My Verboten Mate

6. Sirve para algo

ALPHA LUKE POV

ONE WEEK LATER

Things have changed so much since I was a pup and it’s mainly because of Becky. Once our kids were old enough to go to school, she began to question why we homeschooled them. When we explained that our pups couldn’t go to normal schools she casually said “So, your loaded. Sirve para algo (Make yourself useful.)” After I made her useful, I got busy doing my Luna’s bidding. “She was a naughty schoolgirl that day.” Art chuckled.

Gifford Academy taught from Kinder to Twelfth grade. It had everything found in any school. Becky wanted them to have the same experiences she did. Including sports, band, art… pretty much everything you could think of. It was a half an hour away and we shared it with two smaller packs that had moved into the territory shortly after Adam came to Golden Moon. The Sol Pack and the Genesis Pack.

I must admit that I would have loved to go to school. Just watching them go to dances, sporting events and school functions made me jealous. More happy than jealous, but still jealous. Watching them play sports and have fun reminded me why I always listen to my Pastelito.

It’s also why we get to watch as our two eldest and our Beta and Gamma’s eldest graduate together. All our pack members are here as well, watching their pups complete their milestones. Mind you that a lot of them didn’t see the need for a school. They didn’t want to humanize our pack too much, whatever the means.

As much as our pack members, the older ones primarily, fight change. They ultimately take full advantage of the changes and benefit from them. Most of them admit they were wrong, while a select few feign ignorance and continue to fight change. Yet here we all are, anxiously waiting for our pups to grace the stage and get their diplomas.

My Luna is busy with her camera, taking pictures of every single graduate. She intends on giving all the parents from our pack a portrait as a gift. “Adam is next!” She squeals and gets into position. His name is called and we all cheer for him. It doesn’t go unnoticed by me that all the kids in his graduating class don’t even clap for him.

Not that it matters. With Becky and our crowd screaming their lungs out for him, he doesn’t seem to notice. Or he doesn’t let it show, as usual. He smiles in my Luna’s direction, and she snaps a bunch of pictures. “Mi niño hermoso! Te amo! (My beautiful child! Love you!)” She yelled and blew him kisses. I heard Brian scoff from behind me and turned to glare at him. “Problem?” I said gruffly.

He shook his head and avoided eye contact with me. “This asshole again.” Art grumbled. I was tired of telling him to leave my son alone. To stop spreading conspiracy theories that my son was a spy. Because it makes so much sense that a five-year-old would be trained as a spy. Estúpido (i***t) If it wasn’t for Celia, Robbie and Angela, I would have found a reason to throw his ass out of the pack a long time ago.

Art was growling in my head, itching to take a chunk out of Brian. “He can still remain in the pack with a missing limb.” He reasoned. “He and everyone else would blame our pup.” I shot back. “He already blames him for everything! This way he would be partly right.” Art said with a huff. He, like Becky and I, treated Adam just like the rest of our children.

My son walks off the stage and takes his seat and my Winnie graces the stage. Everyone erupts in cheers and my Luna snaps dozens of pictures. “That’s my girl! Te amo mi corazon! (I love you my heart)” Becky yells and Winnie turns red in embarrassment. As happy as I am for my kids, I do not appreciate the obvious contrast in the crowd’s reaction towards my son versus my daughter.

They all think that, because they don’t outright insult or mistreat my son, that they can dismiss him. Never truly see him as a pack member. Brian may be the ringleader, but the pack members have their own brains. They should know by now that actions speak louder than words. My son has done nothing to deserve their indifference.

“Alpha, there are rogues spotted in the east side of the border.” Roland announced via mind link. The surveillance cameras make it nearly impossible for anyone to get into our pack unnoticed. Because of our growth, we added more surveillance and added positions to ensure there are no gaps in our security. Roland, our second Gamma, became the leader of our patrol unit.

I sent a quick mind link to my son and daughter congratulating them, and Jerry and I headed to the border. It’s not out of the ordinary for rogues to pop up every so often, but recently it’s been happening too often. We may have a bigger issue on our hands than we think. “Jordan, get some warriors to escort the pack members back home.” I mind link him, not wanting to take any chances.

I’ve been caught off guard more times than I like to admit, and I’ve learned my lesson. “Alpha, the kids are going to take pictures with their friends. I will have a team of warriors stay behind with them while I and the rest of the warriors escort the rest of the pack members." He replies.

Normally, I would request everyone leave together but I don’t want to ruin this day for the kids. There are also several other packs here with their own warriors. Reluctantly, I let my lack of reply speak for itself as we headed to the border. “The last sighting was two days ago.” Jerry reminded me. I nodded my head and made a mental note to call Elder Joseph.

The elders have become more and more involved within the past ten years. Noticing the need for structure and laws for the packs to follow. Mainly to show, there will be consequences for packs that attack innocents or humans. It’s not uncommon for packs to go to war but there should be, good reason and it should be as transparent as possible.

Not like our battle. Kidnapping humans and using them as pawns. Sending rogues to poison and attack packs while pups and defenseless pack members are present. Those things are now considered terrorism of sorts. We are finally getting to a place where the Elders are trying to hold packs accountable for such acts. We are still not there but we are headed in the right direction.

We finally arrived at the border and Roland came to me with his tablet. “They were spotted between camera A and B.” He shows me the video and points in the direction where the cameras are. “As soon as they were spotted the patrol guards headed in that direction, but they were long gone.” He explained and waited for my instructions.

I watched as the rogues neared the area and it almost seemed like they knew where the cameras were. Why even bother coming around if they knew about the surveillance? They didn’t get close enough to tamper with anything. It’s almost as if they wanted their presence known.

“We need to scout the area, five miles out around the pack. They could be camped out somewhere around here, waiting.” I said, and Jerry’s eyes glazed over. Mind linking some warriors to join the scouting party. “I will bring a drone with me and go further out, just in case.” He said and ran off.

I wanted to go back to the school and watch my kids take pictures and celebrate with them. There were things I needed to do here to ensure their safety and the safety of the pack. I headed for my office to call Elder Joseph. I’m sure he will want to visit, since it’s been a while. He gets a kick out of irritating me with his and Becky’s banter.