“Fantastic.” He beams. “I was hoping some would join us. It’s always better for the dynamic if we have diversity within the warriors.”
I look at him thoughtfully. “What about the prisoners, Finn? Did you hear from your brother?”
Finn sighs deeply. “Liam contacted me earlier today, and he has talked to and questioned every single prisoner to find out the truth.” When I eye him curiously, he smiles. “He can detect lies.”
Now that’s a handy gift for an alpha. “And what did he find out?”
“Most of them are guilty, unfortunately. But there are a few innocent ones who simply followed orders during the attack, and they never participated in anything shady. We’ll have them return to the pack, but I’ll have Anders keep an eye on them. They might have only followed orders, but the distrust of the other pack members runs deep, especially since a few warriors were brave enough to join Arman in his attempt to help us.”
I nod tentatively. “But it’s a difficult situation for everyone, and they probably didn’t have much say either, so they could only follow Colton’s orders.”
“Right,” he agrees. “That’s what I was thinking too. I won’t take any chances, in any case. They’ll return, and I’ll make sure they will be properly reintegrated into the pack.” He pauses. “Then there are a few who are guilty of questionable things but weren’t involved in any raping.”
“Do you want them to return?” I ask with a frown.
“Do you?”
I tilt my head. “What I want is not important. The pack’s opinion counts more.”
He smiles. “Again, I can only agree, Which is why I came up with a proposal. Tell me what you think about it.” He pauses. “Our pack had it rough, and I don’t want to put any more pressure on them. Accepting the former rogues was one thing, as they were innocent, and having a few men return who were following orders is also reasonable, but it already puts strain on the pack members. I don’t want them to deal with any former abusers, even if they didn’t go too far.” He looks at me thoughtfully. “I was going to suggest that they be divided into other packs instead.”
My eyes widen. “Is that even possible?”
“Yes.” Finn nods. “Just like Benjamin, we’ll find packs who will take them in. Some of them are decent warriors, and their services might be needed elsewhere, but they will be monitored closely. And they will definitely lose their rank.”
“If that’s possible, I wholeheartedly support this decision.” I take a deep breath. “Wow, we are really getting somewhere.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” he says softly. “You went out of your way to get in touch with the pack members and help the former slaves and omegas settle into a new life.”
I settle on his lap, deciding we can get more comfortable. He wraps his arms around my middle and pulls me closer. “Did you decide on taking a beta, Freya? You know that for a lycan reigned pack it’s usual that the luna has her own beta.”
“I… I’m not sure,” I say quietly. “I do have an idea, though. I’m not sure what you’d think of it and if it would be possible.”
“Tell me,” he urges me softly.
“I was thinking about asking Nen or Aenon. Aenon is really busy, but I know Nen loves it here. Technically, he can’t just join a pack as a regular member, but he could switch between here and his swarm.” I pause. “Male sirens are not deemed too valuable in swarms, but Nen and Aenon are very capable.”
Finn looks at me surprised. “Actually, I really like the idea.”
“It’s unconventional, though,” I say. “Because he is not a werewolf, and he can’t really join our pack.”
“I think by now we are the most unconventional pack anyway.” He chuckles. “No, wait, scratch that, I’m sure there are weirder packs somewhere.” He chuckles. “So, I don’t see why you couldn’t have Nen as your beta. He will be your advisor then, and you have a siren side, which you need help with too.”
I feel my heart jump in joy. I didn’t think it was possible, but having Nen as my beta would be such a good thing for me.
“Did you decide on which member to offer a higher rank?” I ask him in return. “We still need a delta, after all.”
He nods. “How about Emmanuel as delta? He is aware of a lot of things, and the pack seems to like him.”
“That’s fantastic,” I beam. “And gamma?”
“The gamma is going to be your primary protector.” He smiles. “I was thinking… maybe… if she does well in training…”
“Odette?” I ask him. The past few days, I worked a lot with Odette, and she was fierce and kind and didn’t hold back her opinion. Thanks to her, we had a lot of lower-ranking pack members come forward about their forced markings. Yesterday, Finn finally freed them of their forced bond—something I didn’t know was even possible. But apparently a chosen bond can be easily broken with the help of an alpha.
“Yes.” He smiles. “What do you think?”
“Absolutely, yes!” I beam. “Odette would be great! Even the guys are scared of her sometimes.”