The Alpha & Beta’s Regret – Chapter 95

Rafe POV

Rafe did the introductions as everyone walked inside Luci’s house. He watched as both West and Terence looked at the house itself, smiled, it had been West’s own father that had designed this house, all the houses along this road in fact. His style was clear, the man was damned good at design.

Then he saw as both men stared at Luci with complete surprise. Yes, she was different now, they’d known her previously, and saw the difference right away. Though they left the comments about it alone. Likely understood everyone was talking to her about it, and that it would get tiresome for her at some point.

He allowed everyone to chat and get to know each other as well. Though watching Luci and Jo-anne stare at each other as they shook hands in greeting, that was interesting. Jo-anne tilted her head slightly, in what Rafe could only think of was her assessing Luci. Then she went and sat next to West.

Then stood all the way up and looked right at Addison as she came down the stairs and into the room. Addi looked terrible and Jo-anne sighed heavily. To his surprise just walked around the table and over to her, asked after her well being. It had already been explained to everyone that Addison and Orien had severed ties and why.

Only Luci was in the dark about the actual reason and they wanted it that way for now. Addison didn’t want Luci freaking out over it. Running off to Nightfall to extract revenge on Victor by herself.

Their boys were watching a movie, they could come and go as they pleased. Those two, as young as they were, already understood a man had tried to take their mother for himself. He’d heard Jack tell them, after they’d gotten an introduction as well, that they were all going to be having a chat about how to keep that man away from their mamma. They’d seemed happy with that.

They didn’t want anyone coming to take their mamma away from them. He also couldn’t send them outside to play, unsupervised, not with Melissa and Maria inside the pack. He also didn’t think that Luci would allow it either.

He watched as Jo-anne just stood and hugged Addison, heard her murmur softly to her “You don’t need to be in pain anymore.” And saw as Addi practically sagged into Luna Jo-anne’s arms about a minute later and just sighed softly.

“Thank you, Luna.” Addison said softly.

“Anytime.” Jo-anne replied as Addi stepped back from her and only then did he recall that Jo-anne was a healer. He’d thought healing; as in wounds. But now he realised that Luna Jo-anne could also heal emotional pain. Her pack was very lucky indeed to have such a special Luna. West was very lucky to have her, gotten her back after their failed first Mate Bond.

He saw Luci smile at Jo-anne and nod her thanks to her as well. Then they all sat down at the dining table to discuss the goings on. Rafe and Jack told everyone what had happened in detail, saw all eyes turn to Luci, more than shocked at hearing she was part Siren. West and Terence had heard she had witch’s b***d in her veins, and likely thought that was the other side of her, but to hear she had a Siren, rendered the room speechless.

“A witch, wolf and Siren?” It was Jo-anne.

“Yes.” Luci nodded.

“Interesting, you must have a hell of a warlock as your father or grandfather.”

“Grandfather,” Addison stated, “Luci’s father is, or was.” He heard the sadness “An Alpha Siren, my father was an evil bastard of a warlock.” She muttered.

Jo-anne sighed heavily, but said nothing. No one did, there was nothing much one could say. Though right at this minute he was thinking about Hannah’s words, from bad sprouts good. Addison was all heart, she was good, her father not so much.

They got down to business after that, and Addi told them what she knew of Victor, that he had already been allied to Orien, when she met him. That she’d only ever been to his pack once. That it had creeped her out and she’d never let Luci go there ever, got the feeling that her daughter would not come back from it.

She sketched out a rough drawing of the man’s pack from her memory and that one visit, where she recalled things were. Told them that he had his cells in the basement of the packhouse. This surprised everyone. It was an odd place to keep prisoners. If they escaped those cells, they could kill or terrorise anyone within the packhouse.

She estimated his pack to be nearly 1800 wolves. A lot of them would be half-breeds. That she did not know the extent of his band of rogues but stated that he always travelled with many. Didn’t always bring the same ones to Nightfall, which she believed meant he had more than he let on.

That didn’t really surprise any of them. He watched Luci frown annoyingly when her mother voiced that Victor had an old mating alliance contract between himself and Orien; was signed by Orien himself.

“It’s not valid, Luci,” Rafe assured her.

“I don’t care if it is. I see him, I’m going to let Alari explode that pathetic brain of his inside his skull. Before he even knows it.”

Rafe smiled at her, likely seeing this side of her, she was much more like her old self, just saying whatever she wanted, uncaring of who was around her.

“Can you actually do that?” it was Bradley.

“Yes,” she stated flatly, “Alari is an Alpha Siren, and her call is deadly. None survive it, unless she wants them too.”

“Then how did Victor get away?” West asked now.

“He wore some sort of hearing protection against her call.” Rafe answered and produced the two earpieces they had retrieved from Gary, so that everyone could see them. Look at them, pick them up and assess them for themselves.

He wasn’t concerned about this allied knowing there was a way to block Alari’s call, they’d never have a need to use them against Alari. Though he was curious if they would now want her for allied assistance when in need. Dismissed, it could simply state no, it wasn’t in their allied agreements.

