The Gamma's Birthright - Book 2

Andy is sitting alone watching the Full Moon festivities from afar, for once, not feeling in the mood to socialise.

He pushed himself in training this morning to try and get his mind off his mate, not that it helped at the time, but now, he’s got several dull aches forming across his body, a lesson he didn't need that everything has consequences.

The pack celebrate each full moon with a feast, he doesn’t know why, it’s just one of their traditions, this month it’s been scheduled around a bonfire and most of the pack will run together at some point in the evening, usually around midnight, a final farewell to the night.

His brother, father, grandfather and great-grandfather all believed that keeping the pack bonded was key to a healthy pack and until now, he'd agreed.

But today, Andy had never felt his link to the pack, his family, in truth his whole life, being so detached, fractured, almost broken.

“Alone again brother.

This is four straight days you’ve been isolating yourself as soon as you can after the days' work is done, what am I going to do with you.

Normally you are in the thick of the pack events.”

Alpha Kieran’s voice breaks into his thoughts as he wanders over and sits next to his Brother.

He’d noticed the distance Andy had built between them since his command to not accept the Gamma’s rejections had been in place and it pains him and his wolf, but he was also trying to do what was best for his pack.

Freya, his mate, had told him to talk it through, the whole pack had noticed the tension between the Alpha and his Beta, brothers no longer united.

Rumours spread quickly in packs and while they didn’t know who it was, the pack knew that their Alpha disapproved of the Beta’s mate.

“I need to be alone, to work out the mess that is my life.”

His tone, barely polite, is curt and to the point.

“What can I do to help?”

“Release me from your command, let me make the decisions about my mate for myself…

I know she’s still alive, I haven’t felt the bond breaking in the way others describe it when they lose their mate.

And I’m glad because honestly, I don’t think I want it to, either.”

Andy takes three long deep draughts of his beer, trying to numb his pain, shifting uncomfortably in his spot, the ache of his body seems to be increasing the more he remains immobile, making him wince more.

If he could get up and walk it off, walk away from his brother, he would, but to do so would be an insult to his brother, his Alpha, and it's one thing he won't do in front of the pack.

Kieran stares intently at his brother, it’s several minutes until he can bring himself to reply.

“What are you saying, brother?”

He asks softly, hoping he doesn't mean what Kieron thinks he means

“She hid who she was so that I would get to know her.” Andy starts

“And she’s a sweet, intelligent, funny yet dominant she-wolf.

Even when she overheard the pack talking, she walked away rather than staying to get as much information as she could, which in itself is honourable.

I had all that information and I ignored it and judged her on…. well, her reputation, just like everyone else does.

Now, I’m sitting here thinking, what if she was being truthful, what if Alpha Vincent involved a witch, or invoked some other way to force her enslavement?

What if she wasn’t able to leave the Nightshade pack as she claimed, maybe we could have helped her?”

Kieran shakes his head choosing his next words carefully

“I think she knew it wouldn’t have worked.

You told me she said she would have backed off if she knew what pack you were from, so deep down, she knows you and she wouldn’t work.

Just how do you think our allies would view her in a position of power in this pack?”

He picks up his beer, taking a swig.

“Do you think Freya, would have been happy working with her?

The sweetest woman I know, working with a confirmed killer, because regardless of what else she was, she had killed?

The possible cause of Nial and Gray going missing, being the one to help comfort their mates?”

Kieran takes a deep breath

“There isn’t any way to have made that work and we both know it, Andy.”

He’s trying to give his brother something to grab onto that will guide him away from thoughts about his mate, and not leave him to hope for things that cannot be.

Not least, because he also wants a smaller group to set off and see if they can stop her before she gets back onto her own pack land and he hopes Andy will be in that group.

Kieran gets ready to put forward his pitch, however unpalatable it may be.

“But if we can stop her from getting back to her pack, and if she’s carrying your pup, then, we can still save your pup from a life in the Nightshades pack.

Maybe that’s the plan the Goddess had for you when she paired you two together.”

Andy’s voice is very quiet in his reply, not looking at his brother.

“You saw what happened when you threatened to take away her pup, she won’t come quietly.

Any attempt to capture her will trigger her fighting back and putting herself and any pup at risk”

Kieran nods

“That’s why I need you there, with the bond still partially there, she won’t attack you, we saw that, we'll take more wolves, maybe twelve to fifteen, an overwhelming force.

We’ve proved we can track her down”

Andy turns to his brother, looking shocked, his voice sounding drained and tired.

