A Secret Alpha Mate

(Jackson) I thanked all the warriors individually for stepping up to this task. I wanted made sure to talk to the previous warriors separately from the group and ask them what they think could be improved and what they would like to see changed so could relay that information to Bryce. They all seemed excited about the future and to respect our new rank within the pack, I wanted to see for myself that they would be on our side and didn't have any lingering loyalties to their previous Alpha. “Alpha?” Bryce comes up as I was walking away from the group, “Some of the warriors that died in the clearing had mates wasn't even thinking about that with all the other things going on. “How many?” “Only six." Still six were a lot of mates to be left behind. “Children?” He nods, “I think a few of them. I sigh, they shouldn't have been taken away from their families, their mates, just becaus of Benjamin, one more thing I had to clean up because of him. “Get me their names. I'll go see them with Isla this afternoon.’ “Yes, Alpha.’ while 1 was talking to the warriors individually, Cam took two young warriors to help Isla take care of a situation. I knew s could handle herself, so I let them go ahead of me. I would slow them down anyway with this damn wound. When I reached the back of the packhouse I stopped to watch Isla through one of the kitchen windows. She had the attention of everyone in the room as they raised a glass and I saw Isla smile widely, Goddess I loved her. I snuck in the back, or tried to, it wasn't easy towering over everyone in the room. All eyes turned to me. Crap, I didn't wai to interrupt Isla’s moment. “For those of you that haven't met him, Alpha Jackson, my mate.” “Alpha Jackson.” They all raised a glass. I made my way through the crowd to Isla. “We have a few things we need to attend to before tonight when you have a free moment” I whispered to her as she han me a tea cup of champagne. What were they doing in here? I laugh looking down at it. She takes a moment to introduce me to the new head omega, Rosaline. I liked her from the moment I met her. She reminded me a bit of our lead omega, Dawn, and I could tell she would do a lot of good here. “I can slip away now” Isla says after the introduction was over and I take her hand in mine. “Thank you all for such a warm welcome.” I turn to the group, “I look forward to getting to know each and every one of yo and hope you can attend tonight's barbecue. I have to steal my Luna away for a moment, but please, if you see my Beta o Gamma around, put them to work.” Everyone laughs, I raise my glass. “To you all” I explained to Isla the situation with the warriors’ families as we walked to the front of the packhouse. Besides financial compensation, I wasn't sure what else we could do but provide an explanation and support. “ll work on having a special memorial built for them,” Isla says immediately. “That's a great idea, we could have a service sometime later this week if their mates are okay with it She nods. Bryce got me a list of who the fallen warriors mates were and where they lived, thankfully they lived a few minutes away from the packhouse, and 1 didn't slow down Isla too much. We got to the first door and I was a little nervous, I felt guilty for some reason, and I knew nothing I could say or do woul take away the pain of losing their mate, I couldn't even imagine if Isla- I couldn't finish that thought. She takes my hand and looks up at me and nods, seeming to sense my apprehension. I knocked sharply on the door, maybe a bit too hard. The sound of someone shuffling around behind the door until it's opened by a pretty woman with long dark hair partially covering her face that looks like it hasn't been brushed in days. She looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties anc when she opened the door further I saw a young boy, a toddler, clinging to her in her arms. Her eyes go wide when she sees me and it looks like she's afraid. She freezes and her eyes dart around between us as sh clutches the boy closer. “Hi Isla takes a step forward and she takes one back into her house at the same time, “My name is Isla, I'm the Luna of t Moonstone Pack” She looks at her feet holding her baby tight, “Do you mind if we come in?" The woman looks up and meets Isla’s gaze, before shaking her head and stepping in behind the door. The place was a mess, kids toys were everywhere, food was out on the counters, it looked like she was barely keeping herself together. “Uh, you can sit here,” She grabs a pile of things from the couch and throws them on a chair, “Do you want some tea or ut “No, we're fine thanks." Isla sits down and I stay standing. “Ym sorry, I can't sit at the moment,” I turn to look at the shocked woman, hoping to calm her a bit. She had the face of someone that thought they were in trouble, “I don't want to be rude but I have stitches from a silver blade” She looks curiously up at me and nods. “We don't want to take much of your