Serenity

Chapter four (Marcus)

I had come to council at the worst possible time. They had summoned me while I was in the process of arguing off most of my pack. A lot of the older members were starting to get worried that I hadn't found my mate. I was twenty five going on twenty six so it wasn't like my life was over but their concern lay in the fact of me producing an heir. They had also refused to send me alone. There were three women in my pack that had lost mates both before and after meeting them. The elders felt that I should take one as my Luna sooner rather than later then the call came through from the council. They decided to send along one woman as 'company' for the trip. Shame they chose the one with bigger ambitions and that I had little interest in. However coming to council did open an opportunity I had not for seen. I found my mate.

Although she was a beautiful creature she was also one of the reasons we were summoned to council. I needed to know more about what was going on before making any moves or decisions. I wasn't prepared for the fact that she had never shifted before either. Forcing her to finish shifting on her first time would normally not be something I would do. Although I had a rough reputation with other packs I was in fact a reasonable man. I treated all my members fairly but firmly. They didn't fear like most other packs believed. I had personally attended every new shift since taking control of the pack. I would help them through the transition and be there for their first run. After that they trained. Every member of my pack could fight. Lethally. Even the women were trained to fight, but my mate was going to be an interesting case if she had only just shifted.

Between the attack on the way to council and finding my mate who I had to force to finish shifting, I was on edge. So when the call came through of rogues on council land I was more than ready to rip something apart. When we had almost reached them we ran straight past my mate and Keith's daughter coming at us full pelt. I was impressed by her speed given the size of her wolf. But I kept my mind on the job and had clashed into the rogues like they were nothing. We had outnumbered them two to one so everything was done in seconds. It must have been a scouting party for it to be that small of a group. When we got back to the council house men were standing around my mate naked. Blake had at least the sense to wrap himself up with his mate. My men however would get a chewing about it later. Blake thankfully explained why my mate hadn't shifted back yet on top of not knowing how. Keith's wife led her inside to rest while I grumbled a warning at my men. Not only were they naked in front of their future Luna but also two other Alpha's mates.

We walked inside and shifted back into our human forms. I pulled on a pair of shorts that Steven handed me. Steven was the oldest son of Alpha Keith and had been sent to my pack just over a year ago to do some intense fighting training with our pack. Many future Alphas spent some period of time with us as the fighting skills and training sessions of our pack were legendary. They had been passed down many generations and a lot of my pack was now born with heightened instincts for battle. "Thanks Steven." He nodded at me. "Welcome." I finished pulling the shorts up. "I need to have a chat with your dad, feel like joining me?" He smiled. "Yeah why not. Did you want Brandon to join us?" I shook my head. "Nah, he's just met his mate so leave him for now." I smirked. Seems my Beta had picked up an Alpha's daughter as a mate. Thankfully she had a brother which meant that I wouldn't lose my beta. I looked around to see where Keith was and spotted him with Alpha Noah. I nodded in their direction and Steven looked over.

I approached Keith and Noah quietly. They were talking about the rogues. "It was one of the issues I wanted to bring to the attention of the council." Noah nodded. "I think it should definitely be discussed. Alpha Marcus." Noah adds nodding at me. "Gentlemen. Are we discussing the rogue attack?" Keith sighed. "Yes. The rogue that's been after Stephanie for some time now seems to have managed to get a large number of the rogues to work together." I sighed in understanding. "Do you think they will pose a large threat to your pack or all the packs?" Keith dropped his head. "To be honest Marcus I don't know. At the moment their focus seems to be Stephanie but if they aren't able to get at her I fear they may find some new targets especially with their numbers growing." Steven looked at his dad. "Do you need me to come home?" Keith shook his head. "No now more than ever we need you to finish your training." I cleared my throat. "What if after council I return to your pack with Steven and a couple of other warriors and we help prepare all your pack. That may give them a better chance than holding hope on one member." Keith nodded. "That would be greatly appreciated Marcus. Thank you." I nodded. "I feel that you didn't come all the way over here though just to talk rogues with us Marcus."Noah drew my attention. "No I didn't. I actually came to discuss the young girl from earlier." Noah's eyes locked on mine. "You mean my granddaughter?" Steven almost choked and I looked at Noah for any deception.