Page 20 of Found (Mate Rejected #8)

20

MACK

I stand in an unfamiliar dining room, in front of a room full of strangers.

Years ago, when I was still a boy and alone in the world, I’d have given anything to have my pack around me again.

But now?

Now I wish I was anywhere but here.

As Aerin drove my car away, I told Franklin I wanted to have a meeting with every member of the Raleighs present. That meeting would take place in the dining room, and it would take place now.

“You forced me into this role.” I look at them, one by one. “This is not what I want. But I’ve agreed to it, and I will do the best job I can because when I give my word, I mean it.”

I told Aerin before that I wanted to keep my pain when she offered to heal me. I said it reminded me of something I didn’t want to forget, but I was wrong.

This is what happens when you grapple onto the past and refuse to let it go. When you let it consume you and take over your future, you try to force something into being that should not be.

Like the Raleigh Pack.

Not all the faces that stand in front of me are familiar. Some are. There are some new faces and I wonder if maybe they were drifters.

I didn’t just want to speak to them all. I wanted an opportunity to see exactly how many Raleighs there are left, and it’s significantly more than I anticipated.

“Your mission to kidnap omegas stops now,” I continue. “Having omegas doesn’t make you stronger. It makes you the target of every pack you stole them from, and it’s a surefire way to initiate a Raleigh slaughter.”

A man standing near the front scowls at me. “But we?—”

“I wasn’t finished,” I interrupt him.

The shifter with white blond hair and dark browns flattens his lips.

He doesn’t like me. That’s okay. I don’t like him either.

“Our priority, like any new growing, unstable pack, is to focus on stability and security,” I continue as I sweep my gaze around the room.

It’s mostly a male dominated space. The few women are in the back, not a surprise given even when my dad ruled this pack, it was one of the most traditional. The men led. Only men were enforcers, and the women were relegated to maternal and caregiving roles. Like most packs in the country.

“But we’re not a new growing pack,” Franklin denies, frowning. “Everyone knows who we are.”

“That was the old Raleighs, when my dad led it.”

Expressions darken in the room, and it’s clear no one is remotely close to forgiving my dad for having walked out on us.

I wonder how they would feel to know he was back in Karson, a more mellow man than the one they would have recognized. And a man now content to stand on the sidelines and have Ivy, a woman, lead the Lonergan Pack.

“How are you organizing patrols?” I ask.

When no one immediately responds, it’s clear not everyone trusts me and that despite them wanting me to lead, I’m not one of them.

“If you want someone else to be Alpha, just say the word and I’ll walk right out of here,” I say.

“We’ve been doing patrols every hour. A pair walking the perimeter east to west, and another pair in the other direction,” Franklin says.

“The entire perimeter?” I ask, stuffing my hands into my pockets and relaxing my pose to show how little I care about this information. It’s important, and one of the reasons I walked back here in the first place, but I don’t want them to know how closely I’m listening.

“Yes, why?” another man asks, eyeing me suspiciously.

“Because it’s only a matter of time before the rest of the packs discover who is responsible for kidnapping their omegas and, if we’re lucky, attack separately,” I say, walking toward the exit. “The meeting is over.”

“And if we’re not lucky?” someone calls out.

I look over my shoulder. “They band together and attack at once.”

No one responds for two beats as I continue to the exit.

“But the packs don’t band together. They never have and they never will,” someone else calls out.

I pull open the door and smile. “Then I hope this isn’t the first time.” I look at Franklin. “The omegas?”

He follows me out. “What about them?”

“I want to see them,” I say as the door slams closed behind us.

“We have no reason to hurt them,” Franklin says.

“I’d like to see that for myself,” I say insistently.

And I wait.

After two seconds, he nods and walks past me. “They’re this way.”

As we walk, I take in my surroundings.

“You look like you might have a question,” Franklin says.

“I’m surprised at the workmanship.” I focus on him. “Aerin said you built this home yourselves.”

He throws back his shoulders, his posture proud. “Yes, we did. It wasn’t easy, but we wanted to create our new home ourselves. I imagine you did something similar in Winter Lake.”

A pang of homesickness hits. I strive to hide it. “I brought together people who didn’t have a pack. Nothing like building a home.”

“No,” he agrees, stopping at a door and twisting the handle open. “Your task would have been harder. Working with people usually is.”

As he steps aside, I walk in.

“Hi.” I smile as I greet the omegas.

They stare at me from their positions around the room. Some have books open in their laps as they sit in the bunk beds. Others were playing cards or some other game at a table but pause to study me.

None of them say a word.

No one is bleeding, looks hurt in any way, but their stares are nothing less than wary.

And since I saw no lock on the door, I imagine there have been enough warnings given to them about what will happen to them if they step out of this room.

I recall the terror in Aerin’s eyes when I opened her door, and she flung a lamp at my head.

She was scared enough not to leave her room.

What has Franklin told these women?

“Well, I just wanted to say hello. I’ll make a point of coming to see you every now and again. You met my mate Aerin recently.” I pause as I wait for a response.

Their expressions don’t change.

Conscious Franklin is standing just behind me, there’s little I can say or do to reassure these women that I mean them no harm, that, in fact, I intend to free them as soon as I figure out a way how.

So I smile again and back up. “Goodnight.”

I walk out of the silent room and Franklin closes the door.

“They seemed afraid,” I say.

“They have no reason to be afraid as long as they stay in their room.” He lifts his hand. “I’ll show you to your room. It’s not much, but you should find it comfortable.”

I quietly trail him as I run those words over in my mind.

No reason to be afraid as long as they stay in their room.

There was one large window in that room. Khaki green drapes covered it, so I have no idea if escape is possible out of it, or if Franklin boarded it to prevent the omegas from climbing out of it.

Franklin stops at a door at the end of the hallway and throws it open, revealing a large, rustic space. There’s a queen size bed with a dark wood bedframe, dresser, and two doors which must lead to a closet and a bathroom. It’s as simple as he promised.

“Did you want to eat?” Franklin asks as I’m taking in the room. “I can have someone bring you a meal.”

I shake my head. “I’m not hungry. Tomorrow, I want to meet with the enforcers and discuss those patrols. And I want to see those new buildings as well.”

He smiles, pleased. “Then that is what we will do. Goodnight, Alpha.”

Again, I hide my reaction to the unwanted title. “Good night.”

He walks out, closing the door behind him, and I take in the bed before crossing over to the window and pushing aside the drapes.

It’s a balcony style window, with a full size door. Probably identical to the one Aerin had in her room.

And maybe similar to the one in the omegas room?

I hope so. Rescuing them is going to be much easier through a door than a window.