"What?" I exclaim. "These rumours were going around?" Natalia nods. "Have you told Jay about this?"
"No," she says as I stare at her in utter confusion. "I think there rumours, I don't want to scare anyone because of what I was hearing."
"There's a possibility that it could be true Nat."
"Like the rumour of Alpha Thaddeus eating Alpha Brayton's heart?"
"Natalia that's obviously not true, but something like that might be. Imagine if it is true and people die because you didn't tell anyone."
"Okay, I understand. I'm sorry."
"You're going to tell the both of them alright?" Natalia nods and I guide her to Thaddeus and Jay. They were both in our house talking and for once, they both looked happy. They were in the office, not in the living room, for obvious reasons. They both had a cup of coffee in their hands and both looked up as we entered the room.
"Hey," I greet them both.
Jay gives us a short wave in return whereas Thaddeus raises an eyebrow. He always knew when there was something I had to say.
"Sorry to interrupt but we have something important to tell you," I tell them attracting both of their attentions.
I turn to Natalia and nod at her to continue. "When I was a rogue hanging out in the west, there was a rumour going around that a pack wanted to wage war against this pack and bring you down because you're seen as crazy and savage. Not my own words by the way."
The room gets quiet as I turn back to my Mate who doesn't look surprised. Nor does Jay. I wait for them to react in a way but they don't. In fact, Thaddeus takes a sip out of his cup of coffee in silence and Jay purses his lips.
"Please tell me you guys did not know about this until now," I tell them. Thaddeus taps his fingers against his drink. "Thaddeus!"
"We've known for some time Annabel," he says. "It's nothing to worry about."
"What-how long have you known?"
"A month after your birthday," he explains. "I already know which pack is involved and they are a small group of Wolves: around one hundred and thirty wolves. We have nothing to worry about. If they do try to attack they are asking for the extinction of their pack just like your old pack."
"Why haven't you told me?"
"Like I said, we have nothing to worry about. I didn't want you to worry about something as dull as this. They have no chance."
"But they do have a chance at succeeding," Natalia points out. We all turn to her as she turns her gaze to Thaddeus.
"Why do you say that?"
"Well they took in many rogues from the Blue Bloods pack, and continue to take rogues around their area."
Thaddeus shakes his head. "That doesn't make any sense, according to their files their numbers are the same. I updated the files a month after your birthday," he says turning to me.
Natalia shakes her head. "Well they're lying to you."
The room goes quiet and tense at Natalia's words. "When I was rogue with my brothers we lived with a few rogues near the pack. One day, we saw a few rogues entering the pack and being escorted by none other than the Alpha himself. We tried to listen but all we heard was that they were members from the Blue Bloods pack that escaped your attack.
After that, my rogue group split up because of differences but a few days later, we met up again. There were only two of them and they both died shortly after. They told us that the Alpha of that pack had found them and wanted them to join or die. He thought that none of the rogues would make it out alive if they refused so he explained that he was gathering more wolves to help fight against a pack. It could have been any pack but considering this packs reputation and the fact there were Blue Bloods rogues taken in, I would guess it was this pack.
From what I heard, he also has an alliance with another pack but I'm not too sure which pack that was. It's some sort of secret alliance or whatever that no one but the Alpha's themselves and Betas know about. If what my friends said we're true, it's possible this pack is in danger. I mean you don't seem worried or concerned that a small pack could overthrow you but with the help of another pack and a good group of rogues, he might have the numbers."
When Natalia finishes speaking, I glance at Thaddeus who seems to be thinking this over. "What are we going to do about this?"
"We are not going to do anything Annabel," he tells me. "We'll let him make the first move and if he does attack, our men will be ready."
I shake my head at him. "You know that's probably what Brayton was thinking before we were attacked and slaughtered."
"Annabel," Thaddeus gets up from his seat and stalks over to me. "Do not compare me to your past Alpha. It's insulting. If it worries you so much, I'll do my own research."
