Chapter 21 New homes
I watched Celest go, a quiet resolve settling over me.
The trial was behind me, but my duties to my people were only just beginning.
Celest is new to our pack but every day she shows so much progress.
She is everything I wanted in a mate. I look up to the sky, “thank you Moon Goddess," I whisper into the air and then, turning on my heel, I strode through the grand marble corridors until I found the office of Emerelda, my trusted advisor and lead coordinator.
Emerelda was buried behind towers of parchment, rubbing her temples.
She looked up, her expression a mix of relief and exhaustion.
"Alpha. I assume you are here about the influx of newcomers? Ever since word spread of the trial, and your acquittal, plus Queen Celest finally returning and the attack on our pack, families from all over the borders want to migrate to the Pleiades pack. It is a blessing, but a logistical nightmare.
"
I pull up a chair, lean over her desk. "We don't turn our people away, Emerelda. We build for them. We need a plan for twenty-five or more new homes, and we need them before winter returns."
Emerelda let out a sharp, skeptical laugh.
"Twenty-five homes? Aylin, that is impossible under our current constraints. First, we have strict land restrictions. Father Thomas and the herbalist have zoned the northern perimeter as protected sacred territory, and the southern rocky terrain is completely unbuildable. Second,
our staffing is depleted. Half our able-bodied builders are assisting with tending to the dying farmlands, and the other half is already helping in construction."
I didn't blink. A true Alpha didn't see walls; he saw paths through them. "Then we adapt. Let's look at the map. Plus Emerelda, Celest made the farm lands fertile so the extra farmhands will definitely be utilized now."
For the next five hours, the two of us tore through blueprints and boundary lines, refusing to let the obstacles defeat us. We tackled the problems one by one.
Instead of expanding outward into protected or treacherous territory, I suggested high-density, integrated layouts.
We found a neglected, sprawling meadow on the eastern edge of the pack territory that was technically cleared but underutilized.
By shifting the home designs from sprawling single-story cabins to beautifully crafted, multi-level communal structures that shared foundational walls, We could safely fit twenty-five distinct family units without encroaching on a single foot of sacred land.
To fix the lack of builders, I proposed a radical pack-wide initiative.
We needed the farmlands to be tended especially since Celest was able to bring the fertile ground back.
I would issue a decree calling upon the incoming migrants themselves, as well as the Pleiades pack’s younger wolves who were eager to prove their strength.
I volunteered to join the labor lines myself.
By pairing the three of Emerelda’s master carpenters with eager, untrained hands, they could create rotating, highly efficient construction shifts.
By the time the candles had burned down to stubs, a comprehensive blueprint sat between us.
Twenty-five plots were clearly marked, complete with a timeline for timber hauling, foundation pouring, and assembly.
Emerelda leaned back in her chair, a tired but genuine smile breaking through her exhaustion. "It is aggressive, Alpha. It will take every bit of sweat we have."
I stood up, rolling up the finished parchment map with a satisfied nod.
"The Pleiades pack protects everyone, Emerelda. We need to show that no one will be left behind. Let's get to work."
I say smiling. Through the pack link I notified the pack about the upcoming assignment and invited every able-bodied person to meet Emerelda and myself at the building site tomorrow morning. We have a lot of work to do.