Chapter 116

Chapter 116
All three of them stood, and I pulled up my tablet. “I don’t have room for your pack members...” Their faces fell. “…yet.”

“Nate!” Fey exclaimed as she looked up at me with a smile.

“Currently, there is no housing available, and we’re at capacity. However, I will not turn wolves away in need. We can figure something out if they can hold out a few more months. We may need some help with construction, if any of them have a history with that.”

Nessa nodded. “We have a few. I’ll get in contact with them…Alpha.”

“I need the two of you to leave, please, so I may speak with your uncle. Try to find Amelia and Landon. I’m sure they would love to show you around.” I smiled at Fey and Nessa. “I will need you two as teachers. So, get ready to be thrown into the deep end. After I speak with Finn and Noah, we will create a tentative plan for you and the kids.”

Both of them bared their necks. “Yes, Alpha.”

As they left, I waited until the door shut, and I heard them walk down the hall. Alpha Jacob, or rather, Jacob now, didn’t look nervous. He looked resigned.

“I don’t trust you.”

“I don’t expect you to right now, Alpha Nathaniel. I will take any punishment you ask.”

I typed on my tablet for a moment. “As long as you can stay on the territory?”

He shook his head. “No. You can kick me out right after. I just don’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t receive punishment for my actions. Specifically, for the harm I caused you.”

“Your family…”

“My family has suffered for my actions. They always have. Not me, though. I grieve my son, but his kids lost their father. They lost their mother after he died, since she turned wild. Nessa and Fey have taken them in as their own, and with my mate who stayed back for the moment.”

‘Do what you want, Nate. You’re Alpha now.’ Wren encouraging me surprised me, and I let him come forward with me.

“Jacob Bouras, you have put my family in danger, and you have also put your own family in danger as well. All of us have suffered because of it.”

He bared his neck to me. “Yes, Alpha.”

“You will join my pack.” Jacob’s eyes widened as he looked up at me. “However, you will be stripped of your name. The hero known as Jacob Bouras is dead. You will be known as Doctor Jake Snow. You will no longer have access to the prestige you had. You will no longer be an Alpha.”

His eyes filled with tears as he bared his neck. “Yes, Alpha.”

“You will spend the rest of your life making up for it. Everyone in my pack, and who comes onto my territory may use your services free of charge. I will provide you with housing and everything you need. You will not be allowed to make anything from the pack in terms of payment, is that understood?”

“Yes, Alpha Nathaniel.”

Leaning back in my chair, I smiled. “I look forward to seeing you earn back my trust, Jake. We need you here, and we are going to work you to death.”

“Of course.” He straightened, a smirk on his face. “When was the last time you got checked, by the way?”

“Out of my office, Jake. I’m not dealing with that right now. I’ve got too much to do.”

Jake cackled and shook his head. “If I’m to be the official doctor of the Hidden Forest pack…”

“I haven’t added you to the pack, so watch yourself.” I growled. “Get out. Before I force you.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

It was always so weird to hear from him, especially. He stepped to the door and opened it. I realized he probably didn’t have a place to go at that moment.

“Jake.”

“Yes?”

I tapped my finger on the desk. “We have a contract with the inn within the town. I’ve got a few guys already staying there since we are too full here while we build. You can have Nessa, Fey, and yourself stay there for now. Also, you can bring your mate as well. I’ll let them know you are coming.”

His mouth dropped slightly. “Alpha…that’s…thank you.”

“Have Nessa contact the construction guys. We need to get to work. We are severely lacking in workforce, but also in the space to house them. It’s the first thing we need to fix.”

“We will get it done.”

I nodded. “Close the door behind you, please.”

Jake closed the door, and I leaned forward, my head in my hands. I didn’t know whether that was the right decision. It felt like it. We needed him. If he was willing to jump into this knowing that I would punish him, I didn’t know what else I could do.

‘I think you did well. What he wanted to do was make a name for himself, after he was a hero. Your stripping him of that name, it’s fitting. Now you can use him.’

