Page 93 of Alpha Reid

“Need any help with making arrangements for the funeral?” Damian asks, shifting uncomfortably in his seat as he looks to Rob. He was injured badly in the battle yesterday, and due to the severity of his injuries, his shifter healing hasn’t caught up yet. It’s something with his back- he used the assistance of a cane to walk in here today. If it doesn’t sort itself out, it looks like Jax will have to take over for his father as Alpha of his pack sooner than he’d thought.

“I haven’t even had a chance to discuss it with Chase,” Rob grumbles. “I’ll let you know, though. Appreciate the offer.”

“We’ll all help out with anything you need,” I add, and the others nod in agreement. It’s going to be a long week of funerals- every pack has many to plan for their fallen members- but as an alpha, Vaughn’s will undoubtedly be the largest and most well-attended.

Another somber silence falls over the room, which Brock finally breaks when he gets to his feet and officially gets the meeting started.

“Let’s get down to it, huh?” he says, his voice even gruffer than usual. I can guess why- he’s not a big fan of attending these meetings, let alone leading them. “We got the outcome we wanted yesterday, but now that we’re on the other side of the war we need to address how to move forward.”

“Well first we need to figure out what to do with the shadow pack wolves,” Theo states, his brow furrowed. Because he and Jax have yet to take the mantle as Alpha of their packs, they were tasked with coordinating security overnight, directing the squad to take on patrols and maintaining the electronic systems already in place. “We had to double patrols on the borders last night because a bunch of the shadow pack wolves were still hanging around,” he continues, exchanging a side-eyed glance with Jax.

Brock frowns. “Did they say what they wanted?”

“A lot of them don’t have anywhere to go,” Quinn says, scooting forward in her seat beside Jax. “They don’t have packs to go back to.”

“And then there’s the matter of Serena’s pack,” Jax adds, looking my way.

I feel Serena stiffen beside me. I set a hand on her thigh, giving it a reassuring squeeze before I speak up.

“I’d like to offer them the option of joining my pack,” I say, turning to Serena. “Their Alpha’s blood runs in my Luna’s veins, so it seems fitting for them to join us.”

Serena’s face lights up. She nods quickly, unable to contain her enthusiasm for my proposal. Since finding out her pack was imprisoned, I’ve given it a lot of thought, and it just makes sense to absorb them into my own.

“We’ve been working on some new housing developments in Stillwater over the last year,” I add, turning back to the others. “So they won’t need to stay at the complex long-term, we’ve got the space to move them into our territory right away.”

Jax nods. “Well that takes care of that, then. But there’s still the shadow pack…”

“There is no more shadow pack,” Anders grumbles.

“Fine, rogues then,” Theo fires back at his father before turning to the rest of us. “We spoke with some of them last night. They warned us that there are still some out there who are true believers in Xavier’s mission, and if left to their own devices, they may cause trouble for us down the road.”

“What the hell was his mission?” Fallon blurts, wrinkling her nose in disgust. “Killing and taking over? Absolute power?”

“He was a purist,” Astrid mumbles, staring at the ground.

We all look her way, waiting for her to go on. After a beat, she swallows hard, tucking her unruly curls behind her ear and looking up at Brock still standing at the front of the room.

“He was obsessed with Alpha blood, Alpha power. Creating a superior race of shifters. He basically had a cult of devoted followers, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they wanted to carry on his legacy somehow.”

“You think they’ll form splinter groups of some kind?” Gray asks, leaning back and running his thumb back and forth across his lower lip.

Astrid nods. “I definitely think it’s possible.”

“That’s how the…er, rogues… made it sound,” Jax adds.

“Then we’d be wise to head them off before we have another shadow pack situation on our hands,” Brock growls.

“My thoughts exactly,” Gray murmurs, and I swear it’s like you can see the wheels turning in his head. The guy has a knack for this stuff- he was the one who started the security squad, after all.

“What are you thinking?” I ask him, leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees.

Gray narrows his eyes in thought, furrowing his brow. “Maybe form a council of enforcers to track down and take out the splinter groups before they become a larger threat.”

“I’m sure some of our warriors would be in for that,” Cole says, speaking up for the first time since the meeting began. He’s a man of very few words- which is a bit surprising, considering the fact that he’s Astrid’s brother. She’s chipper and outgoing and he seems like her polar opposite. All business.

We discuss Gray’s idea a little more, deciding how to put it into action over the coming weeks, then turn to the debate of whether we’d be willing to absorb some of the packless wolves that surrendered after the battle into our own packs. Ultimately, all five represented packs agree to take them on if they can make some showing of trust. Chase isn’t here to make that decision for his own pack, so we’ll have to take it up with him later.

The council meeting runs longer than normal as we discuss how to move forward. After all, the six-pack was technically formed for the purpose of protection against the shadow pack. Without that threat, the alliance is no longer a necessity, but we’ve all built relationships now. Our packs are connected, both by the territory we reside in and by blood through mated pairs. It seems like fate wants us to all stay together, given how many fated mate pairings have crossed pack lines lately.

---