Brandon’s POV
I have been making plans for weeks as I needed to get my pack straight, so they can receive their new Luna. We are almost there as the ball is tomorrow. It seems like a month has gone by, but I am ready to claim my prize, my gift, my beautiful mate. I have never seen my family so excited for anything before as I was when I called my parents on their cell to tell them. I had already contacted Alpha Cole and spoke with him and Luna Olivia the same day I scented her. He didn’t mention anything else other than that he wanted to speak to me before I approached her to claim her, and I told him that I would try my best, and I will. But after waiting almost three weeks now to touch my mate, I knew it would be an almost impossible feat. Our packs were only separated by the human city, I was less than an hour by car away from his pack. I felt bad for them, but I wanted my mate so bad that I felt that I was about to go mad with want for her. I felt drawn to go and claim her now, needing to smell her intoxicating scent that I find myself craving at all hours of the day or night. The only thing that had stopped me was knowing that I needed to get a lot done before she could come here. She needs to be safe in her home, so basically, I needed to deal with Cheryl.
I didn’t trust Silas, or Cheryl, at all anymore and I didn’t want them to be able to cause her problems once she arrived. Krew and Simone were ecstatic about me finding my mate and were willing to help me in whatever way I needed them to. Simone was actually angry that I didn’t tell her while we were still at the mall when I knew. Once I realized who she was, I knew that I had some time before the ball arrived. I couldn’t take that extra time away from her or the Walkers. As an ally, I knew that she had just arrived in their pack, but I still reached out to advise them that she was my mate. I felt in my heart that it needed to be done and just followed them until I watched my mate leave, with Alpha Cole and his family.
I had told Simone about finding my mate in the car on the way back to Black Adder pack and the squeal she let out was so loud I almost swerved off the road. She feels so happy that her pushing me to take her to the mall today resulted in me finding my mate. Simone feels like she introduced us, in a small way by pushing me to do with her that day. She is the most excited about me finding my mate, next to my mother. We had a meeting in the pack five days ago, with Cheryl invited to join it as well. She technically doesn’t have a rank, but as she was the reason for the meeting, I wanted her there.
A special meeting was held yesterday, the afternoon my parents returned from their trip. I had shown them what I had as far as proof against her in an email I sent them the day I found my mate. They were both very upset at her underhanded way of messing things up for our pack. She is trying to force my hand as she knows how much I care for my pack. She knows that I listen to them and want them to be happy with how I am running everything. I wanted to be just as efficient and dutiful for our pack, and I had been. The only exceptions were the “adjustments” that had been made to the orders and schedules, the transition had otherwise been flawless.
The pack and my family are both very important to me. After my parents found out that Cheryl had hacked in again and changed the order for our groceries to mess things up, mom and dad, were furious. They were also upset at her rescheduling the kitchen ladies yet again. This underhandedness has got to end now. I am only a short time away from claiming my mate. I won’t allow them to jeopardize any part of my claiming her away from me. I am not going to allow these vicious people to cause any more problems than they already had. They were having to kick it into overdrive to try to force the pack to make me take Cheryl as my chosen, making more problems before my parents were able to return to the pack. I had already told Silas that I refuse to do it, he can't force me to accept Cheryl as my mate. I had been nice long enough, they are about to learn a hard lesson today.
The newly messed-up order was where it was the most serious for my dad. But mom and I were really trying not to laugh about it. My dad loves potatoes, and the 100 lbs. of potatoes ordered for this week were changed on the order, to turnips. A 100 lbs. of turnips, and my dad was truly horrified. It would have been absolutely hilarious, except I don’t know very many people who actually like turnips that much. Dad was mad that the two nights of potatoes as a side on the menu were now gone, and he was seriously angry about it. Mom told him that she would go by the store after the meeting to make it right for him. Apparently, mom knows how serious this was to dad and is willing to fix it for him. I wonder how many stores they will have to go to, for them to be able to find 100 lbs. of potatoes. But I know that mom is really angry over their subversive behavior. Mom is fully involved in this now, and I know that she will get getting this taken care of and sorted out, for me, and for dad. This pack is important to my parents. Black Adder has grown to almost double under their leadership. I wanted to do the same thing. The most important part of it was that the pack was going to be very upset, again, and think that I wasn’t able to run it correctly. Cheryl had gotten them stirred up again by telling them that with her as Luna, this problem wouldn’t ever happen again. She was right, as she was causing the problems herself.
Cheryl was really happy about her being requested to come to the meeting, as she had entered the room with a big smile on her face, and she was dressed up like we were about to have a photo session for our engagement to be announced. Sorry, Cheryl, that won't ever be happening. She thought that I was going to fold and allow her to become Luna, just from the pressure she was applying, and I wasn't. This meeting was ranked wolves, as well as the Elders, so it was much more important than the regular morning meeting. I saw that when Silas entered, he had taken notice of that as well, and turned to give Cheryl a strong look. Silas figured it out pretty quickly and was trying to tell her to let him do the talking. He knew the reason for the meeting the second he walked through the door. This meeting was to let everyone know what she had been doing and to see which of her parents were involved in it. I had never told Gamma Peters what I had on her, or that I had proof of anything. I just asked Silas to get Cheryl to stop trying to get the pack behind in her bid to become Luna. I think he was secretly encouraging her to do it, and we were about to find out, as a lot of this was just going to be shocking to everyone in the room.
