, which for me, seems a mess, I walk in and Elizabeth is sitting on the floor surrounded by paperwork. 

“Sorry Jake, I wanted to be productive, I will leave.” She murmurs getting up to probably rush out the door, she is one of the few people I trust, she is one of the few people Payton truly trusts, she is one of my best friends. 

“No stay please?” I know my voice is softer and as I near the end of my sentence, it breaks, I sit down in the chair, 

“I heard about Payton, Jake she is a fighter, she wouldn’t leave you to deal with the evil coming and the mess of the two packs without her, she will survive,” she comes and takes my hand, that’s when I blurt it all out, about it being my fault, how I should have done things differently, how I am her mate and I knew she wouldn’t be up for it, we should have just killed the rogue trackers, how I put her in danger. Elizabeth just listened, she held my hand and just listened, the thing is about Elizabeth, she allows you to be the person you are in the moment, no judging, no gossiping. This is why Payton and I love her like a sister. “Jake none of this is your fault, you could have done all of those things, you weren’t following her orders to make you safe, you followed to ensure the rest of your party was safe too, and I am sure their families will thank you, Payton and Jamie know this area, they know how to survive here, they did under an awful Alpha, they thrived, you were doing what was best for the people in your care and if I am honest, can I be honest?” she looks at me. 

“Yes, you may,” I say head in my hands. 

“We have bigger problems, Payton will survive, she always does, she needs time and rest, and tomorrow while you are sorting this mess out,” she gestures around “I will be having a girls day with her if she is awake of course. If she isn’t, I guess, I will be helping you.” she huffs. 

“Bigger problems than my mate needing time in the hospital?” I say raising an eyebrow, honestly couldn’t think of anything worse. 

“Yes, I have been going through the pack files, and Sebastian didn’t know his pack or couldn’t remember much, as he kept information on all of his pack, where they worked, where they live, what their likes and dislikes where, any personal information they told him, and I didn’t read the information, by the way, he kept information on who mated who, who had affairs with whom, what the children were doing, all kinds of things, which is weird right? We never had that?” 

“No, we believed in the personal touch, the knowledge of the pack, we would never betray their trust like that, it is very weird indeed, can you pop next door and ask them to come in here? Maybe they will have answers.” 

“Also, their receipt and invoices are all over the show, and probably not filed or taxed right.” She says as she gets up and heads to the door. “We will have to keep what we need, shred anything we don’t, then cross-reference them to the paid bills?” I nod in acknowledgement of this s**t show we now have to sort out. 

After a minute or two they all appeared in the doorway, Elizabeth took her seat in the middle of the pile. 

“Come in and close the door,” I say, they did deadly silent like they were all in trouble, but I guess they are used to becoming in here and getting shouted at. 

“So, a few things, you don’t need to look like that, you are adults, not children who are being told off.” They relaxed a little. “So, can someone tell me why the alpha would need to keep detailed records of everyone in the shadow pack?” I say looking at them all, gauging their first reactions, ok, so none of them knew. That’s good. 

“We didn’t know Alpha,” says Max, “I do believe they should be shredded though.” Everyone nodding in agreement. 

“I agree, we have not read them and nor do we plan on doing that. Now you pay your staff correct, do you keep that information? If so, do you guys keep it or do we in here?” 

“So, all the information is kept on the computer system, as a company payroll, Sebastian never allowed over time so they are or were paid a fixed sum, so it was automatic,” Bree spoke up. 

“Ok, so Bree I need access to the accounts, and you will need to teach me how to use them” 

“Not a problem sir, tomorrow I will show you how to access them, and I can even make some information sheets on how to do everything?” she looks hopeful and excited. 

“Ok sounds good, we will need to think of a way to integrate the moon pack, maybe we have account wages come from, that the shadow pack pay into and so does the moon pack?” They all nod, Ok, another job for tomorrow, I look at Elizabeth, who seems to be writing this down. “Valerie and Nick, have you seen everyone?” 

