Blake’s POV
Graham is a moron. He could not be more obvious if he tried. I know that from the minute he arrived here at Black Moon, he thought that we were all just a bunch of backwater morons that he could lead around by the nose. I was glad to correct him at the time. Now I will just let him keep on with his assumptions of him outsmarting me. I already knew it was a trap. I stood where I stood in the room for three reasons. First, it scares the shit out of Garrett and Marc, there are both terrified of me. They both know that one day, they will be getting what they deserve from me for causing this whole thing. My standing behind them would allow me to get the drop on them before they could react. Second, It shows a lack of respect for Graham, as he wants me to come in and sit. It is a power play, and I am not going to do it. I knew as the last one called in that this would be a quick meeting and one that there was no point in getting comfortable. Third, where I stand allows me to see Forest's face reflected in the glass of one of the frames.
I swear I get more and more disappointed in Forest as each day passes. He is cocky, for no good reason. He is too overconfident in himself, with nothing to back it up. It is shameful how lacking in ability he truly is. He doesn’t train properly, he seems to think that leading his pack needs to be done from the safety of the back of it. You don’t just send your warriors, your men and women in to get hurt, or killed. You lead them into that battle. You fight side by side with them to beat the common enemy. I was so focused on what Graham had done to me, getting all my attention on Kevin, and Cheryl, that I just let Forest do what he wanted. I thought that since he had been getting instruction for the previous 5 years, he would continue with what I had been training him to do. I thought that the head warrior was training him up in the way he needed to go. I was wrong. What he wanted to do was to slack off. He is completely unacceptable as the next Alpha and I am ashamed of the support I gave to Forest, while I trying to hurt Kevin.
Kevin was far better than Forest in every single way imaginable. He will be the next Alpha here once I get Cheryl and the kids to come back home. Kevin is empathetic, he cares about others, and Forest never has. Forest cares about Forest. Kevin is strong, and trains seriously. I was amazed at seeing him fight grown men and beat them at the tender age of 14, I was too. I was being petty and malicious to him, and I wish I could take it all back. I wish we could go back to the day Graham showed up at our gates. I just wished called and reported him to the council to come and pick him and Reagan up. That would have stopped the whole thing. They only really ever wanted Reagan and Graham, Cheryl and the rest of them could have just stayed here. It would have been better that way. I hate that I fell for Graham’s plan like that. It hurt my heart knowing that I had hurt them both so much like that. To where they risked being killed, to try to escape. I looked out the window as we traveled to Blood Tracker to speak to Aaron. He won’t be believing it either. As we talk to each other daily through text and short phone calls. My phone is hidden in my room. I won’t take the risk of someone being able to find it. I have a safe built into the floor of my room. Unless you know exactly where to look, you would never find it. I only use the phone in my room, for a short time, and then I charge and secure it again.
I have been communicating with Aaron since I got my phone. He was stunned when I first sent him the text. He assumed it was a trap, and frankly, I would have too. We all know not to trust, not with this going on, and Graham being free. We had already set things up ahead of time where we had a password that we could use. We set it up several years ago when we were both new Alphas. In case one of us was taken, to be able to know that it was truly us. One that would let either of us know that we were indeed dealing with the other. I answered the question, and I was glad to be able to communicate with him again. We also deleted our texts with each other. I don't know who knows what anymore. I didn't want to take the chance of Aaron being punished for communicating with me if they had found my phone. I don’t have any call records, or texts showing on my phone at all, just in case it is found in my room. I have complete deniability as it is completely clean. Aaron isn’t dumb enough to fall for this, just like I didn’t, but we will discuss it tonight, after the fact. This is a witch hunt by Graham, and I am not going to fall for it. Now Forest, who is currently sitting in the front seat and texting his ass off, he may, but you know what, that is on him. I showed him the way to be, by showing him how to be a good Alpha, other than the disastrous turn I took with Kevin and Cheryl. Other than that period he saw me leading the pack well, taking care of my pack members. I trained daily with them, I supported them all, and we flourished.
He just started taking the easy way out. Cheryl was right, he was spoiled and that was the reason for how he became like this. He didn’t take pride in his work, not at school, or in training. He only cared about what possessions he had, and what he could show off with. I guess when this comes back to bite us in the ass, it will be his ass on the line, and not mine. But that is what happens when you make choices like he did. He wanted to be Alpha before he was qualified to be Alpha. He made a deal with Graham to be able to get it done. He stabbed his own father in the back and didn't care if I was killed down there. He never came to see me once in the cells. Forest even fell for what Graham just did. Graham would not give us the correct information about the date of the attack, not this early. Graham is a devious person. If he did give us notice, it would be like the day of, not a month in advance. So I will try to figure out a way to make sure that Graham finds out who the leak will be. I already know that in the midst of Forest bragging to his cousin Trevor, he is going to tell him this information. I am positive that Trevor is a lot smarter than Forest, and he will be a great Alpha when he takes over at Blood Tracker.
