Filed To Story: Their Bullied and Broken Mate by Teri Petry
“Great, just when the guys have so much already on their plate, something like this comes about. You going to tell them?” He asked. I nodded my head as I took a drink of my vanilla tea and replied, “Of course, we have no secrets. Especially ones that involve the pack. I need to talk to them, and see if they could recommend a new Alpha for Dark Star, and then we need to contact Iris. I have been learning about where all the packs are in the Pacific Northwest, and have learned that we are the largest, and there are only 4 packs near our territory. None of them, even together, come close to our size. Plus, one doesnt’ even exist anymore. That pack is vacant, and the council has yet to say what they are going to do with it. It was mentioned that they would divide it up between the other packs, but I haven’t heard anything else.” I said. We talked about everything that was happening today, and barely noticed when Loki and Liam walked back in.
“Looks like you both are having a deep conversation, ” Liam laughed. Jason and I both jumped at his deep voice. Loki starts to laugh hysterically at us being startled and I shot him a mean glare and then laughed myself. I told them that we were, and they needed to join in on it. After once again explaining what I was told, I handed Liam the letter. After he read it, he passed it to Loki and once Loki read it, he picked up his phone and dialed someone. “Iris, this is Alpha Loki Young, you need to gather your associates and get back to Blood Moon immediately. The time of investigations is over, and action needs to be taken on more things that you even know. If it can’t be handled by yourself and the Royal Council, we will go beyond you and go to the Alpha King himself. This is urgent, Iris.” He finished and disconnected the call.
Liam listened to what Loki said, and sat there nodding his head. I looked at them both and told them that we needed to find a suitable alpha for Dark Star soon, and then dropped the bomb on them, “I nominated my brother Jason for the job. He has our sperm donor was a Beta, our mother was of Alpha descent, and he would be a fantastic leader.”
Jason’s jaw dropped and my mates stared at each other, obviously talking via their link, and then turned to Jason. “You up for it? Because we 100% agree wtih your sister.”
Mind Control
*Liam POV*
I thought Mel was on point in nominating Jason for alpha of Dark Star, and he was shocked that she even suggested it. He asked to think about it until Iris and the rest of the council arrived. He wanted to clear it with my sister, and speak to her about what she thought. He said he wasn’t opposed, just very nervous to take such a high level of responsibility. “Jason, bro, it is a lot of responsibility and work, I won’t lie to you. The good outweighs the bad though, and you will have us to help you if you choose to do it.” I explained to him. He thanked me, and said he was going to speak with Rebecca. She was busy helping Grace put the final touches on Nick’s place at the moment, so he was going to go help with patrols. If I could say one thing about Jason, it is this, he is a hard and dedicated worker and loves this pack. I still find it crazy how far he has come since we first met him. The day Rebecca introduced him as her mate, I couldn’t stand the kid. Too arrogant for his own good, but if you looked hard enough, you could tell it was all an act. The longer he and Rebecca were together, the more he changed, and here we are now. I love the guy. He has proven time and time again that he can be trusted and that he truly cares about people. I don’t know if it’s despite his past or in spite of it, but he is a completely different person. That is why I think he will be perfect for Dark Star. He knows how it feels to be on both sides of cruelty. He will be fair, but not take anyone’s shit either.
“OK, we have summoned the council, now we have to figure out how to end this demon. I asked Bastilles to meet us in an hour so that we could come up with a game plan. Their coven is what set off the alarms by the way. I forgot to let the patrol guards know they would be moving into the section of the pack near the old water mill. They are going to convert the mill into a home, so that they aren’t out in the cold and snow when the bad weather arrives.” I explained.
“Now, how do we weed out the traitors? Did Christopher say how many or give any inkling about who they were?” I asked. Mel shook her head and said, “No, he just said there were some from both Dark Star and Mystic Shadows and they were conspiring with each other to attack from within. Kind of a revenge thing. Couldn’t we just put everyone on a curfew, and see who tries to break it? I mean, of course, innocent teenagers would rebel and break it just to hang out, but adults who respected their Alpha’s wishes would not. In doing that, though, those who work in parts of the pack who aren’t guards would have to be home by curfew. So those who we would rely on IN the packhouse but live elsewhere would be included. Anything we need after they leave will be up to us or those who live here. The conspirators will try to see one another and sneak out to meet, and then busted.”