"Well, shouldn't we speak to other packs?"
"I don't think that would be smart because you don't know which pack has the alliance," Natalia states.
I roll my eyes. "Who even has alliances for goodness sake?"
My eyes zero in on Jay who purses his lips again. Thaddeus takes another sip of his coffee as he takes his seat. I watch as Jay's fingers tap the side of his thigh.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" No one says anything. "When were you going to tell me?"
"It honestly slipped my mind Annabel," Thaddeus tells me.
"Who do we have an alliance with?"
Thaddeus sighs as if this entire conversation is tiring him out. Jay takes over. "It's with Benjamin, Alpha of the Red Wolf pack."
"How does the alliance work?"
"It's more for their sake honestly. I made the alliance with Benjamin's father. All it is, is that if they were to be attacked by a specific pack, we come to their aid. They don't have to worry about any packs attacking them now because they are the third largest pack in the country. Back then, they were targeted many times because of their past Alpha's mistakes. Benjamin is getting things on track now and our alliance is at our strongest."
"What do we get from this?"
"Money," Thaddeus replies. "Benjamin sends a check to this pack every year."
I don't say anything in return. I glare at Thaddeus who doesn't have the sense to make eye contact. He was thinking like an egotistical Alpha. He wasn't thinking straight. What if this was all true? What if there really was another pack trying to overthrow Thaddeus because of his involvement in my ex packs annihilation? Violence was never the answer at all and it really wasn't needed at this point. Besides, I know Thaddeus is a pretty strong Alpha but the thought of losing him made my heart shutter. It breaks me knowing that Thaddeus wasn't taking extra precautions against this threat.
"Can you talk to the Alpha?"
"What?" Thaddeus and Jay look at me as if I'm not speaking English anymore.
"Whoever this Alpha that is trying to plot against you, all of us, can you talk to him and sort things out without risking the lives of innocent people?"
Thaddeus and Jay stare at each other while speaking through the mind link. I wait in anxious silence with Natalia who is watching the exchange. Both men sigh, and I watch as they turn their attention back to us.
"I'll speak with him if it makes you feel better," Thaddeus says.
"It will," I reassure him. I smile at them in satisfaction before turning and gesturing for Natalia to come along. When we reach the door, I turn back around. "If there's anything that you are keeping a secret from me about this pack, you have to tell me Thaddeus. I can't always be the clueless person around here."
"Understood," he says from his spot. I leave the room happy and close the door shut after me.
As Natalia and I leave the house, she turns to me with her eyes wide. "Are you crazy?"
"What?" I ask furrowing my eyebrows at her.
"That was the first time I have ever had the longest convo with him and I was damn near about to piss my pants."
"Does he really scare you that much?" Natalia nods her head and stares at me as if I'm crazy now.
"Maybe not for you because you'regetting laid but holy shit, he scares the living crap out of me. The way he looks at you is so scary. If looks could kill I swear," Natalia shakes her head.
"You'll get used to it, Beta Nat," I say emphasizing the title Beta. "Your Mate is best friends with mine, so they'll be together a lot of times."
Natalia only sighs and pouts.
-
Later that night, I head over to Thaddeus's bedroom. He was lying there in a pair of sweatpants. He slept with no shirt. I was in a pair of shorts and a simple spaghetti strapped shirt.
He was in his bed with papers surrounding him. I watch as he reads them, occasionally writing something down. He pushes the papers to his side of the bed before motioning for me to get in the bed. When I don't make a move, Thaddeus finally looks up at me. "You're upset," he points out. I nod.
"The reason I don't want any violence to happen is because I've already grown attached to everyone here. I went through the loss of many people that I've known ever since I was a young girl when you ordered the attack on my ex pack. Now you actually want to risk this? Again? For what? There's amazing people here, kids, elderly, adults, and teens. If anyone dies because of what you could've prevented, or worse- if you die-" I struggle to force the words out of my mouth. Thaddeus takes my hand and pulls me down beside him. His arm goes around me, pulling me further into his side. I tuck my face into his chest. "I can't lose you in a stupid fight."
