I'm not entirely sure how much I like this chapter...
(Sorry for any spelling/grammar errors)
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Chapter 15
H.C/ W.W
Their tender moment was broken up when Lindzi rushed into the room. She took note of the snuggling couple before casting a cautious look out the door. Biting her lip, she debated on whether to warn them of what was coming or not. After another glance out the door she decided even though Hanna hadn’t been present recently, she did deserve to know that a certain battle was imminent.
“I hate to break up your warm and fuzzy moment but you’ve got problems heading your way.” Lindzi stood guard by the door, glancing towards the elevators at the far end of the hall every few seconds.
“What kind of problems?” Hanna asked curiously.
“The kind that involves a very pissed off father who is intent on bringing his runaway daughter home.” Lindzi explained.
“You told him what happened?” Hanna nearly shrieked.
“No, I didn’t tell him.” Lindzi scowled at her sister. “Word got out and he flipped. I came here first because he had to tie up some business deal before he could leave.”
“Why doesn’t it surprise me that he chose to finish up a business deal before coming to his injured daughter?” Hanna mused sarcastically.
“Look, I just came here to warn you that you have approximately five minutes to get yourself together and ready before he comes in raging like a storm. He called to say his plane landed and he’s on his way.” Lindzi’s eyes flicked towards a silent Will. “And he doesn’t intend to leave without you on that plane.”
“Well then he’ll be disappointed.” Will growled, tightening his hold on Hanna’s hand. She belonged there with him, by his side as the pack’s Luna.
“Take my word for it, my dad won’t let this go. Maybe before he might have accepted Hanna running away but now that she’s been attacked, by rogues nonetheless, he won’t let her stay.” Lindzi scoffed.
“It’s not up to him.” Will gritted out. “She’s my mate which means the only place she needs to be is here. He can’t take a wolf away from her mate.”
“He can if he thinks her mate is incapable of taking care of her.” Lindzi pointed out.
There were no real written down laws in the werewolf community. There were definite rules that were followed like don’t start up wars with other packs unless there is a valid reason and don’t reveal your wolf to a human that isn’t your mate but there was no set of definite laws. However, even if there was no law The Five still existed. The Five consisted of three males and two females that made sure packs stayed peaceful towards each other. If there was tension between two packs they stepped in to resolve the issue before an all out fight broke out. If there was such a thing as a council for the werewolves The Five would be it.
Another issue they resolved was the keeping of mates. Keeping two mates apart from each other was close to a felony when compared to human laws. It was outrageous and despicable. If two mates decided they didn’t want to be together then that was one thing but to deliberately separate the two was like breaking a law. In these rare cases, The Five stepped in to reunite the mates and if necessary, relocate them to a different pack. However, there were special cases when The Five allowed the separation if the pack could prove the male could not adequately take care of the female. Such as the case involving a male that was proven to be abusive towards his mate, The Five allowed the separation stating it was for the female’s safety. While it was extremely rare for them to allow the separation, it had happened before.
“He wouldn’t dare involve The Five.” Will stood angrily and could feel his wolf prowling in the back of his mind.
“Oh God.” Hanna whispered. She knew her father and she knew he would manipulate anyone just to get his way.
“I can say with certainty if Hanna doesn’t go home with him and take over as Alpha then he won’t hesitate to accuse you of being an unworthy mate.” Lindzi spoke to a seething Will. “And with her being attacked and injured by rogues on your territory therefore under your supervision, he would have a strong case.”
“Will couldn’t have known the rogues would come!” Hanna argued. Silent tears pooled within her eyes..
She wasn’t one to cry openly but the simple thought of being forced away from her mate so soon after meeting him tore her apart. If she wasn’t so worried she would be astounded because not even days ago she swore she would never accept her mate and now she didn’t want to be separated from him.
At the sight of Hanna’s tears Will sank to his knees to comfort his distressed mate.
