I motioned for one of the omegas to come to me. He came up to me and bowed his head before he lifted his to gaze at me. “Yes, sir?”
“Make sure that the Dolostone wolves are given food and drink. We are not like them. We will not be tyrants.” I placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder and motioned him on as a few other wolves followed him. The other wolves looked on as they tramped after them. A young child came up to me and grabbed hold of my hand. Kneeling down at the pup before me, brushing back her matted hair behind her ear, her tiny little body a skeleton with flesh. “What is it, sweetheart?”
“I’m hungry too,” her tiny voice rang out, pulling on my heartstrings. I grabbed her up just as her mother ran up franticly to the small child in my arms. The she-wolf bowed her head and reached for the child.
“I’m very sorry, Alpha. She won’t disturb you any longer.” Her voice held fear in it as she spoke to me. I would never harm a pup, much less one that was hungry.
“She is not disturbing me. Everyone, come with me. We will find you something to eat so that you can go to bed with some food in your bellies.” I turned from the mother with her pup in my arms and walked into the packhouse. Amora followed me, along with my mother and Lucas.
I went into the kitchen, and a few omegas were already there, getting pitchers of water and sandwiches ready for the surrendered wolves. They glanced over at me and then between themselves. I sat the pup on the island and began to help the omegas make the food. Amora stood in the doorway, a slight grin on her lips. “Go take these to the packs in the dining hall. It’s not going to be much, but it will help for tonight.”
Amora nodded and left to do as I asked. The pup sat watching me as I made her half of a sandwich. Grabbing a napkin, I put it on the paper towel and handed it to the pup, who hungrily bit into the sandwich.
Chuckling, I stayed in the kitchen to help with the food, making sure everyone had something to eat. Once we were finished, another set of omegas came in and got the food for the Dolostone wolves. I found the head kitchen staff and went up to her. She bared her neck before standing straight to gaze at me. “Can I help you, sir?”
“Yes, can you write me a list of items we are out of, I will make sure everything gets replenished.” The she-wolf glanced up at me as she thought of what to say next.
“Sir, we haven’t possessed much since you left. I don’t know what the Dolostone Alpha did while he was here, so I don’t know if we have the funds.” She fiddled with her hands on her apron, waiting for me to respond. Would he have been able to hack into the pack accounts? I didn’t leave any passwords or anything in the office or my room, and the only other one that would know them would’ve been Axel.
“Okay. Well, let me get back to you. Take a break, eat some food, and I’ll send someone to the city to obtain the food. I’m sorry this has happened to all of you.” There was nothing more I could do at the moment other than apologize for not taking care of them like I should’ve. I let my pack down, but I would not let them go hungry again. That was a promise.
Turning, I noticed that the little pup had fallen asleep on the island; picking her up, I made my way to the dining hall and bumped into Sawyer. I glanced at the only best friend I possessed other than Archer and clapped him on the shoulder. “Looks like your hands are full. Anything you want me to help with?”
“No, I’m taking her to her mother, and then I’m going to my office to see if the pack accounts are ruined. This pack has not possessed anything good to eat since I left, and I feel guilty about it.” Shaking my head and strolling past him, Sawyer fell into step with me as we entered the dining room. I found the pup’s mother and handed her off to her. She smiled at me and turned to the other she-wolves at her table.
The room was almost empty as wolves got up to leave. Even though we won this war, they looked defeated, and I hated that. I turned to Sawyer and motioned for him to follow me. We went into the room, and it looked as if it had been trashed. Filing cabinets were tipped over and desk drawers were pulled out. Sighing, I set to work picking up all the papers that were tossed around the room.
Sawyer helped pick up the cabinets and papers, placing the documents on the desk. Luckily the computer was not smashed up, and I rebooted it to see if I could find out about the pack funds. Sawyer plopped down in the torn-up seat, glancing around the room. “That alpha tried to find something in here.”
