Raven’s POV
Brandon called me to the office, so Justin and I are heading that way. Justin stopped outside the office, but Brandon called him in as well. I guess he needs to speak to us both. Brandon was in a great mood this morning, of course, as we celebrated our getting back together in the shower too. He is not happy right now, so I know that something serious has happened. Justin didn’t mention anything this morning so far, but I see Stella and Truett in the office with Brandon. Did Justin have a lot of pain last night, is that what this is? I hope not, that will take some of my happiness away. I honestly did not want to hurt him at all. I sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk, with Justin taking the other one.
If Justin wasn’t here, I would have just sat in Brandon’s lap, but with them both here, I try not to show any favoritism. I am sure one day we will get there, but that day is not today. Not with me 100% back with Brandon, and Justin still waiting for our night alone together. He seemed fine this morning, I didn’t ask if he was hurt, and maybe I should have. That seemed uncaring, but we had all talked about it, and he knew to say something if he had. We have had that discussion before.
“Justin, so I wanted to get your opinion on what happened last night in the dining room. I am deciding on what to do to them, but I would like to hear what your take is on it as well” Brandon said, and I looked over at Justin, as this is the first I am hearing of a problem.
“I didn’t want to overstep as I am just the Delta, so I just had the warriors take the worst one down to the cells. Out of the four of them, two of them have been the most aggressive, as far as approaching me. They are also the most vocal too. I was going to leave it alone until she said what she said about Raven being a liar. She also implied that it wasn’t just the four of them that thought that we were lying about the three of us all being mates. She said a few more things, but I am sure you are up to speed. They saw me getting my food last night, and started to approach me before they saw that I was heading back to Stella and Truett. They changed their minds about approaching. Stella wanted to remind them that I was as off-limits as you were, but it didn’t go over well” Justin told Brandon.
“Yes, I heard it didn’t go over well. I am sorry that you have been having issues with my pack, and we will clarify this in the next town hall, which will be at 4 pm this afternoon. I do not want to disrupt your time with Raven tonight” Brandon said and leaned back in his chair clearly thinking about this situation.
“What did she say?” I asked Justin. He just shook his head no and reached over to take my hand. I can see that it must have been pretty bad for him not to want to upset me by repeating it. So I was just going to ask Stella, she is always a straight shooter.
“Stella?” I said to her, and she smiled at me but didn’t speak.
“I would like for all four of them to be punished for disrespecting Stella. She is the beta female, and even if they didn’t realize it, I was standing there. I was with her the whole time, eating with her, talking to her, and holding her back from them, so it looks like the general disrespect for both Raven and Stella is a problem that we need to address this afternoon too. You can ask Krew if Lanie has had a similar problem here” Truett said to Brandon.
“What did they say about me? Is it that bad, or just disrespectful?” I asked again, this time looking at Brandon.
“They are just talking some crap, Raven. They were thinking that I would be available because you were with Brandon last night. Since they thought I was alone, they were going to take a shot. It didn’t work, but I had the most vocal one taken to the cells. You can’t stop jealous she-wolves, they saw the video, and they continue to harbor the thought that they have a chance with me. I cleared that up for them last night. I showed them my neck, and that I was marked, just like Brandon was” Justin finally said. I know it is bad now, but I will defer to Brandon on what to do with this, they are his pack members.
“The ringleader, and her one friend, definitely need to be punished, the other two never said anything, and were just following along with what the first two were doing. The other two need a reminder that you two are off-limits. It is your own fault for being so handsome that they are willing to risk banishment to try to get with you two” Truett tried to be funny, but it really wasn’t. This was serious, and they both know this, as neither of them are smiling at his remark. I heard Stella slap him on the arm and say, “That wasn’t funny either.”
“I think that at the town hall this afternoon, you both need to show your marks, to show that they are the same. The pack should have been able to take you at your word, but sometimes seeing is believing. We could have like a picture on the big screen with both of you and your marks, showing that the Goddess indeed gave you both to Raven. That should shut everything down, and very quickly. It is just wishful thinking on their part and they do not have a chance with either of you. I agree with Truett, about the punishment, not the lame joke. They do need to be punished, and a good one. They were both disrespectful last night, one more than the other, but both were unacceptable” Stella said to Brandon, and he nodded at her. Looks like that was what he had been thinking too.
Which members?” Brandon asked Truett, Stella didn’t know or she would have mentioned their names when she spoke.
“The worst one was Justine Hollis, who is in the cells still. The second one was Kathryn Green. The other two girls who didn’t say anything were Angie Miller and Tiffany Abrahams, they are followers, and usually never cause a problem. Justin here is just too popular after the video came out” Truett said, and he is right, that video will just not die. It has taken on a life of its own.
