The Alphas And The Orphan

Tuesday 8th March

Star’s POV

We are sitting in the grand hall of the largest villa I have ever seen. Lunch has just been served, there are so many dishes, and the food smells so good, my mouth waters.

moussaka, koulouri, Yemista, souvlaki and the list goes on and on, I am in food heaven, but I have to ask, “Naomi, you have been cut off for 18 years, where do you get your food?”

She chuckles, “Luckily, we have always been self sufficient and during the attack, they went after buildings and left the farms alone, so we were able to continue providing for our people. It was hard to begin with, but it became much easier as we rebuilt. We all miss fish though. I think I saw people heading to the bay as soon as the barrier came down.”

She looked between Liam and I, “can you tell me what happened to Thalia?” Liam looked at the floor, so I explained.

“She was traumatized when she left here. The fear that they had come to kidnap her for her powers overwhelmed her, and when her wolf awoke, her mind was fractured. She wanted to protect mum, but between Thalia’s nightmares of what might have been and the reality of the attack, her wolf thought that dad had kidnapped her.

She started to take control of mum, becoming violent, so with mum’s permission they suppressed her wolf, until mum became pregnant, then they traveled the country, trying to find anything to help her. But her wolf took complete control, and they both went mad and ran away. Mum left me in our pack and killed herself, so that Liam wouldn’t find me.

We only found each other two months ago.”

Naomi brushed away a tear, and pulled Liam into her arms. “I am so sorry son,”

There is something I have been wanting to ask, but I don’t want to upset her. “did anyone else from the family survive the attack? or were you the only one?”

Sadness clouds her eyes. “I found my wonderful Atlas the day after the attack. He was very badly injured, but he lived for 8 years, he could barely walk and he had severe damage to his lungs, but he was truly a great Alpha. Your uncles, Euros and Ajax, both died in the attack, but your aunt Hera still lives.”

Her eyes clouded over, ” she was only 8 at the time, we found her broken little body, they had raped and beaten her almost to death, she had been injected with wolfsbane and silver. Her mind is that of a pup, and her wolf never came. I will take you to meet her later.”

Ace leaned over, “so you have been running the pack for the last 10 years? You have done an amazing job, your people have thrived.”

Smiling, she tilted her head to him, “Thank you, but I am more than ready to hand the torch to you now. I think I need a holiday.” I stared at her, my jaw hitting the floor.

Ace nodded, “we have a large pack in England as well, so I think we will need to install a leadership team here, that way we can oversee and make final decisions, but not actually live here full time.”

Naomi, smiling sadly, “I understand, but it is a shame, it has been a long time since someone with the power of the elements has lived here.”

I looked at my mates, then at a couple sitting at the other end of the table, Lex grinned, “well he does have Alpha b***d, and she is an elemental.”

I squinted at him,” He has Alpha b***d? since when?”

Ace laughs, “his grandma is the younger sister of our grandad. If Kurt and Jonah hadn’t inherited their rolls from their fathers, he would probably be ranked. In fact, we talked about adding another couple of Betas as there are three of us, and him and Olly would get the jobs.”

“And they have asked to start their lives together here on Paxos, so they would be perfect.” Ash is grinning like a fool, and Naomi’s laugh rang through the hall.

After lunch, Naomi continued the tour of the pack. I told her of the letter that my mother left me and she sighed.”There have always been so many legends about your ancestors. Atlas would tell the children such wonderful tales. There is even one story about a hidden chamber filled with secrets, but Atles searched every nook and cranny and never found anything. There are many old books in the library about the history of the pack that you can read.”

She stopped outside a door, she knocked and we heard a weak voice call to enter. Naomi looked at us, “it would be best if just Star and I go in. She does not react well to men.” She opened the door and called out.

“Hera my darling, we have a visitor, are you up to meeting her?”

“Who is it mama? I don’t want to see those silly girls, they are mean,”

“Thalia’s daughter has finally come and dropped the barrier. Her name is Star. Could we come in?”Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“I suppose so, but why is Thalia not here?”

