Rescuing His Captive Mate: Saving The Future Luna

Chapter 135 - Artem - Preparing For The Pack Meeting

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Artem

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We silently left the room, leaving Kent and Nico behind. It was time for Kent to heal along with his brother. He had felt so much guilt over it all that it had even caused the rest of us heartache. He was a loving and caring big brother that wanted nothing more than to save the brother that he was too weak to protect as a child. Now, he was able to do just that.

I was surprised though. The strength that I felt coming from Nico had not felt like that of an Omega wolf. He had felt more like a Delta or Beta strength. Had his family gotten it wrong? Was Nico not an Omega? Did their grandfather do this to Nico on purpose? Those thoughts and more raced through my mind as I walked out of the room, down the hall to the stairs, and all the way to my office.

I was sitting in my desk chair when I finally came back to my senses. I didn't even remember walking to my office. I didn't remember telling the others to come with me. But apparently I had, or why else was I in this room with Reece, Doc, Griffin, Cedar, Paul, and Juniper. 

"You seem lost in thought." Reece spoke in a soft voice, finally breaking the silence of the room.

"I was just thinking about something." I could hear the uncertainty in my voice as I prepared to tell them what I was thinking.

"It must be a doozy of a thought." Paul laughed. "If it's rendered you speechless and all."

"It's more than a doozy." I finally looked up and stared at them all. "I think that Nico was targeted and treated this way on purpose. Though I don't know why someone would do that."

"What do you mean?" Reece obviously looked confused.

"I mean that I don't think that Nico is an Omega wolf. And if I am right, that would mean either he was targeted for this mistreatment on purpose, or those talismans that tested a wolf's strength were never checking for their strength at all."

"What else could they have been checking for?" Doc sounded confused as he asked that question.

"I don't know." I was about to shrug my shoulders before a thought occurred to me. "They were given to us by a warlock. Perhaps they were checking to see if the boys were compatible with magic. Didn't one of you say that Gannon was trying to make hybrid children. Do you think he was looking for the wolves that he needed even back then? Or maybe it was for his experiments."

"You might be right. It's possible that he was looking for children that would be easy to conduct his experiments on. He might have been looking for a special quality that those children had. The problem is, we don't know what that quality might be." Reece seemed to be in deep thought now as he contemplated what I was saying.

"We will never know either, not with Edmond being dead." Cedar commented as the silence had just about to settle around us again.

"What do you really think Nico's rank would be? How strong did his wolf feel to you?" Reece seemed extremely serious, like he was working through a puzzle that I couldn't see.

"Delta at the lowest. I think that is why he managed to slip away from us. We had been working under the assumption that he was a weak wolf so we weren't putting as much force behind the restraints. The thing is, he was stronger than we thought and he was able to get out."

"If it wasn't the talisman that misjudged him, who do you think would have done this to him?" The anger that was behind Doc's eyes when he asked that question was strong enough to feel.

"The only one I could think of would be Kent's grandfather. He was the one that most abused Nico when he was growing up. And it was no secret in their family that he thought Kent and Nico's mother had cheated on his son. He never accepted Nico as his blood."

"What? What the hell is that all about? Weren't his parents mated?" Paul was in such disbelief when he heard my explanation that he literally jumped when he spoke.

"No, most of the people in this pack aren't mated. My parents were, and there are a few others, but most of them marry for strength or money. Some for love but that is rare around here as well."

"What the hell kind of fucked up pack is this?" Cedar blurted the words out as if he couldn't stop himself. Further proof that he hadn't meant to say those words out loud was the fact that he clapped his hand over his mouth after he had spoken them. I just laughed at him. It was all too funny.

"One that I thought the Goddess had abandoned. If it weren't for my desire to save the unfortunate children in this pack I would have left and never come back. I wanted to reform this place and make it all better, but there was so much that was happening that I haven't gotten the chance yet." I hung my head in shame. "I am a failure as an Alpha."

"Now that is simply not true." Reece glared at me. "The fact that you have done everything that you could to help and protect and rescue those children tells me that you are definitely a worthy Alpha. You just need a little help. You weren't raised to be an Alpha, you needed to take it by force. That doesn't disqualify you, it just makes you a little uneducated. And that is fixable."

"Are you trying to say that I am stupid." I laughed thinking that was not much better.

"Not at all. I was born the son of an Alpha and was raised knowing I would become one. You were not born the same way. You were not privy to all the lessons that an Alpha's child would have. All you need now is to learn what you don't know about being an Alpha. There is a lot more to it than just protecting people and ordering them around."

"Really, and how exactly am I going to learn all of that?" I could tell there was a little bit of snark and a lot of attitude in that question when I asked it.

Reece lowered his head and looked over at me with an expression that basically asked 'did you seriously just talk to me like that'. I think I let myself get a little too comfortable around him and I basically forgot that he was the Alpha King. Uh oh.

"Luckily, I am a forgiving man and I am also generous. I will overlook that little outburst of yours and still give you the information that you need."

"Sorry about that." I could tell that things could have possibly gone a lot worse than they did. I was just glad that I was not being treated like a disloyal subject. Man this royalty shit was confusing when you weren't used to it all.

"I have books and texts back at my place that I had to study while I was growing up. I will have them copied and sent to you. Also, there might have been something similar left here by the previous Alphas. Have you checked all their books?"

"Yeah, that was one of the first things that I did. I was looking for more incriminating evidence and possible leads on kids to save. There was nothing about how to run the pack among them."

"Well shit, I see this pack just wanted to be run into the ground. You're lucky I came here and can save your asses. Just make sure that you don't squander what I give you."

"Yeah, trust me I won't. I want this pack to be a proper one. I want this to be a pack where everyone can live happily and be free."

"That's an honorable desire. And it's definitely one that I can help you with."

We spent a little while talking about what it was that I needed to do as an Alpha. Things that would make me a better leader. However, it wasn't long before the conversation strayed in a different direction. 

"What do you plan on doing tonight?" Reece asked me.

"What do you mean?" I wasn't sure what he expected me to say.

"I mean how do you plan to handle the pack members that don't recognize you as their Alpha?"

"Oh, that?" I rubbed the back of my neck while I thought for a moment. "If they continue not to accept me as the Alpha, if they continue to be hostile toward us all then they will be eliminated, just like you said before."

"Are you willing to do something so drastic? Are you willing to kill some of your pack members to make a point? Are you willing to lessen your pack's overall strength for this?" His questions were all valid and they put things into perspective, but there was only one way I could answer them.

"Yes, yes I am definitely willing to do it. My pack and the entire world of shifters are better off without people like them. If they are willing to torture, abuse, and imprison the children of a pack then they aren't worthy to share the same air that we breath." I could tell that there was no hesitation in the words that I was saying, I was calm with this decision.

"That was all that I needed to hear. I will be willing to support you in this endeavor so be prepared to fight when the time comes." Reece's voice was firm and steady and when he spoke.

"You can count on me." I nodded at him.

"Count me in too." Doc stepped forward and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, me too. I don't want people like that sharing the name of werewolf with me." Cedar sounded angry.

"Those assholes need to pay." Paul added.

"I will not tolerate the abuse of children." Griffin was the last to speak up.

"My, my, aren't you boys all fired up and ready to go?" Juniper laughed, breaking the tension that had built up in the room. "I'd call you all the Three Musketeers but there are too many of you. Still, I'm glad you all agree. I didn't want to have to hurt any of you."