Chapter 7
brONZE
I’m sitting at my allocated desk in the Alpha’s office considering pack issues. I can see why Taria, or any Luna for that matter, would need their own office. When she spoke to me about having her own office, I wasn’t too sure, but considering the matter, I think she made a good point.
I raised it with my father, and he looked as shocked as I had been. When we spoke to mother, she had always wanted an office of her own but thought Lunas didn’t have one, so had worked around it. Having looked at the space available in the packhouse, it won’t be difficult to move things around and accommodate a Luna office.
Having just had a conversation with Hannah, I wonder if this is something that could have been handled better by a Luna. I received a call from the Shadow Warriors again this morning. Not Xander this time, a Shadow Warrior by the name of Travis. Hannah’s brother, Elijah, has dropped off their radar, but they’ve received a report that he may have been seen in the south of the northern parklands. The Shadow Warriors believe he is coming for Hannah.
I called her into my office so I could explain what we know, and what we can do to prevent her from being taken away by her brother. Hannah ran away from him when he tried to marry her to gain a powerful position in the north. She was not prepared to be used that way, and it proved that she was worth more than he believed, when she reached our borders and we accepted her into the pack.
She has been a popular addition, and has become an accomplished member of the carpentry shop team with Cameron and Logan. She does all the detail work and carvings. Her skill is phenomenal for someone with no formal training. She made Ember’s bat for me and put her name on it as an afterthought. She definitely went above and beyond with that.
I wanted to move her back to the packhouse for a time until we could deal with her brother's threat, but she would have none of it. She stated that he had forced her to change her life once already, and that she was not going to allow that again. She will carry on working at the carpenter's shop in the town, but will accept that she cannot travel back and forth alone.
I made her agree to change her routine, too. Occasionally she will stay over in Wolfsfoot rather than travel home. She and her travel companion will arrange different routes to travel home. She also has to work different hours so that as many patterns as possible are changed, to stop her brother from being able to plan her kidnap.
I think I was a bit forceful at times when trying to explain that it was for her own good, so that’s why I think a Luna would have been able to handle it better.
You did good. She accepted your decisions as they were for her own well-being.
‘I hope so, Titan. Although she hasn’t found her mate here, she has proved popular and has many friends.’
Her wolf, Moon, is very reserved yet perceptive. She calmed her human many times during the conversation.
‘We need to ensure her safety. I do not want to start my pack leadership with the loss of a pack member, that’s for sure.’
A knock on the door interrupts my train of thought, and I’m surprised when the warrior on duty answers my call to enter.
“Your lunchtime meal has arrived, Alpha Heir Bronze,” he says, looking at me as though I have two heads.
“I don’t take my meals in here.” I frown at the unexpected statement.
“I thought it strange, that’s why I made her stay outside while I confirmed it. Shall I send her away?”
“She?” I think I know who this is going to be. “Would it be Savannah, by any chance?” The pained expression on his face tells me it is before he answers.
“Okay, let her in.” I’ll see how this plays out, I think to myself, but I won’t be eating anything she brings in.
Seeing her walk in with a tray, I get my biggest surprise. She is dressed sensibly, in fact quite demurely. I’m shocked by the transformation, but only in a suspicious way, nothing else.
“I thought I’d bring you some lunch, Alpha Heir Bronze. You’re always working so hard, and I don’t know why, we hardly see you in the canteen anymore.”
Whoa! There are so many red flags in that statement that alarm bells are almost deafening me. Savannah doesn’t think! She wouldn’t do something for someone else, even me. She never refers to me as Alpha Heir Bronze, despite being warned numerous times about calling me Bronze. She has no idea what I do, so doesn’t have a clue how hard I work. We hardly see you in the canteen? We ? She only has I or me in her vocabulary, so who is this we? She wouldn’t see me in the canteen anymore as she was following my routine too well, so I changed it.
“I don’t take meals in the office, Savannah, so please return it to the canteen, and I’ve already eaten, anyway.” She obviously had high hopes for her plan to succeed as her face betrays her disappointment.
“Well, I’ll wait and walk with you when you leave, then,” she states brightly, or hopefully.
“No, you won’t. I’ll be here for some considerable time yet, and I have a meeting shortly.” Mind linking to Xavi, the beta, I ask him to come to the office immediately.
Standing there with the food tray in her hands, I can see the cogs in her head turning furiously, to find a reason to stay in the office with me.
“You may leave now, Savannah. As you said, I’m working hard and have things that need my undivided attention.” Walking past her to the door, I open it and gesture for her to leave. As she moves towards me I get the feeling this little play was not of her making. It’s far too subtle compared to the normal brash attempts she makes, which gives me concerns as to where she is getting her ideas from now.
Xavi walks in, looking from Savannah, to the tray, to me and his brows furrow, as he seems as perplexed as I am. “Alpha Heir Bronze, you requested my presence?” He blurts out before Savannah is out of earshot, and I see her turn to look over her shoulder. Shutting the door quickly, I almost slam it in her face, which wouldn’t have bothered me in the least, I must admit.
“Yes, I did.” Walking back to my desk, I sit down and gesture for him to take the seat opposite. “You are aware of Savannah and her wish to become my mate and the Luna of the pack?”