“I agree there needs to be a good punishment, and I also agree we need to show the whole pack that Raven does indeed have two mates. I had hoped that they would have just taken my word for it, but clearly, that is not the case. I think Stella’s idea of showing them all that our marks are identical will help with that. They are as special as a fingerprint. I believe that will take care of it, plus the two being punished will also serve as a deterrent. I won’t allow this to happen again. I will also suggest to all the parents to speak to their daughters, and sons, to reel them in before this happens to more of our pack. The Goddess put us together. They should all know it after this afternoon. I will reiterate to them all that even if one of us is alone, that does not give anyone the right to approach, or proposition us” Brandon said and we all agreed with him.
It was an unusual situation, but it was one that had occurred and was blessed by the Goddess. We had as much control over it, as the rest of the pack did, none. We were blindsided by it as well, but we understand what is going on with it. We are just trying to do the best we can, while we tried to figure this out together.
“So you have decided on the punishments?” Truett asked.
“ I have, and I feel like it should be death for Justine, and banishment for Katheryn, but I know what Justine’s family will say. That she didn’t get a “proper” warning. So I think that if that is what they say in the town hall, I will just banish the whole family together, both families as a matter of fact. She can live and they can all go somewhere else to annoy another pack. I am sure that Katheryn’s family will probably do the same thing. This will be a final warning for Angie and Tiffany, if they can go a year with no other problems in the pack, it can fall off” Brandon stated. I can see agreement with everyone else in the room. I don’t know any of these girls, but I am assuming that I will see all four of them at the town hall meeting this afternoon.
We all had lunch together, and the whole pack was notified of the upcoming mandatory town hall meeting. Only the warriors on duty were exempt from it, and there were a lot of grumbles about it. There were several taking issues with a young pack member in the cells, mostly grumbling from her family. This was probably going to be an aggressive town hall this afternoon.
We got there early, and half the building was already full. Stella had already taken the pictures of the two marks, one with their face in it, and then one zoomed in on their mark, she made sure that they had some of their shirts showing in the zoomed-in picture so you could see who was who in them. I already knew that these girls were going to say that they were photoshopped, or altered. I knew that they were probably going to have to get the elders to verify it for the pack since they were kicking up about it in the dining room last night. They will not want to leave, they will want to stay here, and I am sure if their families are as bad as Brandon implied, there will be a show with this meeting.
Brandon had Justine brought in, still in handcuffs, and her family immediately started up. They were already in the front row with another family. I am guessing that these are the two girls who kicked up the argument last night. I see two other girls sitting in the opposite front row directly in front of the stage, with their families, sitting quietly, and not saying anything to anyone. I am sure that either Truett or Brandon had instructed them to be upfront for the meeting. I head up to the stage and sit in the middle chair of the three chairs left on the stage. Brandon’s parents are on the side Brandon sat on. Stella and Truett are next to Justin, with Lanie and Krew next to them. I see the two girls Justine, and Kathryn glaring at me like I caused this, but they did it with whatever it was that they said last night. I wasn’t even there, so how in the world could it be my fault? The meeting started at exactly 4 pm, Brandon’s voice was clearly ringing out in the quiet forum.
“Thank you all for coming. It has come to my attention that some of our pack members did not either agree with or understand what we discussed in the last meeting. So here we are again, you can thank them yourself later for it. Last night we had an incident in the dining room where my Delta, a new pack member Justin, had a group of she-wolves approach him. This was witnessed by my Beta and Beta female. I have already advised many of you that both Justin and I, are mated to my Luna, Raven. The Goddess put us together, and since there was some confusion or deliberate misinterpretation of it, I will clarify” Brandon told everyone in the room. The pictures that Stella took came up on the large TV behind him for the room to see.
“Raven has marked us both, that is not something that can usually happen unless you are mates. Once you mark another wolf who has already been marked, the mark on the first mate will disappear, if you are true mates. I assume the same would happen with a chosen mate if they found their true mate, but I don’t honestly know. What I do know though is the fact that both Justin and I bear Raven’s mark. They are identical, as you will see in the close-up photos. I had already announced that all three of us were off-limits. We are taken, she bears our marks, one on each of her shoulders. I have one of the pack elders here to verify our marks, I will not allow this to become an issue again. I was originally going to put Justine to death for her comments about me, her Luna, and Delta Justin. Instead, I will just banish her, and Kathryn from Black Adder” Brandon called out.
“That is not fair, she doesn’t deserve to be banished. None of us have ever heard of having simultaneous mates before. It sounds made up, I am sorry Alpha Brandon, but I feel like this is all completely unbelievable. I am not trying to be disrespectful to you, but no one that I have spoken to has ever heard of two non-related men being mated to the same woman. I just don’t believe it, and frankly, a lot of people don’t” a man called out. He was sitting next to Justine, so I have to guess that it is her father.
“Just because you are not aware of it, doesn’t make it untrue. I am quite sure that there are a lot of things that you are not aware of Henry” Brandon replied back to him, and I can see how angry her father is getting about it. There is no need to argue with that man, the elder is coming and he will take care of it.