Naomi motions for me to follow her in. The girl in her mid twenties is lying in bed, her skin is so pale it seems almost see through, as soon as she sees me she shouts, “You tricked me mama, that is Thalia, why have you come back? You left us here to suffer, I hate you. Get out.”

Naomi tries to calm her, but she lashes out at her. In the end, we leave her to her nurses. “I am sorry Star, her mind is just not there, and she is getting worse, she won’t eat and her immune system is shutting down, she gets stuck in the nightmare of the past. The doctors do not think she will be here for much longer. I wish that I could have given you more family.”

I looked at the woman before me, and I could see the weight of her burdens etched on her face. I pulled her into my arms. “You have nothing to apologize for. I am sorry you have had to shoulder so much on your own.”

I think Naomi needs to get away from here, she looks like she is about to break. I needed to set up a meeting with Aiden and Jess and take the weight of the pack from her shoulders.

I wrap an arm around her shoulders, “Let’s get you to your room, giagiá, rest, we are here now and we will take on the burden, I would like you to come home with us, you and Hera. A change of scene may help her.”

She leans into me, “Thank you my child, you may look like Thalia, but you are so strong. I think a trip to England would be great.”

We leave her at her room, and mind-link Aiden and Jess, asking them to meet us in our room in half an hour. We passed Leander and Hayley in the hall and asked him if they and Hellios would join us.

Then my husband and I go to our room and plan what we are going to say. Half an hour later, there was a knock at the door, and we invited our friends in.

Aiden and Jess looked between us and Hayley, Leander and Hellios, confusion written all over their faces. Ace takes the lead and turns towards Aiden.

“Okay, so since our talk yesterday, a lot has changed. We never expected to find a pack full of people, and now Star is both an Alpha here and a Luna to Ravens perch, two packs, two different countries.” He nods to me to continue.

“As Ace said, I am now an Alpha, which means I need to select my ranked officers. So Aiden Quinn, great grandson to Alpha Alistair Ravenwood, would you do me the honor of accepting the role of Beta to the Alpha of Spirit moon? And to take on the responsibility of the running of the pack, while I am away from it?”

His mouth opens and closes for a minute, until Jess elbows him in the ribs.

“I….uhgg, Luna I would be honored, but I have no training for this.” Lex chuckles, “Dude please, you have been training with us since we were kids, besides we will be at the end of the phone, and you have access to decades of experience, between mum and dad, the Danvers and I am sure our friends here will help any way they can.”

Hellios, nodded excitedly,” I would be more than happy to stay here while you settle in, and our entire pack will help catch everyone here, on the last 18 years, we all have old friends here after all.”

Aiden’s face lit up, “then I would love to accept your offer.”

I grinned, and turned to Jess, “Jessica Lewis, Elemental Wolf, I would also like to offer you the position of Beta. Your role will be to lead beside Aiden, but I am also leaving the pack’s history in your hands. This pack is supposed to be the birth place of all elementals, and I need you to find out everything you can.”

She squeals, “Yes Luna, I accept, thank you.”

Lex clears his throat, and turns to Hellios, “we will be heading home tomorrow. Would you be willing to take care of the Spirit Moon, while Aiden and Jess get packed and collect their daughter? I am sure Hayley will be returning with us to do the same.”

After he agrees, we finalise the details, and after lots of hugs from Jess and Aiden, we are left alone.

We are planning on addressing the pack tonight after dinner, to let them know what is going to happen and see what they need from us, I can feel it will be a very long night.

I am just thinking about a nice bath when there is a knock at the door. I g*****d and Ash opened the door to find Anne-marie and two members of her coven.

She walked over and hugged me, “sorry to barge in on you, but we wanted to talk to you about something.” I motioned for them to take a seat.

“How can we help?”

“Well, Gwydion and Cassandra have both found their destined mates here in Spirit Moon, and they would like permission to stay. They will help with anything you need, from portals, to healing.”

I smiled at them, “of course you can stay here, we have actually just decided on the leadership for the pack, as we have to return home.”

We discuss what we have planned for the pack, and I tell her we will be addressing the entire pack tonight after dinner, after they leave I finally get my bath.