Chapter 190
Raven’s POV
A MONTH AFTER THE ATTACK
The aftermath of the attack is still felt several weeks later. Cheryl didn’t feel bad about ending Graham, in fact, that is the one that we all agree on. Graham and his ranked wolves that died here were all a good riddance. There were not good men, but the subject of Forest is still a touchy subject. Killing Forest was actually hard for Jax, he knew how Forest had been to Kevin, but he had never killed a young person before. Forest was almost the same age as him, and although Jax is still trying to come to terms with it, he knew it was the right thing to do. They came here to kill us and take over our pack.
Although he knows that in his heart, it was still very hard to kill someone his same age. It was a first for him, and that was a tough thing to get over. He had gone to counseling over it as well, and that had helped. He had also spoken with both Brandon and Justin about it, and they had told him the same thing. He knows that it will still take some time to overcome his emotions over it. He did it to keep his younger brothers, or Kevin, from having to do it. His responsibility towards them is how he has always operated. He is an excellent big brother, and he loves all of his brothers and sisters. he would do anything to keep them from being hurt. He also didn’t want Kevin to live with the pain and guilt he would have felt for killing his own brother.
It was easier for him to kill the rogues as they were viciously attacking his friends, family, and pack members. He killed several of them during the fight, moving from one to the next, ending them. I think that the age difference between the rogues, and Forest was an important factor. He just did what he had been trained to do with the rogues. He saw the rogues hurting his loved ones, and acted in kind, killing them before they could kill one of us. Forest came here with the intention of killing us, of taking over, and didn’t start begging until he knew that they were done for in the fight. Then he wanted to make deals, but he couldn’t be trusted. He was sneaky and a clear liar, he would have gotten a group up and returned to attack us again one day. There was no way that we could let him go free, not with how we knew he was. He was dangerous, and he had to be dealt with. If he had the upper hand on us, he would not have been merciful to any of us, especially Cheryl, and Kevin.
Jax did the right thing, and we have spent extra time with him, and I am glad to see that he is getting to be more like his old self again. I was glad that Cheryl and Blake also each spent time with him. They had both told him that he did the right thing because he was unrecognizable as the son that they had known. Forest was no longer the person they raised, he followed and respected Graham. He wanted to be Graham, and that was a danger in itself that couldn’t be left to fester and grow. It had to be nipped and taken care of now, there was no other choice that could have been made. The innocent ones who were made to come here in the attack were the warriors for Black Moon. They were told by Blake to drop their weapons and leave, and thankfully, they did. They wanted no part in what Graham was doing. We were just glad that they made the right choice. They recognized Blake as their Alpha, and they were spared being killed because they decided to listen to Blake in his mindlink to them.
They would have just been made to kill other species indiscriminately if they followed along with Graham’s plan. None of the warriors were good with that part of Graham’s plan. They were all hoping that Blake would be able to challenge Graham for the Alpha position and take back over the pack. He didn’t even have to do that, they knew who the better Alpha was in this. They knew that Blake would be able to end Graham to take the pack back over. Their faith was in Blake, and I was glad that they made the right choice in this. We would have lost more warriors if that was the case. We ended up losing a total of 9 pack members in the battle. Two of them were found later, knocked out, and injured, but they were alive. They are better and about to leave the pack hospital soon. The loss to the pack is still hard, we lost 8 men and one female warrior. The number may seem small, but when you are talking about lives, it is still too many.
We trained for a long time to get to where we are. I wish we could have only lost a member or two. But this was a serious attack, that spread the fight out, coming in from two directions. The warriors were fathers, brothers, and sons who will be missed. A daughter, that was loved and valued, and never got the chance to find her mate. We had a ceremony for each one of them, but this loss was one that will be felt for a long time. We had a memorial wall made up, of a total of nine sections in the shape of a square, and built in front of the packhouse. That way we can always remember to pay our respect to the ones who put their lives down to protect their fellow pack members. It has their names and pictures on it, and it gets passed as you enter or exit the pack. We don’t want to forget the sacrifice that they made for our pack and to keep their families safe from harm.
Kira and Blake being mates was a surprise to all of us. Blake is happier than I have ever seen him, and Kira is very happy as well. They have plans for him to turn into a vampire as well after he turns his pack over to Kevin. That was another surprise, the fact that Kevin was willing to go back, and take over as the Alpha of the Black Moon pack. He had decided that he will spend three weeks out of each month there training with his father. He will be here for weekends and also spend one week visiting with his family here.
The pack was surprised by Blake bringing a new Luna home. They were even more surprised to find out that she was a vampire. They are still a little nervous around her, but no one has given her any problems. She is a strong fighter, and they have all been impressed with her abilities. They still do not know that much about her just yet, as Blake was keeping it under wraps for now. He didn’t want the pack to know too much about her healing power. He did announce that she had saved him after Graham shot him. So the majority of the pack was behind her from the start. They were all pleased that Graham had been dealt with, and that their old Alpha was back in charge of the pack. He also wants to live out his life with Kira, and they will live in Graham's home on the Black Moon packland. They will redecorate it, and get some special shades from Anton for the wall of windows that Cassandra had built on the home.
