Chapter 33

It's been a day since Meg had been dropped off and the intense training had begun. To be honest, Cobie hadn't seen much of Aetos since his return. He and Colson had spent their time at a local arms store and had spent the entire day making their bullets. 

And for training with some of pack members who wanted to learn how to shoot, they got bean bag bullets for practice. 

Cobie has spent the night wrapped in Erik's arms as the man kept whispering his promise to keep him safe. 

It's 8 am and it's been an hour since Cobie and Erik had eaten breakfast. They were both in Erik's office. Erik behind his large mahogany table and Cobie on the couch. 

"Do we need to call in Toby? Maybe purify the land again with his blood." Cobie asked as he stared at the small black .22 handgun on the table. 

"We can do that. We can also add more people on night patrol. You know the saying, the devil comes at night." Erik replied as he looked through the papers on his desk.

"We already have too much people on night patrol. People who have families to think and take care of." Cobie sighed and leaned against the couch. 

"They knew what they were getting into when they applied to be pack warriors." Erik grunted.

"You can't over work them, Peaches." Cobie said, shooting Erik a pointed look. The Alpha was about to reply when they were interrupted by a knock on the door. Aetos walked in and right behind him was a vampire that Cobie hadn't think he'd be seeing.

The same vampire who had called him a little bag of blood and a low life. It was Pytor, the vampire who had visited with Queen Freya of the Seelies. 

"Damn it." 

Cobie smirked. "Hello to you too." Cobie said, his voice strong and eyes a bright red as he stared at Pytor. 

"I take it you two know each other?"

"They met a couple of weeks ago and it didn't end well." Erik replied as he got up from his chair. He flexed his fingers.

"Ugh. I need a drink." Pytor groaned and made his way over to the window. Cobie still couldn't for the life of him understand how Aetos and Pytor could walk under the sun without being burnt to a crisp. 

"Do you have any news?"

"The car we left her in is still there but one of the people I had watching her, told us she broke into a car and drove off. We have the license plate number and was able to track her but we lost her at Martinville." 

"So we definitely know she's gone. We just don't know where and if she had gotten there."

"It gives us a couple of days to prepare. Four at best." Pytor said. "The Seelies would be here in three days." Just as Erik was about to speak again, there was a knock on the door. 

Colson walked into the room and frowned a little when he looked at the two vampires seated happily in the middle of the room.

"Why aren't you two screaming and burning?" Colson asked as he takes a seat beside Cobie. 

"Hold the fucking phone. There's two of them?" Pytor asked, his eyes wide and mouth open. 

Cobie rolled his eyes. "Yes, we are twins." 

Aetos on the other hand was quiet. He was staring at Colson with an unreadable expression on his face. Colson wasn't even looking Aetos' way. He looked right past him like he was just a regular ... vampire. Though the fact that they weren't burning, puzzled him. 

"I don't even wanna know. I just feel bad for poor Erik."

"Pytor..." Erik growled.

Pytor raised both hands up as a sign of peace. "Chill, Erik. Chill."

"To fill you on. Meg healed, Meg's gone and our father will be here in four days max." 

Colson nodded as he listened to his brother. Pytor on the other hand, looked like his eyes were gonna pop out of his head. 

"Your father? You're fighting against your father? He who birthed you? The person whose sperm created you?" Pytor asked. "Why doesn't anyone tell me anything."

Cobie looked away from Pytor to Aetos who looked like his eyes hadn't strayed once from Colson. Colson looked nice today though. He had on a white short sleeve shirt, black jeans and weirdly enough, bare footed. His blonde hair was brushed and styled into a fringe, his hair falling past his brows a bit.

Besides the night, a day ago, where he and Colson had opened up to Erik. Aetos had been there, Cobie remembers him being there and even then the vampire had been silent. 

"Cobie and I begin our training today after lunch." Colson tells them all.

"I, Michel, Se Ju and Aetos would lead the wolves." Erik said as he walked over to the window. He leaned against it and stared at the room at large before resting his gaze on his mate.

"And what is he going to be doing?"

"Moving the kids of course." Pytor said nonchalantly. "We can never be too sure when your dad is gonna strike and we have to keep all the children and pregnant safe. We don't want to risk their lives." 

"I think that's the only decent thing I've ever heard you say." Cobie said, his eyes wide and eyes on his chest in faux surprise. 

"I give praises to people who suck my cock pretty good too." Pytor teased.

