The Arrangement

“What!” Emerson exclaimed.

“It came out of nowhere Emerson. One minute, everything was fine, and the next, there were explosions. Three of them. One at the Pack House, two in the marketplace.”

“How many did you lose?” Emerson asked.

“A couple dozen,” Sebastian replied.

He quickly did the math. Mystic Peak’s population was just about two hundred and fifty wolves. Not many. They were always a small Pack, but after the first war, their numbers had dwindled. To a larger Pack such as Night Walker, a couple dozen wouldn’t have such an impact, though they would mourn the loss. But to a small Pack, a couple dozen was drastic.

“What did the other Alpha’s say?” Emerson’s demeanor was chipping away and his voice became more of a growl. His fangs elongated and his claws erupted.

“The same thing. They all said the same thing.”

He slammed his fist on the table, his Alpha strength kicking in. The table cracked and the collapsed in on itself. He picked up the phone, as it had fallen off the desk, and held it in his hand.

“I think it’s time that we have an Alpha meeting. I’ll call the others and set it up.” He hung up the phone and tossed it to the side. He walked around the broken desk and brushed off the rubble on his office chair and took a seat. He rested his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. What the hell was his father up to?

The door creaked open. He didn’t need to look up to see who it was. He could smell Madeline from down the hall. Parts of woods crushed under her feet as she made her way over to him. She crouched in front of him and took Emerson’s face in her hands. He leaned into her.

“What happened?” She asked in her soft voice.

He placed a hand over hers. “We weren’t the only ones they attacked,” He said. “Your brother called. He said Mystic Peak, along with every other Pack in North America was attacked. Bombs went off. One in the Pack House and two in the marketplace.”

She sucked in a breath. “How many lost?”

“Your brother said they lost a couple dozen. I don’t know about the others. But we’ll know soon enough.” At her confused look, he continued. “We’re scheduling an Alpha meeting. As soon as possible. We will discuss it then. And hopefully we can form a plan, not just argue the entire time.”

Madeline offered him a small smile. “Good luck with that. With so many Alphas in one room, I’ll be surprised if anything gets done.”

“I want you to come with me.”

She looked at him with surprise. “What?”

Emerson pulled her into his lap and locked his arms around her waist. “I want you to come with me. You have knowledge about the Rogues that could be useful. And besides, who’s going to calm me down when I get angry? Certainly not anyone else there. I’d likely slit their throat if they tried.”

She rolled her eyes and cupped his cheeks. “You know it’s not traditional for a Luna to be at an Alpha meeting. Hence the name Alpha meeting. It’s for Alpha’s only.”

Though Alpha meetings were very rare, they had a tradition to them. Every Alpha from each Pack agreed on a neutral location to meet and a date. The Alphas with a small entourage- just a handful of guards- would travel to the location agreed upon. The Luna and Beta of the Pack stayed behind and looked after the Pack. Occasionally a Beta was invited to the meeting if he had important information to share. But never had a Luna ever been to an Alpha meeting.

“Well, I’ve already taken a mate who isn’t my true mate. So, what’s one more thing to shake up?” Emerson asked.

“Okay. I’ll be there. Get the meeting scheduled. I’ll take care of the funerals and the Pack.” The room seemed to darken again.

“Are you sure you can handle it?”

“I’ll ask Brandon to help me. I’ll be okay.”

Emerson sighed and kissed her forehead. “Okay. If you need me, don’t hesitate to get me if you have any problems.”

“I will. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Madeline got off his lap. “I want to hear who it goes with the other Alpha’s.”

“You’ll be the first I tell.”

She sent him a smile then walked out. He sent a quick text to his Beta to help his mate. He stood up and walked to where he had thrown the phone. It looked a little rough around the edges but it was well enough to make phone calls. He picked it up and returned to his chair. He sat down and started to make some phone calls.

The moment the Madeline stepped outside, Brandon was by her side. Emerson. He must have called him or something.

“How is he?” Brandon asked.

She sighed. “Angry, but he’s calmed down. He’s speaking to the other Alphas to schedule an Alpha meeting.”

He snorted. “I bet you ten bucks that he’ll destroy everything his office within the next thirty minutes.”

“Give him forty-five minutes and Canada will hear him cursing,” Madeline countered.

“You’re on.”

Madeline looked at all the wreckage and her smile fell. “Let’s get this done with. It’s going to get worse the more we prolong this.”

He sighed and nodded. “Come on. I’ll walk you through it.”

He showed her to the place Madeline dreaded going to most. The field where all the bodies were. She had seen dead bodies before, but not at this capacity and not as mutilated as her Pack members were. The tears came fast and hard, and Brandon had to pull her away for a little while so she could pull herself together.

