The guardhouse Mel was being kept in was located far away from the town and from the estates. It was a lone building on a long stretch of grassy road. It was a bungalow and it was heavily surrounded by guards, both men and women alike. Each one of them strong and stoic. They all bow when they see Erik.
"I still don't get the bowing thing." Colson whispered in his brother's ear.
Cobie snorted. "It's a sign of respect and they can hear you even if we whisper."
"Yeah well, I hope they know about something called invasion of privacy." Colson sassed, shooting a glare to the general direction of the wolves.
"Shut your pie hole and let's go in." Cobie gives his brother a leveled look before turning to Erik. They were holding hands, Erik's grip strong and tight, grounding Cobie.
Cobie, Colson and Erik walk up the small flight up stairs leading to the door and pushed it open. Surprisingly, the entire place was empty. No tables, no chairs, nothing. Cobie and Colson followed Erik who made his way to the center of the room and knelt down. They watched as he knocked once of the wood and nodded when the wooden floor began to move and soon a secret passage was revealed.
"Are we gonna need torches here? Like in the movies?"
"Colson, I will punch you in the throat."
"Not if I do it first." Colson replied.
They didn't need the torches. The underground was lit with little light bulbs. Erik doesn't walk too far ahead in front of Cobie as if he was trying to protect just in case. Cobie could smell it before he saw it. Before he saw her.
Mel was locked up in a cage, kind of like the one he grew up in. Her hair was still white but her skin had this grey tint to it and judging by the smell surrounding the cage, Cobie thinks it's mistletoe.
When they finally walk into the room, she looks right at Cobie and tried to lunge for him.
"We have given her the afternoon dose, sir." One of the three guards who were guarding the cage said.
"Good." Erik replied. "Leave us."
The guards quickly complied and they filed out of the room. Once they were gone, Cobie took several steps forward until he was standing in front of the cage. Erik doesn't speak, he stands guard, his claws pushing past his skin and his eyes bleeding red, ready to jump on Mel if she so much as breathe at Cobie the wrong way.
"Meg..."
"Oh look, the color scum has graced me with his presence." She snarled, her fangs on display. Cobie doesn't even feel any ounce of fear as he looked at her. As he stood in front of her, he wondered why he had run for all these years? Why hadn't he realized Meg was just a piece of shit that needed to be brought down.
"I dare you to repeat those words." Colson snapped as he comes to stand beside his brother.
"You are still going to die. I don't know how you survived that fire but you're still going to die. You all are going to die!"
Cobie had had enough of her yammering. He raised a finger and smiled as the air around Mel's nose began to thicken. She began to breathe heavily through her mouth and bats at her nose as if she could get the water blocking her airways out.
"Let's try it again." Cobie said, his voice calm and his eyes a bright red, matching that of Erik's.
"Where is he?" Colson asked.
Cobie drops his fingers and let her breathe normally.
"If you think I'm going to tell you then you're wrong." Mel spat, her eyes glowing yellow.
"He's never going to be with you, Mel. He's just using you."
"No! He is my alpha! I will protect him with my life."
"Okay." Colson shrugged. The twin raised his two hands up, his head tilted to the side and a grin on his face. He manipulated the air around him until they were curving round his arms, snake like. He gives Meg a droll look before he began to throw the water at her. They hurt on impact, slicing through the skin and making it bleed.
Cobie doesn't talk, he just watched his brother go on until Meg was on her knees, bleeding and crying. He pulls out the small black handgun he had hidden under his jeans and squats.
"Where is he, Mel?" Cobie sings as he flips off the safety and rests his finger on the trigger. "If you die now, you won't get to marry him."
"I will marry him! I will be your new mother! Your mother wasn't fit to be the Luna of a great pack, she was a fucking fish! No wonder she ran away."
Cobie doesn't hesitate and neither does Colson. Cobie shoots Mel right in the arm while Colson strangled her with the air until she passed out. The room fell quiet after that.
Cobie knee Erik was already adding it all together in his head. He turns towards his mate and found him staring with a confused expression on his face.
"Erik..."
Erik looks away from Cobie. "She isn't dead, she just passed out. Let's go."
The Alpha walked ahead of them, the tick in his jaw so obvious.
"You don't tell him." Colson said to his brother.
"I didn't. I ... didn't know how to."
"The drive back is gonna be so awkward and tense. Ugh." Colson sighed. He pats Cobie on the shoulder. "Don't worry. He'll be fine. You both will be fine."
Just like Colson predicted, the ride back to the pack house was tense and quiet. Cobie spent the whole time staring at Erik who was holding the steering wheel so tightly, his knuckles were white. As soon as they got to the house, Colson found his way to the back while Erik marched upstairs, his face stoic but Cobie already knew the Alpha so well that he could tell Erik was angry.
