Filed To Story: Their Bullied and Broken Mate by Teri Petry
I hurried back to the nursery and told Grace I was sending in the nannies, because I needed Melian for awhile for something important. She said everything was fine, and to go do our business. I helped Mel off the floor and took her to the sitting area that I had just left and sat her down. I explained everything to her, and she stiffened up. “I don’t want anything from those monsters. You and Jason can have my part if you want.” She said. I shook my head and gave her a suggestion.
“No, no sweetie. Jason and I don’t need all of that money. What we were allotted was more than enough. If you don’t want to keep it personally, think about using it for something useful. Something that might benefit others as well. Towards the pack. Don’t just throw it away. Take something awful and make something beautiful from it.” She took in my words thoughtfully, and nodded her head. We needed to go find our husbands and fill them in before meeting again with Cordell. She was hesitant about facing them after the way she reacted, but came along with me anyway.
Finally Some Positivity
*Loki POV*
After making sure Callum was secure, we addressed his men. They were being held by our warriors, and we wanted to give them the opportunity to relinquish their loyalty to Callum and join Blood Moon as warriors, or be imprisoned for attacking us without provocation. We weren’t going to inform them about the imprisonment part until after we saw where they stood. During this attack they definitely lost more than we did. We had no deaths and only a handful of injuries. They, however, had close to 15 deaths and many injured.
We walked onto the training field and stood before those being held. I stepped forward and addressed them.”For those of you who don’t know me, I am Loki Young. This is my brother Liam Young and we are the twin Alphas of Blood Moon. Now that introductions are out of the way, we want to have a little discussion with all of you. Who amongst you all was forced to fight for Callum? If you are, please stand up.” I instructed. Out of approximately 30 men, 21 stood up.
“Please sit back down. I am gathering the rest of you who came onto our territory willingly and attacked our people. So the question is, were you in it as a warrior wanting to defend their pack against the ‘bad guys’ or were you in it for greed like your alpha? Either way, the 9 or 10 of you who weren’t forced will be locked up for the Royal Council to question, and they will decide what to do with you.” I said. One man yelled out, “On what grounds do you have to hold us? We were just following orders.” I chuckled and replied, “On the grounds of attacking a pack without being provoked. Without having justifiable reasons to attack. It is against our laws and the council will deal with you accordingly. Anyone else?” No one else spoke among those who were heading to the barrack cells.
Liam took over and said, “Now, for the rest of you who were forced. Can you prove that you were forced? Are there witnesses in your pack who can verify your claims? Please raise your hands if that is possible.” Out of 21, 18 raised their hands. “You three who didn’t raise your hands, step forward.” The boys stepped forward and we looked them up and down.
“How old are you boys?” Liam asked. The oldest looking of the three stepped forward. “My name is George, alpha. I am 15. Those two are my brothers. Jack and Henry. They are 12 and 13. We can’t give you proof that we were being forced because we are orphans. We have no one to vouch for us. Alpha Callum said he would kill us if we didn’t obey him,” the boy said. Liam’s face went hard, and he motioned the boys back to where the others sat. I then stepped back up and gave them their choice.
“Those of you who were forced have two options. 1. You can renounce your loyalty to the Dark Star pack, and become citizens of the Blood Moon pack. We will allow you to train and become real warriors after 6 months, so that we can evaluate whether your loyalty will remain and is true. Or, the second option is you can go back to Dark Star and live your life. Dark Star will be investigated by the Royal Council, and it will then be determined what will happen with the pack. If the council so chooses to dismantle the pack, you will still be welcome here under the same terms. Once you have made your decision please approach either Alpha Liam or Myself. We will remain here for the next 30 minutes. Please make your choice before we leave.”, I informed them.
Without hesitation, the three boys approached me and said they would like to stay. The only problem was, we would have to find an adult to foster them. We can’t just house minors without adult supervision. It did give me an idea about maybe starting an orphanage though. I knew the perfect person to run it as well. It would have to be something to mention to Liam and Mel. By the end of the 30 minutes, all but 10 men knew what they wanted. They wanted to relocate here. The 10 who were still undecided had families and wanted to make sure their families could relocate with them. I thought the answer would be obvious, but I guess I needed to clarify myself to say that their family was also welcome. In the end, all of them chose to relocate. Some even told stories about things going on at Dark Star that were questionable. I told them to make themselves available to the council when they arrived.
Just as we were finishing up, we saw Rebecca and Mel walking across the field. Rebecca had a smile spread across her face, Melian’s face didn’t show much emotion. However, she did pull us both into a group hug and made it clear she wasn’t ready to release it just then. She finally pulled away and apologized for being so stand-offish with us. She said we needed to talk later, and we promised her we would. Rebecca called us over to her and Jason and explained the situation with Cordell and the insurance policies. She said we were to meet him in 15 minutes, and Liam started to usher us back to the packhouse.
Before we entered the house, Liam and I pulled Mel aside. They wanted her thoughts before we spoke to him. She explained that she didn’t want the money for herself. That if she chose to take it, she wanted it used for something good for the pack. Finally, something good is going to happen to all of us. I took the opportunity to mention my idea of an orphanage for kids who need a home. Her ears seemed to perk up at the mention of that and she actually smiled a genuine smile. “I think that is a fabulous idea. It would be a great start to bring something positive out of a shitty situation.”
Improvements
*Melian POV*
2 WEEKS LATER
Since meeting with Cordell, we have been making so many updates and improvements to the pack. Construction had started on the orphanage/group home. We decided to name it Nick’s Place, and Grace has agreed to run it. She enlisted the help of 4 of our best girls from the packhouse to help her. Everyday she comes to me with new ideas and plans that she wants to implement once it’s opened. To make things easier, we even hired 2 cooks and 4 maids to help her out. George, Jack and Henry were helping wherever they could, and Grace had grown quite fond of them. Liam, Loki and I decided to take care of Maddix as our own, since Grace had taken in the twins, and I have to say, the three of them bonded quickly.
Things seem to be coming together, but I still look over my shoulder occasionally. I started counseling with Rebecca’s friend, Peter Harper, and let me tell you, he is a character. I didn’t think I would feel comfortable with a male therapist, but he makes it so easy to talk to him. As for Rebecca, she finally announced to everyone that she was expecting. She had told Jason weeks ago, but they wanted to keep it a secret until things died down around the pack. She was starting to show, so the baby didn’t give her much choice. I was going to be an aunty again, and I couldn’t wait. Rico had finally woken up and was getting better every day. He was back to work, but Liam insisted on light duty only for awhile. No training until the doctor said so. Rico wasn’t pleased with that, but between the twins, myself and his sister, he had to give in to his fate. It was kind of funny watching him pout.
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.