Chapter 62 Charlie

After checking on Noelle and leaving the hospital, I called Harold to tell him about Yara being taken and Brady running home. He told me he’d send Franklin and his warriors after Brady and asked if we needed Savannah.

“Honestly, I don’t think she’ll make it on time. Yara’s guard was shot with silver. If Noelle can’t save him, he won’t live long enough for Savannah to get here,” I told him.

“Beta, we have Alpha Quinton and his warriors trapped in the cell block,” Haynes said in the mind link.

“Hold them there. I’m on my way.”

“Let me know if you need anything. Should we send a search party for your Luna?” Harold asked.

“Alpha Warren is out hunting Simon down now. If we need help, I’ll let you know. Thank you, Alpha.”

“It’s what allies do, Beta. I’m glad to know that we can help.”

I hung up as I got to the cells, walking down the stairs and hearing the crying of the omegas, pups, and other prisoners. I also heard the sound of their warrior mates trying to soothe them. The smell of fear was mixed with burning flesh, which let me know the warriors had tried to reach through the cells to touch their mates and pups.

Warren and I didn’t talk about it, but he told these people that they weren’t prisoners. What’s left of Quinton’s pack will be weak, especially without their Alpha. As I went down the stairs to the cells, I made a decision that I hoped Warren would agree with.

When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I looked, seeing warriors pressed as close as the silver bars would allow them to be, some having taken off their shirts and wrapping them around their arms so they could touch their scared mates or pups.

At the end of the cellblock was Quinton, standing tall outside the cell with his son and Luna. While the son was standing as close to his father as possible, the Luna remained seated away from both of them.

I looked at Quinton. “What’s it going to be?”

“A trade. My son is a pup. Me for him,” Quinton said immediately.

“No, Dad!” Quirin said.

“Hush, son,” Quinton said, his eyes never leaving mine.

“Your son? Not your son and your Luna?”

He glanced at his Luna sitting in the cell. She didn’t look surprised.

“No, of course not, because you wanted our Luna, right?” I said, making my warriors growl angrily. The scent of fear in the cells spiked, and pups and omegas began to whimper.

“What I wanted or didn’t want no longer matters, does it, Beta?” he asked.

“No, I guess it doesn’t.”

I looked at the warriors watching me carefully. “If any of you ever come after anyone in this pack again, we will kill you, your mates, AND your pups. You’re lucky my Alpha isn’t like yours, or your families would already be dead,” I snarled. “For now, you’re free to go.”

I turned to my warriors. “Let them go. If they make any move to fight, kill them all,” I said. I knew it was against what Warren and I believed, but I wouldn’t risk our pack.

As each cell was opened, the warriors pulled their loved ones to them, wrapping them in a protective embrace as best they could before quickly leading them out of the cells.

The entire time, I stayed focused on Quinton, knowing my warriors would take care of the rest. If he attacked, I needed to be ready to take him out. When all the cells were empty except the one with his son and mate, I walked forward.

“Step back,” I said to him. He did as I said, and Yasmin stood, stepping forward.

“If you make any move against my warriors, I will kill your son,” I told him. He nodded, and I gestured for my warrior to open the cell.

The moment the door was open, Quirin rushed into his father’s arms. Quinton wrapped his arms around him, hugging him tightly. “Go with your mother. Always remember that I love you more than anything.”

“Dad! DAD!” he yelled as Yasmin wrapped an arm around her son and began pulling him away.

“Son. You’re an Alpha. Remember that Alphas always act like Alphas. Stand on your own two feet and walk out of here with your head held high,” Quinton said.

Yasmin put her son down, and he stood up straight, glaring at me as he passed. When Yasmin went to pass me, I put a hand on her arm, feeling her jerk. I’m sure she’s wondering if I’m going to kill her, or worse. I’m sure the other Alphas would have let their warriors take turns on a captured Luna. But that’s not how we operate in this pack.

“Into the cell, Quinton,” I said.

He looked at his mate, then his son, and did as I asked. I nodded for my warrior to lock him in, then I turned my attention to Yasmin.

“You should reject your mate. I don’t know what my Alpha will do with him when he returns, that’s up to him. But I expect that he will kill him for his role in what’s happened to our Luna. If he does, it could kill you, too.”

I heard Quirin begin to sob as quietly as a young pup can who knows he’s going to lose his father and maybe his mother.

Yasmin nodded, turning back to Quinton.

“I, Luna Yasmin Harris, reject you, Alpha Quinton Harris, as my mate and Alpha,” she said, watching him.

He looked at his son, then his mate. “Protect him. Guard him with your life,” he said.

“You know I will,” she said.

He nodded too. “I accept your rejection.”

I watched as both of them hunched over, clutching their hearts.

“DAD!” Quirin yelled.

“Get him out of here!” he growled at his mate.

She wrapped an arm around her son and began moving out of the cells.

I watched her go, then turned back to Quinton. “Get comfortable, Alpha. You have some time before my Alpha returns.”

“Beta, we need you upstairs,” one of my warriors said. I turned and headed upstairs. When I got there, I saw the warriors and their families standing by.

“I said you’re free to go,” I told them.

They all looked at each other, then at Alpha Quirin, who was technically their Alpha now. His arm was around his mother, who was still hunched over, dealing with the pain of the rejected mate bond.

“Beta, we have nowhere to go, no pack to return to, and no offense, young Alpha, but most of us aren’t comfortable swearing our allegiance to an Alpha as young as you,” one of the warriors said before turning to me. “We want to stay. We want to join your pack.”

I was shocked, and I had to think quickly.

“That’s not for me to decide. You’ll have to wait for my Alpha to return and make that decision. However, as long as you agree to abide by the rules of this pack, we’ll find rooms for you to stay. Just know that if you do make any sort of aggressive moves to anyone in our pack, we’ll kill you.”

“Yes, Beta,” they all said.

“Come on, Quirin. Let’s go,” Yasmin said, guiding her son away. I watched him as he turned to leave, staring at his father’s pack members as if he couldn’t believe they’d just rejected him as their Alpha. Personally, I would do the same. In a time of war like what we’re in, you need a strong Alpha, and he might have gotten there one day, but he’s not there yet.

“Let Yasmin and Quirin leave the pack. They are not allowed to return without speaking to me or Alpha Warren. Everyone else, follow me. Let’s find you some rooms.”