The Alpha made his way into the room and slammed the door shut, Cobie stood by the side waiting to hear a small click, when he doesn't, he marched right up to the door and pushed it open.
"What the fuck did you want me to say? That the Alpha chasing me is my biological father? The psycho who tried to mate with me when I was little was my actual fucking father? That the man who killed my mum and almost killed my brother was the fucking asshat who brought me into this world?" Cobie screamed, his eyes a bright red.
"It would have been damn nice to know! It would have been fucking better if I heard it from you not some beaten down white haired bimbo with poison running through her!"
Cobie pushes his fingers through his hair. "Fuck! Look Erik, I get that I should have told you."
"No, you don't. It freaking feels like you don't trust me enough. It feels like there are somethings you keep hiding." Erik snarled. The Alpha walked around the room, trying to calm down. He doesn't notice it but more strands of hair were beginning to push out of his pores. Erik doesn't notice it but Cobie does.
"You better calm the fuck down or I will have you on your ass in two seconds." He snapped at Erik who looked at him with an angry twitch in his brows.
"I'd like to see you try, Cobie."
Cobie takes a deep breath and tried to calm down. It felt like his blood was hot and could feel the anger deep within him but somewhere deep down, he knew he had to calm down, he knew he was partially at fault here. So he taps into that instead until he calmed down.
"Erik..." Cobie called out but the Alpha doesn't turn around. "C'mon Erik. Look at me." Cobie said, his eyes changing from red to gold.
Erik turns around at that and stared at Cobie. None of them moved to close the distance between them but it was okay because Cobie just needed to talk.
"Our mother, Celeste, was his Luna. I never understood it. I remember her always being alone until one day she woke us up in the middle of the night, grabbed our coats and headed to the nearest port. She never spoke about her title again. There were times when she would randomly burst into tears and we'd hug her and pepper her face in kisses. So yeah, I don't like to think of him as my father, as our father." Cobie explained. "Colson and I pushed it so far back into our minds and since we were little, we could forget things easily. You know how it went from there."
Cobie sighed and that was all it took for Erik to close the distance between them with just a couple of steps and pull Cobie against him as tightly as he could.
"I'm sorry."
"She was so scared of him, Erik. Sometimes Mum wouldn't sleep, she'd be looking out the windows, peeping through the curtains to make sure. She'd double lock the door and I never wanted that for myself nor Colson. It gave me an already set mind as to how Alphas behave. And then when I was on the run, I watched several Alphas treat their packs or their mates like they were beneath them, like they were gravel underneath the golden feet of an Alpha."
"It made you think all Alphas were the same. That's why you didn't like any of us back then."
Cobie pulls back a bit and cups Erik's face with his hands. "You are so different from them all and not just because you haven't fully awakened your wolf yet. You lead thousands of wolves and you make sure they're okay, you have Alphas who come to you for help, you have Alphas who respect you and your every word despite you being angry seventy percent of the time. You take care of everyone and now you're taking care of me too."
"And I will keep taking care of you till the day I die because you are my everything, because you are my love, my friend and my mate."
"I'm sorry for acting like a knob."
"I don't call you McStupid for no reason." Cobie replied, a big grin on his face as he leaned forward to press a light kiss to Erik's lips. "I love you."
"I love you too."
—
Erik makes a quick calls to all the Alphas on Astir, save for the Elders. It takes them thirty minutes to appear in the stadium sized backyard.
"We have a fight coming our way, a war if you will." Erik bellowed. "An Alpha with his head stuck so far up his ass that he can see the sky, thinks he can come and take my mate away. I know this is not your fight but I want to ask for your support to help keep Astir clean and safe and to also ensure my mate and his family lives. This so called Alpha has already killed one of our own, this Alpha was the one behind the berserkers attack a few weeks ago that left some injured. It time to fight back, to prove ourselves to the goddess."
Cobie who was standing beside Erik watched as everyone clung onto every word that left Erik's mouth.
"What kind of pack does he lead?" One of the Alphas spoke up.
This time Cobie spoke up. "A pack of rejects and cast always. He has goblins, berserkers, a deal of armed gunmen and Unseelies."
"We do have the upperhand though. The Alpha thinks he the Silver Moon pack is a small pack. The Alpha doesn't know about the size of our wolves nor does he know about our strength. All he knows is the fact that Cobie and Colson are here and he will come for them."
"And we'll be ready." Another Alpha replied.
"You didn't need to ask us for our help. You should always expect to have it." Another Alpha spoke up and soon the entire Alphas gathered began to bow. Cobie's eyes went wide as he stared at all the Alphas gathered. They had bowed so willingly to another Alpha.
One of shall.
One of will.
Erik already had this respect before his wolf even awakened. He wonders what would happen when Erik would finally shift.
