Chapter 75

Gideon

"William Carson, please step forward," Tyson announces. He's the last pup of the day.

"William Carson, do you accept the Druit Guard as your pack and promise to uphold your duties as a pack member?" I look down at the young boy who stares back up at me, tall and straight with pride in his eyes.

"Yes, Alpha, I do!" He yells as if he was answering a drill sergeant.

"Do you submit to me Gideon Alois as your Alpha and vow to follow my orders"

"Yes, Alpha, I do!" Again, yelling so the whole pack can hear.

"I Gideon Alois accept you into the Druit Guard Pack. Step forward, William." I reach out for his hand he gives it to me. I extend a claw and prick the tip of his thumb, he doesn't flinch, but I see his eyes are glassy. Every pup who wants to be a warrior one day does the same they hold back the tears and act tough. I always find it funny. I prick my thumb, and I press our thumbs together. I feel him added to the pack, and his eyes get big with wonder as he feels the mind-link for the first time. That look will never get old.

I mind-link him as I do all the pups, "Welcome to the Druit Guard Pack. Look at your arm."

"WOW! That's so cool! Mom, look at my mark! I got my first mark!" William turns back towards me with a partially toothless grin that I see for the first time. "Thank you, Alpha."

"Welcome to the pack William," Amelie says as she hugs the young pup.

"Thank you, Luna. One day I'll be a great warrior and fight alongside the future Alphas."

She giggles. "I'm sure you will." The boy's mother ushers him off stage as he admires his first mark, a deep green oak tree on his shoulder.

Amelie and I have been inducting all the newly shifted pups into the pack. This is the start of the Ember Moon Festival week. Our pack might be busy and spread out, but that doesn't mean we don't gather for the most important event, the pup induction ceremony. Tonight will be our pack's big celebration before our work truly begins. We have 47 newly shifted pups this year. It's a lower number this year, but our pack's birth rate has risen over the years, and more families stay now. Most families went back to one of the parent's birth packs to raise their pups in my father's day, but I have tried to change that since I took over. I know now that I have Amelie by my side, our pack will grow. We will always take in others looking for a purpose, but it's good to have a foundation.

Amelie reaches for my hand, and I'm pulled from my thoughts. "Druit Guard! We welcome these new wolves into our pack. We will teach them to protect our kind and respect our laws. Most importantly, we will stand by their side and be their support. Gather up everyone and prepare for their first pack run!" I yell. Everyone stands to their feet, cheering—parents lifting their newly inducted pups in the air, celebrating.

I jump down from the stage, and everyone who is joining the run follows. Amelie and the ranked females stay behind to finish the party prepping and watch the pups that can't shift yet. It breaks my heart I will never see Inari. Ulv pines for her daily, but we hide it. We have a fantastic bond, but I know Ulv misses the whole wolf part of the bond. I turn to look up at her on the stage she is two months away from giving birth. She is all belly Alpha already tend to be large but twins on top of that. I still worry. Anything could happen.

"I love you. Enjoy the run, don't overdo it, and wear out the new pups." Amelie gives me a wink.

I smile back, chocking down the fear that started to tickle my thoughts, "I have to see what they are made of, don't I." I need to shift and let Ulv take control for a bit. I keep thinking about raising all four pups on my own, ever since Amelie and I had our talk about Rose and Daisy. It haunts me. Every day I wait for them to tell me about Amelie's death. I need to redirect my thoughts. I head off to the tree line Tyson and Marcus are right behind me.

I get to the tree line, "Ulv, you ready to meet our new wolves?"

"It's my favorite time of year!" I feel Ulv push forward, and my skin tingles as it stretches and jet-black fur sprouts. My bones snap and shift into place until I am on four paws. I walk around and observe the pups shifting. It takes them a little longer since they are newly shifted and growing. The first few shifts are painful until you accept your pack then the pain subsides. Once everyone has shifted Ulv Howls and takes off the other wolves following behind. He doesn't sprint this run is for the pups to help them adjust to the pack and settle their wolves. Wolves are pack animals and will go crazy without companionship. We run for about 20 minutes before Tyson mind-links me.

"Alpha, some of the pups are starting to lag." Tyson brings up the rear on pack runs, and Marcus stays in the middle. This way, we have our eyes on everyone and keep them safe.

I mind-link the pack, "OK, everyone, let's head back." I turn back toward the packhouse, slowing my pace. Out of nowhere, I hear a howling screech and an alert in the pack-link for one of the new pups. I take off at full speed. Tyson and Marcus are right behind.

Not too far off, I find one of the newly shifted pups caught in a hunter's trap. I take a look in his pain-filled eyes; it's William. His front leg is broken. I shift back, and so do Tyson and Marcus.

"William, look at me. You are going to be OK. We are going to get you out, OK." He's whimpering.

He mind-links me, "Alpha, it hurts so bad."

"I know, but I promise it's going to be OK. Just hold still."

Marcus and Tyson steady the boy as I pull the trap apart. I get it open, and Tyson picks up William. "OK, William, I know this is going to be hard, and it might hurt, but you need to shift back, OK?"

"Alpha, I'm scared." His scared pain-filled voice in my head was breaking my heart.

"William!" I hear a she-wolf scream as she shifts back to her human form. It's Mary. "Alpha, what happened?" She's in a panic.

"We found him in a hurters trap. His front leg is broken, but it should start to mend once he shifts." I wish I could give better news, but this was all I had.

"William, you heard the Alpha you have to shift." She tells her son. He whimpers again but starts to shift. Another wolf comes running up as William is shifting back. I recognize him right away. It's Brendon, one of our warriors and IT security specialists and William's father.

"Mary, what happened?" William is almost shifted at this point, and Mary is in tears at the sight of her son's now broken arm.

"Brendon, we are not sure what happened. We found William caught in a hunter's trap. We will look into it. For now, you two should get William back to the infirmary." I say, placing a hand on Brendon's shoulder. He needed to focus on his family right now.

He nods, "Yes, Alpha." He picks up his crying son and holds him close.

Before they leave, I say, "William, you are really brave, and I'm happy you are in our pack. I promise that when your arm heels, I'll go on a run with just you and your dad. How does that sound?"

He sniffles and looks up at his father, "Can we really?"

His dad looks at me and looks at his son with a forced smile. "Yeah, when your arms are all better, we can, OK champ." Brendon gives me a nod, and the family of three walks back to the infirmary.

I run my hand down my face and look back to the hunter trap. "Well, how in the hell did this thing get here!"

"Alpha, look at this. It's a letter in a Ziplock bag that's zip-tied to the chain." Marcus carefully opens the bag, making sure only to touch the corners so we can dust it for prints later.

He pulls out the letter, and in block lettering, it reads, "She will fall into my trap next." It takes everything in me not to rip up the letter. How dare he! Threaten my mate! My Luna! The mother of my children! I know who wrote this! It was Tate.