“Don’t worry Hanna, they won’t take you away from me.” Will vowed as he smoother his thumbs over her cheeks and held her close. “I would never let them pull us apart.”
“But you might not have a choice.” Hanna murmured.
“Lindzi,” He kept his grip on Hanna but turned his head to look at her sister. “I know you don’t particularly like me but you can see Hanna is still injured and this news is upsetting her. Can you do us a favor and stall him?”
“Stall him?” She laughed incredulously. “How do you suppose I do that?”
“I don’t know! Tell him she’s sleeping or back in surgery! Just make sure he doesn’t come in here just yet. We need time to settle down and think of a plan to avoid this.” Will continued to soothingly stroke Hanna’s back.
“Please.” Hanna whispered, seeing her sister’s hesitation.
“Fine!” Lindzi snapped and threw her hands in the air. “We’ll see how long this works. Just think of something quickly because I can only guarantee so much time.”
“Thank you.” Hanna uttered gratefully.
With a tired sigh Lindzi quickly took off toward the elevators to intercept their father in the lobby before he could come up to the room. Yes, she wanted her sister to come home. Yes, she wanted things to go back to how they were. Before Hanna left and before their mother and sister died. Unfortunately, that would never happen and Lindzi could see Hanna had a shot at being happy again. She knew if Hanna went home she would never be happy but with Will, she could have the word.
And as much as Lindzi wanted her sister home, she wanted Hanna happy again.
“I know my father Will, he’ll do it.” Hanna gripped his shoulders tightly as if someone were already about to pull her away.
“He can try but it won’t ever happen. I am perfectly fit to be able to take care of you.” Will puffed out his chest dramatically and smiled when Hanna chuckled.
“I know you are but he doesn’t. The Five won’t. All they’ll see is some Alpha who let his mate get attacked by rogues on his territory.” Hanna argued.
“Now let’s get this right, I didn’t let any of that happen.” Will stated seriously.
“You know what I mean.” She responded flatly.
“Yes, sweetheart, I do. I know how it looks but The Five aren’t stupid. They’ll investigate it and they’ll find I have a reputation for being an Alpha that takes care of his pack. They won’t separate us.”
“My father can be very convincing.” Hanna admitted.
“Look, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. We don’t even know if he will call on them. I know you say he will but you never know. Right now, we need to focus on getting him to calm down because we both know he won’t take you staying lightly. I have no doubt he’ll be angry.”
“Furious.” Hanna took a deep breath. Will brushed his hand over her cheek and gazed at her affectionately.
“You’re tired. Why don’t you lay back and get some sleep. We’ll talk about this when you wake up.” He gently pushed her back against the pillows.
“If he’s on his way here now then we need to talk about it. We need-”
“You’re still recovering Hanna. Let’s not overdue it by keeping you from your sleep. Your father can wait.” Will smiled tenderly at her as she let out a yawn.
“Fine.” Hanna backed down after letting out another muffled yawn. “Come lay with me.”
“I don’t want to hurt you. I’ll sit in a chair next to you and wait for you to fall asleep.” Will frowned at Hanna’s pout and felt himself start to give in. “That pout, it’s dangerous.” He mused as he slipped in beside her.
“I know.” Hanna murmured softly.
As carefully as he could, Will wrapped his arms around her while keeping an eye on her face to make sure she wasn’t in pain from their new position. It only took a few moments for Hanna to doze off with a serene expression planted on her face. Softly, so as not to disturb her, Will traced Hanna’s features with the tips of his fingers. He knew he looked like a complete sap but as far as he was concerned no one was around to give him flack for it and even if there was someone there, he would still continue to gaze at his mate with adoration.
However, with his mate came the problem of her father and The Five.
Using the pack link to contact some of his top enforcers, Will slowly inched himself off the bed and stood there staring down at her. He hated to leave her in such a vulnerable state even for a few minutes but this issue needed to be dealt with immediately. Dropping a soft kiss to her forehead he moved out of the room and met his top three enforcers along with two of the pack’s best fighters in the hall.
