The Tribrid

Coming Clean

    Mike's POV
    The next morning Rue brings me breakfast.
    "Good morning." She says with a smile.
    "Morning." I say and I manage to sit up without my side or my arm hurting.
    "Getting better?" She asks.
    "So it seems."
    "Good. Dad has told everyone you are touring the pack today. You have peeked a lot of peoples' interest." She teases.
    I prop myself up with some pillows as she brings me a plate of eggs.
    "Where do you guys get your food from?" I ask.
    "We make most our food. We will run to the closest market maybe once every two to three weeks. But that's about it." She says.
    "Out here in the middle of the desert?" I ask.
    "Here, eat and then we'll show you." She says.
    She sits with me while I eat and we talk some more about the games we played yesterday. Jack walks into the room and looks at us.
    "What are you doing here?" He asks Rue.
    "Giving him his breakfast." Rue says.
    "We'll he's finished now. He's our captive, not our pet." He says. She rolls her eyes and stands up. Jack grabs her arm.
    "You need to respect me." He says to her. I stand up quickly drawing both of their attention. Rue smiles at me and turns back to Jack.
    "Respect is earned." She rips her arm out of his hand and grabs the tray to leave. When Rue leaves, Jack glares at me until Danny walks in.
    "Woah, woah, woah. What's going on in here?" Danny asks, his eyes dancing back and forth between me and Jack.
    "Rue is getting too comfortable with the newcomer." Jack says. I still don't know who this guy even is.
    "Well you know how my family can be. Don't worry so much Jack." Danny places his arm around Jack's shoulder.
    "Now, how are you feeling? I see you are standing. That's good. Let's get you a shirt on and some shoes and we can show you around." Danny says to me. Jack doesn't say anything, he just glares at me some more. I carefully put on a shirt and slip on some shoes.
    "Excellent follow me." Danny leads the way while Jack follows behind me. I bet he's anticipating me to run. Danny leads me out of the small hut I am in and out into the small village.
    "Over there is our greenhouse, where we grow all of our veggies. Fruits are harder to grow out here, but somehow Maria finds a way." Danny points to a big glass structure on the edge of the village.
    "Luna Maria." Jack says. But Danny doesn't notice.
    "Over there is the cafeteria, where we all eat together." Danny points to a clay house, it's pretty big. Some kids run through the street towards a tall building.
    "That's our school house." Danny says. We are walking towards an even larger building.
    "And this is our training hall. Would you like to take a look. I believe Rain is running the training today." He says.
    "Sure." I say.
    We walk into the training hall and I see a good amount of people training and someone in the front instructing.
    "So what kind of trainings do you guys do? I mean if no one can come through the mountain, what are you training for?" I ask.
    "Mostly we train to keep in shape, plus our shifting can be quite physical, so if you don't keep up with your training your wolf will grow weak. But you are right, we don't train to fight other packs or anything like that." We stand there and watch for a moment. I hear Jack mutter something under his breath. What is this guy's problem? The training wraps up and the instructor makes his way over to us.
    "Hey dad, Jack. This must be the new guy. My sister has told me a lot about you." He holds his hand out and I shake it.
    "Nice to meet you. I'm Rain." Rain was tall, taller than me. He had a strong build and short brown hair.
    "Mike." I say. I hear Jack mutter something else, seriously what is this guys deal.
    "Why don't we go have a chat in my office. Jack can you go follow up on the shopping trip?"  Danny says.
    "The shopping trip isn't for another week." Jack says.
    "We still need to follow up." Danny says. Jack walks away without another word. Danny actually sighs in relief.
    "Come with us." Danny says. We walk up a set of stairs into a small office.
    "Have a set Mike." I take a seat in the chair in-front of the desk.
    "Mike have you thought about what you want to do once you are healed?" Danny asks.
    "Uh no..no I haven't." I say.
    "Well the Luna and I have talked about it and we want to offer you a place here. Now we know you have some things in your past, but Maria is a pretty good judge of character. She has told me everything you have shared with her just so you know." Danny says.
    "I have some questions." I interrupt.
    "Go ahead."
    "What would I do here in the pack? Like what would my role be?" I ask.
    "That's up to you really. As far as positions, you know I am the Alpha, Luna Maria, Beta Jack. My son is to be the next Alpha. We don't really have Deltas or Gammas here. But we have different level of warriors and people work on whatever is needed for the health of the pack. I'm guessing we are probably a lot more self sufficient than the packs you've come from.." Alpha Danny explains.
    "Ok so Jack is your Beta?" I ask Danny.
    "Yes, I know he's not everyone's cup of tea, but he means well. He really doesn't like new people." Alpha Danny explains.
    "Do you have a Beta picked out?" I ask Rain.
    "Not yet, but I will need to pick soon."
    "I don't mean to pry, I just wanted to make sure you weren't picking Jack for that position."
    "What if I were?" Rain asks.
    "I would advise against that. In my training I learned it was a bad idea for a father's Beta to become the son's. They have a tendency to not respect the son as Alpha and to disregard their orders. Jack already takes offense with Alpha Danny's orders and disrespects you while you training your warriors. I have seen first hand Jack place his hands on Rue and demand the respect he obviously hasn't earned." I say. Rain and Danny share a long look.
    "Jack is under the impression that he and Rue will be mated. Mates here work differently. Since we are such a small group, it is not often we get fated mates, so they are chosen mates." Danny explains.
    "Im sorry if I have spoken out of place. I have only been here a few days and I do not really know him. This is just what I have observed." I say. Rain looks agitated.
    "We will deal with Jack. But first, did you have any other questions?" Danny asks.
    "Not right now. Everyone here has been extremely nice, but I fear I don't deserve it. In truth, I came here to be alone and die." A look of shock crosses Rain's face, but not Danny's.
    "Would you like to share your whole story Mike?" He asks. I nod and begin telling him the story of my life. I tell him about growing up with Emily and our time together. I share with him about our eighteenth birthday and her being mates with Liam. I tell him about the deal I made with Luther. I tell him about my parents getting involved and her being the Tribrid. I even tell him I tried to mark her, I held nothing back. I finished with my parents murder and me wondering through the woods. When I finish there is silence in the room. I wait for him to speak. He takes a deep breath and lets it out.
    "Now that is a story. Now let me share one with you." He says.
    "A long time ago there were two brothers, much like you and your brother. Actually the tale is much like your own. The younger brother was favored more than the elder. The two brothers were sent out on a hunt. The older brother brought back a wild boar while the younger brought back a deer. Since the deer was bigger and could feed more people, the younger brother was praised. Even though a wild boar is hard to hunt. The older brother grew with jealously everyday, until one day he challenged his brother to the death. The younger brother refused the challenge and the older brother banished him from the pack. The younger brother, now full of rage, and feeling betrayed by his own family formed a pack of his own. Over the years he builds up an entire army. When the time is right, the younger brother attacks his older brother and former pack. In the battle the parents of the two brothers are killed. In sight of their deaths the older brother feels ashamed. He pulls back his army and leaves his own pack behind. He wonders into the desert alone in shame of his actions. The brother turned up here and we accepted him into our pack and he created a new life here. I say all that to say, sometimes your mistakes are leading you to a better version of yourself, as long as you know they are mistakes." Danny says.