"You won't," he says. His hand runs through my hair.
"Please just try to speak things through first," I beg. I listen to Thaddeus's heartbeat as he breathes steadily. "No one needs to get hurt."
"I spoke with the Alpha," Thaddeus points out. I jump up in surprise. "I told him that I know of his plans and that we should resolve this matter without blood being shed again. He said he was going to think about this first but I told him he has until the end of this week to respond or there will be consequences."
"Thaddeus," I sit up seeing the seriousness on my Mates face.
"I'm an Alpha Annabel, if I am being threatened, I will not respond kindly. This is me being merciful right now."
"If he doesn't take it-"
"He's a fool," Thaddeus concludes. "His pack might even be the next to be wiped out of existence."
"Don't say that," I warn him. He only sighs and pulls me deeper into his embrace.
"I don't like seeing you upset," he reveals. I run my hands up and down his toned chest.
We lay there in silence for a while just listening to each other breathe. "Can we go to bed?"
"We are in-"
"That's not what I meant Thaddeus," I sit up and reach over him grabbing his papers and calmly putting them to the side. "This can wait until tomorrow right?"
Thaddeus nods his head. I jump back into his embrace, landing a sweet kiss on his cheek. Slowly but surely, I drift off, having the best sleep I've ever had in weeks.
-
The next morning Thaddeus stays in. We wake up rather early in the morning but we don't get up for a while. We lay there in peaceful harmony listening to the beautifulsounds of each other's heartbeats.
"Morning," I say.
"Morning." With a happy giggle, I sit up and straddle my sleepy Mate. He looks up at me amused before softly squeezing my thighs. Leaning down, I connect our lips together for a few moments before pulling away. "What was that for?"
I shrug. "I just missed this."
We lay there in silence for a very long time until the scent of food attacks my nose. I hear movement downstairs, and mind link the cook to ask for bacon. I remove myself from on top of Thaddeus and lay beside him.
"Don't be so scary to Natalia alright?" Thaddeus looks down at me confused. "Don't give me that look, you do that scary intimidating look in your eyes on purpose."
"Hm."
"What do you think of her anyways?" I ask.
He sighs staring up at the ceiling. "What do you mean?"
"Like do you like her, hate her? Do you think she's a great Mate for Jay? Do you think she'll make a great female Beta?"
Thaddeus doesn't answer me for a moment. He closes his eyes and breathes in and out steadily. I watch him do this, finding satisfaction of staring at my wonderful Mate.
When the silence gets too bearing, I use my pointer finger and draw over his facial features. He stiffens but soon enough he relax. I draw imaginary lines over his lips and his nose. Then I trail my finger down his cheek, closer to his ear. He snatches my hand quickly making me startled.
For a moment, I'm confused until I look closer at the corner of his lips. They are turned upwards in a small barely visible grin.
"Are you ticklish?" I ask suddenly. The grin turns into a scowl, the former now being on my face. "You are!"
Jumping to my feet, I jump all over the bed in glee. The reason is this: a few months ago, Thaddeus and I were seated on the couch and he had caressed my ankle, my weak spot. I laughed so hard and kicked him in the chest, that he had gotten confused. I told him that I was very ticklish on the ankle and he just nodded as if I was unstable. I asked him if he was ticklish anywhere and he said no. I tried to tickle him everywhere but he wouldn't grin but I found his soft spot!
"I found it," I exclaim in glee. "I found your weak spot!"
I jump around Thaddeus who is now staring up at me in amusement. Grabbing a pillow, I slam it down on Thaddeus's face and body. He takes the pillow and tosses it back up to me where I slam it back down on him over and over again. He finally sits up before grabbing my waist and slamming me into the bed.