“Alpha.” They all murmured.
“Any updates on the rogue attack?” Will asked gruffly, making sure the door to Hanna’s room was left open a little so he could hear if she awakened.
“You know we already found the point of entry and as you requested, patrol has been stepped up and all nearby packs are on alert. We have been in talks with these packs to create a joint task force with the sole purpose of seeking out where these rouges are hiding. That many rogues, there has to be some sort of trail.” Joe, the lead enforcer, supplied.
“The curfew has also been implemented. Understandably, the teenagers aren’t happy about it but we’ve stressed how important it is.” Jana, another enforcer, spoke up. “We’ve also stressed the punishments for being found out after curfew. I don’t think any of them want to do pack chores for an entire month so I’m sure they’ll continue to grumble about it but I don’t see any of them sneaking out.”
“Good, good.” Will murmured, rubbing his jaw. “Have training schedules been set up for the teens?”
“They start tomorrow morning as soon as the sun rises.” Jake nodded in confirmation. As the third enforcer of the pack he worked more with training the males and females between fourteen and nineteen.
“Okay, it seems like everything is being put in place. Good job guys. Now go and get some sleep. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us and we’re all going to need our strength and energy.” Will dismissed the three enforcers. “Joe, if you see Logan tell him to come see me in the morning.”
“Of course.” Joe called as he started walking away.
“Now on to you two.” Will turned towards Tripp and Harley, the best male and female fighters in the pack. “I have an important request for the two of you and I don’t want the rest of the pack to find out. Not yet anyway.”
“What is it?” Harley asked, flipping a piece of her black hair over her shoulder.
“I know the two of you are busy running around trying to keep the territory secure but I need you both to send your two best trainees to me.” Will requested. Tripp was responsible for the male fighters and likewise Harley was responsible for the females.
“Sure, but can we ask why? I know you wouldn’t ask this especially with rogues running around so it must be important.” Tripp widened his stance and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Hanna, the other girl injured, isn’t just the daughter of Alpha Crest. She’s my mate.” Will trusted the two before him just as much as he trusted his Beta and he knew they wouldn’t tell anyone else. For the two of them to do their job, they needed to know about Hanna.
“Congratulations.” Harley smiled and touched Tripps arm affectionately, remembering their meeting. As well as being the top fighters, they were also mates.
“That’s great man, I’m happy for you.” Tripp grinned at Will and flicked his eyes to the room where his future Luna was resting.
“So I’m assuming you want the trainees to serve as her protectors?” Harley asked.
“This is where it gets complicated.” Will sighed deeply. “Her father is adamant on taking her back to their pack. According to her sister, he isn’t above using The Five to try and take her away.” Harley and Tripp exchanged shocked glances.
“Can he do that?” Tripp wondered aloud.
“Well, so far he’s got a pretty good case. I mean, she was attacked on my watch.” Will admitted angrily.
“That wasn’t your fault.” Tripp argued.
“I know but her father won’t care. Look, what I need is two people to stay up and two people to stand watch in the lobby. I’m sure he’s already here and I want to make sure he doesn’t come in this room until we’re ready.”
“I’ll go grab Jenny and Sandy and Tripp can call Austin and Gerald. We’ll make sure they understand how important this is without giving too much away. I’m sure you haven’t told the pack about Hanna yet for a reason and we won’t let it slip.” Harley was already in motion, mentally contacting her best trainees through the pack link.
“Thank you guys, I appreciate this.” Will smiled gratefully at them.
“No problem. Congrats again man, the pack will be excited when you decide to tell them.” Tripp patted him lightly on the back and followed his mate toward the elevators.
Will quietly slipped back into Hanna’s room and allowed himself the comfort of lying down next to her. He carefully wrapped his arms around her and silently promised himself he would never let anyone take her away from him.
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I tried to explain The Five the best I could but if you have any questions, message me