“Isn’t everyone aware of that? If not, it would be the worst kept secret in pack history since time immemorial.” Grinning at his witty response, I stare back until he sees that I am not amused in the slightest. “Erm, yes, I am aware.”
“She has changed her approach, and I want to know who is coaching her. There isn’t a chance that she came up with such a drastic tactical alteration on her own. I can’t believe she has the mental capacity for it. You have my permission, no my direct instruction, to use any, and every resource available within the pack to get me an answer. In fact, if we must, I’ll call in the Shadow Warriors to get the job done.” Taking a deep breath, I look him straight in the eye. “I’m done with this. I’m going to put an end to it if it kills me.”
Explaining the latest encounter, I can see that he thinks the same way I do. “I’ll get on it right away, Alpha Heir Bronze. This has the stench of a higher brain power than that of Savannah’s, though I don’t think we’re talking genius level here.”
Xavi leaves me alone once again, and I sit back and rub the back of my neck. I wish Taria was here. I could set her and Maya on Savannah.
That would not be a fair match. Would be worth seeing though.
‘You think so, too, eh?’
Taking a moment to clear my head of any thoughts of Taria, I also clear my desk of all paperwork. Getting a pad and pen, I have to start thinking of who I want in my inner council, and what positions I need them in.
My beta will be Xavi, as I do not want to lose his experience or knowledge. I know he will continue to serve me and the pack with the devotion he has always shown. I’m surprised he has never found his mate, although he has never been one for going outside the pack lands for anything other than official business.
I would have liked Dixon to become my Delta and take over the Patrols, but he’s such a good Chief Warrior that I’m torn between the two. It’s certainly too much for one person to be both. I need to see how Adaline performs as his assistant, because she could very well be my solution. I don’t recall any pack having a female Chief Warrior, but I’m only interested in the best person for the position. Gender doesn’t come into the equation in this instance. I’ll talk to Dixon and see how he feels how Adaline is progressing.
Next on my list of titles to appoint, so to speak, will be my Gamma. Someone to protect my Luna, should she ever need it. This is a tough choice as my Luna isn’t known to anyone in the pack as yet, so has no bond for me to call on. Taria, I’m sure, will be a force to be reckoned with by the time she is by my side, and I don’t know her well enough myself to make this choice an easy one.
I have one pack member as a definite for my inner council, though she has no idea that this is coming her way. I’m going to have Eve as my advisory member on the inner council. She is a powerful female that doesn’t recognize her own strengths and abilities. I was watching the pups one day and her male pup, Coal, was getting into mischief. I say ‘getting’, his whole life is one mischievous adventure after another. The teacher was asking him about something and he had his hand over his forehead as he was answering, almost like a salute, but his palm was covering his forehead. I could see the teacher was trying desperately not to laugh, and he eventually admitted to whatever wrongdoing he’d been up to. When I spoke to the teacher, she informed me that Eve had told Coal, from him being able to speak, that when a pup lied, a star appeared on their forehead that only adults could see. Every time Coal tried to bend the truth, he slapped a hand across his forehead so no one would see the star.
That is just pure genius. I am so going to steal that when I have pups of my own. That is the sort of out-of-the-box thinking I want from my advisors. I can’t wait to see what else she has come up with to keep that bundle of dynamite on the straight and narrow. Goddess help the pack when he gets his wolf, we’ll all be in trouble from that day forward.
Xander and Wesley will have to have positions on my inner council. They are the two that I would put my life in their hands without hesitation, and I know they would die for me without a thought. Xander and his wolf, Scout, were always the ones that got us out of trouble when we were pups. They could come up with an escape route, or an excuse at the drop of a hat.
Wesley and his wolf, Duke, were always in trouble for fighting. The funny thing was, it was never either of them that would start it, but they would certainly finish it as the last ones standing. Duke is only a fraction smaller than my wolf, Titan, and I’m sure that it’s only our Alpha bloodline that would give us the victory in an all-out fight.
Oh, what a dummy I can be. There’s my Gamma staring me in the face. Wesley. He is perfect for protecting Taria. They will get along easily, everyone does with Wesley, and most of his fights have been with bullies or someone causing an injustice. That’s such a weight off my shoulders right there.
So, Xander and Eve are two of my inner council, I need at least two more. Cameron and Logan spring to mind, but only because they work with Hannah, and we spoke of them this morning. Malakai? He’s a tailor in the clothes shop alongside Reagan. Both are good pack members, but not as advisors.
Nathan, Jack and Ezra work in the garden with Herb. Good guys, but not for my council. Hannah would be a good choice, but she has too much going on to be able to take this on, and I wouldn’t ask her to. This is far more difficult than I imagined. Serenity, Vivian, Daniel, Liam… I could throw names out all day without finding someone that I’ve interacted with enough to involve them in the pack's decision making.
‘Titan, you need to think about this, and see if you can pinpoint a wolf capable of being on my council.’
Yawning, he stretches before sitting and giving me his attention.
I will give it some thought. It is not in my usual job description to choose council members, so it will cost you a run and a rabbit.
I can’t help but chuckle to myself at Titan’s sneaky way of getting an extra run and a rabbit.