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“There are no girls from Sky Moon here,” Gamma Richard stated with confusion, and then I remembered he was not a member of Blood Moon when we first arrived, so he wouldn’t know. His pack was also swallowed by Blood Moon a few years after Sky Moon, though I believe his people fared a lot better than mine.
“We are here for the women taken when Alpha Geoff murdered my father, Alpha Cory. They are the girls who have worked in the pack house for the last eleven years. The ones that have been disappearing after they get their wolf,” I further explained to him.
“You’re Alpha Cory’s daughter? You’re the girl Luna Luisa has been so obsessed with finding all these years,” he mused, and when I nodded, he barked a laugh, confusing all of us. “I bet they were over the moon to find out you’ve been under their noses this whole time. I would have loved to have been there when they found out. They were always so hushed-hushed about it, but I heard plenty.” He wiped a tear from his face, and then he got serious. “What’s going to happen to the rest of us?”
“That’s for the council to decide. I believe joining the other packs is one of the options,” I said, then added, “You were never mean to us. Why?”
“I never quite understood what happened before I got here.” He shrugged. “I was told you were slaves and should be treated as such. I didn't grow up owning slaves, nor did I know of anyone who did. It felt wrong, so I could never bring myself to mistreat you because you had been unfortunate enough to have found yourself in his warpath. Goddess knows I knew what that felt like. My old pack was small, and after challenging my old alpha and winning, some of us were absorbed by Alpha Geoff while the rest were sent packing. He kept me because he needed someone to lead the warriors. He liked my fighting style, and as a token of faith, as he called it, he killed his other gamma when I got here so I could take over. He let my parents live as long as I agreed to stay, so I did.” I felt for the guy and applauded him for not allowing Alpha Geoff to change the type of man he was at his core. Markus grabbed my hand, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“We have a long road ahead. Can you please ask the girls to head to the hospital? Dr. Castle will also be joining our pack and has already begun gathering some of them for us.” Markus informed Gamma Richard, who nodded and turned to the warriors.
“Bevin, Donald. Go tell the girls to gather their things and head to the hospital. Do not mention anything about leaving. They will panic and try to run. Tell them we’re making remodels to the suites, and they’ll be staying in the hospital for the time being.”
Two warriors broke away and headed inside. At our side, Gillian began texting Dr. Castle to let him know how things were going. We were about to head to the hospital when I saw Gamma Richard take a step forward but hesitate, so I turned back to him and asked, “Was there something you needed?”
“Are all the girls leaving?” he asked. I nodded, pulling Markus back so we could listen. His eyes looked unfocused, and from his facial expressions, it looked like he was having an argument with his wolf. Eventually, he looked at us again and sighed.
“Two weeks ago, one of the girls was beaten for burning dinner. She almost died. Something happened when she asked for help so close to death. My wolf became overprotective of her. I managed to keep her alive, just barely, and I hid her in my room to recuperate. I told Alpha Geoff she died and I took care of the body. She’s still not awake. I-I know she turns nineteen in four months, and I don’t know how it’s possible, but my wolf is convinced she’s our mate.” I raised an eyebrow at his story.
“Does Dr. Castle know?” I asked, debating how much of that story I could believe. He’d given me no reason to distrust him over the years, but he’d also never given me one to trust him.
“Yes, he comes to check on her once a day. He said she was in a healing coma. She was so close to death that it took everything to hang on. He is hoping she wakes in another week or so.”
“I’ll speak to Dr. Castle. We’ll transport her if he deems it appropriate.” Gamma Richard’s eyes flickered to his wolf’s at Markus’ words before he wrestled back control, turned away and bared his neck in submission to Markus.
“I’m sorry, he’s fighting me,” he explained. I was surprised that his wolf was so convinced she was his mate that he would challenge an alpha. Markus, though, seemed to understand.
“Once the council is finished with the dissolution of the pack. You can come visit her. If you turn out to be her mate, we won't stop you from taking her where you are going if she accepts.” He hesitated and looked down at me for a moment, thinking. “I can’t offer you a spot as a ranked member. I am more than happy with my gamma, but if you wish to join, we could offer you a place in my pack. The decision is yours,” he told Gamma Richard.
“Thank you, Alpha Markus. I never wanted to be gamma, but refusing it wasn’t an option. I think I‘d like to take you up on that offer.”
Markus nodded to him again.
“Then, once you’ve helped the council, make your way to Crescent Moon.” I squeezed the arm I had wrapped around his waist approvingly as we headed to the pack hospital. Richard was a caring man. He would be a good addition to the pack.
Markus
Iprobablyshouldhaveconsulted with Celeste before offering Gamma Richard a place in the pack, as she and the girls were the ones who dealt with him all this time, but something inside me moved when his wolf challenged me out of desperation when I told him we were taking the girl. As he recounted his story, Gillian’s words the morning I met Celeste kept replaying in my head, and I believed Gamma Richard when he said he thought the young woman was his mate. As we walked away, Celeste squeezed my waist, letting me know she approved and filling me with relief that I made the correct choice.
We walked into the pack hospital to find it in chaos. The two guards tasked with getting all the girls to the hospital were fighting against four Blood Moon warriors trying to get through the double doors. Girls, ours, I was assuming, were screaming from the other side of the double doors whenever one of the warriors got close enough to rattle the doors trying to get them open. A very pale and slightly bloody Dr. Castle was visible through the door windows, doing his best to hold it closed. Celeste’s arm left my waist, but I grabbed her arm before she could join the fight. My temporary panic that she might get hurt allowed Atlas to come forward.
“The pups,” Atlas growled at her before I retook control and pulled her behind me while I approached. Gillian, Danny and my warriors followed behind me, ensuring Celeste and Maya were properly surrounded. I sent a quick mind-link to Maya to ensure Celeste didn’t follow me before I stepped away from the formation and grabbed the first asshole trying to push through the doors while rolling out my aura to make the rest submit. Gillian and Danny grabbed and pinned another of the assailants while the defending guards grabbed the remaining two and checked on an unconscious man slumped against the door.
“What the fuck is going on here? Why are you trying to attack my pack members?” I growled. None of them spoke, so I looked at the one I held by the throat and pushed the full alpha command into my voice. “Why were you trying to attack these minors?” the man whimpered and tried to fight the command until I let Atlas take control.
“Answer us!” he roared.
“Luna Luisa left instructions that if anyone came looking for the girls, we were to kill them so no one could confirm who they were,” he answered, making me look at the other men who had attacked. They were all older.
“Were all of you present at the massacre?” I asked as I watched Gamma Richard running into the hospital from the corner of my eye, taking in everything happening.
“Yes. We were there,” he answered after trying to fight my command and failing. I turned to Gamma Richard.
“I want these four taken to your dungeons and left there for the council to question. They appear to have more information about what happened the night of the massacre. My guards will assist you,” I instructed, and one of my guards came over and took the man from me.
“You three.” I turned to the guards who’d defended Dr. Castle and the girls. “Thank you. My men will take it from here.” The guards bowed their heads and left the hospital. I looked back at Celeste, stretching my hand out, and smiled when she walked quickly to my side.
“Ready, Tuli?” I asked. My poor mate turned pale at my question, and before she could say anything, she put a hand to her mouth, and her eyes went wide. She ran to the nearest trash can and threw up all the fruit she’d munched on the way here. I held her hair out of her face until she finished, and Maya handed me a bottle of water and some anti-nausea tablets for me to give my mate. I looked at her with a smirk, and she shrugged.