I'm shocked for a moment but it soon subsides. Giggling, I wrap my legs around my Mate who leans over me. He sighs and leans closer. Just as I feel the brush of his soft lips on mine, I feel a hand grab my ankle.
With a jolt, I push him back as he begins his ticklish assault on my ankle. I laugh out loud feeling my sides ache quickly. I try to kick him away but he has a solid hold on me. I bring my other foot up to kick him but he holds me down with his other hand. "Thaddeus!"
Tears are now streaming down my face as Thaddeus continues. Finally, he let's go. I slump back in the bed exhausted and mock glare at him.
He stretches in front of me before giving me a small smirk. It was barely visible but it made me happy to see it. He moves away and nods at the washroom, quietly telling me that he's going to wash up. I grin and follow him, deciding to join him as well.
After we finish up in the shower, I change and leave Thaddeus in our room. I head downstairs where food lay on the table and quickly scarf it down. Thaddeus joins me after I'm nearly done my plate.
"Are you working?" I ask him.
He nods. "I have a lot of paperwork to fill out today. I'll be stuck in my office for majority of the day."
"I'll help," I tell him. He looks up about to argue but I shake my head putting an end to this conversation before he could put his input in. "I'm helping."
After breakfast, Thaddeus and I walk to his office. My eyes widen at the stack of papers on his desk. There were two piles. I raise an eyebrow at the sight. Thaddeus walks around and motions to his big seat in front of the desk. He pulls out two pens and hands one over to me.
"I just need you to sign these papers and documents. They need my signatures but you're my Mate, therefore the Alpha Female of this pack, so it's fine."
I take the pen but notice a file on his desk as well. "What's this?" I ask, reaching for it.
"That's the pack that's trying to overthrow me," Thaddeus says.
Ember Creek.
That is the name of the pack. I open the file and notice the Alpha's name: Alpha Nick. I skin through the file not seeing anything out of the ordinary.
"I'll need you to start on this for a while," Thaddeus says. "I'm meeting up with a few more individuals asking to depart from the pack house."
I nod and watch as Thaddeus demonstrates what I have to do. When I repeat his work, he leaves. I sign and correct papers left and right for a while. Soon enough, I feel bored and I take a break. Glancing at the time in his office, I realize I've only been working for less than ten minutes. Sighing, I skim over the papers before my eyes find the Ember Creek file. I open it again and stare at the first page. There was a number: a phone number.
I glance at the phone in front of me before looking away. Would a phone call hurt? I stretch my hand out before thinking about it and pull away. What was I thinking? This Alpha- would he care?
My heart beats in my chest as I contemplate what to do. Taking a leap of faith, I grab the phone and dial the number quickly. Holding the phone to my ear, I try to control my breathing.
"Hello?" My heart skips a beat.
"Hello," I reply. My voice comes out rough and I have to cough to clear it. "Hello, this is Luna Annabel of the Dark Moon's pack. Whom am I speaking to?"
There's a short pause and murmured speaking for a moment. That quickly disappears though and a different voice speaks up.
"This is Alpha Nick of the Ember Creek pack."
"Hi, Nick I was just calling to talk to you about your plan to avenge the Blue Bloods pack," I say taking a deep breath. "Do you know anything about me?"
I can tell I caught him off guard from my question. It takes him a few moments to answer. "Yes."
"So you know I was part of the Blue Bloods pack before it was destroyed, correct?"
Again, he hesitates. "Yes, I did no that." From his words, it sounds as if he didn't.
"Alpha Brayton and Alpha Thaddeus's father had a problem going all the way back in time. After Thaddeus's father had died, all of his problems were places onto Thaddeus to handle. From what I remember Thaddeus had reached out to make amends but Brayton didn't want to. The day Brayton told us all that we were going to go to war with the Dark Moon's pack, we were all in disbelief. He had already picked out the people that were to be going to war.
Brayton had a plan to catch Thaddeus off guard and attack but it turns out we were the ones caught off guard. So you see, Brayton was going to attack the Dark Moon's pack but Thaddeus stopped that plan from happening when he led his fighters to hit us first."