Kevin knows that he needs people that he can trust to be with him. He has already asked Liam and Dexter to be his co-Beta for Black Moon. He also asked Andrew, Stella and Truett’s second son, and Gabriel, Lanie and Krew’s second son, to be his co-Gammas. He needed people that he could trust beyond a shadow of a doubt in those positions. Brady’s sons, Drew and David, will be his co-Delta in the pack. Their father never betrayed the pack or Blake. Kevin had no issue with either of them. Brady was training them to take over their positions after they both turn 18 and after Kevin takes over the pack. Marc’s son Dennis will be the head trainer for the pack, but Kevin will be keeping his eye on him for the next two years before he takes over Black Moon. Dennis had been friends with Forest. Dennis had bullied Kevin previously, but Kevin didn't know if Forest forced him into doing it or not. Kevin will make the final call after he takes over. He wants to make sure that he has a strong pack, and that the bullying that he and Cheryl experienced in the pack, never happens again. I am proud of him for knowing that he is a leader. The Goddess clearly wanted him in that position.
Blake will stay as the Alpha for those two years, while he gets Kevin completely trained for the position. Robert decided to stay with Cheryl and Anton here with us. He has made friends with a lot of the teenagers here, and they won’t be pushing him to go back if he doesn’t want to. They were glad that he wanted to stay with them here, and he loves his baby brother and sister. He is a big help to them and is very protective of them, as well. The babies are doing very well, and Anton is almost the proudest father that I have seen, he is only surpassed by Brandon and Justin. He is wrapped around both of their little fingers and he couldn’t be happier about getting to work from home and helping out with them. Cheryl loves watching him with the babies and has taken so many cute pictures of them together. Anton has his favorite pictures on the walls of his office. So even when he is at work, he can still get to see his family. Things are better with Casey too, she is getting her own room at their home.
Anton built an addition to their home and moved all the gym equipment into that area. It is built in a two-story, the same as the house. He used the same preventative measures on it. It only had one window, built for an emergency exit, on it. It has the same treatment done to it, to be resistant to fires, and the extra security for the one window. Cheryl was surprised that they would do that for her, as she felt like they didn’t want her around. She and Cheryl picked out the furniture for her room, and Casey will spend time at both packs coming with Kevin when he comes. Anton was happy with moving the gym, as it made it bigger, and he was able to use the heightened roof to use to jump and keep up his strength with high jumps. There is no attic on the extension, so it is a total of three stories high, and Anton is very happy with it. Alexei and the other members of the coven loved the new training wall too, and it is impressive to be able to watch them all use it. They are very quick with leaping up it, it has little ledges, about 10 inches long and four inches wide. They are built on various areas going up the wall. Ledges that I thought would be too small to hold their weight, but yet they use them easily and head straight up the wall. He built the gym half the size of the house, and additional land had to be cleared to do it. But it is a nice gym, and it makes the coven feel more welcome here for them to come and use it.
The doctor still comes every week to note the twin's growth. He calls Dr. Max to come with him, as it is beneficial for our doctor to know how to help injured vampires too. The doctors weigh and measure them, and note what they have been eating. We are all wondering the same thing though, will they be fully vampires, or hybrids? I believe that they will be hybrids, as we know that Cheryl became pregnant as a she-wolf. We are all so excited that they will grow up for us to watch them and see what traits they show. The whole pack is enamored with them, as they are just so cute. It makes some of our unmated pack members realize that their mate could be another species and to keep an eye out. The babies represent hope, and hope is always a wonderful thing to have.
The babies' existence has given hope to the coven, Alexei specifically. You can see the longing in his eyes for his own mate, and his own babies. Just knowing that it is even possible, was hopeful to him. I know that now that we are past the attack, he will be focusing on finding his mate, as he has been looking for them for a long time now. I hope that he gets the same blessing that his brother did. I know that Blake and Kira are actively trying for their own baby. Blake was happy with his family, but he would do anything for Kira, and she very definitely wants a baby. They are very happy to continue to keep trying for their own little one, and we are all rooting for them. I have a feeling that we will be getting good news one of these days, and they are so cute together.
Jax is going to be taking over the pack when he turns 20. We are not making him wait until he gets his mate. So he has less than 2 years before he takes over. He will also have co-Beta, his brother Chase, and Blane, who is Stella and Truett’s oldest son. He will have co-Gamma as well, Warrick, who is Lanie and Krew’s oldest son, and he has suggested Robert, Cheryl and Blake’s son, as the second. He already spoke to Kevin, before he even suggested it, and Kevin was OK with it. Robert was very upset about how things went when he was all alone back there at Black Moon after Blake was imprisoned. Additionally, he didn’t know who the target had been for Graham when he was shooting. Robert didn’t know if it was supposed to be him or Anton, that Graham was trying to kill. He is still dealing with the guilt of Anton being shot, as he believes in his heart that Graham was actually trying to kill him, and Anton just got in the way. But it played a big factor in his wanting to stay here at Black Adder, and we are glad to have him.
