Warning: this chapter is purely for fun, I wanted to experiment a bit and this is what I ended up with. You don't need to read this if you don't like different point of views. It is not needed to understand the novel, I mean there's back story with some hmm hints to things but- this is just a fun new perspective I gave a try.
Anyways, Enjoy!
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Andrew would just like to put it out into the universe that he knew this would happen.
Just a fun little acknowledgment he would like to make but certainly not out loud to his King. Not yet at least, because the mere strings of emotions he could feel pulling in the direction of his King was enough to make him wince, straightening his back as he glances around the garden area composedly, taking in the evening fizzling out in the most spectacular of ways.
Well, he dryly thinks, can't say he didn't spot this coming from a mile away.
After his Queen had given the orders, King Nolan had ordered Jack to kindly escort instantly demoted Jared to the dungeons and he would handle him (in other terms rip him of his status, let him rot in prison) and Andrew was given the task of overseeing the rest of the dinner party.
A lot of people had called it a night after the debacle leaving him with the scut work in just bidding farewell and assuring the Alphas and Luna's everything was getting handled. It's not like Andrew knew where his King had flaunted off too, either to follow Jack or Queen Cassie, what he did know however was he did not like the feeling emitting from the connection binding him to his Alpha.
"It's bad." His mate murmurs from beside him, Andrew's hand tightens against her hip, eyes flickering down to his cub shuffling against Sarah's body sleeping through all the action that has just occurred. He dips his head to the juncture of his mates throat, running his nose along before peppering the mating bite with a gentle kiss in assurance.
"It will work out."
Sarah's breathes him in, mouth murmuring against his hair. "Did you ever think this would happen? My best friend, coming to visit Amelia only she being our Queen all along."
"I don't think either of us saw this coming but you can't tell me it is all that surprising. We've known for a while there was something much more different to her than just human."
"Her survival was far too much of a miracle for it to be real."
"Being a Queen Alpha brings it's own power - human or not." Andrew replies, head lifting to scan the garden block again and finding a few stragglers gossiping of today's events by the corner but looking on their way to bid goodnight. "Do you think I made it worse by calling her the title upfront?"
"I think you just confirmed a lot of what she already knew."
"You can't tell me she didn't know at all, through any of this. The signs were blaring red in front of her all this time, how could she have..." He trails off feeling her annoyance flare before seeing it.
"Drew," His mate chides gently, eyes simmering on his and he softens his snark, "you can't see what you think isn't possible. It is amazing what the mind blocks you from seeing and believing."
"Well, I think she knows by now." Andrew retorts feeling the wind picking up, adding another stressor to the one hell of a day because he knows this could only mean a storm is brewing figuratively and literally. He delves a little deeper and feels the tie binding him to his Queen, the cord coiling together tightly in a way that wasn't before, and then... Andrews eyes widen and he can feel Sarah stiffen just the same beside him.
"She knows." They both breathe out together.
For a moment Andrew stares ahead in awe and wonderment in the way he can feel the acceptance of his Queen snap in place and bind them together indefinitely. The cord glows golden, he feels it strengthen in a way that brings certainty and no ounce of doubt that she is his Queen.
From the distance he sees Jack rapidly approach with just as much emotion as the usual but his eyes glint to showcase his wolf and when he approaches he links, you felt that too?
"She's accepted us."
"We're pack." Andrew grins wide, a surge of relief passing through him undeniably that at least the crumbling empire of the werewolf kingdom would not be happening tonight. However, acceptance to one part of the role is not acceptance to being the Kings Mate. He says as so to the others who grimly nod and it furthers when a sour feeling from the bond erupts.
Alert and looking around, Andrew tries not to groan and curse at the emotions coming from his both sides of the Queen and King right now. It was obvious something had happened at that moment and when he sees King Nolan approach from the clearing space down by the Fairy Gardens, he straightens and pulls Sarah closer to his side.
"She's ordered Sarah to meet her in her chambers."
Room, Andrew wants to correct with an eye roll but refrains because that would, as Sarah would say, be socially inept.
"I'll go now, Alpha." His mates head bows respectfully before she dutifully hands Amelia into Andrews arms, eyes shining in concern and he feels her nerves bouncing off her in waves, when she glances up at him and he responds by offering a heartwarming smile.
"I'll take care of her, you take care of our Queen." He murmurs, bending forward and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead before leaning further and giving her a soft kiss. It will work out, he secretly links to her, do not stress.
"I want you both to organise the situation with the Redmoon Pack, have the Beta and Delta aware of the situation and the need to step up. You'll need to organise who will take over the role, give me some options and we will make the final decision together." King Nolan's scowl is prominent as he speaks, anger tainting the words.
"Did you feel the link before?" Andrew eagerly blurts out, ignoring his Kings mood in favour of trying to make it lighter. "Queen Cassie accepted the bond."
"I did not feel anything." He responds a flow of emotions going throw him so fast that Andrew could not pick up any definitive feeling before it settled back onto anger comfortably. Nolan turns on his heel and more so storms than walks away.
