Chapter 56: Chapter 55

And find the place where

every single thing you see

tells you to stay

-SEEKER

Things moved quickly after that.

Maybe too quickly for Orion’s liking, but quickly all the same.

I started to see all the pack members. Each and everyone.

Like in Alba Rosa when I took the time to painstakingly memorize names, now I applied that same practice here. Rex took me to visit them individually. Orion stayed by my side, his wolf eyes trailing after the children.

I encouraged him to follow them. To play.

But he stayed where he was, not moving away from me.

The pack seemed bewildered at this new acceptance in leadership. Almost like, with my arrival here, they were realizing that maybe, instead of a gathering of miscellaneous broken souls- they actually were a pack.

I could see it.

Members who had been broken and tossed aside from their previous packs- some had mates. Those mates followed them. It was an essential “package deal” where if one was unfit the other technically was also. This usually fell to the males. Females sometimes had a different story. Sometimes they could be hidden away.

But not the male.

And as these mates came into the pack, they brought with them the prospect of a family. Their encounter of being tossed aside lead to the feeling of betrayal. Of distrust and anger towards any pack system.

So they stayed.

Even if they recovered, and even if their pack granted them whatever pardon and saw fit to take them back. Once you had trampled on a soul, there was no way to repair the damage done.

So they stayed.

And their families stayed.

And their children, who had been raised to look at other packs in hate and mistrust over abandoning their fathers and mothers, and grandparents. Their aunts and uncles, siblings or other-

It was a pack.

I could see it was a pack.

The only problem was that they couldn’t.

And neither could the outside world.

“They just need someone to… to…believe in them…” I stared at the reports Rex had given me, taking in the financials and other ways of income that could be provided for the pack.

“It’s obvious something could be made out of this pack…”

I trail off when I see the look in Orion’s eye.

“What?”

He shakes his head.

“Just tell me,” I snap. I was already on a thin wire. Though I could see the potential, that potential seemed impossible to reach at this current point.

“Just…” He looked away, sighing, “just remember that there are people behind those papers…”

“I’m aware of that.”

Orion turns his head to the side, eyes narrowing, “are you? This isn’t Alba Rosa-,”

“I know that.”

“It’s a pack of wolves who have been tossed aside. Some are just barely able to survive. Andrew is still being looked after.”

Andrew. The boy who had been brought to the pack a week ago.

I close my eyes and sigh.

But then an idea comes to me.

I sit up straight in the bed, laughing.

Orion looks started by the sudden change, but I can see his own lips curving.

“You thought of something,” he says.

“Yes!” I lean forward, giving him a brief kiss before running out of the room.

Rex nervously watches the entrance. He, like the rest of the pack, shuffle back and forth, teetering on the edge of unease and mistrust.

“I don’t think this is-,”

I hold up my hand, stopping him.

His mouth closes, eyes still edged with a layer of worry.

The pack and I hear the sound of the approaching truck before we see it.

I smile when I take in the wild driving of the vehicle.

Rex shouts in alarm, but there’s no need to. It stops before it can hit anyone.

Grandma climbs out of the front seat, leaning against the door and grinning broadly.

“I heard someone had an injured leg and needed it cut off?”

A horrified gasp rises from the crowd at Grandma’s opening statement.

I groan inwardly.

She always had to make an impression.

Orion leans against Grandma, his wolf tongue lolling out as she scratches behind his ear.

I try to not glare at him and focus on the person in front of us.

Andrew’s groans of pain were faint.

Grandma shook her head, eyes showing faint worry that she hid well.

“It’s a good thing you called me Soraya. Though Jay is acting like a three-day-old wet towel about it.”

I have to hide my smile from the alarm that is obviously coming off of Rex. Out of all people, I thought he would enjoy Grandma and her eccentric behavior. But it seemed the opposite.

Rex slowly leaned towards me, his mouth barely moving to try and hide his words.

“How long is she staying?”

“She is staying for as long as you need her,” Grandma eyed Rex seriously before turning back to Andrew. “Judging by the state of this one, I would say a while.”

Andrew chose to open his eyes that moment and look up at Grandma.

“Hello little one,” she smiled soothingly at him, stroking back a strand of his hair. “I know you’re in a lot of pain…I’m going to give you something to make that go away for a few hours, okay?”

Andrew’s eyes were wide and unfocused. I couldn’t tell if he was able to understand her, but that didn’t stop Grandma from sticking the thin needle through his arm.

“What is she doing?”

“Rex, calm down.”

A pounding sensation was beginning to form in my temples. Rex’s shouts of protests were not helping. Neither were Grandma’s laughter as she twirled around the syringe.

“You two- Stop it.”

They both stopped, staring silently at me.

I turned to Orion.

“You. Don’t suck up to her like that. Get away and stand next to me.”

Orion slowly sunk towards me, a low whine escaping his throat.

“Quiet.”

He quickly stopped.

I turn to Andrew, watching his steady breathing.

Lucky.

“Grandma- I have a list of people you need to look after. Rex, get your shit together, you’re my beta for goddess sake and shouldn’t freak out over one needle. I have a meeting set up later today and I need you to be there with me.” I look down at Orion, glaring at him and his stupid puppy eyes, “both of you.”

Alpha Theon was not happy to see me.

That didn’t matter.

I wasn’t happy to see him either.

I was, however, very happy to see his mate.