Allen brought his attention back to the roughly drawn map on the table. “Addi, did you ever see anything inside Victor’s pack that could harm me?” he asked her.

“Nothing can harm you.” Addi frowned at him.

“It can, or at least I believe there is something. My Mates outright refused to let me go and recon Victor’s pack, all three of them united about it.”

“He’s a complete savage, Allen, and likely if he knows about you. Then he’s also likely looking for a way around your Mates’ magic. Maybe he found it.” Addison answered him.

“Maybe, if so, why not just come and unleash it?”

“Victor is a particular kind of intelligent,” Luci stated “He’ll only use it when it is completely to his advantage, and is assured that it will work.”

“That doesn’t help me,” Allen muttered.

“I’d ask your Mates.” Jo-anne piped up. “Likely they know not only about it, but what it is. That’s why the refusal.”

Allen huffed a little, sounded annoyed himself “They won’t tell me.”

“Then perhaps it’s for the best, that you don’t know,” Bradley commented.

Rafe didn’t much like it either, but he nor Allen could make those three tell them anything. Though as he sat there, he did wonder if Luna Jo-anne could go and get answers to that question, it was likely, considering how they had bowed to her and told her they would serve her.

Wondered now, if he could ask her to talk to his witches, though if, as he suspected, she was their coven leader, he doubted very much she could be swayed anymore than those three could. Jo-anne was likely as stubborn as they were. He’d seen her over the past three years and not known she was a witch.

Yes, he knew she was Alpha-blooded, and a damned strong one, smelled pure-blooded to him, not that he’d questioned it, not his place. But not known about that side of her, that she was a witch at all. He’d even seen her wolf on one occasion, and had no reason to doubt she was anything other than a wolf.

They were all standing looking at the map of the USA and marking out where packs were around the bloodless moon, ones that were allied to each of them in blue and ones allied to Victor that Addi knew of in red. He added a blue marker to where he knew the Wandering Moon was, even though they were not yet allied.

Conner would be taking over tomorrow and had already voiced his willingness to lend aid. He relayed this to those around him. Terence had simply nodded “Got some good connections, if that packs rumours are true.”

“Rumours?” Bradley and Cooper voiced.

“Kitsune’s reside there, two of them, 9 tails at that both of them.”

Heard many gasps go around the room, he and Jacks smiled “We’ll be allied to Alpha Conner and his Luna Eliza, after this war, but he has offered aid already. Though his ascension to the Alpha of the pack is tomorrow, we could not attend it. He’s currently working on our alliance paperwork, I believe.”

“Kitsunes?” he was asked.

“I guess that is yet to be seen.” He stated, he wasn’t about to go and give that information away. That was up to Conner and Eliza to divulge. Not his right.

Back to the meeting and with Victor having roughly 1800 wolves inside his pack, he was thinking about warriors needed. He had 700 dedicated warriors, though he would only take 500 at the most. West and Terence offered 200 and Brad 100. Taking their numbers to 800. Conner, he wasn’t sure of at this point, though they had taken a hundred to help with the gypsy pack defence, so they could estimate the same there.

Addi mind-linked to him that Orien would bring all that was left in Nightfall, likely to be around a hundred. Though she had no idea of the exact number of warriors Victor had, most packs had one third to half of their numbers as warriors, so anywhere from 600 to 900 was his estimate. Not including those rogues. He would like to go in with more warriors than Victor had. That would be the best option.

“I’ll call some of our allies from Nightfall, who are allied to Victor, and see if any of them want out of their alliances with him.”

“I don’t know Addi, if they report that to Victor, he could go and attack them.”

“They won’t do that unless they are truly loyal to him. I don’t think all of them will be. Besides giving him the heads up, puts him and his wolves on full alert and he’ll pull more wolves to the borders or pull his rogues into his pack. That will mean less of those creatures coming at us from other directions at unexpected times. He might tire his wolves out while waiting for us to attack him.”

“That’s a deadly game to play with other packs’ lives.” Terence stated with a full frown.

“I guess it is.” Addison nodded.

“You won’t need anymore. Alari and I will take down many, just stay behind us.” Luci stated simply.

Rafe tapped a finger on the hearing protection gently. “Might not work.” He murmured.

“Not all his pack will have those. Likely only his most trusted and important to him. So we are still the best plan for all of this.” she indicated the table.

“I’d rather you didn’t go at all, Luci.” Rafe stated, “I would prefer you stay here with the boys, safe inside the pack.”

“That bastard will die by our hands. Alari will not stay put, he hurt our son.”

“Ours as well.”

“I don’t care.” She shot at him “What you want! If you’re taking war to Victor, I’ll be going. You, none of you, can stop me.”

It was damned near on a challenge and he knew it, watched as all at this table recognised it as well, saw her eyes flicker between black and green. All of them were looking at him now. He sighed, he was not going to win this and he knew it.

He also did not want to argue with her, she had every right to her anger. And her need to go and punish Victor himself, would be great. As was he and Jacks, though her sheer determination to do it herself bothered him a little. He was worried now that if he tried to deny her she would just go off and do it for herself. He didn’t want that.

She wanted revenge for that attack on not just her son, but herself as well.