A/N: Again split this chapter into two parts given the length
I thought it would apropos with all the stuff that is about to go down at the event haw haw
......
Meanwhile, in the Silver Arrow Pack
The Alpha and Luna Ceremonies should have meant retirement for former Alpha Bradley. It should have meant relaxation, the opportunity to finally take a step back and let his son and his chosen mate run things. He should have been resting at home, drinking beer or watching television or something, instead of sitting in the Alpha's office - formally his and now his son's - working.
To say he was furious at Alpha Aaron was an understatement. He was already a few months into his rule and his leadership of the Silver Arrow Pack was less than stellar. His pack members didn't respect him, and he had no idea how to reach a level of understanding with them. Most of them just followed him because they had to.
And his idiot Luna wasn't doing much better, spending time bragging and gossiping with what small circle of friends she had and then intimidating others into getting what she wanted. When it came to actual pack matters, Luna Kylie would rather push for her own choices and refuse to compromise, resulting in many of the conferences and meetings arriving at stalemates, with important pack decisions being postponed again and again. And her reputation amongst the pack, while no longer openly addressed, might have been worse than his son's.
This was all Olwen's fault. She could have accepted the amicable separation from Aaron and still retained her place in this pack, but no! She had to make a scene in her departure and cause a chain of events that resulted in Beta Kayden's family leaving and the relationship between his son and his chosen mate to become strained.
And now because of all that, the Silver Arrow Pack had to admit they were unfit to hold the function this year and pass the duties of hosting of the Moon River Pack.
Some of the fault is yours too, Bastian muttered ruefully. If you hadn't done that all those years ago, Tess would still be alive and Aaron wouldn't have found the drugs in your office.
Shut up! Bradley reprimanded the wolf in his head, infuriated he would mention his deceased mate at this time. Tess is already dead, and there's nothing more we can do! It was the rogues who killed her!
Bastian reluctantly fell silent. Since the death of their mate, his wolf had only become more compliant to Bradley's instructions but experienced a feeling of overall numbness at the loss of Tess. While he'd had disagreements with his human over the years, the she-wolf's demise had taken its toll on him to the point where he was just like any one of the Silver Arrow Pack members - he followed Bradley's instructions because his human was the only thing he had left to live for. As wrongful as his actions had been.
......
Alpha Aaron was currently making the rounds in an attempt to settle a few minor pack disputes, but it was his Delta and Gamma doing most of the heavy lifting given how distracted he was at the moment.
After that embarrassing incident a few months back, Luna Kylie had only given him back bed privileges a few days ago, and even now they slept separately in the same bed and still weren't intimate that much. The only exception was the she-wolf's heats, but even then they just did what was needed and then went right to being apart.
On her end, Kylie maintained her disgruntlement about Alpha Aaron calling out Olwen's name during their last encounter, while Aaron couldn't risk a repeat of that incident thanks to the disobedience of his wolf - who was still up to his usual tricks. Had the drugs caused Ares to become more rebellious, was it his natural state, or was it both?
Anyways, it didn't take a marriage counsellor to know Aaron's chosen mate was angry with him. During every pack discussion, every meeting they had with the Beta, Delta and Gamma to decide on further actions, Kylie only seemed all the more determined to oppose whatever stance the Alpha was taking just to spite him, and in the end nothing was done. A lot of duties that should have been accomplished weeks ago were still on the agenda, causing many activities in the Silver Arrow Pack to come to a standstill, and complaints to arise from certain pack members.
Maybe it was because they hadn't slept together for a long while since they became a mated couple, but Kylie was starting to become less and less attractive by the day. She knew how to fight and still exuded the supposed confidence Aaron had wanted in his Luna, but she refused to interact with any of her pack members aside from her friends and family, and showed a complete lack of patience in running through the usual documents or procedures that a Luna was required to overlook.
The closest thing she had to guidance was a file full of notes that Olwen had taken when she was still training here - but like hell was Kylie going to look at those. And her childish behaviour towards him in official matters, just because their relationship was not going well was beginning to irk Aaron.
Yes, she is the perfect, beautiful strong Luna you wanted, Ares mocked inside him. Congratulations.
Being unable to bed his own chosen mate outside of when the heat cycle demanded it, Aaron had no choice on regular days but to relieve his tensions like a hormonal youth who had not yet found his other - by himself. He had held off on the drugs the best he could after 'the incident' to prevent Ares from spiralling even more out of control, but that didn't stop his wolf from continuing to push images of Olwen into his mind when he was alone and with Kylie during her heat. He'd ended up calling the name of his ex mate more than once - managing to hold it off this time whenever he was with his chosen mate, thank the goddess - but was increasingly unnerved by how little guilt he was experiencing.
It was made all the more difficult since even though he'd been having an affair with Kylie, he'd still been with Olwen physically the most while the former was away at the Snow Fang Pack with her own fated. Before Kylie's green apple scent, Aaron had been more familiar with Olwen's lavender and honey, and the house that he and Luna Kylie now lived in had once been hers and his after all.
On particular days where Kylie and him had very bitter arguments that resulted in them facing their backs to each other and falling asleep in tense silence, Aaron missed playing with Olwen's brown hair and listening to her soft snores as she lay next to him.
He was confused. He couldn't be sure whether it was actually him or his wolf's actions affecting him, but he didn't feel anything for Kylie these days other than annoyance and exasperation.
"You useless brat!" A shout startled Aaron out of his thoughts. A distance away was Luna Kylie once again shoving Jessie to the ground with an agitated expression on her face. "Trust an omega to miss out an item from my shopping list!"
Jessie cowered immediately, baring her neck to the Luna in complete fear.
