We reluctantly let each other go to greet our new pack members. Remembering Elisha's request, I kept it short and simple. "Thanks for choosing Lucerne Valley. Let's save our official introductions and swearing allegiance to me as your Alpha until we get back over there. It's damned hot out here, and a reception with plenty of ice cold beverages waits for us back at our pack lands."
With that, I escorted Elisha to his car, leaving Monty's body for Ash to dispose of however he saw fit. Squeezing Elisha's hand, I spoke barely loud enough for him to hear. "Let's go home, little wolf."
Ten
Elisha
After Paula’s fabulous luncheon, I really wanted a nap. But since anyone with a brain knew there's no rest for the weary, I got to work instead.
While Matt was biting wrists, greeting pups, and sizing up his deltas, Jared and I got busy assigning homes for the new pack members who had sworn their allegiance. The rest of their families wouldn't be here until tomorrow, but we were determined they would have homes waiting for them.
The unmated deltas were the easiest because we had the upstairs dorms for them, since the rest of the pack would be moving back to their own homes. Matt and I had already agreed incoming members could have a ninety-day settling-in period before they decided whether to rent or buy the pack housing we had to offer.
I was going down the list under my breath, making notes of everything necessary, when someone cleared their throat. Glancing up, I was prepared to answer their question and quickly send them on their way, but I found myself smiling instead at a familiar face.
"Christina! I never thought I'd see you again—when did you get here?" I searched the room for the rest of her family, waving at her mate and their children and gasping with delight when I saw her elderly parents seated with them. Setting my clipboard aside, I hugged my former teacher and allowed myself a few moments of break time.
After rocking me from side to side, Christina held me at arm’s length with a firm grip on both of my hands. "Let me get a look at you, Eli. Gracious, your papa would be so proud of you right now. And hubba hubba, by the way. Congrats on the hot alpha. Does this mean I have to be official now and call you Alpha Mate?" Even though she'd been one of my tutors, Christina was hardly ten years older than me, and we'd been good friends when I was younger.
"God, no." I dramatically shuddered at the very idea. "I have already told everyone here to call me Elisha. I don't need any fancy titles. Or, in your case, Eli." Smiling, I squeezed her hands. "I'm so happy to see you. I was hoping your family would choose to change packs, but I wasn't sure how Tony would feel about it. How are you here so soon? We aren't expecting the Newberry Springs people until tomorrow, except for the deltas who wanted to come swear allegiance today."
Releasing my hands, Christina waved dismissively. "Oh, honey. We were so done with that pack. Tony called as soon as he could and told me to meet him here. In fact, Tony only went today because he planned to ask the territory chief about transferring. Everything we own was already packed and loaded. My parents, too. As much as I wanted to stick around and try to keep an eye on your brothers, I couldn't risk staying much longer. My sons were never going to become miners, especially with some illegal scheme like Alpha Monty had going on. We had to be careful and wait for the perfect time to escape."
"Looks like you found it." I hesitated before asking the important question. "My brothers… are they okay?"
Her face softened into a loving smile. "Don't worry—they've been fine. The pack has been keeping a close watch on both of them in your absence. I'm so sorry you went through everything you did, even if it worked out in the end. Nobody should be traded like chattel in the first place. The Supreme Council needs to do better by you omegas. They're able to keep your poor treatment swept under the rug because of the steps every pack has to hide pregnant omegas from any watching humans. Their judgment shouldn't matter. Maybe one day, we’ll get the right leadership, and they'll do away with it."
"You're preaching to the choir, Christina. But omegas will remain second-class citizens in our society until we get Supreme Council members who have a true mate or omega child. Things won't change until the people in power have a personal reason to make it happen. We make up such a small segment of our society, so most wolves easily pretend our mistreatment and abuse isn't happening." I took a deep breath, blowing my frustrations away as I expelled it. "Enough about the Supreme Council. I have too much on my plate to worry about things I can't change today. It's a good thing you have all your things with you because we're headed to town after this to assign housing."
Christina grimaced, reeking of embarrassment. "Can I be frank?"
Wrinkling my nose, I shrugged one shoulder. "I mean, you could try? But I like you as Christina. Frank is a grouchy old thing with serious halitosis issues." He really was too. Mostly because he preferred to go hunting in wolf form and eat his prey fresh. To each his own, but would it kill the man to brush his teeth when he got back home? Especially before mingling with pack members.
"If I were still your teacher, I would make you write sentences for such an awful joke." She rolled her eyes, then returned to her point. "I wasn't too impressed by what we saw when we came through town. Are all the houses quite so… dilapidated?"
"Unfortunately, yes. The worst of them have been tagged for repairs before anyone can move in. But we have a good number of empty homes to offer nevertheless.” I explained the plan for handling the houses. “And even better? The Gamma Council has already approved pack monies for the most necessary repairs required to make the houses habitable. You’ll have to pay for fresh paint and new carpets, but the important things will be purchased by the pack."
As she nodded thoughtfully, her eyes glittered with interest. "How very democratic of you guys. I like that. Now it's merely a question of whether or not Tony and I can tackle the harder things when we start fixing our place up because I'm sure there will be a lot, after what I saw."
Jared walked up in time to hear her thoughts. After introducing himself, he grinned from ear to ear, delivering news I hadn't known yet. "Thanks to a few of the Newberry Springs deltas who apparently used to work for the power company, I can at least promise electricity. Something I couldn't have offered an hour ago. Our town has been without it for longer than I care to admit."
My eyebrows shot up. "Seriously? They were able to fix it so easily?"
"Seriously. I drove down the hill to see it for myself. Store lights are on all up and down Main Street, and I saw more than one porch light left on when the power blew. It's amazing what can be done when people around you know how to handle those kinds of things."
Jared and I shared a relieved smile. The power situation had been stressing us both out. Asking our own pack, let alone ones who chose to take Matt up on his offer, to move to a place where even the most basic of utilities wasn't available was unfair. As a new idea occurred to me, I bounced. "While we're assigning housing today, we should take note of special skills. What if people could trade their expertise, and everyone could work together to help fix all the houses? And everything else this town needs?"