Page 131 of The Alpha and His Childhood Sweetheart

Elise was making sure the new additions to the pack were settled before Angela and TJ’s birthday party. I didn’t technically have to do this, but it seemed our new members were more comfortable seeing me, rather than of one of the Alpha’s, Beta’s or even the Gamma’s.

Plus, I wanted to take this off EJ's plate because of the birthday party. I knew it would kick off soon, and Angela wanted her big brother there. I was pretty sure she was going to meet her mate today. Rhea snorted, “Her meeting her mate and keeping the males calm is going to be an above and beyond request from the Goddesses and Gods for all the mates in the Conners and Cambridge family.”

I agreed, “Probably. Thankfully, the Holloran’s will be just fine. I’d be stunned if Angela’s mate wasn’t a Fairy. Rhea groaned, “Which makes our job so much more complicated.” I winced because it was true. Keeping EJ calm considering he knew what happened to his mom around Fairies could be difficult. I had gone to Genevieve with my suspicions.

Flashback

Elise found Genevieve in the gym. She waved, “Hi, Elise.” I asked, “Can we step in your office?” She answered, “Of course.” We walking inside and I locked it. She asked, “What’s going on?” I answered, “The cloak and dagger party planning with Angela and TJ’s birthday is giving me pause. I have theory, but I don’t know if it’s crazy.”

She asked, “Do you think Angela is going to meet her mate? Because all of us Beta’s and Gamma’s do.” I groaned, “UGH! Youguys have got to get me in on these things! I need to be prepared. What’s the plan?” Genevieve answered, “We are distracting them with lots of paperwork.”

I told her, “We need more.” She winked, “We planned to talk to the mates about that part. It’s your lot in life.” I snorted, “It’s yours too. Your EJ’s Gamma.” She grinned, “I know. One day, you’ll get a Gamma Male to be your counterpart.” I teased, “Well, he would’ve told me about this.” She agreed, “He definitely would. What do you think we should do? Because honestly, I’m thinking sex is the way to go. You just sex him into a happy place so he doesn’t think about it.”

Rhea chimed in, “I like her plan. Let’s do it.” I snorted, “You are such a horny wolf.” She said, “When I tell you I know that, I mean it. You don’t need to keep saying it.” I chuckled at her. I told Genevieve, “My wolf likes your plan.” She flipped her hair, “Because it’s a great plan.”

I winced, “I’m worried her mate is a Fairy.” Genevieve laughed, “Ok, sure.” I bit my lip. She screamed, “Oh my goddess! You’re serious.” I nodded, “As a heart attack.” She sat down, “Ok, we are not prepared on that level. I mean, Phil and Gage had a whole doom’s day scenarios but I thought it was insane. The men in this family CANNOT handle her mate being a Fairy.”

I reasoned, “Which is why us with level heads have to help them.” She nodded, “I’ll talk to Toby and the others. Damn Tory and Gia having the easy Conners sibling. Cassie will be happy.” I pointed out, “They could still help come up with a plan.” She saluted me, “I’m all over it.” I grinned, “Thanks!” She replied, “Anytime.”

Flashback Ends

I shook those thoughts off as I reached my destination. I knocked on the cottage door that hosted one of the families we’d just acquired from the Ring Resistance. I waited a few momentsbecause I knew they were home. I could hear someone running around inside. Rhea linked, “They are coming.”

My heart hurt because they were invited to the birthday party but declined. Our newcomers took time to come out of their shells. They weren’t used to the style of our pack. I heard one of the pups whisper, “Momma, it’s the Luna and she brought cake!”

Rhea linked, “You are a good Luna.” I reasoned, “I didn’t want them to miss out on cake.” I’d had Haley snap me some for everyone. The mom, Tracey, opened the door. Her husband, Lance, was standing just behind her.

I smiled greeting them, “Hi Tracey and Lance. I know you guys didn’t feel comfortable coming to Angela and TJ’s birthday party tonight, but I wanted to make sure you all still got cake. I also wanted to see how you were settling in.” I glanced around then complicated, “The furniture and decorations you picked out are lovely.” I loved seeing the personalities emerge. The decorations and furniture were always the first step.

Tracey seemed stunned, “Thank you, Luna! You didn’t have to do that. The pups will die of happiness. They were complaining they wouldn’t get any cake earlier.” I encouraged her, “Please, call me Elise.” We’d found titles were something these newcomers were afraid of. I needed them to see me as someone they could come to and allowing them to use my name did that.