“You have to be kidding me, Kieran, you know the pain it brings me and you also know Remus won’t help willingly?

He hasn’t forgiven you for stepping in between us already.”

“It’s how we protect your pup, Remus knows that deep down, I'm sure of it Andy.”

Kieran sighed, this chat was never going to be easy.

“We don’t even know if she is still away from her pack, just because she had a month away from her pack, doesn't mean she will stay away that long.

Especially after she was so clearly injured from the fall, wouldn't you head back to your pack to recover?

And we know she was injured, the blood in the water..."

His voice trails off again, his mind going over the incident once more.

"Well I spoke to the pack doctor and he thinks it's unlikely her pup would survive such a traumatic event, such, as her body, most likely, going into shock would probably terminate the pregnancy.

Nature focuses on the survival of the mother.

And now, you want to use the bond for your own twisted reasons, so that I can go hunt her again?

You are walking a fine fucking line brother.”

Anger rises in Andy and it bursts out as he shouts his last line

“What’s your solution then Andy?” Alpha Kieran snaps back

“Assume your pup died?

And if not, let your pup live in a world where he can expect to carry the same scars as you described your mate had?

To become reviled by our society, to not be able to meet their mate…

Tell me, brother, what do you see happening if we don’t apprehend her and bring her back to the pack and she hasn't lost the pup?”

Andy’s furious at his brother at this point, his anger has been bubbling under the surface for the last few days.

Not only at his brother, but at himself for the fact that he let his preconceptions cloud his judgement, and now his brother, his Alpha, wants to mess further with the mate bond, with Andy’s feelings, his wolf is pushing to come out.

Andy stands up wincing as his body reacts to pain.

“How about you rescind your command and just let me deal with this how I see fit?

And if that’s to be with her and I have to leave the pack, then that would be my choice, my right” he snaps

“How about me being allowed to make my own choices?

Or Goddess forbid, I talk to her to find out what her plan is, she didn’t strike me as the type to want to subject others to what she’s had to endure.” Andy starts ranting.

“What about all of that is too extreme?

Scared I will leave this pack to be with her?” he taunts

“Beta, don’t forget you have a responsibility to the pack”

Kieran growls, falling back on his Alpha command.

“And if that means you have to hunt your mate you will”

“Fuck you brother, don’t push me!”

Andy storms off, it’s getting closer to midnight and the pack is about to go for their run together, whereas Remus wants to run, but to do so alone, part of him hoping to run off his aching muscles and troubled mind.

Kieran raked his hand through his hair, that hadn’t gone well, in fact, he’d probably made things worse between them, he thought as he watched his brother’s retreating form.

“Fuck!” he curses out loud.

Slowly he gets up to go back to the bonfire, he’ll apologise to Andy tomorrow, and maybe ask Freya to talk to him, she has a softer touch with dealing with mate issues within the pack, and he knew Andy had a soft spot for her, akin to that he’d feel with true sister.

As he walks back, he hears a wail of pain, his head snapping around, he sees Andy double up in pain before crashing to the ground.

Kieran sprints to his brother

“Andy, Andy, speak to me”

He looks over at his brother’s screwed-up eyes, pain written across his features, holding tightly to his stomach and chest.

He rips open Andy’s shirt and watches Andy grab his chest once more but there’s no apparent injury

Jack, you are needed outside the packhouse… now!

Jeff, Cal, Ryan, I need you, Andy collapsed

Kieran sends out a frantic mind link to the pack doctor and some of his closest friends.

“Hold on brother, stay with me, Doc is on his way over.”

He holds his brother gently, cradling his head off the ground as Andy is curled up, pain wracking through him, writhing around and moaning where he lay.

Jack gets to them first

“What happened?”

He’s carrying his medical bag

“No idea he dropped and started writhing around”

As Jack starts to examine Andy, the rest of the group turns up.

“We need to get him into the infirmary, I can’t find any external injuries.

I’m going to need samples of everything he’s eaten and drunk, and everyone he’s been in contact with…”

“Emma” Andy manages to pant out

“Shhhh she isn’t here Andy” Kieran tries to calm him

“She’s hurt” he barely whispers

“Who’s Emma?”

Jack suddenly interested

“He marked his mate before she rejected him, he hasn’t accepted the rejection.

It’s complicated, we’ll discuss it later, we need to help him first!”

“We have to discuss it now”

Jack’s tone confuses Alpha Kieran

“Why? How is that linked to helping Andy now?” he snaps

“Bonds can work in different ways and incomplete ones are erratic.