I just have to find a way for this to work out in our favor. I have figured it out for the most part already, but I will deal with it tonight when I spoke to Aaron, not while we are at his pack. I will tell Aaron what we need to do, to make it work out for us, and not Graham. I know what their plan is, I saw Garrett and Marc heading to Graham’s office from the dining hall. I saw Forest go in almost 10 minutes later. So Graham is testing us, and I plan on not letting him know a damn thing about what I am thinking. He will know what my plans are when I take his life during this attack. All my warriors hate him and will be glad to see him gone. I only have to worry about Garrett, Marc, and Forest after that. As soon as I get Graham killed, I will make short work of Garrett and Marc. I know that Forest is a coward and he will fold like a house of cards when he is the last one left. I do not want to have to kill my own son, but if he puts his brothers, or his mother in danger, I will.
The only ones speaking in the SUV were Garrett and Marc. Forest was still on his phone, and I only answered when asked a direct question. I was comfortable with the silence, but it seemed like it was making them both very anxious for the vehicle to be silent. We pulled up to the gates at Blood Tracker, and I was grateful to have arrived. I have only seen Forest one time since I was released. I never get time to be alone with him, as Graham was not a very trusting person. He can’t be, especially when he is a low-down piece of crap. He is a backstabber that just cannot be allowed to continue. I should have killed him right off the bat when he was in my cells, instead of waiting to see if Cheryl would come back. In my heart, I figured she wouldn’t. I mean everyone was against her in the pack, even her own parents and children. I was delusional to even think that she would. I guess I hid my head in the sand to not accept how bad she had it here. I felt she deserved it at the time for what I thought she did, and didn’t even try to defend her from the pack. That was on me, but if I do get to bring her back, I will fix it for her. I will make sure that everyone knows that she is my mate, and off limits to all of them. I will make sure that they all know that I was wrong and that I fell for lies.
I see Aaron and Trevor standing on the packhouse steps waiting to greet us, as we pulled up. He knows to keep his distance from me too. He has to keep the act up, he can’t just treat me normally. Graham would be highly suspicious of that. He still suspects that Aaron was in on Reagan’s disappearance. So, both of us have to act stiff and unnatural when we are together. Until we can get this whole thing over with. I will give Aaron the bullshit offer from Graham, and I already know what he will be saying. I had told Aaron to stay out of it, I will make sure that Brady and I save Reagan and her family from harm. I plan on doing that by making sure that the attack will not be a surprise to Black Adder. I will make sure that they have a heads-up on our arrival, as I cannot allow Graham to harm any more innocent people.
He is intent on trying to attack a pack, to hurt Raven for existing. He is an idiot. He caused this whole thing, but he just can’t accept that it was all due to his cowardly actions. He has pinned all his failings on an innocent woman. One that he has blamed from infancy to have caused him all of his problems and issues. He is losing his shit, and I worry about what he has up his sleeve for the attack. He doesn’t tell me everything, but I know Graham. He likes to have backups, upon backups, in place. He will not be getting another chance at this, he knows that he needs to go in there and make this attack successful. His goal is simple, everyone who was in the hallway when Reagan, Raven, and Cheryl told him off, he plans to kill. That is what he wants to happen, as he has it twisted in his mind that they are all responsible for his downfall. He wants them all punished. He has crazy thoughts that in his head seem to make sense to him, but he is incorrect.
“Aaron, can we speak in your office?” I asked him after shaking his hand and stepping back away from him.
“Sure, come with me, we can head up now,” Aaron said. We all headed towards the office, with Trevor and Forest heading towards the dining room after we entered the packhouse. It didn’t matter if they stayed with us or not. Forest was going to do exactly what Forest was going to do. I can’t stop him from doing whatever it is. I know that it is the Goddess’s will in this. I have messed up things enough, I won’t be messing up any more of her plans. We went up to his office and Aaron sat behind his desk and looked at us expectantly.
I waited for Garrett or Marc to speak up. Once I realized that they were not going to, I knew this was part of their plan too. So, I spoke up, “Aaron, we came today to see if you wanted to reconsider helping us in this upcoming battle with Black Adder. I will be getting my own mate back. Graham wanted to extend you the same opportunity to get Reagan, and your children back in Blood Tracker. He knows that you cannot leave the pack, he is just asking for a hundred warriors to go into battle with us. If you can spare them to assist us, then he will be glad to assist you with getting your family back safely.”
“I cannot go, and she is with Clive. He is her chosen mate, not me. I do not have a claim on her, other than as the mother of most of my children. She will not pick me over Clive, but I appreciate Graham considering me in this. I don’t want to be involved in the battle because I don’t want anything coming back on me. I don’t want to know anything about it, as I don’t want to be accused of colluding. I also don’t want to be involved because what if the attack leads to one of my children being hurt or killed in it? How would that make me look? You are on your own with it. I realize that Graham had proof that she had been there for the wedding, but that doesn’t mean that they are being protected there. There are too many unknowns for this to be a good idea in my opinion. I don’t want to have to explain to Reagan, if she was living there why I was involved with it. Especially if any of her children ended up getting hurt. I am sorry that you came over here just to be shot down, but I just cannot do this with a clear conscience. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if my actions caused me the loss of one of my children” Aaron said.