“Everyone except Elizabeth over there, everyone who lost their job, or was previously employed by us, are now set for jobs, these guys know who to expect and are sorting uniforms out for them, Bree has everyone information to add to the payroll system, they all understand that in their payslips there will be a deduction based on their cost of living, also Bree had that if they need it, the maids over a cleaning system that our pack can pay them for, but Bree has all that information and will show you tomorrow how their computer system works. They all know that they are expected to train, we are, like the shadow pack has, putting the required training sessions into their schedule. They meet their lead for each section tomorrow, and they are to start training the following day. Children are already and settled into school. Once we have seen people train and been given an idea of where they sit, we will then come to you and let you know we are ready for the war council.” Nick speaks, working with Valerie has given him more confidence. I like this side of him. 

“Ok, that is good, I am glad you are working so well as a team. I am going to organise this paperwork with Elizabeth.” 

“Well, actually Jake, I don’t have a job yet, I have been here, sorting this, so I have not had a chance to talk to them yet.” 

“Ok, well, for the time being, I would like you to work with Bree until I am on my feet running the show, I will need you to keep the office tidy and organised, schedule pack members who need help from me, or Payton when she is better. I will need you to keep on top of bills, invoices, if the leaders need overtime than we will look into that, you will oversee budgeting that kind of thing. Is that ok?” 

“Of course, Alpha.” She smiles. 

“Very well then, tomorrow, I will learn the computer side of the pack with Bree, I will also start dropping by training session, and also talking to the shadow pack about spending time with them, getting to know them.” I smile at the leaders of this great pack, and it is evident that Sebastian did not run this pack, they did, he was the petulant child that pretended he did, he threw this toys out of the pram and tortured this poor pack into submission when he had no leadership skill, just a thirst for blood. “I know, it may seem that I am taking away your job roles, I am not, I am doing what the Alpha is supposed to do, while you guys can relax, and let loose a little, the pack problems aren’t on you anymore.” I half-smile that them and they all relax a little. They all excuse themselves heading back into their office by the sounds of it, and I go to sit on the floor with Elizabeth while we organise the receipts, invoices, letters that have accumulated over the years. We throw anything that is four years old into the shredder. They have an industrial one, there you don’t need to feed the paper in, it sorts it all out itself. I move to sit on the couch while Elizabeth hands me the files of the pack and I put them in the shredder, it can do the file in one handy go. We shred them all, quite quickly. We then go about sorting the letters, invoices and receipt out for each year, we read the letter, shred it if we don’t need it, or file it in month order, that way when we cross-reference we can stamp to say it’s been paid, or research why it wasn’t. Many of the letters were junk, Elizbeth unpacks the stationary box we brought with us, and fined the zip folders we use for receipts, and files them away in the years, we keep to their sections on receipts, housekeeping, groundworks, food, medical and training. We will have to review the budgeting system. Once all the filing is done, we start putting the moon packs files in the last pull out the draw of each section, filing them as best we can into their subheadings. 

Owen comes to get us for dinner, knocking on the door, Elizabeth is decluttering the office table, putting a place for bills for us to pay, we had put a this year’s folder in each section too, putting a diary on the top for wolves to book in time to discuss matters with their Alpha, putting the clutter behind her on some empty shelves. 

“Alpha, it is dinner time, can I quickly have a word?” he says nervously, just in time for Mason to get Elizabeth for dinner, she says she will see me tomorrow and what we can do for today is done, 

“Sure Owen, come on in and shut the door, how can I help?”

“Well the others are talking about this wartime council, and well I don’t want it to be taken away from me, Sebastian used to give the orders, but I planned it all.” He says solemnly.

“Owen,” I smile at him, “This isn’t about taking anything away from you, or the others in their roles, this is about alleviating some of your stresses. This pack has an amazing record with winning fights, so I don’t doubt your abilities in making those decisions, but what I do want is us as a pack to start acting like a pack and not a dictatorship, Payton and I run the moon pack very differently and have been fighting rogues and vampires for a while now, with little to no casualties, because we talk to our pack, gain their knowledge and experience and make a calculated decision, we want to get to know this pack, the individual wolves like you do. You are not losing your job, or being demoted, which none of you are, it is just that the responsibility for this pack should fall and only fall to the Alpha. Your knowledge will be used Owen, you will still be in the meeting helping us come up with formations, you will still be the general in the war, but if things go wrong, the buck falls to Payton and I, as we would have made those decisions, using your knowledge. Payton and I are very much aware of your abilities Owen, do not think for one minute that we want to take away from you. You should never have been put in this situation to start with.” I look at him, he looks relieved and more relaxed. I hope he understands that I mean. 

