Page 2 of Blood Pearl

Heading downstairs to my office where I’ve called my daughter, my Beta, and four warriors, which includes Wallace, who I made head warrior the previous month.

Stepping into my office, everyone I’ve called to this meeting are sitting around the long table we use for any official meetings. Taking my seat at the head of the table, I take a deep breath before speaking.

I speak to my daughter first. “Taria, I need you to find out from any of your friends in other packs if they know of a Jackson. He’s the one I’m speaking with when I drop off the food parcels. He has a chosen mate with him. I don’t know her name. But we need to know his history.”

“Okay, will do Momma,” Taria replies, and I can tell she already is thinking about who she can contact for the information we need.

The next person I look at is my Beta. “Raina, I want you to look at the border closely. I think they are leaving it unmonitored and that will give us an opportunity to get into no-man’s-land for information. Find out if they are patrolling the border and if they are, what timing we would have to sneak across, then back again.”

“Okay, will do that, Alpha. I’ll take Warriors Charlie and Crispin if that is okay with Head Warrior Wallace?”

“That is good with me,” Wallace replies.

As he speaks, Warrior Ken makes direct eye contact with me. “Alpha, we will have to speak to the shifter council soon. We’ve been trying to get our people back for months and we’ve made no headway. It seems we will go to war, and if it’s only our pack, then so be it. We are around three hundred now, but it may not be enough, even if we take the younger ones among us.”

“I don’t want to get them involved until we know we can’t do anymore. We have some information, but not enough.” I stand and walk away from the table and to the map on the wall. I point at the area we know they are holding our people, or they were at one time. “This is where they are holding them, if they have not been moved. I want to go in myself and see if I can get them out. I want the information on this Jackson. It may give us something to work with. It also may not, but it’s worth us finding out.”

“You shouldn’t go, I will,” Head Warrior Wallace states, standing from the table and giving me a steady look. “We can’t afford to lose our Alpha. Any of us could try to get in and out, but if we are caught, it doesn’t matter. We’d never tell them anything, and we’d die before betraying the pack. Izzy, I think, will have made her way to the rogues. She will have told them as much as she could to make sure she survives. She’ll not give a shit about any of the pack members. But if you are caught, Alpha, she would make sure you suffered.”

“I know, but I’m willing to take the risk. I’m faster than all of you, and stronger. Thanks to being an Alpha now, I’ve improved physically, and I’m always going to put the pack first. That was my oath when I took leadership, and I’ll never betray that.”

“We know that, Momma, nobody would ever think you would betray the pack. It’s not even a thought, never mind a question,” Taria says, looking at the others who are nodding agreement or verbally agreeing.

“Alpha, I don’t mean to change the subject, but has anyone seen Rona? She’s been missing for a while, it seems. One of the pack members asked me if she was gone for a mission!” Throwing his head back laughing, Warrior Crispin continues, “honest to the Goddess, why would we send Rona on a mission? She can’t keep a secret, can’t fight, and can’t even cook.”

Everyone laughs, and it was the tension breaker we needed. Warrior Charlie shakes his head as he wipes a tear from his eye from the laughter. “She’s up to no good. You can be sure of that.”

“What makes you say that?” I ask.

“She was never your biggest fan. We all know that. But when the pack members went missing, and you held the meeting telling the pack to keep it to themselves so you could get them back unharmed, it was her opportunity to dispute this or at least back talk. She’s been gone about three weeks, and you can be sure trouble will be coming,” Warrior Crispin states.

“From now on, I want everyone in our meetings to stop with the titles. We are all in this together. When we are outside of this office, then yes, we have to maintain respect for titles. But I would rather we drop the titles and just be ourselves.” I can see I’ve shocked everyone, but all this Warrior this, Head Warrior that, Alpha, Beta, honestly it is tiring.

‘Warrior Amos on border patrol, Alpha Aurora. Councilman Flint has arrived at the border. He is requesting a meeting. Shall I allow him passage into the pack land and to the packhouse?’

Sighing because I knew the council would find out eventually, but I had hoped for more time. ‘Allow Councilman Flint to enter the territory but have someone escort him directly to the packhouse and my office.’

“Seems we have a visitor. Councilman Flint is here. Do you think it’s surprising after we have just discussed a pack member has gone missing?” I ask the room. “Raina, you stay with me. Taria, find out what you can. Wallace, make sure everyone, and I mean each and every one of the pack members, is having a training session each day. They need to be ready to fight because I have a feeling that the war will come to us, or we will have to take it to them. We need to get our pack members back. They’ve been with the rogues for far too long.”

The room empties and I take the seat behind my desk. Raina takes her stance near the door, which is her usual place when a visitor arrives. She’s keen on making sure I’m safe, but she forgets sometimes that I’m a better fighter than she is. She is, however, the most loyal to the pack, and would die fighting to save any of us.

“Raina, make sure if anything happens to me, the pack survives. Even if you have to become the Alpha. You make sure it thrives.” I can see she’s going to speak, but I cut her short, “No arguments, that is my order.”

“Yes, Alpha Aurora,” Raina replies.

“None of that shit, Beta Raina. I told you in the office no titles.” I laugh along with Raina. “Let’s get ready for the meeting with Councilman Flint.”

We both calm and take things seriously again. I feel in my bones something has been said and things are about to change. But if my pack members are put in any more danger than they are already in, I’m going to lose all sense and reason.

Chapter 2

AURORA

A tap on the door has Raina open it and give a tip of her head in respect to Councilman Flint as he enters the office. “Good day, Alpha Aurora.”

“Good day, Councilman Flint. Would you like a drink, something to eat, before we get down to the business of your visit?” I maintain a calm exterior and control my aura. Aztec, I should say, is controlling our aura because she doesn’t want us to give away any scent that may give away our nerves to the councilman.

“I would like a cold drink, and water will be fine.”

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