"Wait, where are you going?" Andrew calls out in a huff watching him fade back into the tree lining and turning to Jack, "what the hell just happened?"
He didn't feel her bond, she hasn't accepted him, Jacks lips are pursed as he links to him unimpressed and Andrew feels his shoulders hunch, it's fine. He would of been mad either way. You need to go talk to him and I will go deal with the Redmoon.
"Why do I have to talk to him?" Andrew whines out, already dreading the huffy conversation that he knows will follow if he even dares to approach the raging Alpha. "I know it sometimes seems like it but I don't have a death wish."
Just do it, Jack replies with a scowl, I'll take my niece and you go find him before he wanders too far.
"Fine." Andrew continues to grumble incoherently under his breath as he hands his daughter off to her Uncle, kissing her gently on the forehead and running his nose against the line of her hair to scent her. "Be good for Uncle Jackie."
Uncle Jackie grunts at the name he had given him a while back as he always does, but his eyes soften down at his niece tucking Amelia tightly in his over-sized arms that she looks like a peanut between them, Andrew almost laughs at the comedic aspect of it.
Go.
"I'm going, I'm going." Andrew turns on his heel, grumbling at himself even after he's down between the trees, "so pushy. It's always Andrew do this. Andrew do that but it's never a please or..."
"Perhaps it is because it is in your job description."
"King Nolan!" Andrew startles, struggling to understand how he hadn't even sensed his King nearby.
"Why are you not doing what I have asked?"
Okay so no niceties, he thinks sarcastically.
There is so many remarks Andrew wants to say out loud. The most prominent one sitting on the edge of his tongue ready to be unleashed. A simple; I told you so. But it's that uneasy feeling that his mate is currently emitting to him that is settling in his chest that reminds him that he needs to fix this so instead he sighs.
"What happened?" He quietly asks instead.
His King turns outwards, facing the small pond that trickles down into the larger sector of the riverbanks further into the preserve.
"Nothing."
"Okay..." He drawls, head rolling upwards to the sky now clouding over as the moon barely cracks through and he does a quick prayer to the goddess for his patience to not be tested otherwise he was not going to make it out of this conversation unscathed.
That would show Beta Jack to trust him with comforting someone.
"Did you know Cassie is the reason Sarah and I met?" He doesn't know what makes him blurt it out but it gets a tick of a reaction where his Alpha's head tilts toward him. "It was the standard Pack training evaluation you sent me to Bluemoon and I saw her training. A human, I had thought, training with a pack of wolves. It was unheard of obviously so I had to watch and I did. She kept falling down again and again.
Really, it was growing sad to watch but she just kept getting back up and I remember so clearly the determination set in her eyes, the fierce level of concentration as she said again before being swept under and falling back down."
"Drew-"
"Wait- listen." Andrew walks to his Alphas side, "I left after a bit but returned the next day and there she was again but this time by herself practicing on one of those dummies we set up for the youngsters. I don't know why I approached her at the time but I did. And I said...I said 'you have to bend your knees' and next thing I knew she was practicing on me."
"What is your point Drew."
"My point- my point is that she spent hours upon hours that day with me going through the techniques one by one, picking apart her form and practicing again and again until she was satisfied with herself. She never once gave up and when she was done she had turned to me and smiled the most happiest I have ever seen and said 'I want you to meet someone' and she led me to my mate.
It was like she knew. She knew on some level who I was, who I belonged to. I remember asking her one day, a few months later actually as Sarah was packing up her things to move in with me. I asked her if she knew and she said...she said; I had a feeling. You always follow those feelings Andrew."
"That doesn't-"
"My point," Andrew stresses, "or points I should say. Cassie is the type of person who likes to have all the facts, to know everything she possibly can to make out the situation that is presented. You know this. She is also a very determined person when she sets her mind to something.
And we hid something from her that has shaken her whole world view, all the conclusions and facts in her mind are muddled now and everything that she knows is turned upside down. I have known her for years, Nolan." Andrew insists, turning to stare at him determinedly, "trust me when I say that she just needs some time to get back on her feet. She's been knocked down and now she needs a moment to get back up, okay? And when she does I assure you she will come back full force ready to try again."
"You don't know that," His King's voice cracks and it has Andrew's breath hitching at the sheer amount of emotion as he turns to look in his Delta's eyes. "Drew you should of seen her expression. There was so much hurt and pain and her...she felt so upset."
"Nolan," Andrew's hand reaches up to rest on his shoulder, "if you had waited a second you would've got to hear my second point."
At least that gets an eye roll out of him- score for Andrew.
"Since the moment Cassie was born she has had the power of a Queen coursing through her, whether she knew it or not everything she says was a feeling that she followed was that power leading her in the direction needed for our Kingdom.
Cassie had a feeling about all of us, why do you think she's stayed this long? She had a feeling with Josh, and look what that led to. She had a feeling with Erin and her telling the truth. The Royal Pack. Most of all she had feelings with and for you and she's followed every single one of them. She's smart, she's determined so what makes you think she is going to turn away from this new responsibility she has been presented with? Come on Nolan, she may be mad right now but she isn't going anywhere."