time, er” Isla pauses and takes a steadying breath, “We wanted to pass on our sadne and regrets for the passing of your mate, Braydon.” She looks up at Isla confused, a flash of anger crosses her face. “But your warriors are the ones that killed him." Isla looks up to me. “Yes I say, “My fight was with the previous Alpha Benjamin, and him only. He had his warriors come and attack us when I saw that the challenge wasn't going in his favor” She doesn't say anything. “We are truly sorry, we know that your mate was innocent, but he died protecting his pack thinking that he was doing the right thing for his Alpha. He died with honor” Silent tears start to stream down her face when I finish. “I know that nothing we can say will bring him back, or ease the pain.” Isla says softly, “But we wanted to create a memor and have a service if it was okay with you.” Her tears turn to sobs and Isla stands up to put her arms around the woman and her son. I wait for a few minutes until she calms herself. “Of course you and your son will be taken care of financially. Anything that you need don't hesitate to ask” “T-thank you, Alpha." She manages to get out, “I wish it didn’t have to be like this, and, he just, he isn't going to come bac She starts crying again, “Wh at did he die for?” She sobs, “It was so stupid, s-s-stupid.” “We wish it didn't have to come to that either, it shouldn't have. He was an honorable man and he laid down his life to protect his pack, his family.” “Do you mind?” Isla reaches out for her son who opens her arms to her, “why don’t you let us help you for a moment and you take a few minutes to yourself?” She nods and heads to her room shutting the door behind her. “Do you think you could lie on the floor and play with this guy? I'm going to help her clean a bit.” I lean back, finding a slightly comfortable position on the floor and start handing the kid a few dinosaur toys within my reach, he makes little “rawr’ sounds and has them fight each other. He was actually such a sweet kid. The woman comes out after a while looking fresh and showered, I'm still awkwardly laying back on the floor rolling a ball for her son to chase after. Isla has deep cleaned the kitchen and cleaned her front room in no time. “Wow, Luna. You didn't have to do any of this." She says looking around, I can't read her face, “I feel bad." “No, please. I'm happy to help. I can come back tomorrow and watch him so you have some time to do what you need.” sI smiles at Isla. “Yes, I actually would really need that." She says honestly. After looking around at her place, “If you can make it to the barbecue tonight, we would love to see you there." add, “I know you probably don’t want to se anyone at the moment, but it might be nice.” She nods, and her son comes up to her and tugs at her skirt, she picks him and kisses him on his forehead. “I think I'll come, so that he can have some fun and see some of the other kids." She smiles at him, genuinely. She thanks us a few more times, and Isla promises to stop by tomorrow afternoon. The rest of the visits went similar. Isla helped out and had planned to go back to visit the other two kids the next day. Everyone accepted our condolences and appreciated the idea of having a memorial. Once we explained our situation, an furthermore, explained that we held no anger against them or their mate's they seemed to relax. Once they got past their anger, they seemed to understand that their mates died honorably defending their Alpha to the last moment. Their anger shifted to Benjamin when they realized that if he would have accepted the challenge as a man, there would be no need for any other deaths. That reminded me that we needed an update on him. No one has heard anything from the Elders since the challenge. I'm sure they caught him and were dealing with transporting him back, unless he was found dead. Either way I needed to kne Meeting with the warriors families took up most of the afternoon and I had to sneak off to meet Benjamin's Beta. He trie to help but he genuinely seemed to not have been given much responsibility at all, it makes sense why there were so ma corners cut. Having all the responsibilities of a pack could be overwhelming at times for me. And 1 has Lucas and Cam around helping me daily and now, Isla. I don't understand why or how Benjamin thought that he could do everything for the pack by himself. I couldn't even thir of an idea for his reasoning behind it, it just made more work for him and ensured that the pack would never run proper! His Beta seemed very willing to help, and just plain exhausted. I think he was happy with the change and looking forward to retiring. I thanked him and told him we might have more questions. If what the Beta was saying was all true, he was mostly there just for show and didn't seem to have any love lost over Benjamin. Jackson? - Lucas comes into my mind veah You might want to see this Where are you? Benjamin's office Is it urgent? You can finish up what you're