Chapter 50-Roman

The second Amara, ever so gracefully, portaled us back into my territory, everyone except her landing on our asses in my office-if I might add, I was met by a wide eyed Aston, standing behind my desk. I’ve known this man my entire life, and I knew when he was about to say something I wouldn’t like, and what he was about to say would make me want to turn an entire forest to dust. That much was evident as he stuttered over his first words.

“Al-Alpha Roman. I-I’m glad you’re back. We have information on vampire movements” he says, meeting my gaze but I can see the worry in his eyes. Instantly, I’m on my feet and next to him.

“Talk.” I say, my cold, no bullshit exterior immediately falling into place.

“They attacked the Red Moon Pack. If they knew she wasn’t still there and attacked them to send a message, then we’re in deep shit. The Alpha and Luna were killed, and they wiped out over half their warriors before The Allies could get there and neutralize them” he says with a sigh “they’ve since been hitting the Alli-”

He’s cut off when a blur rushes through the crowd and tackles him. Fuck, Sophie.

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN BETA?” she screams in his face, grabbing his collar with both fists.

I go to pull her off, but Amara is already ahead of me, pulling her back. Sophie then takes both fists and grabs either side of her head, pulling her blonde hair into fists.

“Aston. Do you know about the Gamma?” Amara says as Sophie loses any cool she had left and starts sobbing.

“The Gamma is fine, as well as the Alpha’s heir. The vampires weren’t able to infiltrate the safe houses, so no one unable to fight was harmed.” he says, his eyes wider than before, if that was even possible. He obviously forgot about a Red Moon pack member being amongst us.

“Hear that Sophie? Colton is fine. Go. Go call him, I’ll come with” Amara says, her hands on each of Sophie’s shoulders as she gives them a reassuring squeeze. “Your father survived two vampire attacks and countless rogue ones. He can’t be taken down so easily. Come on, let’s go call them” she says, leading a still sobbing Sophie out of the room.

“Continue.” I say, looking back at him, while I open my link and bond to Amara completely so she can listen in.

“They’ve since been hitting the Allies one by one. They have hidden numbers, Alpha. I know that we agreed from the beginning not to underestimate them, but this…we can only hope that they were unaware of Amara’s movements and their numbers have dwindled. They’ve hit all the Allies. We’re next. They hit the Shaded Forest pack two days ago. We could be hit any day, any minute now. The most they took in between attacks was 39 hours, the quickest was 12 hours. My shadows have eyes on them, they’re currently hiding in the Black Woods. It looks like they have about a thousand warriors, but that’s only what is visible. The previous attacks had well over 1500” he finishes.

Fuck. I knew this was coming, but the idea of war, and war being at your doorstep are two very different things. I send a silent thank you to the Moon Goddess and to Hades himself that Aylin decided to follow us, hoping for an update on their movements. She wasn’t here yet, but she said she wouldn’t be more than an hour behind us. I’m not worried about numbers-my armies, unbeknownst to any outsider, greatly outnumber that. Even if he doubled border patrols, that leaves me more than enough fresh and eager soldiers. But regardless, every life lost amongst my pack would be devastating. I knew every single member of my pack, their loss would hit me almost as deeply as it would hit their families'.

“First and foremost, what actions have you taken in my absence?” I start

“All warriors are ready, border patrols are tripled, IT is watching the new border system like hawks. We’re ready, they’re aware of the threat, but they’re not caught up to the severity of the threat to us.” Again, I thank the Goddess I chose this man as my Beta. We have plenty of backup warriors

“Call for an emergency pack meeting now.” I say and walk out to find Amara, who is still sitting next to a pale faced Sophie. Although, Sophie looks significantly less tense, talking softly on the phone.

“Whenever Aylin gets here, one of us will fill her in and then have her portal Sophie back to her family. I won’t risk her safety with her traveling by car.” Amara says, standing up and meeting my gaze. I nod my head and look back to Violet and jerk my chin towards us.

“Violet, stay with Sophie until Aylin gets here, then fill her in and have her transport Sophie home. We need to have this pack meeting now.” I say to her, and she gives me a single nod and takes Amara’s place next to Sophie. Those two got quite close over the last week, as I expected.

Amara looks down at Sophie before kneeling before her and pulling her into a hug, and then she stands up and walks to me, grabbing my hand.

“Tell them what you have to tell them, I trust you.” she says as we walk towards the balcony attached to my office. As we reach the doors, I pull her to me. The pack is already gathering out front, thanks to the mass mind link. I can feel their nervousness seeping into the room from here, but I was born to lead them and keep them safe. I will not fail them or my mate as I failed my mother.

Amara accepts my silence, and wraps her arms around my waist. I expected her to run away from this, to feel the same terror and guilt she felt that day in my office with Thayer, but all I feel through the bond is determination. She must feel my pride because she looks up with a red tint to her cheeks.

“Let’s go, Alpha.” she says to me as she pulls away.

I nod as I weave my fingers back into hers and lead her out onto the balcony. Upon our entrance, the pack chatter instantly dies into absolute silence, all their eyes on Amara. She doesn’t falter, although I can feel a flicker of nervousness through the bond, but she only lifts her chin and looks upon them, like the Luna and goddess she is.

“Greetings everyone, thank you all for gathering on such short notice.” I begin as everyone’s attention turns to me. “I am not going to beat around the bush, you all know war is upon us. We are prepared, I have no doubts we will prevail. All of those who can train, have trained. They, along with your leadership, are more than capable of protecting you.” I pause as a few cheers erupt from the crowd, and I let it go on for a second before I hold a hand out to silence them. “However, I’m not here to tell you all what you already know. I’m here to confirm the rumors, I have indeed found my Luna. She stands here beside me, ready to fight with you. However, the vampire’s aim is her. Your Luna was blessed with powers at birth, powers that will only strengthen this pack, and powers the vampires want for their own gain. Strength is not achieved through imagined scenarios such as those we give you in training, strength is achieved through trials and tribulations. This war will prove to all those around us, that we will win any fight thrown at us, that we will stand and protect our own. This would have found its way to our doorstep even if she was not fated to me. The vampires and werewolves have been in a silent war for many centuries, it ends now. Your Luna and I will fight alongside you, through it all.”

I pause again, waiting for the chaos to erupt, but it doesn’t. There’s a stunned silence, and I feel Amara’s confidence start to break just as a warrior steps to the front of the crowd, and gets down on one knee with his right arm across his chest.

“I will serve and protect!” he shouts, and every single damn pack member follows suit. They all fall to one knee and repeat him. I feel Amara’s utter shock, before my own pride beams through anything else I’m feeling.

“Your Luna, Amara Dawson!” I shout to them, and they all rise, with cheers and hoots, not one single person stepping forward to denounce her or challenge the sacrifice we all will be making to protect her. In that moment, the pride I feel turns into utter relief. I knew my pack loved me, I made myself present in every single one of their lives throughout my reign, and now I couldn’t be more glad I did. The celebration amongst them dies down and, Amara, to my surprise steps forward.

“To be your Luna is an honor. I will serve and protect each one of you as you have sworn to me and your Alpha” she says to them, her voice unwavering despite the anxiety I felt from her. Goddess, I couldn’t be more proud or grateful. This is a side of her I didn’t expect to see for quite awhile, but here she is, taking it head on like a Queen. Every moment I spent wondering if I simply wasn’t worthy of a mate turned to a distant memory as I looked at her with awe, not even bothering to hide it from my pack, and when she turns back to me, her gaze meeting mine, I know she feels the same.