Barking out a laugh, I shook my head. ‘Wren, that sounds terrible.’

‘What? It’s true. We get to use him. He is now a tool. Just like we will get everyone else’s strengths and use them to our benefit.’

‘You’re right. I rubbed my face before finishing up my notes on my tablet. We can’t do everything ourselves. We need to rely on others’ strengths if we are going to make this pack what it needs to be.’

Wren snorted. ‘I can’t believe you’re listening to me.’

‘I can’t believe you’re talking to me.’

‘We need to speak to our Betas.’

Both of us were silent for a moment before we groaned. This was already turning out to be a mess way too fast. Plus, I would need to explain how the council intervened for us. Everything needed to be worked out. Schedules, wolves, witches, and I groaned again. Falling back into the chair, I let out a fake sob.

“Why did I even want to do this again?”

‘For the kids. So they would be safe.’

“Sure…but…this is too much. I give up.”

Wren chuckled. ‘Too bad. Suck it up. For the kids. For us, and…of course, for Solaris.’

I closed my eyes. “Damn it.”

His chuckle turned into a full-blown laugh. ‘Go get ’em, tiger.’

“Wolf. We aren’t tigers. Imagine being orange. Goddess above.”

Getting up, I walked over and opened my office door. Standing in front of it were two steaming wolves. Noah stepped up, nearly touching me as his back bent to get in my face. His eyes locked with mine.

“You want to explain yourself, Alpha? Because one of those three should be beaten to a pulp before getting tossed off the edge of the cliff and out of the territory.”

Shaking my head, I grabbed the sides of his face and pulled him closer. His lips slammed onto mine, and I kissed him. He was not expecting it, and the motion took him off balance. Holding himself up in the doorframe, I could push against him harder.

“Hey! Woah! No fair!” Finn called from behind.

I pulled back, smiling. “I missed you guys. Do you know how lonely it’s been without you? I got used to you being in my space all the time. Then nothing for so long.”

“You can’t get out of our questions that easily.” Noah was panting. “We missed you too, though.”

Looking over his shoulder, I reached out for Finn. He stepped up and took my hand. Kissing my palm, he winked at me.

“We will take care of you later, Alpha. Don’t worry. Right now, though, we need to be caught up on a lot of things that are happening.”

“Maybe just a few. I think it can wait while you move in. I wanted to give you a few days to get settled so you can roam the territory to get a lay of the land before jumping into it. I’ve got a few projects in the works, and I need to get them off my plate to work on others. There is so much to do.”

Noah groaned and rested his forehead on my shoulder. “You already have pack members. I thought we were going to wait.”

“Me too. They just keep showing up. Plus, apparently we have some of White Sun waiting too.”

“What? What is going on?” Finn’s eyes were wide. “How far out of the loop are we?”

I chuckled. “Very far? I need to go to the Alpha King. Sooner rather than later now. I don’t want him to hear secondhand about the shift that is happening.”

“You can’t do anything half-assed, can you?” Noah picked up his head and kissed my cheek. “What are you going to do with you? You’re as bad as Sol.”

“Goddess, I hope not.” I laughed. “Let’s just get you moved in. Gerald and Yusuf should still be here to help. Leah and Hailey can stay while you do that.”

Noah put his hand on my stomach. “You need to slow down.”

“I need to get everything situated so I can when I am too big to move.”

“We are going to have our hands full with this Alpha, Noah.” Finn smiled. “Good thing we had practice.”

“Yeah, no shit.” Noah laughed, and I joined them.

This felt better; having them here already felt right. It gave me confidence that maybe I could pull this off. A nagging voice besides Wren that would always tell me I wasn’t cut out to be Alpha. Still, this was the way to protect my kids. Protect them and the dream Sol and I had as kids.

It wasn’t whether I could do this. I had to, for us. For our younger selves, and our kids. Rubbing my stomach, I would give them everything I could. Even if I was broken. Even if I wasn’t a full Alpha. I had to set up their future for them, at the very least. A safe place, not just for them, but for others as well. Everything Sol and I wanted it to be.