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t h i r t y - o n e
"There we are Luna Adah. All done," one of the pack doctors murmurs.
His tone is warm, and quiet, tender as most doctors. He calms Adah's wolf down, as the last stitch is sewn through. Thankfully, it's nowhere near as bad as the first time she got the wound. It was a minor thing this time – no need to be put under anesthetics this time either. Thankfully.
"You should be good to go. Don't be too vigorous and just take extra care when doing anything that physically exhausts it," he tells her. Adah nods, face worn and features tired. She sleepily utters a thank you, and the doctor nods respectfully, leaving her.
Uriah had been seen first – he had torn a ligament in his left thigh. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do about it. He had to rest up, but he was a beta wolf. He'd heal pretty quickly, and the way things were going, he couldn't afford to waste time by resting. He'd been waiting for Adah whilst she got her stitches, and had gone to go get her some tea, and himself some coffee.
He comes back in when the doctor has long left, handing Adah a polystyrene cup filled with it. She thanks him, taking a sip of the hot liquid, almost burning her tongue.
"Is Micajah okay?" her dark eyes look up it, lips curved and brows furrowed in worry. Her wolf is anxious. Uriah sighs.
"Yeah. They've fixed it all up. He just came out, now sleeping it off. He'll be out for a while. Don't be worrying though ma, he good," and Adah nods.
Adah ponders on what to do. Her wolf is in pain, for her mate and her pack. She wanted to be with him, to kiss and cuddle him, and watch over him, even if he was only sleeping. On the other hand, she knew he was safe, warm and was healing. The pack needed one of them too, and she couldn't just let all these things pile up, and then for her mate to have to do them when he woke up and was meant to be peacefully recovering. Her pack needed one of them, and she needed him not to worry. So she'd do those tasks, whilst he was sleeping, and then come back to him.
"I just want to quickly see him. My wolf needs reassurance. Afterwards, we can go talk to the wolves that were imprisoned?" Uriah watches her carefully.
"Yeah you can go see him. I'm planning on getting information out of those wolves," he responds to her.
There's an attached bathroom, and she decides to quickly take a shower, just as Uriah had done earlier too. After showering, she piles her hair into a bun, and slips into the basketball shorts and hoodie Uriah found as spare clothes in the hospital for her.
She heads out of the hospital room, Uriah directing her to where her mate was.
Her heart clutches, writhing in pain. He was laying in bed, body attached to IV stands that were regulating him. His neck and shoulder were bandaged, some of the white material becoming tainted with blood again. Her eyes well – she didn't like seeing him like this. Not at all.
She pads over quietly to him, leaning over to kiss the top of his forehead, fingers brushing out his hair. His features seem serene, and the colour in his skin seems good. He seemed to be alright and that eases her slightly. With her touch, his eyes flutter open, drowsy with sleep. The silver hues are dazed, and they latch onto her, brimming with emotions that Adah can't decipher. They all overcome him at once.
"Adah?" tone quiet and low, brows furrowing. She gives him a small smile, stroking his hair.
"You're okay my love. I promise. Go back to sleep," her words are tender. He disagrees, form rising.
"No. There's so much to do. The attack. Pack meeting. Interrogation. I-," his words stumble out of his mouth sloppily, and the fast action of him sitting up causes his face to writhe in pain from his shoulder. Adah eases him back down, still stroking his hair delicately.
"Don't worry about any of it. I've got this. You just get better for me, okay? I love you," Micajah eases, and weakly kisses her cheek. His body's urge to rest is too great, and he lulls back quickly enough. Adah tucks him in, before heading out, closing the door quietly. Her wolf feels much better, as does his. He can now sleep it off without another worry.
Uriah's already there to greet her, eyes unreadable. They head out together, out of the hospital and out into the evening, where the skies darken in colour.
"Where are we going?" Adah asks, once the head past the palace, and into a car. She slips into the front seat, watching Uriah pull the gear up, starting the car.
"We don't really have our prisons in the main parts of the pack, or in the palace. It freaks our wolves out, so we keep them in the southern side, where there isn't much going on. That's where those wolves that attacked today are," and she nods.
"How do you treat them? The prisoners?" and Uriah shrugs.
"They get medically treated, watered and fed. They aren't abused/tortured. That wouldn't uphold the value of the monarch and is unethical," he murmurs.
"How are you getting information out of them then?" she asks, pulling her hood up.
"Baby, I'm the fucking royal beta. I just need to stand there and they'll spill everything. Just you watch," it's uttered with a smirk, and she's glad he's lightening up the mood right now. Her stomach feels tense. She felt a bit better now knowing her mate was okay, but she didn't feel good.
It turns out Uriah wasn't joking. He was right. The wolves weren't tough, and were terrified. Adah didn't blame them.
Uriah mentioned that it would take a while, and Adah should just rest up considering her stomach. She didn't really need to be there. Adah knew it was just Uriah trying to protect her, and the beta seemed really earnest, so she just agreed with him to get him to relax.
She watched behind the one-way glass screen, with some of the over wolves in the prison. It was relatively small – the palace didn't hold many, as normally people never committed offences against the monarch directly. It was warm, and dark.
The four wolves had been treated and were bandaged. Their injuries were much worse than any of her members of the pack had, and their wolves severely weak. It made it easier for them to talk without defiance. Also, there was no point in putting up resistance, or being loyal to their old pack. They'd never leave this place again. It was better to just compromise, for their own sake.
One of the wolves was stubborn. Uriah didn't waste another breath on him, and he was immediately sent out of the room.