I didn’t miss the dig he gave me. My actions did cost me one of my children. I doubt that he will ever fully forgive me. But I want the chance to make it right with him, and whatever I needed to do to make that happen was good for me. I cannot protect them if I am not there for the attack. So, I am absolutely going to be there, to save my family, and to try to save Aaron’s family too. I nodded at him, he gave us the answer. I was not going to give him the date, as he had already refused. It didn’t even make sense to do it as he had just said he didn’t want to be put in the middle of it. That he didn’t want to be accused of collusion. I went to head to the door to leave when Marc started talking.
“This is an opportunity to save Reagan, you could make sure that Clive doesn’t make it. You could be her hero and save her and the children. You could be her chosen mate. I don’t know why you are not thinking this offer through properly Aaron. This is a chance for you and Reagan to be able to live together, and her to become your Luna. Don’t tell me that you have never thought about it. She has been here for years and we have all seen how you watched her. You cannot deny your interest in her. How could you pass this up? Are you not willing to take a chance to get your girl back, to get rid of your competition? You cannot be serious about passing that up, when will you ever get the chance again? I think you are just not thinking this through properly. We kind of sprung it on you, but you and Reagan have a history together. You two have had four children together. You could have more children together. You need to really rethink this, Aaron. When would this opportunity present itself again?” Marc said to Aaron. He is pushing too hard. Aaron had already said no. I turned to look at what Aaron is going to say to what Marc just told him.
“I appreciate the offer, Marc. But I understood what Blake was telling me. I don’t want to be involved in it at all. Reagan chose Clive to be hers, they have a tight bond, and he would do anything for her. He loves her, and I will not destroy their relationship, or kill my friend, to take her away from him. I will pass your opportunity up. I don’t want to be accused of knowing about it, and not telling them that they are going to be attacked. I am excluding myself from it. Graham has a beef with Black Adder, but it doesn’t include me, or my pack, at all. In fact, since you want to push it so hard, I owe Black Adder for helping me to get rid of those vampires we had a problem with. That is the main reason that I just can’t help you. I do not have an issue with Black Adder, and I don’t want one. As much as I appreciate the offer to have Reagan as my own, to make her my Luna. She would not want that, she just wants to focus on raising the children and taking care of them. She has no desire to want to be a Luna anymore. I also want to tell you that Clive was my Gamma. He is one hell of a fighter, you really need to think about attacking Black Adder. Are you really willing to lose your life fighting them because of Graham's thirst for power? He is already running Black Moon, why does he want to attack a pack that has never even done anything to him? This whole thing is scary to me, to think that just out of the blue someone would attack my pack, without a true and valid reason. Graham just needs to enjoy his life at Black Moon and not attack them. That is the only clear path, as far as I am concerned. Just leave them in peace, that would be the best thing to do” Aaron told them.
He made a good point about it too. This was all Graham’s idea, to promote Graham back to where he wanted to be. He will not be happy to hear Aaron’s reply. I wish that Aaron could have been given a head’s up before we arrived, but maybe it is better this way. He told the honest truth, but it is going to hurt Graham's heart to hear it. Aaron better hope we can beat Graham in this, because if we don’t, Graham will be gunning for him next. That is the Goddess's honest truth. Graham is too spiteful and petty to not try to punish Aaron for not falling in line with his wishes. I know that they were a well-oiled machine when they helped him out. They seem to really have their shit together there at Black Adder, and I knew for a fact that they trained a lot. I have gone there for training before. But I am not putting anything past Graham at this point. He is focused on their destruction for purely selfish reasons. I have to imagine that he will be doing everything that he can to bring about their destruction in this attack.
“Well, in case you change your mind, you have until the twenty-third of next month to decide. We will attack on the twenty-fourth” Marc told him as he and Garrett stood up.
Aaron stood up and yelled, “Why, why would you tell me when you were going to do it? What possible reason would you have to tell me that? I thought I made it very clear with my response that I did not want to be involved in any part of this. Do not come here trying to stir up trouble for Blood Tracker. I am sorry, I just cannot support this upcoming attack, at all. I can see that you are all supporting Graham. Your reasons are your own personal reasons for following him into battle. I just refuse to do it, I cannot condone a fight with no basis. Graham made the mistake himself. I know he is after Raven because he is literally blaming an infant for the decisions that he himself made. It is crazy to even consider that to be a reason to attack a whole pack. Plus, I know he is offering his daughter Reagan up like a carrot on the end of a stick to me. But no one has even seen her there. She might have just come to Black Adder for the wedding. So his suppositions are baseless as far as I am concerned. I gave you my answer on the last visit when Graham came. Reagan left here without even telling me goodbye, or that she was leaving. I gave him the funds that I had received from Reagan. Willingly, and voluntarily, to Graham. She didn’t want me to know where she was. Please do not put me in the middle of this, I do not have an issue against them or a reason to fight them. I was polite and welcomed you to my pack, but I am sorry for it now. I don’t have anything else to say to you right now, please leave my pack.”