Wanted!

Chapter 18: Ghosts

I don't remember coming in here. Honestly, the last few hours have all been a blur of shock and pain. I sit behind Mason's desk in the office and stare out into space as everyone who followed me in here talks amongst themselves.

Brandon is standing closest to me, I can feel the worry rolling off him in waves. I have no doubt his eyes have not left me since I sat down. Aiden is sitting on the couch, his eyes shifting between everyone in the room. The tension in his shoulders is impossible to miss. Jason showed up with the rest of our cars along with Ace. Randy and Ace fill out the people in the room. I know I need to snap out of this so I can figure out what needs to happen next. Ace is standing in the back corner, eyes on me with a serious expression. Randy is standing next to Jason, talking softly but I can see his eyes on me as well.

It's like everyone is waiting for me to snap. Not that I can blame them. The hole in my chest has expanded and at this point I don't know if it will stop until it consumes me. The darkness would be welcome if it would only stop the never ending pain.

"Alaina," Randy calls as he takes a seat in one of the chairs on the other side of the desk. Numbly my eyes move to his but I have trouble holding his stare as the same amber eyes as Mason stare back at me. I move my attention to his forehead instead. I hear him sigh but he continues, "I won't even pretend to understand what you're going through right now, but we have to talk about what needs to happen now."

"You mean me taking over the pack," I mumble. My voice even sounds dead to my own ears, I can only imagine what it sounds like to them.

"You don't have to take over immediately," Jason interjects as he steps up beside Randy's chair. "You would have plenty of help here. You wouldn't be alone in any of this."

"She just found out she lost her mate, she's pregnant, and all you lot can think about is her taking over the pack," Ace scoffs from his corner. My eyes shift to his in surprise. Besides him being good friends with Mason, I was still shocked when he followed us all in here. After he delivered the worst news of my life, I figured he'd be heading back to his own territory to deal with the losses of his own people.

"Ace," Randy warns.

"What?" He pushes off the wall and walks closer. Aiden's eyes follow him closely, but he keeps his mouth shut. "If you're about to tell me this isn't my business, you're right. But Mason was one of my best friends, one of my oldest friends, and I just had to deliver the news that he's gone to his mate. If I'm feeling this loss, I can't even imagine what she," he nods his head in my direction, "is feeling right now. And you two just want to jump right into her taking over the entire pack."

"Stay the fuck out of it Ace," Jason growls as he steps closer to Ace.

"We are not saying that, Ace, but you know as well as anyone that something has to be done. This pack just lost their Alpha, they are going to need stability to lean on and the only stability they have is their Luna. We are not about to just throw her into it without assisting her, but we have to do something before the pack descends into a state of panic," Randy tries to explain gently. The calmness from him should be comforting. He just lost his son and he's not slowly falling into a pit of despair... like I currently am.

"You aren't part of this," Jason seethes, his glare hardening further. "You may have been a friend of Mason's," I flinch at his name, "but you weren't here with us. Mason would not want her sitting around letting this loss consume her! The pack needs her right now, and she needs the pack!"

"That's not up to you to decide what she needs," Ace speaks lowly.

Jason's growl vibrates off the walls as he takes yet another step towards Ace. He's awfully brave. Beta or not he would never stand a chance against Ace. Ace may be smaller than Mason in height, he makes up for it in the size of his muscles. Alpha in him or not, I'd have no doubt he could hold his own in a fight.