#12 The Triplets of Emerald Forest

Gabriel

Ambrose, Cambridge, Callie, Waylon, Deale, Annie, Kori, Matti, my parents, Nova, Alaska, Sammy, Wade, my brothers, Harlow, and I all sat in my office which was made larger than Ric or Griff’s so we could hold large meetings like this. I filled everyone in on what we learned from the interrogations of the prisoners. My father was the first to speak,

“Are you sure one of the rogues was named Cairo?” He asked, his eyes clearly looked worried.

“Yes, he said their names were Christopher and Cairo and they were father and son, with Christopher being the elder.”

“Well, I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or not, but my father had a twin brother named Cairo.” Dad said and I felt my own eyes widen.

“Grandpa Cambridge had a twin brother?” I asked in shock.

We all knew that Aunt Lily wanted to name her youngest son after her father, who had died when she was very young, and Uncle Garrick had honored her wish. And we knew that our grandparents, Cambridge and Meredith, were killed in a rogue attack 14 years before our parents officially accepted each other. But, Grandpa having a twin was news to me.

“Yes, he had an identical twin which is why I wasn’t surprised when your mom ended up pregnant with multiples. Dad and Cairo were raised to take over the pack together, just like you three were. But, Cairo had vastly different ideas than my dad did, ideas that contrasted with the outstanding traditions and morals of the Emerald Forest pack,

“He believed that the pack members were required to respect him, even bow down to him, without question. He even believed in indentured servitude and slavery. He thought it was a crime that the royal family outlawed the slave industry. Dad and Cairo started arguing over their ideas of pack policies before they were even named as the Alphas, and it worried their parents and the entire pack,

“The pack started calling for Cairo to be removed as the future Alpha. Thus, Cairo called for an Alpha challenge. Obviously, my father won and was named the next Alpha while Cairo was forced to go rogue. My father had offered to allow him to stay if he submitted himself to him and took the rank of omega, but Cairo was too proud for that and he left. As far as I know, he was never heard from again.” My father finished his story.

“That’s a unique enough name, I mean, what are the chances that there’s another one?” I wondered.

“But, the rogue said that Christopher was the father and Cairo the son?” Ric said,

“Do you know if Cairo had a son?” I asked my father who shook his head,

“I know nothing.”

“Well, it would make sense if Cairo had a son, Christopher, and then Christopher named his son after his own father.” I said, almost confusing myself. The room blinked at me for a second before they all caught up with my line of thinking.

“Was Cairo the vengeful type?” I asked Dad who nodded vigorously,

“Yes, that I’m certain of. Dad always said that he worried about retaliation from Cairo and was surprised when it never came.”

“Well, maybe it did. What if he’s been behind all of it? Since the very first rogue attack that killed our grandparents 42 years ago.” I suggested and you could’ve heard a pin drop in that room.

“You really think that?” Griff looked at me with wide eyes.

“I do. You never found out who was behind that rogue attack, did you?” I asked Dad who shook his head, “Or the attack that killed Mom’s parents?” I asked again and again, he shook his head.

“No, the rogues never said it was a part of a bigger plot. After the first attack, I was such a new Alpha and the pack was so weak that I didn’t investigate the incident as anything more than a random attack. Then, when they attacked seven years later, they mostly went after the humans and so I assumed they were the target.” He said, but I could tell he was thinking hard about it.

“All of these random rogue attacks cannot be a coincidence. What if it’s not random at all?” I dared to ask.

Everyone was silent, looking at each other in shock, before all hell broke loose. Suddenly, everyone was talking at once. I started to get overwhelmed when I felt a soft, tiny hand slip into mine and settle onto my lap. I looked to the side to see Harlow smiling softly at me, giving my hand a squeeze.

I cleared my throat and the room immediately went silent.

“We need to send a team to the location of the rogue’s camp in Maryland and where the two teams who attacked us this week were held up.” I ordered.

“I’ll take a team to Maryland.” Ric immediately offered,

“And I’ll go to the closer camp.” Griffin added.

“Good. Take your Betas and a team of at least a dozen with you. Ric, take two dozen since you’re too far away for us to send immediate backup if you find anything.” Griff and Ric nodded once.

“I want you both ready to leave by this afternoon so you can be there by dark. Scout out the area first, especially you Ric, in case the rest of the rogues are still there. If you find anything, send word for backup immediately.” I added.

“Ambrose, go out and gather two dozen men for our trip.” Ric said to his Beta who got up and left the next second.

“Callie, a dozen for us.” Griff said to his Beta who nodded once and left.