The elder takes the stage, and before coming over to us he steps up to the podium and uses the microphone to speak to the crowd. "Before I verify this for you all, I wanted to take a minute and tell you that you all are, in fact, wrong. This has happened before, a few times. But it is not widely known, as it has happened so rarely in our history. As a matter of fact, this may be the 6th or 7th time in our total history that it is known of occurring. The Goddess always has a reason for it, so just because you don’t understand it, know that the Goddess does. Also, know that she does not need your permission to do it. Just know that they themselves did not ask for this to happen either. They need our support and understanding as they try to find their way in this to find balance in this relationship. I will now go ahead and verify this for you all, and I will also ask the most vocal against them, Henry, to come up here with us now for him to verify it for himself as well” the elder spoke and motioned for Justine’s father to come up. Both Brandon and Justin stood in front of me, while they unbuttoned their shirts halfway to pull the shirt open to expose their marks.
I waited as I know for a fact that they are the same mark, I made them myself, and I checked them myself. The Goddess told me that they are exactly the same. It is two male wolves, sitting behind a female. One on either side of her, waiting to protect her. It was like the Goddess herself was showing her support for us. Two black wolves sat behind my own black wolf. One for Brandon’s wolf Axe, and one for Justin’s wolf, Lorne. My own black wolf, Emerald, was sitting front and center of it, with her green eyes so beautifully portrayed. It is a beautiful mark, but we have never shown the mark to the pack before. I honestly didn’t think we had to. The Guys had been staying more covered since I had told them how much it hurt to watch other she-wolves flirting with my mate. They had both been trying so hard to please me, and I was grateful for them doing that.
I see Henry reach out to try to see if it was a tattoo of the original mark like someone tried to duplicate it. But they were exactly identical to each other. If they were man-made there would be a flaw, nothing is perfect, but as these were Goddess-given, they were absolutely perfect. It did not make Henry happy. There in front of the whole pack, he could not do what he wanted to, and that was to disprove us, in front of everyone. I guess we all know where Justine got her opinion from too now. I have to wonder if maybe some of the members of the pack weren’t trying to cause dissension in the pack because of this.
The elder stepped back up to the podium to speak again and the room got silent waiting for him to give the verdict. “The marks are exactly the same. The same width, height, and coloring. There is no difference between them. They both bear Raven’s mark. This can only be done by the Goddess herself. If anyone would like to relieve their doubts, I believe that they would be OK with standing in front of the stage for you to see with your own eyes that they are the very same mark. I do not want to hear of this coming back up again. I know for a fact that you were all told of this, and I have been hearing more and more murmurs against them. Just know that they are all three mated to each other. Also, and this is the most important I know the cost of going against your Alpha, and Luna, whether you are privy to what is going on, it is punishable by death. I heard what that young lady had said, and she should be glad that Brandon is so forgiving because she did deserve to die for what she said against the Alpha Couple and our Delta. I will also tell you that both the council is aware of them being mated, as well as the high elders. If you want to discuss this again, I wouldn’t recommend it though. I would suggest going and doing it with them with the council or high elders, but do not mention it in this pack again. You are all dismissed, you can either leave, or you can come forward if you want to see the marks for yourself now.”
I followed Brandon and Justin down the steps and unbuttoned some of my buttons too. I am glad I am in a regular bra today so I can just pull the straps over for my marks to be fully seen. They both growled low in their throats but I am not revealing anything but my marks, everything else is covered. I have one on my left shoulder for Brandon, a black wolf for AXE sitting there, with a Black Adder snake in a circle around it. My right shoulder has a black wolf howling at the moon on it. It sometimes makes me sad to see it, as I know that the howl was him howling in pain. I could tell it, even with no explanation of it. It did not have a pack emblem on it. He was technically a member of my father’s pack when he marked me, but it is just Lorne, mournfully baying at the moon and no emblem on it.
I thought few would come up and take him up on the offer, but imagine my surprise at half the pack coming forward. They were respectful and quiet, they seemed happy to verify what the elder had said. I imagine some of them came to disprove us, and some came up to be able to argue with the ones who still wanted to argue the point. I looked each one of them in the eye, and Brandon and Justin each held one of my hands while the line moved along. I believe that they needed me to keep them calm because I could tell that anger was pouring off of each of them. I was angry too, but I understood. I had not heard about this myself, and I would have doubts too. Not enough to flirt with either one of their mates, but I could see where some of them were coming from.
“You have one hour to pack up, and leave black Adder” Brandon spoke to Justine and Kathryn’s families and there were several warriors standing there waiting to escort them. I could hear both girls starting to argue, but were quickly quieted by their fathers. I am sure that is who they heard the rumor of us not being mates from, and they knew what would happen if they refused to comply with Brandon’s orders. Because if they didn’t pack up and voluntarily leave now, they would never be leaving Black Adder ever again.
Justin's Night