Jax will be making Kendrick, Lanie and Krew’s youngest son, his Delta. As the pack is growing he also mentioned that he might take Atlas, Reagan and Clive’s 4th son, to be the co-Delta. Atlas is a great fighter, but he would not get a rank at Blood Tracker. Trevor is going to be the Alpha there, and Darren’s and Reagan’s oldest son, Damon, will be his co-Beta along with Henry, who is six months younger than Trevor. Jon, their younger brother, will be the Gamma. Marc’s second son, Wayne, will be the Delta for Blood Tracker. Trevor was friends with Wayne, and Wayne did not side with his father on what had happened at Black Moon. Trevor believes that his ranked wolves will work well for him, and he also has a backup in a few years when Cyril, the youngest son of Reagan and Clive, or Bradley, the youngest son of Reagan and Darren gets older. Trevor doesn’t want a replay of what happened at Black Moon to occur at Blood Tracker, and none of us can blame him for that.
The grounds here are back to before the attack, you cannot tell that it even happened now, but it is still here with us in our hearts. Very hard to move forward and get a new “normal” for us right now. We have trained so hard, and for so long, and to not have to do that anymore is kind of weird for us. We still train, but now it is more like 5 times a week, and no double training in a day. Justin has been looking into new techniques to teach the boys. There is always something new to learn. Kevin is going to have our boys go back with him to give him ideas and introduce them to the pack. They will be going along with some of our warriors to make sure that they are safe there. I know that Black Moon is making changes, and wants to make improvements there.
Blake was very happy when they got into the safe at Black Moon, and Graham had left his information for the new account inside. He must have been very confident that he was going to be successful in his attack against us. I am absolutely glad that Kevin is making changes for Black Moon. His plans for the pack include having the same courses for them to run there, both adults and children. He also wants to have a children's play area, like we have here. He also wants to get them some areas specifically for teenagers and older children to go to learn how to train more effectively. He will also get them trained on weapons as well. Blake will be using the money to fund and shape the pack how Kevin wants it to be as they go through everything. Kevin wants everyone to be successful, and to be treated well. I know that he will make sure that the bullying is no more. He lived it, he will not want it to happen to anyone else, especially under his watch. Blake and Reagan were going to be splitting the money again, but Reagan wanted it to be split three ways, for them to include me in it. Blake agreed with what she said, so we will be able to grow our pack as well. Buying some additional land behind the pack, that Brandon had his eye on, and putting half of it into savings. I am glad that we will be making some improvements to the pack that we had been putting off until after the attack. Including getting to build some new homes and investing in solar panels.
Reagan and Clive were going to be splitting their time between Blood Tracker, and Black Adder. They will have a home in each pack, as their home here is already framed. They will stay in the new packhouse until it is complete. Since their sons will be ranked wolves at Blood Tracker, they wanted to alternate between each pack to get to see and spend time with us all. Reagan is having Anton set up both of their homes like he has his done. She knew that his home was the safe place to be during the attack. Brandon already decided that both pack houses will be getting some of the same protective measures as well. Even though the threat the Goddess warned us of is now over and gone, doesn’t mean that we won’t face one again. We know that we will need to stay on our training for both sparring and weapons.
Brandon and Justin have finally been able to relax a little more now that the attack has passed. It had caused a great deal of stress for them both, with the training, and preparation that was needed for us to be ready when the attack came. We have more downtime, as the boys are now spending more time in the office to learn new responsibilities. It has given them both much more free time, which they have spent making special dinner plans for us. I am excited to think about our lives as we move on to our next chapter. I am so glad that Brandon and Justin are too, and are already making plans for a few trips together. It will be Jax's turn to lead the pack soon enough. We will be right here with him for the first year to help guide him in his decisions. Then we will travel for a little while. Jackson and Angie will be here, and my dad is just a phone call away if he needs any help.
I cannot wait to see what Jax does with the pack. I can see it growing and improving even more under his leadership. I am excited at the prospect to get to meet my children’s mates as they start to find them. I plan on growing old with my mates, surrounded by my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. I am thankful for each and every step that I took to get here. My life may not have been perfect. I will admit that in some places it may have been downright terrible, but it got me to where I am right now. I have a loving family, my dad and Olivia are absolutely wonderful. I have brother’s that truly love me. I can count Reagan as a true sister now. If someone had told me that years ago, I might have hurt myself laughing about even the thought of that being true. I have nieces, nephews, and friends that I love and care about. But my mates and my children are where my heart bursts with happiness. I look forward to seeing what this next chapter of our lives is going to bring to us at Black Adder.