"I want to say thank you for assisting. I know this isn't your fight and yet you're still helping, even though you don't know me a-"
"But we do know you. You helped us during the berserkers attack and you helped those struggling with training." One of the Alphas said.
"You'd make a great Luna."
Cobie doesn't understand the feeling he had when he got called a Luna. The only person who had ever called him Luna was Gabriel and now here he was.
"W-what?"
"You'd make a great Luna." Colson repeats. "Mum would be so proud of you."
It takes Cobie a nanosecond to start crying. The tears slid down his face and he lets out this out croaky sound. Colson quickly makes his way to his brother and hugged him as tight as he could.
Colson led Cobie inside and into the nearest room which turned out to be the kitchen. Colson sits Cobie down on a stool and kneels in front of him.
"You know, those years I spent healing, thinking of you made it easier for me. The fact that I didn't lose you like I lost Mum, made it easier for me to breathe. Half of my body was burnt and no one knew I needed enough water to heal. I couldn't speak because my throat was also injured but I was calling out to you."
"Colson..."
"You are my brother. My best friend. My family. I missed you so much over the years. There were times where I felt like calling you so we could talk longer than just a few minutes but I didn't want dad to get to you."
"I missed you so much too."
"One of the pregnant fathers told me about you helping during an attack. You've found a home here, you've found people who support you and you have an Alpha who treats you right. You're fulfilling everything Mum wanted for you."
"She would be proud of you too."
"I haven't done anything she would be proud of."
Cobie takes his brother's hands in his. "You survived the fire. You healed all on your own and you helped protect Pa when the pack got slaughtered."
"What pack?" Erik asked as he walked into the room, Aetos and Michel behind him.
Cobie and Colson look at each other. They had the choice to give the men a little something.
"Our father came to the little town we were hiding in because they heard about the news of a boy whose eye could change cookout according to his mood. They came in the night and slaughtered everyone in their sleep. He killed Mum right in front of us and set the house on fire with Colson in it." Cobie said as he tried to wipe the tears off his face.
"I was saved by a nearby pack. They were small but mighty. Our father didn't wait to verify if I was really dead and just left with Cobie. He was focused on the so called prophecy and being the Alpha foretold. The pack Alpha helped me. He took me home and he and his pack members tried to heal me. Half of my body was burnt and I couldn't talk. Since no one knew I needed water to heal, it took six months for my throat to heal. I then told Alph and Pa about you and that's when the plan to rescue you was born."
"Who was the Alpha?"
"Alpha Calistus of the Red Moon pack." Colson replied.
"I heard of that pack. No one knew how they were killed."
"Yeah. It was our dad." Cobie adds, his voice soft.
"Calistus sent Pa to rescue Cobie. We put a chip made of rubber in his body so we could track wherever he was taken. We didn't account for Pa being beaten up and almost killed."
"I remember crying and screaming for him."
"They ended up rescuing I and Pa but staying together was a risk. So after spending six months with Colson, I was sent along with a pack member while Pa and Colson made their way to the other side of the world. Hiding and trying to keep eachother safe."
"I couldn't control my emotions back then so my eyes were a constant rainbow swirl. People didn't understand why my eyes were that color and you know the saying, people fear what they don't understand. That's why I began to wear contacts." Cobie said and pushed his fingers through his hair. "The guardian with me taught me how to shoot. She was with me for six years, up until I was I got into online college and then one day I woke up and she was gone. I was alone."
"You told me she found members of her family."
"I didn't want you or Pa to worry."
"I learned how to do a couple of things myself. I found odd jobs and used the money to tak self defense classes and attend a weaponry workshop."
"You grew up yourself."
"And I grew up damn well, if I say so myself."
"Everything was news. All we were looking for was a place we'd be safe."
"And I found it. I found you." Cobie said, looking right Erik.
The kitchen falls silent after that. Cobie couldn't look away from Erik who looked like he was struggling to hold himself back, Erik who looked like he fighting the urge to pull Cobie in for a hug.
"Astir is home. My home. Our home." Cobie added and that was all it took for Erik to walk closer. He grabbed Cobie by his neck and kissed him hard, their teeth clashing. It felt like fire was pushing through their veins, their lips moving as they tried to express everything they couldn't put into words.
"I love you. I'm so proud of you and I love you so fucking much."
"I love you too, Erik."
They pull apart but Erik doesn't stray from Cobie. He wrapped his arms around Cobie's waist and looked around the kitchen.
"What's the next step of the plan?" Aetos asked.
"We release Meg. We blindfold her and pump her full of poison ivy and drop her off at Granger City." Erik replied.
"Then we wait."
"She will lead him right to us."
"And we'll be ready." Erik replied and pressed a kiss to Cobie's hair. They will be ready. Any one who wants Cobie or his family would have to go through the Silver Moon Pack of Astir.
—
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