"So she stays as Queen, she accepts the position and stands up to take her place but that doesn't mean she accepts me!" He snaps angrily but Andrew is smart enough to know it's hurt running through his Alpha's system. "Drew," he much more quietly says and he recoils at the sight of the water in his Alpha's eyes, "I have waited years for this. For so long I looked up at the moon hoping she was looking back too longing for the same connection and now that the moment is here...I screwed it all up!"
"Nolan..."
"I had my once in a life time chance and I blew it. I kept it a secret and for what? Because I was scared? Cowardice serves no one but the perpetrator and my silence was an act of betrayal."
Andrew purses his lips, head dipping down as he stares heavily at the ground beneath them. He knows how afraid Nolan must be feeling right now, a mate was a sacred gift and to have one in your grasp but with knowledge that it could all be ripped away must be...Andrew wouldn't know what he would've done if Sarah had rejected him.
But Andrew couldn't think that this was the end of it all because it wasn't. He knew it wasn't.
"No." Andrew resolutely speaks, looking back up. "Yes, you messed up but you know Cassie. We know Cassie and she is forgiving. She has the kindest soul and yes you hurt her but she will understand when you explain everything to her. You need to talk to her, Nolan."
"She said she was done for the night."
"And thats the magic of always having a tomorrow," Andrew rolls his eyes clapping his King on the back, "talk to her tomorrow. Explain your side and you will see how it will all work out."
He nods firmly. "I'll talk to her tomorrow. It will be okay."
"Yes," he stresses, "yes it will. Thats the positivity we need right now."
"And you are going to return back to Jack and give him a hand with my orders."
Andrew bounces his eyes around his Kings face for a moment trying to get a better read of him and see if he should return back or continue the conversation for a little bit longer and offer more comfort.
"Go." He orders, Andrew bows his head. "I need to be alone for awhile."
So Andrew leaves, heart aching a little but wanting to give his King a moment alone as requested.
_____
It's a long night, between going through candidates for the new Redmoon Alpha but his head isn't in it, hand reaching up at his chest to rub at where the tie to his mate throbs with concern and the sadness that she feels.
He blows a raspberry out of his lips, throwing down the folder onto the desk where Jack and him sit around. Rolling his head back against the chair, he rubs at his eyes tiredly.
It will be okay. Jack assures him, still flipping through his own folder.
"I can feel how worried Sarah is right now and it's not helping that Nolan is offering no assurance either. Having two unsteady leaders is not comforting at all."
And that's why we have to step up.
"She's like a sister to Sarah, you know? They met when they were 21 and I met them both two years later, it's...I can't imagine Cassie not in our lives."
Jack slumps, much more calmly placing the folder down against the table than Andrew had. She is like a sister to me too, a younger one at that and she will not be leaving us anytime soon. You know this, Andy.
"You think with the way we all think of each other as brothers and sisters that in one way or another it is technically incest between Nolan and Cassie?"
For a moment Andrew blinks innocently at Jack with a sincere expression on his face, that is until he looks at Jack directly and the way he looks so unimpressed with a deadpanned expression makes him crack up into laughter. "Your face!" He barks still laughing.
Jack will deny it but Andrew feels the amusement between their bond and the way Jack shakes his head and shoulders shake with kept laughter. You are an idiot. Jack retaliates with sheer exasperation.
"Everything is too serious these days." Andrew hesitates for a second before finally saying what he wants to, "you have been around for longer then I have, how old were you when you met Nolan?"
Twenty three.
"Same age I met Sarah." Andrew offhandedly murmurs, "you have been in this gig for fifteen years now compared to my measly seven," he jokes before, "...do you- do you think you would of reacted the same way Nolan had if you met your mate now? Kept it hidden? Been scared?"
Andrew knows he asks things that are out of line, no remorse occasionally and he takes pride in the fact he speaks up when he knows everybody is wondering but...but looking at the crestfallen face of his Beta he has a inkling he may have finally found the question that was too far.
"I have met them already." Jack speaks, Andrew gapes at the sound of his voice that croaks like it hadn't been used in years. Andrew had known Jack had spoken to Cassie a few times before but no one had actually heard it but her. He has a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach.
"I-" Andrew stutters, "I'm sorry I didn't- nobody told me...Jack."
I don't know where they are, or if they survived. All I know is I got to spend three torturous years with them stuck in that facility. One day they were right beside me and the next they were gone. Nobody said a word no matter how hard I begged or pleaded. Jacks eyes are closed as he breathes in deeply, the scars running down his face are no match for the ones held within.
"Jack-" Andrew chokes out, feeling every bit of grief his Beta is feeling.
"All I know," Jack croaks out again, "is when you have a mate you fight for them with every inch you've got."
"You haven't given up." Andrew states more than questions.
Jacks eye's open, a newfound hard set to them. "Not until I find his body."