I had a momentary lapse and didn’t look at the whole situation. I was at a place where I could see that the hunter behind Alfie wasn’t actually holding the trigger, but I didn’t even think about it, Cody tells me and Melissa reaches over to grab his hand as she sees how close he is to breaking down. I killed Alfie because I didn’t look at the whole situation and I ended his life without thinking.
My eyes widen as I look over at Joey who’s face is just covered in anger as he basically relives the moment that must’ve caused such an uproar with everyone. Oh.
Conner clears his throat, trying to move on with the story in case anyone tries to say anything else. Once Reece, Alfie’s brother, hears about what happens, he starts to act out against us because he felt like we hadn’t protected his brother like we told him we would. Reece ended up doing too much harm to the whole pack that we warned him about 10 times that we were getting closer to having to kick him out.
So you did kick him out ?
Joey nods his head. Yeah, he basically forced us with how much he was acting out. Every time we would try to have a pack meeting, he would speak out to tell everyone how we weren’t good at our jobs. He would show up at the quarter house in the middle of the night to yell at us about how terrible people we were. He broke so many rules that we have had implemented for years before all of this happened.
He had just lost his brother though, I tell him, kinda understanding why he was acting out so much.
Elder Collins nods his head. We understood that and we let him get away with it within reason. But after it kept happening after six months, we knew that we all needed to do something because he was starting to set an example for everyone else that made other people start to act out. The elder council talked and we all agreed that kicking Reece out after he didn’t listen to our warnings was the best thing we could all do.
Joey shakes his head, sitting up. So Reece is the leader of the Red Guardians R ?
We believe so because the alpha of the Golden Eclipse Pack described Reece exactly when we asked who the leader of the rogue pack was that has continuously showed up on their land, Collins tells him.
So don’t you need to just locate the pack and sort it out ? I ask.
Joey shakes his head, pulling me closer to his body. It’s not that easy. Rogue packs move every so often and once they do, they’re basically impossible to track.
We’re going to keep working on trying to figure out where they’re relocating at the moment, but now that two packs have merged into one, then they have a lot more people than we’re used to, which means…
Cody sighs. They’re preparing for a blood bath.
Yeah, Collins tells him.
We’ll start interrogating any of Reece’s friends that still reside in the pack to see if they know anything, but I assume that once he left the pack that he also left them behind so they won’t know anything, Conner says.
It’s worth a shot, Collins said.
Joey stands up, making everyone in the room look over at him. He walks towards the back door before turning around to look at us. I need a few minutes.
He walks out the door and I watch as he goes to sit at the picnic table to put his head in his hands as he lets out a long breath that seems like he had been holding in the whole day. I stand up, hoping that me talking to him might be able to help him through the stress that he was going through. I walk out the door as the rest of the room stares at me as I go.
I sit next to him on the picnic tables, setting my hand on his back before letting it slide up to his hair. Hey, we’ll all put our heads together and come up with a plan once we find some more information on where they’ll be.
I should’ve controlled Reece more instead of automatically telling him that he might be kicked out of the pack because that seemed to make him push even further, like he was trying to be pushed out, he tells me, rubbing his eyes with his palms.
From what I was just told, he had a problem with the leadership, so I think you trying to help him might’ve come off as a threat to him with how mentally unstable he seemed. He lost his brother, Joey, it’s not an easy thing to go through and I don’t really think anyone could’ve helped him deal with it better than he did. You did everything you could, so don’t be too hard on yourself.
He looks up at me. I should’ve stopped Cody before he pulled the trigger. All of this would’ve been avoided if I had just somehow told him my plan.
No, don’t do that, I tell him as I push his hair out of his face. don’t focus on the past that you can’t change. The future, that’s what you need to be thinking of because that is what you can help change.
He nods, leaning over to give me a soft kiss as he places his hand against the side of my neck. Thank you. You’re honestly the best.
Only the best for my baby.
Kade’s POV
Joey, Emilie, and I were lounging on the couch with some new Netflix movie playing on the TV since it was Saturday and we had had a hard week at school since the teachers were starting to be more strict since winter finals were coming up. The elders have been trying to find where the Red Guardian R pack is located, but haven’t found any sign of them for weeks. We assumed that they realized that we were starting to track them and were going to back off for a bit.
Emilie stood up as the credits started to play on the screen before looking down at us. I gotta get ready to go to Amanda’s, you’re still driving me, right ?
Yep, whenever you’re ready, I tell her and she runs up the stairs as my dad comes out of his bedroom to walk through the living room and to the kitchen. We don’t talk anymore because I’m just done dealing with his negativity about my sexuality because I was happy and he should be happy for me.
As soon as he walks out of the room, Joey turns onto his side to set his head against my stomach and wrapping his arm around my waist. You okay ?
I set my hand on his shoulder. Yeah, I’m fine.
It’s okay to say you’re not. You’re going through a lot and it would be completely understandable if you’re not okay, he tells me as he sits up so his face is right next to mine. I look over at him as he gives me a soft smile before leaning over to give me a soft kiss. After kissing for a few minutes as his teeth bite in my lips to roughen it up a bit since this is the most that we can do here, we hear footsteps on the stairs and we pull away before Emilie comes back into the room with bags in her hands.
Ready ? I ask, standing up and grabbing my keys as Joey follows me out to my car along with my sister who seems preoccupied by her phone. Once we drop her off at her friend’s house, we stop to get some fast food at the drive thru before heading back home.
So I gotta talk to you about something, Joey tells me as he takes a sip of his drink before setting it back in my cup holder. I look over him for a second before looking back at the road, wondering what he needed to talk about.
What about ?
He sighs, turning in his seat to look at me. I know you’re having problems with your dad, but I’ve let this run out as long as I could with the elders and we have to do this now.