Page 169 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

Night and I got up and dressed. I had some time before the berry-picking and helping the pack prep for winter, which gave me the chance to review some of the paperwork I hadn’t gotten to yesterday.

There were Wargs who wanted to move onto Kings’ land, and there were Kings who wanted to move to the more rural Wargs’ territory.

These documents had the details of who wanted to move and what kind of accommodations they needed.

Facilitating these movements was just one of the many duties I’d taken on as den mother.

A bit later, I set out to meet with the others.

My mom, Tavi, and Council Member Jasmine Howler were waiting with them.

I’d told Night that I’d be meeting with women, but the truth was that there were a few men who also wanted to help out.

Some of them were Warg fathers whose mates held duties as hunters, sentinels, trackers, or fighters.

I remember how much that used to confuse the more traditional Kings, but the novelty was wearing off as the Kings realized there was nothing strange about this “non-traditional” role for men.

“Today,” I said, “we’ll be mulching the ground with straw, wrapping our fruit trees with hardware cloth, and prepping the soil for next year’s planting.”

The hundred people gathered before me nodded. I directed them to the dozens of hay bales and rolls of hardware cloth. I’d asked fighters from both packs to help us take these things out of storage and put them in one place for our convenience, and they had just finished.

I had half the group collect woven baskets for the straw. Those who were stronger donned heavy-duty gloves and grabbed the hardware cloth. As I filled my basket with straw, another bale of hay was added to the pile.

I glanced up and met Lance’s eyes. He gave me a casual smile, as if he wasn’t plotting with the Wargs Council to take down my mate. As if the last time I’d been this close to him, he hadn’t told me to watch out for enemies in both packs.

I turned away from him without speaking or smiling, annoyed to find that many of the women standing next to me were ogling him. He was shirtless and sweaty from lifting the hay, which was more than enough to draw their attention.

“Ew.” Tavi’s voice broke into my mind. Our telepathic bond hadn’t faded even though we weren’t the alpha and beta of the Kings anymore. It was always a relief to hear her voice in my mind.

“My thoughts exactly,” I said as I started spreading the straw over the soil. We were mulching the asparagus, garlic, and the root veggies we hadn’t yet harvested.

“Did Night tell you that he’s been meeting with some Warg council members?”

“He told me this morning.”

“Dom mentioned it last night.” He and Tavi had started spending more and more time together. Night and I were sure they were dating, but they hadn’t confirmed it. Yet. “I wish Lance would just come out and tell us what he’s planning.”

“That would make everything a hell of a lot simpler. It’s so frustrating that I can’t tell if he’s just putting on an act.”

Jasmine smirked at me as I walked past her. I was a member of both councils, but I only attended meetings that involved topics within my scope—parents or education or prepping for changing seasons. At the meeting where we discussed preparing for winter, Jasmine hadn’t mentioned helping out.

“Speaking of plans,” I said, “do you know what she’s doing here?”

“I spoke to Jasmine when she arrived. All she said was that she wanted to see how Kings prep for the winter. I don’t buy it.”

Neither did I.

“Bryn, isn’t this exciting?” Mom asked, bumping my shoulder with hers. She had her own basket. “You and I used to do pretty much all the work, but now we have so much help.”

I pushed Lance from my mind so I could give her a genuine smile. “I know. We should have had help. At least things are now finally as they should be.”

“I agree. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had so much free time.”

Her happiness lifted my spirits. “I’m glad you’re able to take it easy, Mom. After how hard you’ve worked, you’ve more than earned it.”

She beamed at me. “Oh, honey, you’re so sweet.”

I smiled at her in return, then turned my attention to the others around us. I raised my voice. “How have you all been adjusting to the merge? Do you have any concerns, especially regarding the safety of you and your families?”

“I feel pretty safe,” Claire said. “It’s nice that we don’t have to worry about our children being in danger or feeling unsafe.”

Val nodded. She was one of the Kings’ mothers who had been most cautious of me when I returned to the pack as alpha, but she’d since warmed up to me.

“Troy and Gregor made me feel like I had to hold onto my son’s hand so tight when we walked around, or else he might run into one of them or their guards. ”

“Oh, yes,” Claire agreed. “The schoolyard was the safest place for them to play.”

The memory of the Redwolfs lashing out whenever a child or a woman or an elderly wolf inconvenienced them pissed me off. I reminded myself that Troy would never get the chance to hurt my packs again. Night and I would make sure of that.

“I can only speak for myself,” Iren, a young mother from the Wargs, said. “But I feel safe for the most part. I’m just a little worried that the children might take on the animosity of the adults. I’ve heard that there have been fights at the schoolhouses in both territories.”

“Fights?” I repeated. It was the first I’d heard of it, but the nods from the others in the crowd confirmed what Iren had said.

Janet, an older Warg woman, spoke next. “Steph, my granddaughter, came home with a bruised cheek the other day. My daughter thought it was just typical pup roughhousing, but Steph told me that a King boy had told her that she was feral.”

I stopped spreading straw to look at the others. “Oh no. Does anyone else have similar stories?”

There was a chorus of agreements and nods. Apparently, these incidents were also happening outside of school while the children were playing. A leaden weight settled on my heart.

“I’m so sorry your children have been dealing with that,” I said.

“I’ll see what we can do to make that less likely, but it should start by changing things at home.

Make sure you remind your children that it’s important to be kind to everyone and that if they have an issue with another child, they should go to a teacher instead of handling things on their own—”

“Did you say your granddaughter’s name is Steph?” a King woman, Inez, demanded. “She gave my son a black eye!”