doing Ill be there when I'm done with the Beta “Thank you for your cooperation, it is much appreciated. Rest assured that you may relocate as soon as you wish to the empty cabin you chose for yourself” He stands up and smiles genuinely, shaking my hand, “Thank you, Alpha. I can’t wait to see what you'll do here. If I can be of any service, you know where to find me.” 1 nodded, leaving his office. As s00n as the door closes behind me I went to the elevator as fast as I could to see what Lucas found. I walk into the office and it was even more chaotic than it was this morning. The stacks of papers seamedo multiply, and Lucas has the massive desk pushed forward. “Redecorating?” I ask him with a raised eyebrow. “Something like that." He chuckles, “But seriously, look at this, bro.” I walk over behind the desk and he has a door in the floor opened, inside was a dark steel safe. It looked more secure th: the one left open, with a key pad and a fingerprint scanner. I strained to see it closer, trying to avoid agitating my wound. “Why would this be hidden?” 1 ask out loud “His other safe wasn't Lucas shrugs, “This one seems like it hasn't been touched in ages though, I had to pry the door open and it was dusty on the other side of the door. I look over, and sure enough, besides Lucas’ fingerprints there was a layer of dust. “Benjamin hasn't been in here in ages I would say.” He kneels down next to me. “If ever” I say running my fingers across the safe, I felt a slight indentation and lean as much as I can to look at it. I dust c around where my fingers caught and see the words familia ante sanguinem. “What is that? Some Harry Potter spell?” Lucas asks. “Yes, I think they protected this safe with a spell” I look back at Lucas, his eyes are wide. “Really?” He asks “Yes, from a children’s book” He hits my shoulder. “It's not a children’s book,” He mutters. “Just Google it” Lucas stands up and grabs his phone from his pocket, “It’s Latin apparently.” He scrolls down, “It means “Family before blood.” “I don't get it I say. “Me either, family before blood." He repeats, “Family is usually blood.” “It doesn't always have to be, I guess. I sigh, “Another mystery." “Thank you for showing me this." I stand up with Lucas’ help, “We have someone coming, hopefully tomorrow, that can break into the computers. Maybe he can, or knows someone that can help us with this code.” I look back down at the dus safe, I felt like this was something, there was something in there we needed to see. “Isla wants our help with setting out the tables” Lucas announced after his cloudy eyes turn back to their dark green. I look at him confused, wondering why she didn't link me first, “Come on, man, don't be offended. Even though she’s your mate, you know I'm the beauty of the group.” He winks at me and I punch him in the arms. He winces and holds his shoulder, “And I guess I'm the strength?” I question him brushing past him smiling. The backyard looks fantastic already, there are three bars set up, strings of lights, chairs, and small cocktail tables, a long table for the food, and some candles laid out on the tables. They did a lot with this last-minute party and I knew Isla probably had a lot to do with it. I was so proud of her taking on this role as their Luna, I knew she would be loved, especially by the omegas, but everyone else has had nothing but resp: and admiration for her. cam and some of his warriors were bringing out tables. I started to follow Lucas, heading towards the back door to see what I could help with. My phone starts ringing in my pocket. “Jackson Black” I answered without looking at who was calling, “Alpha, we traced the previous Alpha Benjamin.’ “Go on." I say, too anxious to let them finish at their own pace. “His trail was all over the place, it seemed he knew how to mask his scent, and even our people got confused.” Why was h dragging this out for so long? “We finally got a distinctive trail" “Two days later?” I ask coldly. I knew I was speaking to an Elder but I was too upset by their inability to get this taken care of once and for all. Cam told me he wanted to go after him immediately and if I was coherent I would have told him to, if they F+**d it up, Elders or not, they were to blame. “Yes. They have been deciphering it for the past few days." “Was there magic or something? What was the reason for them taking so long?” I'm angry now. “We're not sure, but as I said, we did find a trail 50 you called me to tell me that you found a trail?" 1 ask, I know I'm being insubordinate but my anger is the only thing I can feel at this moment. They f***d up. Massively. “We're letting you know that the trail leads back to Silver Moon.’ I take the phone away from my ear, chatter fills the air around me as the tables are being set, omegas are bringing out chairs, Lucas and Cam are joking with each other, I felt like I was on another planet than they were. How. I mean, where could he? I needed to protect Isla. I needed to protect all of them.