It doesn't sit well with Cobie not Colson talkless of Erik, judging by the growl he let out. Colson was the first to move. He pulls out his handgun from where it was tucked between his jeans and boxers and aimed it straight at Pytor's head. 

"I dare you to say those words again." Colson snapped. "I dare you to repeat them so I can shoot this entire round through your head." Colson puts off the safety and rests his finger on the trigger. 

"I'm sorry."

Colson tilts his head to the side as if he was thinking if he apology was sincere or not. Cobie faces his brother, he was ready to tell him to drop his gun when he sees something he, in a thousand and one years, never expected to see.

Aetos was hard and straining against his jeans. The vampire was still looking at Colson though , this time his mouth was open a little. 

Cobie's eyes widened in shock at this and he tries to calm down. He knows that Erik could definitely smell it. 

"Why don't we all calm down before we do something we'll regret." Cobie said after a few minutes of silence. Colson drops the gun onto the table, right beside Cobie's own handgun and relaxed onto the couch. 

When Cobie glanced at Erik, he finds the Alpha staring at his friend, Aetos, with a raised brow and amusement on his face. 

So Cobie has been right. Colson whipping out his gun and threatening an asshole turned Aetos on. It took the vampire a few more seconds before he realized he was tenting. He doesn't even bother to look around the room and check who knew about it. He just gets up from the chair and was out of the door before anyone could blink. 

"What's wrong with him?"

Cobie looked at Erik who shrugged. "Pytor why don't you go and check on Se Ju?" Erik asked as he moved away from the window. 

"I'll go and see if Michel needs my help with something." Colson said as he gets up from his seat. "Cobie, if this asshole says one more thing, you can shoot him between the eyes." 

Cobie laughed. "You have my word." 

Colson leaves after that, Pytor following a few seconds later. Once everyone was gone, Cobie made his way towards Erik who was now seated back in his chair. He straddled his Alpha and placed both hands on Erik's shoulders. 

"Lovely, what are you up to?"

Cobie smiled shyly, his hands trailing up to cup Erik's cheeks, his fingers gently stroking his bearded cheek. "I just want to say thank you."

"You don't have to."

"I feel I should. You're taking care of I and my family. You're risking everything, including yourself, to keep us safe." 

"I heal, Cobie." Erik said, his voice soft. "And you are my everything. I will always protect you." 

"Thank you."

"Cobie..."

Cobie laughed, his head thrown back a little as he does. Erik leaned forward and pressed his nose at the junction between Cobie's neck and shoulder and took a deep breath. 

"Scenting again?"

"I love your scent." Erik replied, his hands going around Cobie's waist. "There's a hint of my scent in there too." 

"I don't even know what to say to you."

"Don't say anything and just stay here, in my arms." 

Colson walked around the house, searching for Michel. He's checked the kitchen, the sun room, the game room, he has even checked the Beta's room but he wasn't there. 

Colson had half the mind to walk back to Erik's office but he wasn't sure he was ready for what he might find there. So searching for Michel it is.

He finds the Beta at the backyard. Michel was lying on the grass with his hands underneath his head. Colson doesn't hesitate to make his way over there.

"I've been looking for you."

Michel turns and smiles at him as Colson takes a seat on the grass too. 

"You've found me."

"Aren't you meant to have training now?"

"Not yet. In a few hours though." Michel replied. "What are you asking?"

"No reason."

"Colson..."

Colson shrugged. "No reason." Colson insisted whilst trying to keep his heartbeat calm so Michel does not detect the lie. 

"You went to see Erik?" 

"Yeah. How did you know?" Colson asked as he picks at the grass beside him.

"His scent is still lingering on you."

This wasn't why Colson had been looking for Michel. Colson knew what he wanted but he couldn't just take it now, not when they were outside and on the brink of a war. So he'll settle for this. He can wait for a couple of days.

There were about twenty Omegas and ten Betas in front of Cobie and Colson. All of them had the same look of determination on their face and also that tiny hint of fear that Cobie and Colson could spot in the blink of an eye.

"How many of you have ever used a gun before?" Cobie asked, his voice loud enough so everyone could hear him. 

None of the wolves raised their hands. The twins look at themselves before they began. They broke off into groups. Cobie teaching fifteen wolves and Colson teaching the other half. 

Cobie janded each wolf a gun and proceeded to show them the various arts of a gun and how to flip the safety off. 