She didn’t want to go back there. She didn’t want to see their bodies. She didn’t want to think about the countless people who had lost a mate, a family member, a friend. But she had to be strong. She dried her tears. She returned to the field with the Beta at her side. He walked her through what she had to do. They continued taking down names, row after row. And just when they thought they were done, more were brought in. By the time all missing persons were accounted for, they had lost just over fifty Pack members. Many more were in the infirmary struggling to survive.

Fifty-four lost. That left them with four hundred and ninety-three Pack members. Assuming that all those in the infirmary lived. Though it looked that they could lose at least ten more over the night.

“I’m going to go see what I can do at the infirmary. Please inform Emerson that I won’t make it to bed tonight. I have a feeling that the infirmary is overcrowded and under staffed.”

Brandon nodded. “I’ll let him know. I’d come with you to help but I’m better at hurting instead of healing.”

“It’s fine. You’ve been working all day. You deserve a break. Or Emerson could always find something for you to do,” Madeline said.

“I’m going to help clear away the rubble. There’s still a lot of work to be done. Besides, I don’t think I could sleep. My adrenaline is still pumping. I’ll crash later.”

She nodded. “Don’t over work yourself. Make sure you and all the others drink lots of water and eat. The attack was enough, we don’t need anyone dying of heat exhaustion.”

“I’ll relay the message after I talk to the Alpha.”

They parted ways. Brandon heading to the Pack House and Madeline walking to the infirmary. There were many Pack members lined up outside the infirmary, crowding it. Many were concerned family and friends. Though there were some that were injured.

As Madeline weaved through the crowd, she noticed many of the injured were nothing serious. If it had been serious, they would have been rushed and taken care of as soon as there were free hands. As she got closer to the door, there were wolves with more serious injuries. They would need medical attention, stitches most likely. But they could wait a little while longer.

When she stepped into the infirmary, it smelt like death, blood, and cleaner. The staff was running around, trying to treat as many patients as they could as fast as they could.

“Rosie!” Madeline caught the attention of one of the passing nurses. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

She huffed a laugh. “There’s plenty you can do. Wash your hands and slip on some shrubs. We have wolves to tend to Luna.”

She nodded and washed her hands. She dressed in shrubs that were roughly her size. They were a little big on her, but it wasn’t the time to be picky. She tied her hair back out of her face.

When she resurfaced, Rosie was there. “There are wolves in surgery right now, which is taking up half of our staff. It’s hard to get to all of the patients. You know how to stitch right? Clot blood?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I helped out at the infirmary all the time in Mystic Peak.”

“Good. The ones who aren’t in danger of dying are on the left. Get as many as you can and get them out so we can get more people in.”

Madeline started at one door, going in and stitching and bandaging, then moved onto the next. Some just needed stitches. Others had chunks of skin missing. All she could so was stop the bleeding and give them medicine to speed up the healing. With werewolves advanced healing, they could regrow skin. It took anywhere from a day to a couple weeks. It just depended on how much was torn off. However, if they were missing a limb, they couldn’t regrow bone. This wasn’t Harry Potter where they only had to drink a potion and poof, bone is back.

If there were any who had lost a limb, there were on her side. She was thankful for that. Bandaging and stitching she could handle, but missing body parts, Madeline didn’t think she could handle that.

She had made two complete circles by the time the sun peaked over the horizon. She hadn’t realized how much time had passed. But with her Pack members taking up her mind and time, she just hadn’t been paying attention. It didn’t matter anyways. Her people did. They were hurt and she needed to care for them.

Another volunteer took over for her around seven. She found a seat in the waiting room, coffee in hand. As much as she yearned to sleep, there was still more to be done. She planned to visit the families of the deceased, help them in any way she could.

“Luna?”

Madeline looked up. One of the head doctors stood before her. She stood, sipping more of her coffee. “How many more?”

“Six. We lost six. Including a child.”

Tears filled her eyes but she quickly wiped them away. “Call Brandon and he’ll update the list.”

He nodded. “Very well Luna. I will inform the Beta. And if anything else happens, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Thank you. I’ll be in touch with you.”

He nodded and backed away. Madeline finished her coffee and tossed it. She worked her way out of the crowd. Pack members pushed and tried to get to her, demanding how their loved ones were doing. She dodged their questions and did her best to weave out of the crowd.

It took some time and some persuading, but she made it out of the crowd. Her feet followed the path to a house, belonging to one of the deceased. She took a deep breath, preparing herself for what was to come. There were many things that could happen. Scenarios ran through her head. Only a few of them weren’t devastating. There was nothing she could do but get it over with. The longer she waited the worse it would be.

Madeline took a deep breath and knocked on the door.