Chapter 98

Rhys and I made our way to the large ballroom that has been blocked off to contain the kids. The packhouse was chaos. There was a med station set up in opening of the clinic lobby, and the kitchen had a buffet setup for everyone as they came in. Everyone’s faces showed the same weariness that I felt, and honestly probably showed. Rhys and I had gotten changed into some clean clothes and I had scrubbed the blood off of my skin to the best of my ability without taking the time to shower. I felt gross, but I knew that I would have time later to clean up. This was more important.

“Oh thank god!” A relieved voice called out, and I felt myself relax as Alana wrapped her arms around me. I didn’t realize that I had been nervous to know the state of my friend. The thought that maybe she had been one of the ones that Rhys had left here to help protect me had crossed my mind. But she was here, and she was safe.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt? I was so scared for you!” She blubbered, pulling away slightly to look me up and down.

“I should be the one asking you that!” I exclaimed, doing the same thing. She was the same to me. No new marks. No blood. No visible injuries at all.

She pulled me into her again, and I returned her tight squeeze. I was grateful that after everything, she still wanted to be my friend.

“Do you want to come with me, or do you want to stay and chat with your friend?” Rhys whispered in my ear when we finally broke apart. There was no malice in his voice, but I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment. I was lucky. The people I loved were here, and they were safe. But not everyone had been so lucky.

“I’m sorry, Alana,” I told her earnestly, “The Alpha King and I are on a mission right now, can we catch up later?”

“Of course!” She replied, waving her hand and smiling like it was nothing. “Is there anything I can do to help, your majesty?”

If Rhys was surprised, he didn’t show it. “As a matter of fact,” He told her, but he was looking anywhere else, “We were just going to check on the children who were forced to fight us. Would you mind tagging along? Once we decide what to do, we’re probably going to need extra hands.”

If that statement made Alana nervous, she didn’t show it. She just eagerly replied that she was happy to help and that she loved children. I don’t know if she truly processed that these kids were trained to kill, but it didn’t seem to bother her at all. She just linked her arm with mine and off we went toward the unknown chaos.

I honestly had no idea what to expect when we opened the door, and we asked Alana to wait there for further instructions, but I did not expect to see so many guards at each door and in the hallway, or the glares from the older kids that we received when we crossed the threshold.

The room was empty except for about 50 kids. Despite them all being supposedly from my old pack, I didn’t recognize a single face. They were all divided into 6 different groups. Each group seemed to have an older teenager, anywhere from 15 –18 years old, who positioned themselves between us and their charges. The rest of the kids in each group ranged from 5 – 13. The younger kids were clinging to some of the older ones, but there were two groups led by girls, and 4 by guys, all trying to look tough and fearless, even though it was obvious they were scared to death.

“My name is Alpha King Rhys. Today, you guys attacked my pack in an attempt to help Alpha Adrian gain access to my mate.”

Rhys’ words hung heavily in the air, and a small voice from one of the groups asked, “Is Alpha Adrian here for us?”

The small child was immediately shushed, but I couldn’t tell from their tone if they wanted to go back to him or if they were afraid to.

“I assume, there is someone among you who is in charge, and I would like to talk to them.” Rhys continued as if the child hadn’t spoken.

“That would be me, sir.”

I hated how my mind was surprised to know that it was a girl who had spoken up. She was tall for a girl, maybe 5’8 to 5’10, and she couldn’t be older than 17. Her dark brown hair was messy, but pulled into two dutch braids down that stopped about halfway down her back. Her lip was split, and she had a dark purple bruise that covered a large portion of her upper arm. However, she did not look even slightly put off that she was the one who was going to be dealing with the Alpha King. But looks could be deceiving, and I wondered what it was she actually felt.

“And you are?” Rhys asked, keeping all interest off his face, even though I felt it pique through our bond.

“Maizie, sir,” She answered strongly. “I was voted by the kids to speak for us.”

Rhys raised his brows, but I knew he was impressed that they had organized in this way. I knew I was.

“Do you have a second in command that you would like to join in our conversation?” Rhys asked.

“That would be Michael, sir,” She answered, gesturing toward the guy in front of the group closest to her. It was clear that they had set themselves up next to each other for convenience purposes. Michael had short blond hair and stood at about 6’3. He had the most menacing look, but a 6-year-old boy was clinging to the back of his shirt with a fear that made me feel horrible for pulling Michael away from him.

One of the guards placed a table in the corner, near one of the exits for us to meet with the children. Rhys pulled my chair out for me, and I sat down, and Rhys took the seat next to me, as the two leaders made their way over to us, and whatever they were going to say, I was sure we were not going to be ready for it.

Chapter 99: Grace

I folded my hands in my lap, so no one could see me fidget with them. I could do this. I could be brave and handle this Luna responsibility. I still didn’t believe that I deserved to be Luna, let alone Queen Luna, but I didn’t want to embarrass Rhys or give anyone else a reason to hate me, so I was telling myself I could do this. I could do this for these poor kids.

The guy, Michael, dislodged himself from the young kid’s grip and handed him off to the next oldest of his group who seemed to be only about 13.

Godess. What kind of cruel person sent kids to fight their battle? Were they brainwashed? Scared? Should Rhys and I be worried about our safety? Should we be worried about any of their injuries? I mean, I could see bruises sticking out like sore thumbs on almost every kid here.

