Oh Hell No

Chapter 39

T.W: Slight gore (I don't really know if this trigger warning is necessary)

Getting called into Alpha Mason's office almost always ended poorly for whoever entered. It was a common place for him to issue groundings to either of his children, and the chairs had fallen victim to the nervous fidgeting and scratching of terrified werewolves. Despite these less than great memories, Ryder figured he wouldn't mind working in here once he became alpha. Mason's chair did look really comfortable, and it was on one of the quietest floors of the pack house.

Ryder could be considered a sort of expert as to how much trouble someone was in when they get called down to Mason's office. Along with his own experiences he had listened in on a good amount of meetings held there as a kid, and it became a sort of game for him. He didn't have much else to do before he could shift besides play with the other kids. So, considering that both him and Jamie were asked to come here, and the slight frown that adorned the alpha's features, they probably weren't in trouble. It was much more likely that something had happened with Garavin or Drenden, or someone he cared about had died. Either option would explain Jamie's presence, whether it be that the matter concerned her, or because she might need to calm him down, giving those particular options an edge.

"I've got good or bad news, depending on how you see them, but Marcus and Jenny Rialts are dead," Ryder fought the urge to cheer, not knowing if Jamie felt the exact same. She had been willing to let them live so long as the never tried to murder her again, because they had a kid to worry about. A young one.

"Good riddance," She muttered, "Did they mention what happened to Elizabeth Rialts? She's just a kid after all."

"I don't know, but you could ask Alpha Quinten yourself," Mason answers offhandedly, putting on his shoes.

"Wait, he's coming here?" Mason nodded, "Why? He already told you about their deaths," Ryder pointed out, more than a little concerned that the alpha of the Drenden Pack was still hoping to take over another territory, or quite possibly take a shot at Jamie himself for screwing things up.

Mason shrugged, "He was adamant that he prove that they're actually dead to get in our good graces again, and I decided to let him visit. Worst case they try to start a war on our lands, which we will quickly win if that's the case because I plan on bringing a bunch of warriors with us to meet him at our borders."

"And anyone else who wants to come can, which I'm sure a lot of them will," Danielle smiled proudly, "They're all pretty adamant about making sure their future luna is safe."

"As they should be," Ryder determined, wrapping an arm around her waist.

- - -

To be safe, Alpha Mason stationed a decent amount of warriors around the area Alpha Quinten was supposed to meet them. Most of them hid out of sight, either behind shrubbery or in the trees. It was much smarter of a move to keep their true numbers a secret, in case this turned into an attack.

Astral, Chelsie, Devin, David, Chris, Mason, and Braxton for some reason stayed out in the open with Jamie and Ryder. Mason, David, and Chelsie held the most power in the pack aside from Danielle, so it made sense to have them all there as a form of intimidation. Chirs, as the future beta, was practically required to attend these sorts of things to build an understanding of werewolf politics and problem solving. Devin stuck around because Chelsie was here. Astral and Braxton seemingly appeared for the sake of making sure their friends didn't get hurt if anything went wrong, the very same reason Quinn was banned from coming by Chris.

The pack warriors alerted them all to the fact that Alpha Quinten had come with only five men minutes before the group showed up. Quinten's tall figure did nothing to intimidate Jamie, but his smile was pretty off-putting, "I assumed that my word wouldn't be enough for you all, so you can do me a favor by getting rid of this once you've determined that its real," He called out, gesturing for one of his men to step forward. The wolf in question did so, taking something out of his bag and tossing it over to their little group.

It was a head. Marcus's head, to be specific. Jamie stared in morbid curiosity at the blank eyes, the color almost gone from them. He had been dead for a bit, but at least they made it quick if this portion of his body was a good indicator. Before she could get a good look at him though, Astral screamed and kicked it out of instinct. Apparently, she isn't a big fan of gore.

Quinten watched, looking almost amused, as the appendage went flying across the clearing, "Strong leg you got there, I wish we could've gotten that on camera," He laughs, "So does that make us even?" He asks Mason.

"Don't bet on it," Apparently learning that an ally of yours was planning to take over your other, closer ally has a way of souring the relationship. It would be a while before the Everglade and Garavins would trust Drenden again.

"Right," He wasn't smiling so much now, but instead of attacking them all like it looked like he wanted to, he simply turned around and walked away. In unison, his men followed, clearly used to the silent, unannounced departures that appeared as though they had practiced it.

"So...is that it?" Chelsie asked no one in particular, "Kinda underwhelming, not gonna lie."

"Because it would have been so much funnier if they brought guns and shot us," Chris responded sarcastically, clearly content with the lack of confrontation.

"I still don't like Alpha Quinten," Ryder complained quietly, only relaxing slightly now that the possible threat has left. It helped to have Jamie so close, even if she lightly shoved him out of the way so he was no longer standing in front of her.

"David, I want you to get rid of the head," Mason orders, frowning in the general direction it went.

"Why do I always have to do the disgusting shit?" He muttered, heading towards the dismembered body part.

"Because I'm prettier," Chelsie called after him.

"He never said what happened to Lissy," Jamie observed quietly, but of course they could all hear it, "Marcus and Jenny's other kid. I doubt they would have killed a literal child, but not knowing still feels weird."

"They probably had a mated couple adopt her, and if you're that curious we could always ask or visit once we're confident the rest of them won't kill you," Ryder offers, not too enticed by the idea.

"Most of their pack didn't even know what Alpha Quinten was planning, so I'm sure the kid is fine," Mason assures her, explaining that one of their females found her mate in his pack, and that she had been surprised to learn of his plans.

"Hey, why don't we go for a run or something?" Ryder suggests, hoping to divert his mate's attention from the conversation that could easily turn dark. He may believe that Lissy is fine, as fine as a now-orphan child can be, but he didn't want Jamie to think otherwise.

"You're bad at distracting people. You know that, right?"

A/N: Not proud of this chapter ending, but I'm hoping the next one will be better