Uriah's form is casual, relaxed. But his dark eyes were full of rage, his aura cold and dark. He was intimidating. Adah could feel the wrath he wanted to take out on these wolves, how angry he truly was. He was the beta of this pack, and he didn't like the threats that were coming their way. The wolves could sense this, could see the tension and the hostility in the way Uriah talked. They didn't know Uriah wouldn't hurt them, and they sat with their tails tucked, answering meekly.
Adah can't hear anything, she can only watch. She'd ask for the catch-up later. Whilst Uriah is talking to them, she's using her phone to organise a meeting with Jayden, Harden and Ryan for the next hour. Uriah finishes in just under an hour, and comes out of the room, to where Adah was. He was about to open his mouth to tell her everything, but she puts her hand up.
"I've organised a meeting. You can explain everything then. It's in thirty minutes," he nods, following his Queen's order without a question.
"It's dinner time right now, so I want to go to the packhouse. Everyone will be there, rather than their own homes and it'll be easier for me to talk to everyone all at once, and suss everything out. I want to see if everyone's okay," she tells him, and he nods again, running a hand through his curls.
"We can also grab a bite. Micajah would off my head if he knew I didn't make you eat anything," Uriah mutters, mainly to himself.
They head to the packhouse, in utter silence.
The atmosphere wasn't lively, or joyous as it normally was. It was grim and full of despair. Not only were they facing the deaths of some of their pack members, but also they had to face the fact that this war was coming much sooner than they anticipated. Adah's presence as Luna immediately is reassuring and makes all the wolves feel much safer. It was something they needed.
Uriah steals away, after catching Jayden in there. Adah holds conversations with everyone, giving lots of warm hugs and comforting words and thoughts. Her wolf is looking over, in a protective maternal sense. Everyone is drawn to her, needing her to make them feel okay. She encourages everyone to eat and continue life with no worries, and lets them know that they're working on newer protection measures, and that everything would be okay.
She leaves the packhouse, her stomach full, with everyone feeling a bit more put together. She wish she could say the same for herself. She just needed her mate.
Luckily everyone else is inside the conference room when she makes it in there. She thanks everyone, before taking her seat. It felt weird without Micajah.
"Thank you everyone for coming at such short notice. I understand you all must be exhausted, especially after the attack today. Again, thank you both Ryan and Harden for playing a wonderful role in this. The wolves that work under you did an exceptional job, and saved many lives. Both the warriors and doctors were outstanding," they both nod with solemn features. She takes a deep breath.
"Uriah managed to get some information from the wolves who were a part of the northern group who attacked us. It is to my knowledge that these wolves will simply face life in prison, but that can change depending on what the King says," folding her hands in front of her, awaiting the beta.
"They were from Alpha Tyler's orders. That's of no surprise. Though, they were his orders, not all wolves from his pack. Only a few minority were, the rest of them were from other neighboring packs that agreed with him," they all listen carefully.
"What a fucking coward," its Ryan who murmurs this, all heads turning to him. His face is bruised up pretty bad from the earlier attack.
"He's not even using his own wolves. He's waging this war, through using other wolves' lives," he shakes his head.
"I agree. Anyway, they also confirmed some other things. Alpha Tyler's father is heavily involved with this, as we suspected. He is one of the Elder Council members. They've also informed, that this was in the planning for ages. Alpha Tyler's father was a very greedy wolf and said that he 'has better plans for this kingdom', which again just aligns with our story," he sighs.
"There's also more attacks planned. These wolves weren't told when, but they'll be coming," he finishes. Adah sighs.
"That's good in a way. We can keep it on our turf, and it's all just maintained here. It's easier access for the wolves to our services too, and evacuations can run smoother," Jayden says, showing the positive side and they all nod.
"About evacuation. Me and Ryan were talking earlier about putting alarms up across all the borders. In the event of the next attack, a button can be pressed, and through the wiring everyone in their homes and the pack house will be alerted to evacuate immediately. That means all the normal members are safe," Harden inputs.
"That's a great idea. I'll see that it happens. Thank you," Adah nods.
"Are there any concerns with protection? Or our warriors?" Jayden asks Uriah and Ryan.
They both shake their head.
"We'll be patrolling in triple numbers all night. And we'll have that evacuation scheme ready. We'll also have a similar system for calling out numbers and troops for when an attack happens, so people get here faster," Uriah tells her.
"Five warriors out of the forty that were here died. The rest of them are fine most with few minor injuries, and only six have major injuries," Ryan murmurs.
"Just so you know, the attack consisted of sixty wolves from their side." Jayden inputs.
"It's a small one, but they'll get bigger," Ryan murmurs, tone dry.
"Regarding the funeral rites, I think it'd be best to conduct them tomorrow. Let the injured people heal, and families to mourn by themselves. The King would also be present tomorrow too then," Harden suggests, and murmurs of agreement spurs across the table.
"Alright. I don't think there's anything else to say. It was just going to be a quick thing, mainly to see if you guys were all good, and are okay with taking up the next steps. I know Micajah will work on fleshing it out a little more. Thank you so much for coming. Meeting adjourned," Adah murmurs, and they all leave.
As she heads out, she almost bumps into the maid who had come over to fetch her.
"My majesty, King Micajah was released from the hospital about a half hour ago. He has retired to his room," she informs Adah, who thanks her. She makes her way to him.
A/N - yo, i'm so tired, i haven't even reread this. if this don't make any sense, i'm sorry.