Janet glared at Inez. “If you don’t want it to happen again, tell your son to watch his mouth.”

“What did you say?” Inez dropped her basket of straw and stormed toward Janet.

Janet dropped her basket, too, her lips pulling away from her lengthening teeth. She was older, but she was a wolf and a Warg. She would never back down from a fight.

I moved to get between them, but Tavi was faster.

“That’s enough!” she said firmly, her voice a low growl. “We are not doing this.”

“No, we’re not,” I said. I leveled my gaze at Inez, then Janet, and then looked at the others.

“This is exactly the kind of animosity we don’t want you taking home with you.

Telling your kids to be nice to each other will do nothing if you don’t lead by example.

What if there were children here to see you acting like this? ”

Inez had been the aggressor, so I was glad to see my words break through to her.

“I thought it was a long shot that Kings and Wargs would ever be able to get along,” Jasmine said. “Children have some of the purest, most accepting souls, and even they are finding it difficult to bridge that gap.”

Annoyance flared in my chest, and my wolf growled inside me. “Children are wonderful and very accepting, but they also pick up on the emotions of adults around them. They can’t hold back their emotions, as I would expect an adult to be able to do.”

Jasmine’s smirk leveled into a slight frown. She couldn’t beat me when it came to knowledge about children. I’d spent most of my life around children, and since being appointed den mother, I’d been reading literature about child development. I knew what I was talking about.

“If we are having trouble adjusting, then it’s natural that they would struggle as well,” I went on.

“And just like your children, if any of you have an issue with another parent, you bring that to me or Octavia. We’ll help you, but we won’t be able to do anything if you try to take care of things by yourselves. ”

That seemed to satisfy the group. Janet and Inez picked up their baskets. I was glad they seemed appeased that Tavi and I could help them, and I made a mental note to facilitate a meeting between Janet, Inez, and their pups.

“Now, back to my question. Does anyone else have any concerns about their or their family’s safety?”

At first, there was silence, and then a voice spoke out. It was Gladys Hera, another of the older women, but she was a King. I was surprised to see her there, as to my knowledge, she had no pups.

“I heard that Night was looking into the disappearances of the children that happened ten years ago. Has he made any progress?”

Recognition lanced through my chest at her question. Of course she had no pups—her son was one of the children who’d disappeared a decade ago.

“What disappearances?” asked a Warg, this one a father.

I spoke carefully, knowing there was at least one person here who had been personally affected by the kidnappings.

“Ten years ago, dozens of children between the ages of five and seven disappeared from the Kings Pack. The forest was combed through, but there was no evidence or suspects, no bodies ever found. We still have no real leads about what happened to them.”

“It was so insane back then,” Claire said. “I was just a kid then, but my mom went overboard trying to keep me and my sister safe.”

“I remember it, too,” I said. “It was only boys who went missing, but the entire pack went on lockdown because everyone was terrified.”

Wargs glanced around at Kings with some sympathy, but I noticed that Jasmine had her arms crossed.

She was still frowning, but the slight expression had become more of a scowl, as if she was thinking, Why should I care?

I was seconds away from calling her out, but Gladys spoke before I could say a word.

“My Isaiah was one of those who went missing,” she said slowly.

“My mate and I…we always let him play in the woods with his friends. But one day, he never came back. When Gregor put a stop to the search parties and declared the children dead, my mate didn’t give up.

We’d waited so long to have children, and Hugh Junior was our little miracle baby.

He was our one chance at having a family, so when we lost him, it was too much.

Hugh disobeyed Gregor’s order and went out to find him.

He promised he wouldn’t come back until he found our boy.

” She stopped, pressing her hands together so hard that they shook.

“Hugh came back to me a week later. A Wargs hunting party had found him while he was out there searching for our son.”

Her words silenced the group. Even Jasmine was cowed. I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten that Gladys had lost not only her son but her mate.

“I’m so sorry,” Tavi said. She was the only one with the courage to speak, and for her—someone who had lost her family and so much more to Kings men—it was huge to apologize for the retaliatory actions of her home pack.

“Thank you,” Gladys said. “I used to hate Wargs, but that rage faded years ago. I’ve lost a lot, but I know that no pack has had an easy life.

I know Gregor or Troy sent killing parties to hurt Wargs, and I know my mate had crossed too far into your territory.

In my old age, I know life isn’t perfect, but violence never solves anything.

It’s important to hold the people you have as close as you can because they might not be there tomorrow. ”

“I’ll say this…” Jasmine said gently. “If Night is looking into your missing children, he’s the best person for the job. He’ll find an answer.”

Her words almost knocked me off my feet. When I looked at Tavi, I saw that she was equally taken aback. That was the very last thing I’d expected Jasmine to say. Wasn’t she planning on replacing Night with someone else?

“I hope you’re right,” Gladys said, a faint smile tugging at her lips.

“Even if all he can tell me is that Junior perished, at least I’d finally, finally have an answer.

” She sniffled, and as she started to tear up, we all stopped what we were doing to gather around her and offer our strength.

Those who had lost pups or siblings during that time came the closest to Gladys, and even Janet and Inez dropped their issues. There wasn’t a dry eye in the group.

I wasn’t sure if we’d ever find answers for Gladys or for Samuel Granby, who had almost been taken—or for anyone else who had suffered because of the disappearances—but I saw how Gladys’s story had softened everyone’s hearts.

What I was experiencing now was the power of a wolf’s basic desire to pull together and be one pack.

I’d do anything to keep this bond strong, and that meant I’d do anything and everything I could to help Night find out what happened to those children.