I pause giving Alpha Nick time to comprehend what I am trying to tell him.
"Rather than killing everyone, Thaddeus had locked some of us up and there he met me. He let us join the pack and ever since then, we've been safe. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? You- want to avenge my ex pack but as horrible as this sounds, if Brayton had led our fighters to attack the Dark Moon's pack, they would have been wiped clean and, the non fighters would have been left with no Alpha or protection against others. Either way, the Blue Bloods pack would have gone extinct because Brayton did not have any heirs to lead the pack. So just please reconsider this silly vendetta that had nothing to do with you. There's already been too much blood spilt, no one needs anymore."
For a few minutes, we don't talk. I like to think that he is thinking over my words. I listen to his breathing over the phone. When the silence gets too overbearing, I begin to tap on my thigh.
"I'll give you an answer by the end of this week," he says. "Goodbye Luna Annabel."
He hangs up as I remove the phone for my ear and stare down at it in surprise. I place it back down and stare at their file.
I get back to signing off the documents and papers in front of me. By the time Thaddeus comes back, my pile of papers is nearly done. He stare at me in slight surprise. "You finished it already?"
I nod, continuing on with his pile. He sits down nearby helping me along. "How many people want to leave the pack house?" I ask, sparking up a conversation.
"There were four families that I spoke with," he says. He explains to me how he already has a group of werewolves that are ready to work with construction. He told me Jay and himself will be helping. If I want to as well, I can do so. I grin at his words.
For some reason, I can't tell him about the conversation I just had over the phone with Alpha Nick. We avoid the topic about the war that might be coming. We sit and work in peace. I turn to him and stare at his beautifully God carved face. He ignores me as I stare at him but it's fine. I simply stare at him and smile. He no doubt thinks I lost it but still ignores me.
I truly felt happy.
-
By the end of the week, I'm pacing in Thaddeus's office with him seated in his chair and Jay and Natalia sitting on the couch.
"When is he going to call?" I ask a patient Thaddeus. "It's the end of the week, what if he says no? Or what if he says yes? We can't have another fight-"
I'm interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing. Thaddeus answers it and I rush over to his side pressing my ear to him.
"Nick," Thaddeus greets blankly. I hear Nick greet him as well from the other side. He says something else but Thaddeus sighs. "I am not looking forward to your pleasantries. Are you going to war?"
I slap Thaddeus's arm suggesting he be kinder and not so blunt. He looks annoyed at me and I softly rub the spot I slapped in apology.
"That's a wise decision," Thaddeus says. My grip on his arm tightens but I doubt he notices. Nick says something and Thaddeus's posture changes. "That can be arranged."
Nick continues saying something and soon enough Thaddeus hangs up afterwards.
"So," Jay begins. "What did he say?"
"He doesn't want a fight," Thaddeus answers.
"That's smart," I say nodding. "What else?"
"He said that some of your ex pack members want to know who's here. They want to know if their family members are here," he says. "So I'll need an entire list of everyone that came from the Blue Bloods pack."
"If they find anyone they know what happens then?"
"They'll make a decision. Whoever wants to become a Dark Moon's member can come here."
"I could get that list ready," says Jay. Thaddeus nods at him.
"That's all," Thaddeus says.
"So we're good?" I ask for clarification. Thaddeus nods and I grin in glee.
Jay and Natalia leave after excusing themselves, leaving Thaddeus and I. "I love you," I tell him. He looks up at me. "I'm not sure I'll ever get tired of saying that."
"I know I'll never get tired of hearing it," he replies pulling me closer. From the emotions he sends through the Mae bond, I know he is reciprocating the same feelings. He doesn't have to say it at all.
I press my lips to his- my Mate. Not the Cruel one I grew up hearing so much of or the Cursed one that made me suffer.
No, my Mate is the love of my life: Thaddeus Knox.
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