“Oh ok, it would be beneficial to share some of the burdens, I used to worry that if we failed Sebastian would kill me if we magically survived that fail,” he takes a deep breath. 

“Oh, goddess. Honestly, that man gets less and less in my expectations the long I am here. I will tell you how Payton envisioned the idea, she accidentally sent it through the link, so she wanted to make a huge picture of the castle, with the leaders of each section on a white boarded, then she was going to make a card for each pack member, with their picture on the front, and information on the back, such as their ‘ordinary’ job, their talents, i.e. archery, climbing, a fighting style. You get the idea, with their strengths listed, great with children, that kind of thing. Then we stick them to the area we as a team think they fit. We then come up with battle strategies and place them on the castle for us to remember the different types and where people should be during different types of battle. That is where your knowledge is important. We don’t know the different types of battle attacks, and how to counter them.”  

“Thank you for sharing that information with me, I feel much more secure about it all now. Thank you.” Owen says, 

“I am not here to keep secrets from anyone.” I smile at him and pat him on the back. we head to the dining hall, and everyone quickly takes their seats. I stay standing until everyone is seated. 

“Before dinner is brought out, I wanted to talk to you all. As most of you are aware, our Luna was caught outside of the wall today, her injury meaning she now needs to be hospitalised and will be on the mend, with the support of our great doctors. The Luna will be resting either in the hospital or in our room, either way, I will be doing this solo. I hope that each one of you will tend me your support and continue to do your jobs you have been set. Over the next few days, I will be learning the paying system, and sorting out any teething problems that occur. One training starts, I will be attending the sessions, see how people are trained here, and take part in one that best suits my schedule. I also feel that I need to learn and make the effort with getting to know the shadow pack, your individual histories, your personalities, just like I know the moon pack. This is so I can be an active leader, a competent leader, and so that anyone can come to me, and I will know you, this will take time and effort but I am willing to do that for this pack. I may have been raised with the moon pack, but the shadow pack raised my Luna, my mate, and I want to give you the opportunity Payton gave to mine. Today I spoke with Payton, she has been talking with the Goddess, the evil is coming and we all need to be ready, and I will do my very best by both of these packs because you are all special to me in different ways. Now please, enjoy this meal the kitchen has lovingly prepared.” I smile taking my seat as food is served, as soon as it is in front of me, I start eating. Once we all finish and our plates were put away, I spoke to a few pack members from the shadow pack, everyone was kind and understanding that I wanted to be by our Luna’s side, Everyone offered their good wishes, and I head back downstairs as the pack disperses, I turn up in the room Payton was in, and there she was sitting and eating her dinner. I smiled and rushed over to her, checking her over, she laughs, and I kiss her. 

“I am so happy you are awake.” She smiles up at me and I can’t help but kiss her again. 

“I guessed” she laughed, she was sitting down the end of the bed to eat so I take my shoes off and climb at the top end when she had finished it all, she shuffled back and leaned into me, 

“Theo has only just left to go to the toilet, he has to use his own,” she smiles up at me, “and I told him to go as I was awake and could deal with you if you appeared, please don’t be mad at him, he was so worried about leaving me” she murmurs into my top. 

“Mad? He has done exactly what I needed him to do, and that makes you all better,” I kiss the top of her head. “How are you feeling?” 

“Better. Thea pumped me with loads of antibiotics, and some liquid fluid and food, so that I didn’t waste away, my side hurts, Theo said it will be days before I can start training, but they said I can go back upstairs as I am awake, but I am not allowed to leave the bed unless it is to pee,” she smiled. 