Sandra rushed out of the car the moment it stopped. I didn’t even try to hold back my laughter. I openly stared at Alpha Theon and grinned. He only glared back.

“Soraya!”

I don’t hesitate to embrace her. I can tell she’s surprised by my open display of affection. She pulls back, her grin only widening.

“I couldn’t believe it when you called me!”

“I couldn’t either,” I heard Alpha Theon mutter darkly in the background.

“I missed you Sandra.”

I see tears begin to form in her eyes. Sandra always had loose control over her emotions. She patted my cheeks affectionately, nodding her head.

“I miss you too.”

I see Alpha Theon cringe behind her. He wasn’t able to keep a mask on his face to hide the effect that her words had.

Sandra looks around, taking in the pack.

“So you decided to pursue your heart. Good for you dearie.”

I smile, feeling a sense of warmth and familiarity with Sandra there suddenly.

I lead them inside Rex’s house. Alpha Theon’s eyes dart everywhere. I can tell he’s on edge, uneasy. This pack made many Alpha’s uneasy. Vaguely in the back of my mind, I wonder if anyone was sent here because of him. If that would help me in what I was about to ask.

They sit closely together. Sandra still has the glow of a new mate around her. Alpha Theon still has the look of a desperate man. As if, all those years of searching now were on thin ice. One wrong move and he had something of value that could be taken away.

Sandra’s smile widens when Orion walks through the door. He is fully dressed, sulky that I forced him to comb his hair and stay that way.

They embrace, but this one seems different. I had forgotten that Sandra and Orion spent a lot of time together in the kitchen while I had been away training or attending to the pack. It had never occurred to me that in the process of this they would become friends.

A low growl comes from Alpha Theon as he watches this.

Orion doesn’t pull back though. He looks down on Sandra almost with the same affection a son would a mother.

“You need to eat more,” she pokes his stomach, earning his smile to grow.

“Soraya pulled me out of the woods.”

“So you’ve been living off of rabbits and twigs.”

Orion makes a face, “wolves don’t eat twigs.”

“The ones with sense don’t.”

I cut in before Orion can process her words.

“Thank you for driving out such a long way to meet with us.”

Rex walks in then. He goes to stand by my side. I can tell he is trying to look at ease, but his hands are shaking slightly.

“You already know Orion. This is Rex my Beta.” Rex nods his head slightly.

“Rex, Alpha Theon and Luna Sandra.”

Sandra smiles at the name, looking to Orion.

“We’re both Lunas!”

Alpha Theon places his hand over hers, a silent look passed between them that causes her to nod and look back to me.

I clear my throat, resuming, “Alpha Theon. I’m addressing you when I ask for your assistance in providing aid and supplies to the Contritum Pack.”

Alpha Theon’s face darkens. He probably already knew the moment I called Sandra.

“What do I get?”

Before I can talk, Sandra is turning on him.

“What do you get?”

She looks horrified at the question.

Alpha Theon does too. He’s realized his mistake. He glares at me, knowing I was hiding my smile behind my hand.

“Sandra, Luna’s don’t speak out at meetings like these.”

I rarely have seen Sandra angry. But that doesn’t mean I’ve never seen Sandra angry. And I could tell, that Sandra was angry.

“They don’t speak? You’re saying Luna’s don’t speak?”

Alpha Theon cringes at his words that are thrown back.

“You're supposed to stand by my side in whatever decision I make.”

Sandra turns to look at Orion and I. She evaluates us before shaking her head.

“That’s not how Soraya treats her Luna.”

“Alpha Soraya is a fe-,”

He stops halfway. The room seems to pulse with tension.

From the corner of my eyes, I see Rex sending panic looks to me.

“Is what?”

Alpha Theon has enough sense to not answer. He is glaring at me, eyes narrowed.

“Nothing. Let’s get back to the point.”

Sandra stands.

I see the anger turn into panic as Alpha Theon takes in her actions.

“Wait Sandra-“

“Soraya is asking us for help. She’s never asked anyone, in the entire time I have watched out for her, to help. And now when she’s asking it you’re replying with what do you get from kindness?”

I had expected this. I had actually hoped for this.

Sandra’s heart was kind. So kind. She loved baking and sharing sweets to children. She spent her days in the kitchen working to feed an entire pack house. That didn’t mean she was weak and female. It just meant she displayed her strength differently.

I felt small guilt at taking advantage of that kindness. I knew Alpha Theon saw right through it. If he pointed it out to Sandra though, it would only be adding fuel to the fire.

I had never understood Sandra’s kindness when I was growing up. I would watch her somedays, disgusted that anyone would willingly choose to work in a kitchen all day when they could be doing something else.

But now, staring at Sandra and how she fought for me still.

I was glad she was the Sandra I knew.

Alpha Theon holds out his hand. Sandra looks at it, one eyebrow rising in doubt.

“Okay. We’ll help.”

She smiles and takes his hand.

I see something flicker in Alpha Theon’s eyes. A softness enters his features that makes it seem like the decision was worth it, just to see her smile.

He turns to me then, the face of a man in love shut down into a man who hated my guts.

“Okay, Alpha Soraya. What do you need help with?”

I hold out my hand.

It’s Rex’s cue that he had been waiting for.

Both Alpha Theon and Sandra look taken aback when the stack of papers land on my palm.

I calmly look over them, smiling at the guilty look that is coming over Sandra and the glare she is receiving from Alpha Theon.

“Let’s start at the beginning.”