Intransigent

Intransigent | 32

Chapter 32

Emma

I woke slowly and rolled slightly away from Ashton to stretch without waking him. It was battle day. We had told the pack what Max had done to me and Rick yesterday and they were raring to go. We were moving out after lunch today and attacking at sunset.

Everyone was ready. The other packs were moving into position soon and Alyssa and Gary would remain behind with a few warriors to watch over Rodney, Adrianna and the other pack children in a safe room in the basement of the pack house.

I smiled over at Ashton when he groaned and opened his eyes. He reached out and pulled me back to him holding me tightly. "Is there any way I can convince you to stay here with the kids?"

"No," I whispered, leaning up to kiss him gently. "I want to be there when Max realizes that he didn't get away with it. If you guys aren't going to let me kill him, then I want to be there to watch."

Ashton sighed. "I don't know if I should find that bloodlust creepy or sexy," he told me, grinning down at me as I propped my chin on his chest to easily see him.

I shrugged in response. "I don't know what to tell you on that one."

He grinned back and kissed me again, longer this time. "Mmm," he hummed as our lips broke contact. "I think sexy is winning. I know Axel likes it anyway."

I laughed at him. "We need to get up," I told him.

"Nooo," he groaned, rolling to tuck me next to him and closing his eyes, trying to go to sleep.

I shoved him back over and looked down at him. "Yes. We have a pack breakfast this morning and Cindy is going to need some help in the kitchen." The whole pack was staying together today and enjoying breakfast and lunch before we went as a group. The children and women that were staying behind loved the idea and the pack warriors seemed to like the idea as well when I mentioned it yesterday.

"She's got lots of helpers today," Ashton whined. "Just five more minutes."

"Fine," I told him, throwing the covers over him and getting out of bed before he found his way out of them. "I'll be back in five minutes and you better be up."

He groaned, sitting up and throwing his legs off the bed. "I wanted you in bed for that five minutes," he complained, standing and walking over for a hug and a kiss.

"I'm going to shower and then go down and check on everyone. I'll see you downstairs, sweetheart."

I smiled and patted his back as he turned to leave the room and I headed into the bathroom to get ready for the day. After my shower, I dressed in comfortable black spandex for the battle later and pulled my hair back into a ponytail.

Then I was ready to go downstairs. The kitchen was filled with female pack members and children bouncing around and preparing food. They seemed to have everything covered for breakfast, so I sat at the counter and started shucking corn while chatting with my pack members.

I was overjoyed to see that none of the women or children seemed worried about the battle today. We'd made sure to inform them that we had many allies in this fight and that the risk to their loved ones would be minimal. On top of that, most of the women were joining their mates in the fight, as Ashton and his parents allowed anyone that wanted to train into the sessions.

I was beyond glad when I heard that as most packs still had archaic views about their women fighting. Some packs would train their women but not allow them to fight. Instead the women would remain on pack lands to protect the children. That idea didn't bother me as much, but I still believed that anyone that wanted to join the battle should be able to. Our pack always took volunteers for both duties so the women could choose to go to battle or stay and protect their children.

For the most part, the women in my pack wanted to go to the battle. They were just as outraged as the men at Max's treatment of me. We had a few women volunteer to stay with the children though.

We all chatted easily about our families as we worked. I loved learning about them and they were more than happy to share. As we all chatted, I was able to get a handle on the way they were used to being led and I was happy for the most part. There were only a few changes that I would be making and they included calling me Emma and changing the way they viewed their omegas. They weren't horrible, but they didn't completely view them as part of the pack either.

The women also had plenty of questions for me about my old pack and family, along with some sly questions about Ashton. I laughed with them and shared some details of our relationship, enjoying the experience of bonding with my pack.

Three other women and I had just finished shucking the corn when breakfast was finished. We moved the bags of clean corn over next to the stove and helped the others move the breakfast outside to the buffet tables. The men who were wrestling and having a good time outside stood at attention when they saw the food, moving in as soon as the platters were set up.

Arms wrapped around my waist from behind and I settled against Ashton's chest with a sigh as I watched our pack fill their plates and take their seats at the picnic tables spread around the yard. I felt him rest his chin on top of my head and I squeezed his hands as they rested over my stomach.

"After today, we focus completely on them," I whispered to Ashton.

"We will," he assured me. "Once Max is taken care of we can focus on our pack and our family."

I leaned my head back onto his shoulder, dislodging his chin as I attempted to look up at him. "Our family?" I asked, smiling slightly.

"Our family," he agreed. "Me, you, Rodney, Adrianna and any others we decide to add on. I'm ready to get on with our lives."

"Me too," I told him, grinning.

Dane came up to us, slapping Ashton's shoulder and ending our conversation. "You guys going to get some food and join us?" he asked, gesturing to the fact that nearly all the pack members were already eating.

I pulled Ashton's hand, leading him to the buffet table. Dane followed along as well and the three of us filled our plates with food and found some empty seats at a picnic table with some of the pack members.

Before eating, I stood up and called for everyone's attention. They all looked to me in respectful silence, waiting to see what I had to say. "I want everyone to enjoy their morning today. We haven't gone to battle yet, but this is still a celebration. After today, Max will have been taken care of and no one will ever be at his mercy again. And after today, I won't have to worry about anything but you guys. This pack is amazing and it's a wonderful feeling to be able to take care of you all and be your Luna."

The pack cheered and Ashton stood up beside me. "Today, we right many wrongs, only one of which was the abuse to your Luna. Max is a monster and he doesn't deserve to live after everything he's done to Emma, Rick, his own pack and his own children. We will bring justice to the people he's hurt!"

The pack cheered again and Ashton wrapped his arms around me. "Enjoy this breakfast and lunch. We'll leave at two this afternoon."

The rest of the morning was spent outside with the pack. I visited with everyone and played with the children for a while, making sure to stay out of the woods. I wasn't feeling brave enough to take the kids in the woods after what had happened last time.

It seemed like only minutes rather than hours when lunch was wrapping up and Ashton and I were standing in front of our pack once again. "It's time," Ashton told them. "Shift and move out!"

At his words, the two of us shifted together and the rest of the pack that was joining us were quick to following. Ashton howled and the two of us led the pack into the woods as the children and their guards yelled encouragement and goodbyes after us.

~~~*~~~Author's Note~~~*~~~

Sorry, I know it's kind of short, but I'll make it up to you next week.  I'm planning on the next chapter being much longer. I hope you enjoyed it, even if it was kind of short.  See you all next week! :)

~Haley~