The meeting started normally, and they gradually put their guard down. I had Krew, my younger brother, enter to hand out a packet to everyone there. My parents shared theirs, they had both already seen what was in it. I saw everyone else looking at it with a frown on their forehead because they didn’t know what it was. I gave them a few minutes to peruse it. I watched as they figured out what it was. A copy of my hard copy after I had completed it, and then the one after she went in and changed it behind me. I didn’t say a word as I watch first Cheryl, and then her father, start to panic about it. I watch as they keep looking at each other and mindlinking back and forth. I started my presentation with them squirming through the whole ten minutes of it. Leaving it zoomed in on the last page with the same code showing for everyone to see. I also showed how much this little prank has cost the pack in total for having to reorder the missing items, fees for the extra deliveries, and overtime for the double scheduling in the kitchen.
It was almost a total loss of $300,000 in the last two years. No small amount to our pack, this kept us from the new pool and playground area that I had told them about when I took over. I had a vision of our pack growing even more and wanted to get areas done here where they would have no need to leave to go into the human areas where our children, who were faster and stronger, might get in trouble or be exposed. I wanted fun things to do here, and eventually for us to build another packhouse, or add onto this one. I had bought additional land of another 50 acres for us to be able to eventually expand on, but with the loss of money each month for the last 2 years, the pack was hemorrhaging money more than we ever expected it to. I didn’t realize at first that this was a deliberate act. I, at first, thought that I had made a mistake. My best friend and Beta, Truett Logan, and I poured over the orders until we saw the problem. He then quickly found out that it was Cheryl’s code that had been entered into the system and made the changes. She had a code as she did occasional bookwork for us, and her dad had insisted she be allowed access to the system to do it. He kept saying that it was because she loved her pack so much, was the reason that she wanted to help. I am sure this was all part of his plan.
I see Cheryl gulping, as I had just shown them over 30 documents, for the last 2-plus years. I wanted to watch her try to dig herself out of this trap first, as she has no reason, at all, to have done it. I just gave her a smile and waited to see who would break first. It was two minutes later when we found out, it was Silas. I figured he was the mastermind behind this. Cheryl was not that clever, just like her mother, who was still looking at her copy of the paperwork, trying to figure out what exactly the problem was with it. Cheryl is more of a follower, than a leader. It is beneficial to have your child and the Alpha of the pack together, and that was his reasoning. That was his intention from the start. They really thought that since I cared about the pack so much, I would just fold, give up, and take Cheryl as a chosen mate. All because of a few mixed-up schedules? They were wrong, so very wrong.
He made her do it, so she would have to use her own code for it. Leaving him totally out of it, in case she did get found out. He didn’t admit to knowing anything about it. He just said, “The thing is, you DO need a Luna. The pack needs a Luna, Cheryl was just showing how things can get messed up quickly. Having a Luna here to take care of problems that arise is beneficial for our whole pack. That was it, Brandon. She was just trying to point out that things will go smoother when you do accept her, or someone, as your Luna.” I am furious as I suddenly see that he thought I was weak and stupid, and he wanted to try to take the pack out from under me by getting me out of the way. I would have probably had an accident soon after accepting her. They forgot about Krew, my parents, and my sister. The hairs stand up on my arms as I realize that the accident that would have taken me out would probably take them out as well. They are much more despicable than I gave them credit for, they are the lowest of the low and I am going to handle this quickly now. I warned them of the costs, and they ignored my words, just like they did all the other times. Silas thought that I was all talk, and he could get away from it scot-free. Wrong, I had this all approved two days ago. Their fate has already been determined and was about to be carried out. I get the text I had been waiting for
“It is quite coincidental that she did it on the weeks my parents were out of the pack traveling, Silas. Trying to leave the problem in my lap, by making me look bad to the pack. Like I don’t know how to run it properly, trying to make me look like I am incompetent. You certainly didn’t want to draw my parents in on this, and even though I told you to call her off, you still encouraged her to do it. Probably dangling that carrot of Luna in front of her, and she was great with going along with it. We both know that you were behind this, you still kept encouraging her to do it, stop for a little while, and then resume when my parents were gone. This brings me to another point. I told you both if you didn’t stop that I was going to punish you. I told you both that it was a final warning. What would you have me do? Let you continue to stay here without receiving a penalty for both of your actions? Causing problems behind the scenes? What of my mate? Do you think that I can trust either of you now, knowing that you are instructing Cheryl to continue to cause problems?” I asked him, and I saw him shift in his seat. I cannot confront him on the gut feeling of what I had just realized about his wanting to take over the pack, not without evidence. He would have been much more careful than Cheryl had been.