Maizie and Michael moved together across the room to our makeshift table and directed all the other kids to wait on the other side of the room. Maizie looked calm and composed, but I didn’t like the look on Michael’s face. He was masking fear, and fear at that level was dangerous.

Once they were book seated, Rhys started. He casually reached over, placing his hand over mine, and it instantly made me feel a little more comfortable.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet with us.” Rhys said, even though we all knew there really was no choice.

Maizie nodded, but Michael didn’t say anything. His arms were crossed, and his glare was still firmly in place.

“We want to know what you guys know.” Rhys continued. “Why did you attack? Who was responsible for this?”

“I think you know the answer to those questions already.” Maizie said calmly, but I could see her nerves in the way she was drumming her fingers lightly on the table.

“And we want to hear it from you.” Rhys retorted.

“Alpha Adrian sent us to be slaughtered by you in an attempt to gain access to your mate.” Maizie answered, repeating and confirming what we had learned from Caleb just a little bit ago. “He didn’t expect you to kidnap us instead.”

“I wouldn’t call this kidnapping,” Rhys responded cooly. “I saved your lives. At least most of them anyway, how many causalities did you guys have?”

Maizie’s face hardened, and her eyes narrowed at us. “Two.” She said finally.

“How old were they?” I asked, speaking up for the first time.

“Sammy was 7, and Luke was 13.”

“Sammy is safe. She is with her dad right now.” Rhys told her. “But to lose anyone so young is a tragedy. We will do what we can to commemorate his memory for you all once the dust settles around here.”

“Why would you do that?” Michael demanded. Maizie shot him a look that screamed to shut up, but he didn’t seem to be the least bit bothered.

“Because we are on the same side here,” Rhys replied bluntly. “I’m assuming you didn’t come here by your own volition. I’m hoping that I am not wrong in thinking that you didn’t want to attack us. And that leads us to the same enemy.”

“You’re just going to use us as pawns, same as he did.” Michael bit out angrily. “Don’t think we don’t know your reputation. You’re crueler than he is.”

I don’t know if it was the lack of sleep, but my body tensed, and it took all I had not to yell at this kid that he had no idea what he was talking about. Rhys gently squeezed my hand, and a quick look at him told me he was unbothered by what the kid was saying. The kid was just afraid, and this was his way of dealing with it.

Maizie kicked Michael under the table, and she sent him a warning look before turning back to Rhys and I.

“I apologize for his rudeness.” She said carefully, “He didn’t mean to offend you, sir.”

Rhys surprised us all but letting out a slight chuckle. “I’ve heard worse. And he’s right to be weary. I have a reputation, and I do not hide behind false pretenses. My mate here has made me softer, I’m afraid, however, even at my worst, I would never use or harm children, and I certainly wouldn’t force them to fight in a war that they did not ask to be a part of.”

“Thank you for your understanding our position,” Maizie stated in a clear voice. “But I must be honest, I don’t understand if you are not going to use us, what was the point of saving us?”

“You are kids, you deserve to be kids and treated as kids.” I answered this time, my voice soft. “The Alpha King rescued me from the Red Blood pack some time ago, and I have learned so much from coming here. Here, we will work together to protect you and educate you, and let you be the children you are. No catches. No forced fights. Nothing expected in return except respect.”

“Are you serious?” Maizie’s voice was soft. For the first time since I had laid eyes on her when I walked in the room, she looked vulnerable. I knew the offer seemed too good to be true, but we were giving it. I didn’t need to talk to Rhys to know that this was the right thing to do. They needed this, and we could do it for them. “You’re not going to send us back to Adrian? Or kill us for all the damage we’ve done?”

“We’re serious.” Rhys answered.

Maizie looked like she could cry. She blinked her eyes rapidly but recovered when Michael elbowed her.

“Do you have any more questions for us?” She asked when she had her composure back.

“I do.” I said, surprising Rhys, “I grew up in Red Blood pack, I don’t remember seeing any of your faces before...”

Maizie looked uncomfortable with the question but answered anyway. “I grew up in Red Blood pack. I was trained to be a warrior. My whole life, both Michael and I were trained under Alpha Adrian. About half the kids here were taken from their families within the pack and placed in his training program. The other half are recent turns. Their families have either just been turned or their families didn’t agree with what Alpha Adrian was doing and were taken as a punishment into the ranks. There’s about a 100 more back home still in the program.”

I felt Rhys suck in a sharp breath next to me, and it was my turn to try and comfort him by leaning into him move.

“Thank you for sharing. I’m sure you are all hungry, so we will have food, and toiletries brought in. There is no catch, but we need to be sure we can trust you and protect you before you leave the area. Everything you need will be brought here for the time being. Alana is going to be in charge of it, and if you have any problems, you tell her, and she will tell me, okay?”

Maizie nodded, but her eyes flickered between Rhys and I as we stood up to leave.

“Sir,” She asked, standing herself. “I know I don’t deserve this information, but is the guy I hurt alright?”

She looked so nervous and sick, but I had no idea what she was talking about, but Rhys’ face hardened then softened all in a matter of moments before he said, “I don’t know but I’ll let you know when I do.”