One of the pups whispered, “She’s so nice!” I smiled at them. Lance said, “We are not used to this type of treatment, as Omega’s. I still can’t believe you let us have a cottage.” I frowned, “Well, you have a family. The pack house here is usually for the teenagers and recently mated couples.” They stared at each other in confusion.

I continued, “Once pups come along, we tend to get people cottages. We have the space here, and we’ve just found families need their space.” Tracey smiled, “Well, we are so grateful! Ihad an interview with Mrs. Blanch and Zoe today for a spot in the kitchen.” Rhea said, “Her wolf is on cloud nine about how progressive this pack is.” Good.

She invited me inside and I quickly walked in and set their cake down on the kitchen table. I had a few more to give to girls in the pack house I’d left outside. The pups immediately dug in. Tracey pointed to the living room. She told the pups, “Ears closed, you guys.” They rolled their eyes.

I walked into the living room with them. Tracey gestured with her hand saying, “Please sit down. I still can’t believe you and the Alpha let us pick out the furnishings we wanted.” I explained, “We feel it’s important to make the home yours. My father in law owns the business anyway. We have an account for the pack there.”

I changed the subject, “I know you said you had an interview with Mrs. Blanch and Zoe. I want you to know that here we encourage everyone to follow their dreams here. Saied Conners is the firstborn of Jackson and Molly. She chose to pursue her dreams as the Female Lead Warrior instead of being an Alpha.” They glanced at each other again.

I added, “We have Omega’s that work for Bulls Eye Party Planning with Luna Lexi and Beta Male TeleTed from Yellow Hills. We have several businesses in the area if you want to pursue something else. I will preface this by saying wasn’t spying, but I had just wrapped up a private training session with one of our new members who wasn’t trained in her previous pack. I saw you teaching your pups some fighting moves, Lance. If fighting is your passion, I’d encourage you to join Warrior classes. I think you are good enough to be one.”

Tracey’s eyes filled with tears, spilling over silently while Lance was stunned. He sputtered, “But I’m an Omega.” I shrugged, “And? We don’t stop people from pursuing their dreams. I don’t care about your rank. If you can contribute tothis pack as a Warrior and that’s what you want to do, we support you. I mean it when I say rank doesn’t matter here. Your abilities and talents do.”

Tracey said, “Dena, our oldest daughter, loves interior design.” I began to plan, “We need to put her in touch with the Henderson family then. The matriarch of their family owns the interior design company in town. They have intern positions available for high school students in the summer. Once Dena is a senior, if she’s still interested, they have positions that would translate to school credit.”

Lance questioned, “Henderson? As in the family who are historically the Male Lead Warriors of this pack?” I nodded, “That would be them. I’ll introduce Dena to Lenore whenever she’s ready.” Lance sat back in his chair.

Tracey commented, “Well, this just all makes our decision easier.” I asked, “Decision?” Lance nodded, “We wanted to tell you more about how we came to be here. We have felt so welcomed by everyone, and your words of encouragement. Even before you came here we’d decided to share our story with you.” Rhea squealed in my head.

He amended, “Well, part of it. We are still adjusting.” I nodded, “Whatever you are comfortable sharing, I’ll listen. Just please know there is no pressure on you to share anything.” Lance sighed, “In our previous pack Omega’s tended to disappear, but no one looks for them. I’m sure our friends believe us to be one of those Omega situations. The day before we got here, we found out why the Omega’s were disappearing. I tried to keep our heads down and out of the attention of the pack leadership. Just so we could survive.”

I nodded showing my understanding. Rhea snarled, “I want to RIP these Alpha’s into little pieces and show them their places. Pack members are to be protected.” Sadly, Rhea andI had this conversation a lot now. This was a story I’d heard before.

Lance continued, “I didn't do a good enough job. We were sent to the border one night by the Alpha. No explanations, we were just told to go. I saw people packing up our things as we left. Once we reached the border, we were surrounded by Hunters. I’d seen them around the area. There was a girl with them that was new.”

Tracey offered, “She had on a blonde wig on.” Lance rolled his eyes, “You insist that it was a wig.” Tracey doubled down, determined, “The girl had black eyebrows, Lance; therefore she has dark hair. Plus, she scratched her head because the wig was itchy, and there was just the smallest patch of hair showing after she fought one of them. She has black hair. Trust me Luna Elise, she is not a blonde.”

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