Arabellaâs POV~
We walk back out to the buses. There are 8 rogues we are taking back with us to interrogate. And about 180 people..mostly families. It will be a great boost for our farming community, if they stay. And will add another 45 pups! Our kingdom is growing! Iâm cleaning Sebastianâs woundsâ¦although they are almost completely healed.. must be the mother in me! Sebastian says âLink babyâ and I look around and everyone smirks at me! Ugh!
We stopped at McDonaldâs and you should have seen the poor employeesâ eyes when I ordered 500 burgers and fries. We let everyone off the buses to stretch their legs and use the restroom if they needed. Mario walked over to me and smiled..he said âMy Queen? I would like to introduce my familyâ I turned and smiled at themâ¦.he introduced them in turn, his wife Melissaâ¦or Missy..as she prefers..then Michael, heâs 5 â¦.next is Penelope, but they call her Penny and sheâs 4â¦next one is Isaiah at 2â¦and the four month old baby Lissette..or Lissie! I smiled and repeated each nameâ¦knowing full well, I would never remember all the names. Mario said âdid they give you trouble about the burgers?â I laughed and said ânot really. But I think I gave them a stroke! Imagine if our warriors were with us! Can I have a thousand burgers please?â And he laughed. He said âthank you for being our Queen! Our people needed you! Not someone Like you, I donât think..we needed You! Specifically â I smiled at patted his hand..and said âThat may be the nicest thing Iâve heard in awhile! Thank you!â
It was late when we got back and I was done in.. we fell into bed and I was out like a light. I opened my eyes and I was in a beautiful garden.. every flower ever known⦠I ran over because my favorite was blooming. A moonflower! It glows with a blue iridescent shine. Just beautiful and only in my motherâs garden by her pond.
I spun on my heel and yelled âMooooommmm! I was sleeping! Itâs been a crazy two days and Iâm exhausted!â She just smiled benignly and said âI will make sure you feel well rested! I saidâ¦.âAm I in trouble?â She shakes her head No. I asked âare you in trouble?â Againâ¦no. So I said âthen why am I here?â She smiled and says âI miss you â I facepalmed and said boundaries mom! What if I had been dozing in the tub? Or in the middle of a battle. Oh my Goddess Mom! What if Sebastian and I wereâ¦you knowâ¦busy??! You canât just poof me here without notice!â She smirks and says âYesâ¦.I can!â And I had to laugh!
I woke up and I surprisingly felt well rested! I had a picnic with Seleneâ¦we played cards..listened to music and danced. She said sheâs lonely. I am going to start making a concerted effort to spend time with her. She wants us to set up a regular family dinner. I giggle. Iâm sure Sebastian will be thrilled! Speaking of Sebastianâ¦. I woke up without him! I linked him âbaby â¦where are you?â He came back with âofficeâ¦hurry..you gotta see this!â Jumping up , I was showered, dressed and out the door in ten minutes!
I walked straight over to Sebastian and climbed in his lapâ¦he immediately wrapped around me and asked if I was okay..I said âI woke up without you. I donât like itâ. He whispered how sorry he was..and I replied âNo..you had something that needed doing and Iâm being a brat.. now show me what I have to see â He laughed and said âokay bossy pants!â I looked at the video screen and saw a bloodied man on an office floor. I said âwho is?â¦is that Ezekiel?â Sebastian nods and I asked who did that? Kaiden said âByron Atwaterâ¦but you gotta see the video of it!â
The video is up and runningâ¦Ezekielâs office is completely trashed and heâs sitting there with a glass of liquor in his hand..His office door opens..and a man comes inâ¦he asked âCare to explain to me what happened at Harvest Moon?â Ezekiel said âYour stupid cousin happened! Because of her everything is messed upâ and Byron growled âThat isnât an answer Nimrod! We are down by 65 men and now on the Kingâs radar! Years, Zeke! Years..I have been planning this and now I have to pull back and regroup!!? Ezekiel says âWe will be fine! There are four small packs in the southâ¦Iâll plan a few raids and recoup our lossesâ And Byron blew up âAND alert McCallum to our movements again? You moron!â and at the same time he was yelling , he kicked Ezekiel in the chest.. and there was a loud bang and Ezekiel disappeared!
I looked at Sebastian and asked âwhat happened? Where did he go? How did he do that??â And I was told to watch..I heard Byron say âget your ass out here, you coward!â Ezekiel comes back with âI canât.. the door is jammed..you broke my fucking doorâ and Byron yelled âI didnât break your door..YOU broke your door..and this is me rescuing you..â He proceeded to kick the door in and beat the hell out of Ezekiel. And I couldnât help it! I busted out laughing! I said âif Byron wasnât such a twatwaffle and we have to kill him and allâ¦I think Iâd like him! Heâs funny!â And we all laughed.
Alfred and Trudy came in because Sebastian asked to speak with them about Shana.. I walked over to Alfred and kissed his cheek and led Trudy to a chair..Sebastian links me saying âthank you â I linked back âshe looks so sad!â Alfred spoke up âSon, how can we help? I donât know much about her relationship with her cousins..and we donât even know where Shana isâ¦.I did spend time with Ezekiel when we were there, though. I observed his training protocolsâ¦that might help?â Sebastian said âActually, dad, if you could go over those same protocols with Brayden and Cory..that would be helpful. Iâm more interested in speaking with Trudy. Ohh no no no, Trudy, donât get frightened..youâve done nothing wrong! I just want to ask a few questions about Shana, if thatâs okay?â And she nods. I knelt down in front of her and said âWhy donât you just tell us everything you can remember about Shanaâs behavior the last two years..when you noticed her moods changing or personality being differentâ¦we donât really know what questions to ask and you know her better than anyone else.. She nodded and began to speak
âFirst..thank you, Arabella. Seb got a good one!â I sashayed over to Sebastian and wiggled my butt into his lap, like I was gracing him when my presence and he grrrrrrâd at me! Trudy began again â Shana has been a bit of a problem..since her father died. She has this sense of entitlement that is so disproportionate to her actual life. She has always talked about being an Alphaâs wifeâ¦until two years ago. Then she set her sights higher and decided she would be Queen. She and Celia spent hours planning their own coronations. She started changing after your father and I had stopped at Silver Moon to handle a trade agreement for you?â¦anyway, I didnât know my aunt and uncle had transferred there from Byronâs pack..and Shana tied in with them immediately. Then I noticed she spent more and more time with Ezekiel..but every time I asked her about it..she refused to acknowledge any relationship.. Her attitude and behavior has just gotten worse and worse. When we are home, hereâ¦sheâs out at Wolfâs Den..comes home reeking of alcohol and men. Alfred threatened to send her to Russia..to one of the packs there..and that set off world war 3â¦. She did get into a huge argument with Byron..the last time we were at Silver Moon..and he slapped her. But she refused to say what it was about..thatâs about all I can help you with..â Sebastian asked when they were at Silver Moon last and Alfred answered 3 weeks ago.
I said âIf Shana is making a habit out of Pub Popping..maybe sheâs the rogue recruiter for Ezekiel?â