The Alpha & Beta’s Regret – Chapter 146

Jack POV

He was in the lost and found with the boys and Rafe, getting them dry clothes from the packhouse laundry, when he realised that although Luci and the boys had only been here for 5 days, he had yet to buy them a single thing at all. No clothes, or books or toys at all, nothing. He’d thought to, but with so much going on around him, Rafe and the pack, he’d not had the chance to.

Realised that he had been more than lax in his duties as a parent, not that the boys seemed to care at all about this, being part Siren, they didn’t really have that need to want material things. Had no need of them and this likely accounted for why the boys didn’t seem to care or complain about having only the bare basics either.

All he and Rafe had done was provide a house for them to live in and yes, it was a big and luxurious house, but they’d really done nothing else. Luci didn’t even have a car to use when moving about the pack when it was raining. Hed not even so much as provide her with an umbrella either.

Looked at the boys they were soaked through, they’d all had to run through that down pour to get here.

Admittedly, they’d all seemed to have had fun with it, turned it into a race to see who was the fastest, had all come barrelling through the front door into the packhouse really laughing, and covered in mud. Luci had won that race herself, but only barely so from what he’d seen, the boys had been hot on her heels and they had all been moving from what he could tell at full Alpha speed

The three of them and all their speed on display for anyone watching them race across the pack. The muddied skid marks that had made it halfway across the foyer also indicated just how fast they were moving, how long it had taken them to stop sliding on the polished floor. None of them had been able to gain any traction and all three of them had ended up in a pile on the floor.

It had made him smile for the first time since his memories had come back to him, since he realised what he was to her. What hed done. Mating himself to her, hed been really struggling with that all afternoon. Had barely said a word at all, and was actually glad that West, Terence and Jo-anne were off having a private dinner with Bradley, Piper and Cooper. So that they wouldn’t see just how much he was actually struggling right that minute, and he knew he wasn’t the only one either.

Rafe had been more than upset himself today, Jack had been in such a rage over it. Realising the truth that Rafe’s own pain had not been felt by him right away, it had taken several minutes to filter through his own pain and feel Rafe’s anguish over that one choice he’d made that had caused all of this to happen.

Rafe had been in the office all afternoon sitting at his desk, barely able to concentrate on anything at all. His mind was closed off to Jack, and he didn’t like it much, but couldn’t get Rafe to tell him anything. Was, it appeared, just shut down.

But Rafe couldn’t hide the emotions he was feeling that were constantly running through him and they were high.

The man was devastated by whatever he did know and wouldn’t tell Jack about.

Jack had tried to talk to him, get him to speak and for the first time in their lives, he’d just looked at Jack and pain had washed over the man and hed just turned his own eyes away and said nothing. Even Flare could feel not just pain but worry ebbing off of Solar right this minute. Those two were holding out on them and whatever it was, was going to be so bad he dared not speak of it.

It made Jack wonder if Rafe himself was also mated to Luci and had not said anything about it at the time, that he too had only just realised it. This would also account for his not wanting to talk about it or letting Jack know what he was thinking. If they’d both mated themselves to her already, he would be in all likelihood feeling everything that Jack himself was feeling.

He looked at Rafe now as he stood helping to pick out clothes for the boys. The man had done what he always did, pulled himself together and quickly, the moment he’d felt Luci and the boys had been headed this way to dinner.

Not that he could get her to stay and have dinner with them. He had even changed their original dinner plans, so it would just be the five of them, no extended family, seeing as shed not wanted to have a family dinner. So hed reduced the numbers to help her be more comfortable.

Not that Luci had even considered it at all, had still stated ‘no, hadn’t even hesitated in saying no. Shocked him completely when shed stated she had other dinner plans herself. A part of him had nearly freaked out over it completely in that one moment. He wondered if shed made a date with one of their unmated wolves here.

Was moving on with her life, when he was mated to her, he didn’t want that, didn’t want her to be with anyone else, and yes, he understood it was very bloody selfish of him to think that, considering he’d had a she wolf for the past six and half years in his bed

He had stopped and thought about that. Had she been with no one at all in that time, he’d not had any pains of betrayal in all those years, and surely he would have, being that he was mated to her, but he didn’t know with that spell in place on them if they would have felt it. Everything was so bloody messed up.

He was watching Rafe and taking note of the size of the clothes the boys were being dressed in, so he could ask them or they could all sit and shop for the boys with them after dinner.

When he felt himself being connected into a mind-link with Rafe and Hannah and just hearing her words, Whatever you hear or feel do not mind-link to Luci.’ That the pack could be destroyed by them talking to her or trying to, felt fear build within him, felt a massive amount of concern roll off Rafe, they both knew that Luci was about to loose all control.

Heard Rafe ask where she was and to hear she was up there in her old room, he understood what was about to happen, could feel his own panic starting to build. Stared right at Rafe the moment the mind-link was cut. They’d wanted to talk to her first before taking her up there and letting her read that.