With a heavy sigh, Alpha Aaron left Delta Jace and Gamma Edric to talk with another pack member who was having neighbourly issues and approached his mate.
"Kylie, enough. You're scaring your attendant."
"It's her fault!" The Luna snapped, her amber eyes blazing with fury. "Tell her, Aaron!"
"Look, whatever it is you missed, I'll go and get it." Alpha Aaron said, his tone flat and resigned. He turned to Jessie.
"Jessie, I apologise on behalf of the Luna. She must be on edge thanks to the approaching function. You may be excused from your omega duties for the rest of the day."
Still shaking, Jessie got up and bowed.
"Thank you, Alpha."
Her eyes flickered to the still furious woman next to him and hastily bowed again.
"A-Apologies again, Luna."
She then quickly turned and walked off, as Kylie thrust her list into Aaron's chest.
It was unfortunate, really, on Alpha Aaron and Luna Kylie's behalf.
When Aaron had launched the investigation regarding how a third of the pack had mysteriously come down with food poisoning, he had perfectly ignored the omegas, or more specifically, one omega.
The moment Jessie was out of earshot from the Alpha and Luna, she quickened her footsteps back to her home, eager to prepare for the next phase.
Given how intimidating the then Alpha Bradley and his son could be if they just didn't attend the Ceremonies, Jessie had made an agreement with certain households in the Silver Arrow Pack. Most were still going to witness the ascensions of their new Alpha and Luna out of fear and respect for their pack, but there were also some - like Gamma Edric and his family - who did not want to attend it, especially after knowing the truth behind Aaron and Kylie's relationship.
But, they couldn't find a way out of attending without a proper excuse, and so Jessie, having worked in the pack kitchens before being placed in Kylie's employ, was able to sneak the expired food into the family's lunches the day before.
Jessie had not been coerced. In fact, this was her way of secretly getting back at her employer, whose wrath and irrational bouts of jealousy and anger she had to constantly endure. Jessie admittedly hadn't been very close friends to Olwen while she was still in the Silver Arrow Pack, but after being subjected to verbal and physical harassment from the new Luna and hearing of how she and the Alpha had wronged her fellow omega, Jessie knew she could no longer take all of the abuse without a little payback.
She was able to evade suspicion on the surface by retaining the impression of an innocent, weak and sniveling omega, just as the Alpha and Luna expected her to act like.
In reality, she honestly couldn't wait to somehow escape from under Kylie's thumb. And the opportunity was going to present itself very soon.
......
A week later
The Moon River Pack was halfway across the Wilds and would have taken much longer for the Silver Arrow Pack party to reach by foot or car, so the fastest option was to use the private helicopter. The aircraft touched down in an open patch, and Alpha Aaron, Luna Kylie and Beta Kayden all dismounted from it and climbed into a car they had arranged for from the hosting pack to take them the rest of the way to the territory.
Aaron and Kayden were dressed in specially tailored suits for the occasion, with Aaron's covered in silver embroidery patterns and an arrow pin on his lapel. As the car moved however, Beta Kayden was still noticeably distant, his eyes staring out of the window at the passing trees. Aaron did feel a little bad for him considering his entire family had deserted him, but he needed to be present sooner or later.
"I'm looking forward to the function this year, honey." Luna Kylie interrupted with a smile. She sat next to Alpha Aaron and gently hooked her arm around his. "This is my first year as Luna, so you'll get to introduce me to everyone."
Inwardly sighing, Aaron turned to her and smiled back, suppressing the growls that Ares was making.
"Of course, babe. I'll make sure we're both on our best behaviour tonight."
Regardless of how bad their relationship was at the moment, both him and Kylie knew it was important not to let that show in front of the other packs. They were still from the Silver Arrow Pack after all, and they were the strongest pack in the Evergreen Wilds.
The car joined in a line that was making its way into the Moon River Pack by its main entrance, with pack members guarding the borders and examining each group of guests that entered.
Aaron briefly had a flashback to the last time he had come here. It had been when his father was still the Alpha, and he had brought him along to witness and learn as he negotiated a trade deal with the then Alpha Wendell.
Compared to then, the pack looked...more put together and well-maintained. Facilities had clearly been upgraded or refurbished, with the addition of different flowers and plants added life and garden scenery that complemented the modernisation of the place.
The car stopped near a young man at the entrance with hair in a very similar shade to Kylie's, except his eyes were grey.
Just like Olwen's... Ares hummed longingly, and Aaron quickly shoved away the strange feeling it gave him as he rolled down his car window.
"Welcome to the Moon River Pack. I am Gamma Joshua. And you are?"
"Good evening, Gamma Joshua." Alpha Aaron leaned slightly back in the car to motion to Kylie and Kayden. "We are Alpha Aaron, Luna Kylie and Beta Kayden from the Silver Arrow Pack."
"Ah...the Silver Arrow Pack, of course."
As the Gamma filled in an attendance sheet, his eyes flickered over each of their faces. It was surely part of normal procedure, but it felt more like he was scrutinising all of them.
At last, after two long minutes, the Gamma leaned back, satisfied and pointed the car ahead.
"Go on in, and enjoy the function." He spoke with a smile. "The parking area is just outside the event centre."
"Thank you, Gamma Joshua."
As the Alpha Aaron rolled his window back up and the car headed off into the Moon River Pack, Josh turned away and rubbed the back of his neck, taking a short reprieve before the next car showed up. He was fortunate he had taken a shower that morning before coming to oversee things, so he didn't have Cael's scent all over him right now.
He had finally gotten to see the Alpha who threw away his fated mate, Olwen, because she was an omega, the infamous Luna that he threw away his fated mate for, and...the Beta who chose his Alpha over his family...his future father-in-law.
Gamma Josh did not know what to make of that.