Her Younger Mate (Old Version)

Chapter 76: Traitors. Part 2

Caleb

January 3, Alpha's Office in the Alpha house,

I sighed and leaned back on the couch nodding every two minutes. I give up. It seems like I will not be able to join Samuel in training the omegas. I had been surprised by the abilities of some of the so-called omegas. They were not weak. It made no sense preventing them from joining the army. It still baffled me the reason my father was so opposed to the idea. They will only get hurt, he had said. Pfft, what a joke.

My mother touched my shoulder startling me. When did she sit down beside me? She was by the door just a second ago. "Caleb, are you listening to me?"

"Of course, I am listening mom."

She pulled my left ear a little to roughly.

"Ouch, ouch." I rubbed my poor ear. "What was that for?"

"You are not listening to anyone lately! Everything you do is train and come up with crazy ideas for the pack."

"First, I am pretty sure that asking everyone to carry on cellphones in case of emergency and getting guns with silver bullets to protect the borders are not crazy ideas." My tone was stern and it sounded cold even to me. It had been like that for a while, though. "Second, I need to train myself and my warriors."

She took both of my hands in hers and talked with a soft soothing voice. "That is true, but you are still nineteen. You are overworking yourself. Why don't you take some time off from pack responsibilities?"

I pulled my hands away and stared at her in silence. How could she say that? There is no way I can relax and my duties.

"Mom, I haven't seen my mate in over a year and I have no idea of how she is. Heck, the only thing telling me that she is alive is this nagging feeling in my chest urging me to find her, but I cannot look for her. I am not allowed to set a foot in her pack territory to even investigate what really happened to her until I grow up and become stronger. Believe me; I called her pack again yesterday."

"But you are already strong. You have trained so much."

I knew that now she was going to tell me what was really bothering her.

She smiled warmly at me and ran a hand through my hair. "Being strong is not the same as being heartless. What you did to that family was wrong."

I know that. I regretted it the same day after clearing my head. I still believe that given the circumstances, it was the choice with the best long-term effects, though. "Things should not have had to go that far if dad wasn't a weak leader. We are one of the packs with the most territory and resources thanks to my great-grandfather. However, we are still considered an inferior pack where even omegas rebel against their future Alpha. Not to mention my third in command, who happened to be one of my best friends' betrayal."

"Your father has his own way of dealing with problems. We may not agree completely but he is still the Alpha and he would have never approved of killing innocent people. You knew that."

I stood up and walked up to the bookshelf and took a thick blue book. I opened it and flipped through the pages until I found what I was looking for. I walked back toward her while reading out loud. "Chapter four: dealing with traitors. Blah... Blah. Here, in the case it is proven beyond doubt that the accused has committed the crime of treason, it is the Alpha's responsibility to terminate the traitor, his or her mate and any children carrying their blood."

I gave her the pack laws book but she closed it and looked at me. "Those were your great-grandfather's rules. We do not follow them anymore."

"But they are still the only written laws this pack has. If we continue doing thigs like my father has been doing so far, we soon will have zero worries, because the whole Alpha family will be dead."

My mom gasped dramatically. "Th-that's"

"That is the truth, mom. My father is doing his best. I know it, but he was not raised or trained to be an Alpha. He was a warrior - a pacifist warrior to make matters worse. The pack is literally going to the dogs, and what is he doing? Going around signing treaties to protect us from other packs while the problem is right in front of his nose in our own pack."

"What happened with those traitors was a one-time event."

I chuckled not believing my own mother's words. No wonder things are so screwed up. "A one-time situation? Who killed the previous Alpha, then?"

My mom looked away and mumbled something unintelligible.

"What was that?"

"It was a surprise attack. We never found the rogues responsible for his death."

"Didn't it cross your mind for a second that the responsible could have been right in front of you the whole time? His third in command - the one who was miraculously saved, perhaps?"

"We did contemplate the possibility, but it did not make sense. Christopher was a really close friend to all of us; he was devastated when we told him that my brother and Sam had not made it."

I crossed my arms and arched an eyebrow to her. "History often repeats itself. Just look at his son. Maybe it's finally time to-"

She suddenly jumped off the couch. "You are not planning to kill him, are you?"

I rolled my eyes. Seriously? What am I now, some kind of psycho killer in a rampage?  "Maybe it is time to question him and his mother for the murders of the former Alpha and Beta."

A/N: I publish this hoping the Moon Goddess has mercy and allows the chapter to reach you all some day.