“Alpha, we meant no disrespect to you at all. I thought that a few mishaps along the way would make you see the light that Cheryl would make an excellent Luna for you. You know I chose my own mate, and I love her dearly. She has given me two wonderful children, and I care for her a great deal. Yes, it is different than the mate bond, but I would prefer to fall in love myself, and make my own choices than allow the Goddess to control me like that” Silas tells me. I can see that he is scrambling to apologize to me only to save face. His act of suggesting that it was only because of his concern and love for the pack, was the only reason why he did it was insulting to me. We both know he just wanted to take it over and would do anything to get the results that he wanted to do it.
“Silas Peters, I am banishing you, your wife Billie, and your daughter Cheryl from the Black Adder pack. You and Cheryl have been given more warnings than I should have given throughout the two and a half years that I have run this pack. I have spared your son, Leander Peters from banishment. He was not aware of what you and your daughter were planning. I don’t know if your wife did or not, but as she is your chosen, I am allowing her to leave with you, because of your great love for her that you just mentioned. We allowed the meeting to go on so you could all be packed up, and I have just been notified that you are packed and ready to go. Your truck and Cheryl’s car are out front right now. You have ten minutes to be clear of the pack. You are not allowed to set foot back onto Black Adder packland again. If any of you are found on the land, I have instructed whoever finds you trespassing, to end your life” I tell them, and they froze looking at me. That was the second reason that Cheryl was here, I needed their apartments to be cleared out, and without interruption. I had just been waiting on the text to tell me that they were ready to go before I dropped the bomb on them.
“That is not fair. I just wanted to be with you. I didn’t realize how much it had cost the pack. I want to be with you. I love you, Brandon. Please don’t do this to me. I made a mistake, but I won't ever do it again, I swear, just let me stay here with you” Cheryl cries out and runs to me to try to wrap her arms around me.
“That punishment is too much Brandon. We were not trying to hurt the pack but to help it” Silas tells me as he slowly stood up and tried to control the rage that had crossed his face when I banished him.
“It is not too high. You have both shown me that in addition to not caring about this pack at all, you will not stop until you have reached your agenda. I know you want control of the pack Silas. You have for years, you really thought that you could undermine me like this for so long and not have any punishment to go with it? Seriously? I know you wanted me to take Cheryl, and eventually, you would have taken care of me and my family for you to be able to control Black Adder. Were you going to take the Beta family out as well? How many people would have had to die for you to get the control of this pack that you want so badly? I believe that is why you didn’t want a true mate. A mate would have talked you out of this plan, she would want you to live happily as a Gamma. To be the best version of yourself. You were a ranked wolf, and instead of that being enough, you wanted more. Sorry to disappoint you, Silas, but it won’t be happening here” I told him, and the doors opened to show 11 warriors and his son Leander standing there. They all heard what had happened inside the room.
I knew Leander had no part in this. I have been questioning him quietly on the side for months, just a few questions here or there and not making it obvious. He had no clue at all about what his dad planned. He only factored into it as he would still be the Gamma until his dad allowed him to take the Alpha position over when Silas wanted to give it up. The shame and disappointment in his family were all over his face. I could see guilt there and knew what he was thinking. People liked to judge the family too for misdeeds. It happens all the time. People start to judge the parents and siblings for what another person has done like they were the same as the criminal. I would make sure that at the town hall meeting tonight, I would straighten it out for him. He was not at fault, but Silas, Cheryl, and Billie were never to come back to this pack. They were escorted out of the conference room and out to the front of the packhouse where they were stunned to see that they had in fact been packed up. All their clothes and essentials were packed up neatly in several boxes in both vehicles. Cheryl started crying harder and begging not to be sent away. Blaming her dad for making her do it the whole time. She may have had a crush on me, but I know it was because she wanted the Luna position so much that it blinded her to the fact that her behavior had gone too far.
I didn’t calm down from my anger until I got the link that they were off the packlands. I was glad it was over. I hope I never see any of them again. Silas is like a snake and could not be trusted, I could not allow him to stay here. Neither could Cheryl for that matter. She lied to the pack, and to me, and showed her utter disregard for anyone but herself. Tonight I will show the whole pack what we had just gone over. I will be sure to point out that the things that they had been looking forward to would be done, probably next spring. I am glad that they are gone from the pack, maybe things will run smoothly from now on.
FLASHBACK ENDS
Tomorrow night, my life will be perfect as I claim my mate. I cannot wait to see her, hold her hand and feel the sparks and tingles that everyone always talks about. I cannot wait for her to bear my mark and grow large carrying my pups. I get excited just thinking about it, and I go to focus on getting the pack ready for my beautiful mate to come and rule at my side. I have her office cleaned out of my mother’s things, and she can be in the office next to mine so I can sense her, and scent her, and it will help to keep me happy all day. I cannot wait for her to sit on my lap and calm me like mom and dad still do. The mate bond is a beautiful thing, it is created to help you connect with your other half. I have respected it my whole life, and I cannot wait to make her mine. I know that just from feeling what I did from a distance was anything to go by, when I can finally pull her into my arms it will feel like Heaven.
Cheryl makes Plans