“Cam, I want the patrols doubled along the perimeter. No gaps in the guard postings. Triple it at the gate since that’s still compromised. The parts for the new security gate should be here by the end of the day and I want that set up asap. Waylon, get me a Luna guard of at least a dozen set up and I want a perimeter around the packhouse.” I dished out the last of my orders before standing up.

“Yes, Alpha.” Waylon and Cambridge agreed before leaving quickly.

“Let me see if I can dig up a picture of Cairo. His son might share some physical features and it’ll help you identify him.” Dad said, but before he could walk past me, I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Dad, are you okay?” Ric and Griff walked up on either side of him, our mother had her hand resting on his back for support.

“I just can’t believe that family would do this to family. If he’s been responsible for all of these attacks, after all these years, I want his blood.” He snarled, his wolf coming to the surface. Our mother wrapped her arms around him and he nuzzled his face into her neck.

For a moment, I thought about how amazing it was that, after all these years, my father still needed my mother’s scent to calm him and I couldn’t help but picture doing the same thing with Harlow in thirty plus years.

“We will get to the bottom of this and whoever is responsible will pay with their lives.” Ric snarled his promise.

“They’ve threatened our pack, our family, and our Luna. They will meet their end.” Griff sounded just as pissed off.

“You are strong Alphas, I know you won’t rest until this is dealt with.” Father’s face relaxed some and he offered us a small smile before leaving the room.

Once we were alone in my office, I sighed and turned towards Harlow. I was surprised to see her looking furious. However, she wasn’t glaring at me, her anger was directed towards Ric and Griff.

“Harlow?” I asked, confused.

“What do you two think you are doing?” She snapped at them.

“What’s wrong, angel?” Griff tried to pull her into him but she fought off his grip.

“Why are you two leaving?” Her voice cracked and now it all made sense.

I glanced up at Ric and Griff, and we all shared a knowing look. I moved backwards and leaned against my desk, giving the three of them a moment to themselves. Ric forced his arm around Harlow, despite her complaints, and stilled her body.

“Precious, we need to lead our pack members to these locations to figure out what’s going on. We can’t ask our pack to go somewhere that we’re not prepared to lead them to ourselves.” Ric explained, cupping her face and leaning forward so their eyes were level.

Griff walked up beside her and wrapped his arm around her waist. Ric pulled away just enough so Harlow could look at both of them at the same time, but he kept his arms around her as well.

“We’ll be okay, angel. We’ll have the best warriors with us and we’ll be back before you can even miss us.” Griff tried to comfort her.

“Think, you’ll have Gabriel all to yourself for a day or two.” Ric chuckled, glancing over at me. I was over the moon about that idea, but it didn’t seem to calm Harlow down at all.

“Griffin, you were just injured.” She narrowed her eyes on him and I pitied the fool who landed in the crosshairs of that look.

“Yes and I’m all healed up, see?” He pulled up his shirt to show off his now flawless abdomen. There wasn’t even a scar. She scoffed and forced him to put his shirt down.

“Precious, nothing on heaven or earth could keep us from you.” Ric promised and I had to give him props, that was a pretty smooth line.

She sighed and I saw her anger begin to dissolve.

“It’s cute that you’re so worried about us, though.” Griff said and she was right back to glaring at him. She shoved against his chest and he laughed as he stumbled away.

“Give me a kiss, Harlow.” Ric demanded, pulling her face towards him and planting his lips on her mouth.

I never really thought about what it would be like to share my mate in this sort of way. Obviously I knew it would happen. We would all share a bed and be intimate together, but it wasn’t something I really wanted to think about, I just wanted it to happen however it happened. So, I was taken aback at how I felt watching them kiss. I stood up and swallowed back a lustful growl. I felt something tighten in my core and, after looking towards Griffin, I noticed he was feeling the same way.

They pulled away and Griffin jumped in, quickly yanking Harlow from Ric’s arms and into his own. Harlow gasped at the motion but he was gentle enough with her not to cause any harm. Ric chuckled and rolled his eyes at Griff’s antics. He was too busy crushing Harlow to himself to worry about Ric’s reaction.

Lewy’s patience snapped and I couldn’t hold back the growl that left my chest. Harlow jumped and turned around in shock. Ric and Griff laughed and that calmed her down some, but my pitch black eyes still had her on edge.

“Mine!” I growled, stalking towards her. Griff stepped back and Harlow surrendered herself to me. I dominated her mouth with mine and moved passionately against her.

“Alright, alright. You’ll get her all to yourself for two days, it’s our turn right now.” Griff laughed at us and Harlow pulled back, blushing with embarrassment. I glared at Griff over her shoulder and he just shrugged.