"There are two things you could do with a gun, three if you count scaring someone off. The first is inflict pain and the second is killing." Cobie said as he raised his gun and aimed at the tree closest to them. 

The wolves were listening with rapt attention. 

"When I was still learning, I used to close one eye and focus on my target with the other. It helped a lot."  Cobie said. 

"What if we don't want to do that? Is there something else we can use?" One of the Beta's asked. 

"You can use a scope. I recommend this if you're using a long rifle and not a handgun. But since we are going to use rifles, I and my brother have already placed an order with Khylin Farrow. They will be here tomorrow. Today we practice hitting a target." 

Cobie taught them to memorize the amount of bullet one round of magazine has, he taught them how to stand and also how tightly to grip the gun so as to avoid accidents. 

He made the wolves reload and load their guns three times before he deemed them ready for the next step, Cobie then pointed at the tree closest to them. 

"Raise your guns." He ordered and the wolves complied. "You are going to aim at the coconut looking fruits and shoot." He said and the wolves nod. 

He raised his hand and dropped it after three seconds. Immediately his hand dropped, the guns went off and a couple of fruit dropped. 

"How about we do this instead," Cobie started. He took a deep breath and stared at the coconut on the floor.  He made his way towards it and held it in his hand. "I am going to raise this up and you'll come forth one by one and try to shoot it down."

"How are you going to raise it up?" One of the Omegas asked. 

"Like this." Cobie replied. He taps the coconut with a finger and then threw it into the air. The coconut doesn't drop and just stood, suspended in the air. The wolves stared up at it with wide eyes and slack jaw. 

He must have gotten the attention of Colson's group because they were also staring. 

"Why don't we join my brother's group and we'll stop practice afterwards." The sun was already setting. The wolves made their way to Cobie's group and they waited, ready for Cobie to give the start command. 

"Begin." Cobie said after a few seconds of silence. 

An Omega stepped out first, his grip on his gun loose.

"Tighten your grip and take your stance." Cobie tells him. The Omega gulped and doesnas he was told. He closed one eye and stared at the coconut with the other. He took a deep breath, aimed and shot. 

He missed by a small margin. 

"Good. Very good." Cobie cheered for him, almost tempted to clap. 

After the Omega was a Beta. They all went one by one and they all missed by small margins. Cobie and Colson could work with small margins. 

"We'll try again tomorrow but this time with a moving target." Cobie said with a small smile. He was impressed.

"Please drop your guns in the duffel bags." Colson said, his voice a bit stern. "We know how many guns were handed out. No sticky fingers." 

Cobie shook his head at his brother and hoped the wolves didn't find that offensive. He watched as the guns were placed in the bags.

"Thank you for today."

"Thank you for teaching." One of the Betas said and bowed, the other wolves following suit. Cobie didn't know what to do, he had never been bowed to before. Scratch that, he was always with Erik whenever the wolves bowed but he had never really gotten a personal one. 

"You don't have to bow."

"You are going to be our Luna. It's a sign of respect." One of the Omegas replied. Cobie could feel the heat rush up his cheek, his eyes going bright pink. Colson sees this and laughed hard. 

Cobie bids the wolves good night and knelt down to zip up the duffle bags. Colson grabbed one and together they began to make their way to the pack house. 

"My brother, the Luna." Colson sang as they walked. 

"Stop it."

"What if I don't want to?" Colson asked.

"Stop it, Colly or I'll tell everyone about that time when you were seven and got married to your teddy bear who had on Mum's bra." 

Colson gasped. "That was a sash and you know it!" 

"Huh. I have never seen an sash shaped like a bra before, little brother." Cobie chuckled, bumping his shoulder with Colson's. 

"Fine. I'll stop it." Colson replied with a pout. 

They walked in silence for a bit before Cobie spoke up. "I miss Mum. I never once in all these years let myself even think about her." 

"Me too but I feel Mum wouldn't have wanted us to focus on just her death alone but the other things she did while she was still alive." 

"After all this is over, we can get a tombstone made for her and have an anniversary plan for her. She deserves it and so much more." 

"When this is over." Colson repeats. "Aren't you a bit scared?"

"I am scared and not just a bit. I am very scared." Cobie confesses. "But I have to do this. I'm tired of running, of feeling sad. I have finally found one one who loves me, someone who wants me. I have found a home and I'll be damned if I let father take it away from me. It's time we stood up for ourselves, for Pa, for our mother."