Hadn’t seen that she would go up there to her old room of her own accord, she didn’t even like being in the packhouse at this point. Neither one of them had considered that she would go up to her room and look at it, not when she’d have to walk right past their suites.

‘Breathe.” Rafe told him as his eyes fell on the boys. They seemed alright to him for the moment. They weren’t all upset, and he knew they could feel their mothers pain and anger. But here they were just talking away to each other as they headed back upstairs to the ground floor.

Then the whole packhouse shook as they reached the top of the stairs and a massive bang was heard. He turned his head towards the ceiling, instinctively put a hand on little Jack, scooped him up a second later. New Hannah was going to try and put them to sleep at some point if Luci would allow it.

Didn’t want him to just collapse to the floor, he saw little Jack look at him “Daddy?”

“I don’t know, maybe the storm.” He shook his head. It wasn’t really a lie. He did not know what it had been.

It was only a moment later when the boy’s body slumped against him completely, out cold. He turned his eyes to Rafe, who was now hunkered down with little Rafe in his arms, stood up and looked at Jack as they both stood there carrying their boys.

Knew that Hannah must have gotten permission from Luci to do so, she wouldn’t without it, so at least Luci was somewhat conerent up there and probably understood the ramifications, but he didn’t like it at all.

Was just standing there staring at the two boys,” Rafe?”

“It’s too late for us to try and explain everything to her. Luci is reading everything on those walls, learning it for herself.” He was mind-linked to the entire pack a moment later, all bar Luci and the witches, ‘Everyone to your homes now, stay inside your homes. He shot out to the entire pack, full urgency could be heard in his voice and Jack could feel the moment it was cut and pack members shooting off to their homes, no one was going to question their Alpha on it. Just did as they were told.

Knew he would not risk them to anything that wasn’t necessary. Wouldn’t send them home in such a manner without proper cause either. ‘Son?’ both their fathers were linked to them a second later.

‘Luci is learning the truth. Hannah said no one is to mind-link to her or she could destroy the entire pack, stay in your rooms.’ Rafe told them and cut the link.

They walked through the packhouse carrying the boys only to come to a halt halfway there as, once again, the packhouse shook and shuddered, and there was that massive bang ringing out. Something was definitely going on up there and he nor Rafe could even ask what it was at this point.

He could feel fear crawling all over him, every fibre of his being wanted to go up there and see her, talk to her, tell her it was all going to be okay. But he knew he could not, that he or Rafe’s presence would only likely make things worse.

The building started to shake violently and then there was just a massive roar ripping through the packhouse, so loud, that even from down here Flare flattened his ears on his head inside Jack’s mind

It was full of pain and anger and he knew it was Luci, but not just Luci. He could hear both Kali and Alari in that sound emanating from the fifth floor. All three of them were up there and roaring in a full pure-blooded Alpha fury of unknown proportions. He felt Rafe’s hand on him. “No Jack.” He stated, and for once Jack didn’t move.

He understood the need to stay put. He had no idea about the power of a Triune, what a Triune could do in a fit of rage, but knew what he was hearing was all three of them, and likely united as one. He could only imagine she had just become a fully realised Triune in that moment and was royally ticked off like nothing he’d ever seen before.

He could hear glass exploding and then the sound intensified greatly. Hannah was not wrong, s**t was hitting the fan and it sounded like Luci was unleashing everything she had up there in that room of hers.

Rafe pulled him into their office, and closed the door. “It’s likely best she not see us right this minute, and if she races down those stairs and her eyes land on us, it could be worse. No interference in any way, shape or form, is the impression i got from Hannah.”

“We have to wait it out.” Jack nodded.

The building stopped shaking and he wondered if it was over, but he could feel she was still upstairs as he lay little Jack on the lounge. Then she was just gone, frowned and stood up, all attention, felt for her and there she was outside the front of the packhouse. It was instantaneous, he saw Rafe look right at him, knew hed registered it as well.

“Blipped herself like Hannah and her sisters do.

” He

murmured.

Jack knew the man was right, it was how Hannah felt when she did that. He walked over and opened the office door, “Jack, don’t do it.”

“I’m not.” He stated and he wasn’t about to go racing out there, but he did step to the edge of one of the front windows to see what was going on, got there in time to see Melissa’s head just explode. He could see Luci out there and stood and watched her, as she Siren called Maria from less than a metre away. Watched as b***d poured from her nose and eyes, ears, then her head was just gone, he saw Lucis hand fan out to her right briefly in the moment the she-wolf became headless, and her body just glowed for a few seconds. Not one ounce of b***d touched her.

Warded it off with her own magic, he thought.

Then she was just stalking away, headed off into the woods. He mind-linked to his patrollers out there, to back away from the area and let Luci pass, do not interact with her, don’t look at her or address her in any way, leave the area now before she got there. That she was in a full alpha fury and he didn’t know if shed recognise them as friendly’s or not. Not to risk it.