“Sounds good to me, I have a lot of pack stuff I need to sort out tomorrow, but Elizabeth will be happy as she wants a girl day with you,” Payton nods, and smiles. She cuddles into me, while I hold her, a few minutes later Theo appears, he pales at the sight of me, 

“Thank you for taking such good care of Payton. She told me she isn’t allowed to leave the bed, and she must rest, can you check on her wound once a day for me, so I don’t need to worry it is infected?” 

“Of course, Alpha, nothing is too small for our Luna. So no activity of any kind, Payton is to take this medication for the next 3 days, 2 tablets 3 times a day, and she is not to leave the bed unless she needs the loo, she can’t use the bath, but she can shower, as long as your with her to ensure she isn’t overstretching.” Theo says, with a stern look towards her. 

“Thank you, tell Thea, thank you for me,” I say as I pick Payton up and cradle her in my arms, she leans in and we head back to our room, using the servant corridors, as the pack never use them. Payton tells me how to navigate them, anyone who doesn’t use these passageways would get lost or not end up where they want too. 

‘Claire and Max, Payton is now out of the hospital, she is not allowed to leave the bed, can you arrange for all of Payton’s meals are brought up to her, Elizabeth will be with her all day tomorrow, so can you ensure she has a meal too, please? She will need breakfast, lunch and dinner, is needed to keep her energy levels up.’ I mind link to them, it’s easier for us to link it than phone across, although I know some packs prefer the uses of mobile phones. 

‘Of course, Alpha, we are so glad she is allowed home’ Max replies. 

‘Elizabeth, you can have your girly day tomorrow, be at our at eight. If you need any food, snacks, and whatnot, please arrange with Claire.’ I link to Elizabeth, instead of a reply I get a squeal, thankfully it isn’t that loud. 

By the time I make it to the room, I had mind linked everyone I need too, so we have peace. I gently put Payton down on the bed and help her undress from the hospital clothes, we shower together, I wash her hair and help wash her back. We stand cuddling in the shower, our naked bodies touching, feeling her warmth gives me hope for the future, a prayer that we make it whole, and reminds me how much love I have for this woman. Once out of the shower, I dry her off, then do myself. We head into the wardrobe naked, allowing ourselves to air dry properly, before choosing some pyjamas to sleep in, Payton palls out some short shorts and a vest top with stitch on it. I find some bottoms to lounge in, when I come out of the wardrobe Payton is sat on the chair looking into the mirror on the dressing table trying to brush her hair, every time wincing at the pain in her side. 

“Here, let me,” I say taking the brush, she looks doubtful that I will be helpful, but I start by brushing and detangling the ends of her hair, working my way up to the root. “How do you want your hair?” I ask, looking at her in the mirror. 

“Ponytail is fine, I’ll get Elizabeth to plaid it tomorrow.” She smiles at me, still looking in the mirror. She still was gorgeous, but you can tell she was having a rough couple of days, she had dark circles under her eyes, her eyes looked less bright like someone was dimming her inner light. 

“I can plait, do you want a French plait or just an ordinary one?” I ask, she looks shocked before shrugging and saying

“whichever I don’t mind.” I laugh, I can plait, I had to learn girls hair as I have three sisters, all of which my mum couldn’t get ready and to school, so I used to help. As she has no layer in her hair, I start by taking the top portion, separating it into three bits, and start my French plait, pulling hair into each braid, once I get to her neck, I take a step back as she has super long hair, still keeping my hands close to her head to ensure the plait stays tight, once I get away from the head, I plait quicker and put a hairband in the end. I lifted out the travel mirror so she could see her hair in the mirror. I smile to myself. 

“Wow, Mr Arendale, you can do hair?” she smiles up at me, turning so she can see my face and not just the reflection.  

“If anyone asks, no I can’t, but I grew up with three sisters, mum couldn’t do all their hair so I learnt, tell no one” I point at her, she shrugs and laughs, 

We head over to the bed, where I lift her, so she doesn’t do any damage, we turn the tv on, and continue watching Supernatural until bedtime, where we instantly fall asleep, with Payton curled up in my arms. I relax into a blissful sleep.