Loki and I just stared at her in wonderment. “What? Dumb idea, huh?” she asked. Loki jumped in and replied, “No, not at all actually, but now that they are all pack members, they could honestly just mind link each other.” Melian’s smile spread across her face and said, “Nope, already thought ahead. If both of you ordered no linking in your Alpha Command, it would solve the linking problem. Cell phones would be confiscated until we figured out who was against us. After all, the pack supplies the phones, so technically they belong to the pack,” she declared. Proud of herself, she slumped further onto the sectional couch, with a huge smile on her face that was full of pride. Loki looked at me and said, “She’s not wrong, you know? That could actually work. I know you are all about not wanting to take away freedoms and such from our pack members, but Liam, it’s for their protection this time.” I knew he was right, and so was my wife, but I still felt bad for forcing this on the pack.
After we came up with our plan, we went downstairs to the common room. Rory, Luke’s mom, Marion, and his sister Ginger were already there and having a conversation with my aunt Roxy. The ladies were laughing really hard, and stopped as soon as they saw us. Trying to keep a straight face, they all greeted us as we came into the room, but couldn’t contain it for long. They burst out laughing again, and Loki was the brave one to ask what was so funny. Rory just lifted up a book full of photos from when Loki and I were kids, and the photo creating all the laughter was one of Loki decorating my head like a cake. We were around 4 years old. We had snuck a jar of icing from the pantry, and Loki thought it would be fun if I looked like a cake. Apparently, so did I, because I allowed him to smother me in the bright red icing. I can remember Roxy thinking how funny it was so she snapped a picture. My mom, on the other hand, didn’t find it funny. The icing was meant for my dad’s birthday cake. Dad found it amusing that he had a son who’s face was stained red for almost a week. He called me Cherry Top the whole time. Back then it hurt my feelings, but as I grew older I can see the humor in it. “Man, that picture brings back some memories,” Loki laughed. Melian gushed over how cute we were, red face and all.
I asked Marion where Gretchen and Luke were and she informed me that they, along with Paolo, had gone out into the forest to forge some herbs they needed for the banishment spell. She also informed me that it was going to take Gretchen, Luke, Ginger, Paolo and herself to complete said spell. I asked her to explain to us more about it, and she was hesitant at first, but eventually explained everything she could.
Just as if she knew she was being mentioned, Gretchen arrived. “Marion, If you are going to tell them all about it, don’t leave anything out. Tell them everything.” she said with a scowl on her face. Marion gulped loudly and let out a breath. She continued her explanation, “Alpha Liam, you aren’t going to like this part. To complete the spell, we will also need the assistance of Luna’s wolf, Ruby. She holds everything that has to do with the Luna’s Fae powers. Including mind control. Ruby would need to get inside Callum’s mind to distract the demon so that we can decapitate Callum. It’s the only way to banish Mammon, since Callum is his carrier. Without the vessel he was sent to due to some form of incantation, he couldn’t survive in our realm.” My jaw tightened and I felt myself about lash out, when Roxy and Gretchen placed their hands on my arms.
My aunt spoke and Mel wrapped her arms around my torso. “Liam, I have spoken with Gretchen at great length about whether or not this would affect the babies. Since the barrier is already around his cell keeping his energy on the inside, I don’t see a problem. However, if that barrier started to weaken at any point, Ruby would be taken out of the equation immediately,” she said.
Gretchen then reassured me that under no circumstances would she allow anything to happen to my mate and pups. “Alphas, you have trusted me thus far, and I vow to never give you reason not to trust me. We are all linked by family now. I protect my family, at any cost. She will be safe, I promise you both. However, I need one of you to choose who will enter the cell once she has Mammon occupied. It has to be one of you to kill Callum. I know which one I would prefer due to recent history, but that is for you both to decide.”
Lessons Learned
*MELIAN POV*
The fact that everyone was standing around me discussing my role in all of this without even talking to me about it was mind-blowing. Did they not even see me in the room? I mean, I know they did, but why couldn’t they address me about it all? I should have something to say about what happened to me, right? I just stood embracing Liam to keep him calm. I listened carefully to everything Gretchen said, and when she got to the part about one of them going into that cell and killing Callum, I shouted out Loki’s name without even thinking. Mammon almost destroyed Liam’s mind last time they were in the same room together. I was worried next time he would kill him. When I realized Loki’s name had so casually escaped my lips, I covered my mouth with my hand and started to release the tears I was holding back.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.