Chapter Twelve
When Finn opened the door the next morning to leave Lea’s, the last person he expected to see on the other side was Hann, the Moonlight Maine Pack’s alpha. Finn stood there, standing in shock as the morning sunlight shone into the dark house.
"Hello there, Finn," Hann smiled at him, an easygoing smile on his face. Finn had quickly realized, in his short few weeks in Maine, that the smile was an almost constant expression on the alpha's face. It had the ability to relax everyone around him, and Finn instantly felt a bit less embarrassed by the situation.
“Hey, Hann,” Finn replied, stuttering slightly as he put his hands in his pockets, not knowing what to do.
“Is Lea around?” Hann finally asked, the smile still there though there was a bit of a knowing look in his eye. Finn didn’t want to even move under the stare, but he nodded and invited Hann in the house.
“She was just in the kitchen eating before she left for work,” he said as the two walked into Lea’s kitchen, where they found her sitting at the table, a cup of coffee in her hand.
"Hann!" Lea exclaimed, slamming the table with her knees as she quickly stood up when she noticed her Elder walk into her kitchen. Finn saw Lea glance around her kitchen to make sure it was clean, though, it was spotless and had always been.
“No need to get up, my dear,” Hann told her, a hand half-raised as he motioned for her to sit back down. Hann himself took the seat across from her. Finn stood there awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen, watching the two, before he saw Hann was staring at him with that smile and those knowing eyes. Finn could bet that the wise alpha knew exactly what was going on here. “Take a seat, Finn.”
Finn immediately took the seat in between the two, even though a few minutes earlier he was leaving the house. He didn’t want to tell the alpha no. Plus, he was interested in what Hann was even doing at Lea’s house this early in the morning.
“Is everything okay, Hann?” Lea tentatively asked, taking a sip of coffee to calm her nerves. Finn wished he had something to do other than sit between the two, his head going back and forth and he watched both of them talk, twiddling his thumbs as he leaned back in his chair.
“I wanted to update you about the rogue situation we have found ourselves in, since you have been affected by it more than anyone else in this pack,” Hann said, leaning back in his own chair and crossing his legs as if this wasn’t a very serious conversation. His aura and body language definitely eased the tension in the room, and what could’ve been a very scary and fearful conversation turned into something a little more realistic and understandable. Finn could understand why Hann always seemed to carry that easygoing atmosphere around him. It was probably a really good tool to have as an alpha. Especially in times like this.
“Is everything okay?” Lea repeated, a bit more confident but also a bit more fearful.
“Well, the rogue has died.” Hann sighed. “Not by our doing, though we would’ve because of what he tried to do to you and this whole pack. He managed to escape from our grasp momentarily, and he killed himself in the process. Suicide was better than answering our questions, it seemed. However, we did get some intel from him.”
“About Gabriel?” Lea prompted.
“About Gabriel and everything these rogues seem to be doing nowadays. Turns out our intel prior to this incident was right. Gabriel has been spreading the word that he wants lone wolf attacks on any pack and any one in the world. He wants there to be disruption as him and his head rogues hid in plain sight, hoping to buy themselves some time after everything that happened a few weeks ago with their failed uprising. They’re hoping that, with these rogues going around and attacking with no plan, our efforts will be focused on that instead of on what they’re doing. And, for some packs, it’s working.
“There has been a quick rise in rogue attacks, as there have always been incidents like this for as long as the shifter society and rogues existed. However, there is a clear indication that things have increased with Gabriel’s suggestion. More and more rogues are deciding that this is a way they can contribute to Gabriel’s cause. And, it’s working. We’re all finding it harder and harder to put our efforts on finding Gabriel and the ringleaders of the uprising because we’re putting all of our efforts and resources on protecting ourselves from all ends of our territory. And I’m afraid it’s only going to get worse.”
“So, what can we do?” Finn jumped in, concern etching his brow. What Hann was telling them wasn’t good. At all. “If we’re being dragged down by these lone wolf attacks, how can we stop Gabriel and the rest of them?”
“With patience,” Hann replied, nodding. “And more and more practice. I’ve been going around to the rest of the pack, as well as our lovely visitors from other packs, and telling them that they need to increase their training. We all need to be prepared for the inevitable. The only thing we can do, right now at least with the information we have, is to train to be our absolute best. Because we don’t know how bad this could get. In the end, we could all end up on the front line. I don’t want this, of course, but we need to be aware that the possibility is there.”
“I completely agree,” Lea replied. “Thank you for coming and keeping me in the loop, Hann. I really appreciate it.”
“I just want to make sure you feel safe, in these horribly unsafe times.” Hann smiled at her, looking like a father. “And you’re sure you’re okay?”
“I’m okay.” Lea smiled even more from the care and attention Hann was giving her.
“I know I have dear Finn here to make sure you’re all right. I’ll be seeing you two.”
And with that little joke that he threw at them, Hann nodded and left Lea’s house, leaving the two of them sitting in silence. Finn looked over to see Lea was clutching her coffee mug, a nervous, scared look on her face.
“Lea?” Finn asked, snapping her back to attention and away from those horrible thoughts he knew that she was having. He didn’t want her to feel like that. He wanted to protect her, and the wolf inside of him screamed at the possibility that he wasn’t doing his job. He needed to protect her. And it was killing him that he obviously wasn’t doing his best job.
“Things are never going to be okay again, are they?” she finally asked him, looking into his eyes with so much sadness and fear. It broke Finn’s heart, and in that moment, Finn realized just how far he would go for her. He would go to the ends of the world for Lea. He would jump in front of a bullet, in front of a murderous rogue, in front of anything dangerous that came her way. He would put his own life out on the line for her.
And he wouldn’t regret it.
Finn didn’t say anything. He just pulled Lea out of her chair and on his lap, hugging her and trying to make her feel the love that he had for her. The love that he couldn’t say.
He wouldn’t lie to her and tell her that everything would be alright. He didn’t know that for sure, and those words wouldn’t comfort either of them. They would be meaningless. An empty promise. Something that people say just to calm others down. Finn wouldn’t do that to her.
So, he just held her to him, his heart breaking slowly with each shuddering breath that she took.