Chapter 10
Cayden POV
I hang up the phone with the local police chief and lean back in my chair as I rub my hands over my face. Vampires? Are you fucking kidding me? Of all the times for my parents to be off, enjoying their retirement travelling. If they had been home, they surely would have been part of the conversation with Scarlett's parents earlier today and they'd be taking part in the session with Leader Bruno later this morning. They're of the same generation and my dad was Alpha Zeb's Beta, which means they were also a part of it the last time werewolves had to do battle against those bloodsuckers. No one has seen or heard from one of those things in years. We honestly thought that if we didn't kill them all, we at least sent them off to other parts of the country or even other parts of the world. How long have those winged freaks been back in the area?
I then lean forward onto my desk, resting on my forearms and putting my head down. I'm not physically tired; today wasn't any more physically taxing than any other day, but I'm mentally tired.
Between wrapping my head around the idea of vampires returning, to meeting with Scarlett's parents, to preparing for the meeting with Leader Bruno, to beginning early strategy with the other ranked members and Dax, to holding down the fort while Scarlett was on her "don't call it a date" with Alpha Raul, my brain has been working harder than usual. I think about my relationship with Scarlett and how a lot of male Betas would be resentful serving a female Alpha, and how a lot of Betas are just resentful of their Alphas in general, regardless of gender, and I'm grateful. Scarlett has been my best friend since childhood and damn she's earned her place as Alpha of the Crimson Snow Pack. Yes, she inherited it from her father, but as one of the only female Alphas in the country, she's had to work harder than most to prove herself, which she never fails to do time and time again. Because of my role within the pack, I see more than most, just how hard she works and how much she cares about the welfare of our pack members. And if today is any indication of the amount of brain power she expends on any given day, she can have the Alpha title and all that goes with it. That's not to say that a Beta is all braun and no brains—Gammas are the real hardcore fighters in a pack and Bree won't ever let you forget it—but it's my job to support Scarlett in whatever she decides; I don't necessarily have to do a lot of the "big think", even though she does always ask for my opinion. At the end of the day, any decision that gets made is hers and hers alone, and I'm grateful that I have an amazing Alpha in her and that I don't have her job.
I inhale deeply. It's with that deep inhale that I smell my favorite scent in the whole world, warm cherry pie. I know my mate is near. It's then that I heard the knock on the door.
"Come in, Beautiful" I call to Zella, my mate as I lift my head up while still remaining hunched over the desk. Thought to be a Hebrew name meaning, "wolf" the name Zella only encapsulates one small part of who this wonderful woman is. Yes, she is a wolf. But, she's also my mate, the female Beta of the Crimson Snow Pack, a strong warrior who balances that strength with a kind and energetic spirit, the mother of our two pups, and the most breath-takingly beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on.
"Hello, my love." I say, my face breaking out into a huge grin when I see her walk through the door. That's part of her magic – even with the craziness of vampires potentially threatening our pack, she can always make me smile simply by walking into the room. When we got the call from Scarlett that it looked like vampires had been at our southern border and to keep everyone inside, my mate jumped into full-on Beta mode, helping me strategize who should stand guard where, in and around the packhouse and the other houses, while also keeping everyone—particularly the omegas—calm.
Knowing that omegas aren't fighters or warriors, but need to feel like they're contributing something, Zella had them go about making arts and crafts with the young pups who were too young to know anything other than everyone was woken up in the middle of the night. Omegas by their very nature, tend to be quite nurturing, so they're often the perfect people to help calm the little ones.
She comes around the side of my desk so she's facing me as she lifts herself up to sit on the edge of the large mahogany piece of furniture.
"Hello, my love." She returns my term of endearment with her sweet smile calming my somewhat frazzled nerves. Seriously, fucking vampires?
"Yup, fucking vampires." She says, picking up on my thoughts through our mind link.
"How are Amber and Leia?" I ask, hoping our two little daughters aren't too scared.
"They're fine." Zella smiles, "they and the other younger pups are making Halloween decorations with some of the omegas. They're probably covered in glitter at this point." Ah, glitter. The herpes of the crafting world. Because you can never get rid of it.
As werewolves, we don't really celebrate the human holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving, but as werewolf lore, however inaccurate, is often part of the Halloween vibe, we try to have some fun with it for the pups' sakes. With our pack being more integrated into the human world than some other packs, joining in on some of their celebrations is a good way to keep the peace between our kinds. And to their credit, many humans return the effort. We put out pumpkins and ghost decorations for Halloween, and cornucopias and turkeys for Thanksgiving, and in turn, they close their shops early and keep a quieter pace during the Somber Howl and stay up all night, telling stories of ancestors from long-ago during the Winter Solstice.
"Then you can carry them to bed later." I say with a chuckle as I put my head back down on my forearms that are still resting on my desk. Zella reaches over and begins running her fingers through my brown, curly, mess of hair.
"So what happens next?" She asks. I know she's both thinking about the safety of the pack and my own exhaustion level.
"The police are on their way to meet Scar where Channing found the dead human. And," I say looking up to glance at the clock on my office wall, "in just about six hours, Leader Bruno will be here to talk to us and Scar's parents about their experiences with the undead, so we can have some ideas in place for when Scarlett contacts COWS. You know she'll want you in on that meeting, too." That's another great thing about Scarlett — she recognizes the value that the mate brings to the table. Zella, Asher and Lupita aren't just the mates of myself, Bree and Jacob, granting them the titles of Beta, Gamma and Delta, they're also warriors, strategists, caregivers and leaders.
Zella nods, "that's because we have a smart Alpha." She says with a grin.
Just then we get a mind link from our Alpha, "The threat seems to be gone. We have increased our patrols, trackers are standing guard and Alpha Connor has also increased his patrols. There is an issue of a deceased human in the no man's land between our two packs and I'll be meeting with the local P.D. any minute. But, all is well and everyone is safe. Unless you're a warrior standing guard, you're free to turn in for the remainder of the night. Thank you for looking out for each other." Her strong, whiskey-soaked voice comes through the mind link. It may only be around 4:00am, but I doubt any pack members will be able to fall back asleep. Even the pups, who probably should try to go back to bed, are likely too wound up now from making Halloween decorations.
"Cayden, Zella, you two turn in. It's been a long day and I'll need you both in the morning for talks and strategizing with my folks and Leader Bruno. There are enough warriors standing guard that the packhouse is perfectly safe. Head to bed. I'll be back after meeting with the cops." Scarlett's voice breaks through again, this time only to Zella and myself.
"You heard our Alpha, Beta." My mate says, lifting my head up with her hand that has continued running through my hair, tugging ever-so-gently, her light blue eyes, twinkling, "it's time for bed." She gives me a flirty smile and slides down off the edge of my desk, removing her hand from my hair and taking my hand in hers to pull me up off my chair.
"Honestly, Z, even with as tired as I am, I feel like I'm too wired now to get any sleep." I say, standing up and wrapping my arms around Zella's waist, pulling her close to me and burying my head into her strawberry blonde hair. She pulls her head back and looks up at me, her eyes, the color of a Tiffany's box, dancing.
"Beta, who said anything about sleeping?" Rather than wait until we're in our suite on the Beta floor, I pick up my mate and sit her back down on the edge my desk, prepared to have her be the recipient of all my wound-up energy.
Chapter 11 coming soon