They still feel the pain of infidelity, but he’s saying she’s hurt, there’s been records of a mate feeling the pain of another.

Where the bond is stronger than normal, it’s rare but happens.

But if his mate is strong enough it’s possible, we already know Remus is stronger than a normal Beta, as he has the Alpha Gene.

“Shit”

Alpha Kieran exclaims before continuing

“What can we do for him?”

“Well, for him to be in this much pain, It doesn’t look good for this ‘Emma’

So, we pray she survives.

If she doesn’t, then, well as you know, not all wolves survive the loss of their mate, so we’ll need to keep him under watch.”

He sighs sadly

“Get him to the infirmary, I can give him a sedative so he doesn’t feel as much of her injury pain, but it won’t help if she dies.”

“What if he accepted the rejection now?” Alpha Kieran asks

“Honestly, I don’t know.” He pauses

“I’ve not heard of a mate dropping that connection in that way.

It will cause his mate to feel the broken connection, while potentially injured already.”

He shrugs not wanting to spell out what would happen if it was mid-fight, his silence hanging heavily

Kieran looks at his brother feeling guilty, his command to not let him accept the rejection had placed his brother in this situation, and he had to resolve it.

“Andy, I release you from the command, you can accept her rejection.

You need to break the link, to save yourself”

Kieran’s voice is soft and comforting, he doesn’t want to risk losing his brother.

Andy grimaces, his jaw tensing, but shakes his head as another wave of pain comes over him, he has to keep the connection to his mate, find a way to see her, help her, maybe rescind her rejection, he just wants to repair the damage and pain he caused.

‘Goddess above, help me please’ Alpha Kieran pleads less than silently.

He looks at his brother, knowing there’s only one thing he can do to save him, he will not be happy, but he’d rather deal with his anger than the loss of a brother.

“Beta, I order you to reject your mate”

Letting his command rollover Andy

Around him, Jack, Jeff, Cal and Ryan all look shocked, interfering with a mate bond is unheard of.

Andy squirms both from the pain he feels and from fighting against the Alpha command,

“I….

Andrew William….

Blackmore, Beta of the Iron Claw pack…”

He pauses breathing heavily still fighting the urge to obey his Alpha

“Complete it”

Kieran’s command turned on him once again makes Andy flinch

“Accept the rejection of ….

Antonia Emma Woodfield, ….

Gamma of the Nightshade pack”

Andy lets out an inhuman cry of pain as the bond finally breaks, Remus howls loudly in his head, he lies on the ground, sobs racking through his body, no longer feeling her pain, hurt more than the pain of the broken bond.

He lies crying for five minutes, his brother never letting him go, making sure he doesn't feel alone.

The onlookers stand around in an awkward stunned silence.

Eventually, Kieran releases his hold on his brother, offering his hand to Andy to help him get up, a large crowd had been forming, the noise from them pulling the pack over.

Ignoring his brother's offered hand and slowly getting up, Andy feels a broken man, betrayed to the core, he may not be in any physical pain anymore, but his grief weighs heavily on his shoulders.

If Antonia feels a small portion of this loss, then his brother probably just caused the death of his mate, he’d felt she was fighting and Remus was barely holding it together.

Hatred is written across his face as he finally stands ignoring the offered hand.

“Brother, I had to save you…”

The explanation is interrupted as Andy lands a violent punch to Kieran’s jaw, forcing Kieran’s head to snap backwards from the force, taking him tumbling to the ground.

Jeff, Cal and Ryan jump on Andy to restrain him as more warriors swarm out of the assembled crowd to hold the Beta in place.

Kieran spits blood on the floor as he gets up.

Freya, running up to them concerned, had never seen the brothers fight like that.

“Good punch Andy…”

He moves his jaw gently, feeling the after-effects of the punch

“Do you want him in the cells?” Jeff asks after a long silence.

“Release him.” He sighs

“I deserved that brother, but I’d rather you were alive and annoyed at me, than at risk of death.”

Andy holds his brother’s eyes; Kieran can’t help but notice how cold and hard they look at that moment.

“Brother…”

Kieran started to warn him not to do something stupid, his tone low, he accepted the first strike as deserved but he would not accept any more disrespect.

“I will serve this pack and you as the Alpha, faithfully, as your Beta.” Andy interrupts

“But from this day forward, you don’t ever get to call me brother.

You lost the right tonight and I no longer recognise you as my family.”

Andy turns and strides off, heartbroken.