“Yeah, I think he was trying to find the code for the pack funds. The only other one who would’ve known them was Axel, and he killed him,” I told him as I began putting in all the information to login into the accounts. After several attempts and verification on my part, I got in. To my surprise, all the funds were there, plus more since the revenue from our businesses was credited to the pack’s accounts.
“Well? Are they all there?” Sawyer leaned forward as he stared at me. I nodded my head and glanced over at him with a smile. This would help the pack a lot. I logged off and stood. The papers would wait to be refiled when I possessed more time. Right now, I needed to let the head omega know that we could send a group to town to grab the groceries.
The door to the office opened, and my dad walked in with my mother. They stopped beside Sawyer and glanced around the office, I could tell he was getting angry at the state of the room, and I couldn’t blame him. “Yes, father?”
“What happened in here?” He motioned around the room as he gazed at me. Sawyer cocked an eye at me, and I just shook my head. Coming around the desk, I came to my dad.
“It seems after Wade took the pack and put you and mother in the dungeons, he tried to find the account codes. The only other person who knew was Axel, and I of course.” He seemed to relax and then turned to my mother. He nodded and pulled me into a hug, shaking slightly, and I thought I heard a sob. Pulling away from him, I tilted my head in curiosity. My father never cried. Ever.
“We thought we lost you. They told us he killed you. Daylen said you’d been torn apart in the Alpha challenge. I couldn’t understand why until I couldn’t mind link him. He had betrayed the pack and had helped starve the rest. Some of the pack had mates within the Dolostone pack, which caused some uproar. Most of the pack would not concede to his rule, so they were given less food. Your mother never believed that you were gone. She said that she would’ve felt it. Like she did when Archer went.” He glanced over to my mother, caressing her cheek with his hand. If there was one thing I knew about my father, it was that he loved my mother more than anything in this world. She was his world; he would die for her.
“I thought I would never come back to you both, back to the pack. But I had a few people to help me along the way. Without them, I couldn’t have become what I am today. I have to talk to the lead omega about the kitchen. We need food for the pack.” I gave my mother a quick hug and then went past them, Sawyer behind me as we left.
Amora strolled up to me; she had changed into some shorts and a tank top. I licked my lips, this girl was my Achilles heel, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Her hand slid over my chest when she reached me, causing me to shiver under her touch. My hand went to both sides of her face, bringing her gaze to mine. “Are you heading to bed?”
“Yes. When will you be up?” Those beautiful amber eyes searched mine. As we stood there in the hall, the packhouse had become quiet. Her tongue flicked out, wetting her lips. I loved it when she unintentionally turned me on.
“I have to tell the head kitchen omega that we can send someone to replenish the food. Then I’ll be up.” Pulling her into a hug, I kissed her mark before bringing her lips to mine. She broke the kiss, her fingers coming up to touch her lips. I noticed her eyes glance behind me and realized she had finally spotted Sawyer.
“Well, don’t take too long, Alpha.” Her eyes were filled with lust as she ran her fingers over my mark before she turned and sauntered away from me, her hips swaying back and forth. Running a hand down my face, I continued forward with Sawyer chuckling behind me.
The head omega was still in the kitchen, and when she spotted Sawyer and me, she bared her neck before straightening back up. She glanced between us, and I thought she was afraid. “Make a list of what all is needed, and a group of people will go get the food. If you need anything for the kitchen or anything else, just put it on the list.”
“Oh, thank you, Alpha! Now we might be able to fatten some of these kids up.” She quickly turned around and started making a list. I went out of the room with Sawyer and up the stairs to the bedrooms. I felt drained after everything, but I was glad that this was all over.
“So, how’s Danika?” I turned to Sawyer before he went to his room.
“She’s doing okay. Getting more pregnant as the days go by. I’m nervous that things are going to change between us. I mean, she will have her hands full with a pup from my genes. I was a handful when I was a pup.” He ran his hand over his face and through his hair. I could tell he was nervous; hell, I’d be the same way. Bringing my hand to his shoulder, I squeezed it.