Meta and the Marines II Chapter 7

A different take on the traditional M/M werewolf romance topic: less romantic, less traditional, more disturbing and with conniving wolves, vampires and submissive marines.


Comments or requests for more of Meta (& the Marines) can be emailed to Meta.JohnAR@gmail.com or check out www.amazon.com/author/johnar.

Depending on reception, I will post more chapters. 


And if any military boy wants to start a MetaPack, let me know ...

John A.R.

Meta & the Marines II

(Meta Origins)

CHAPTER 7

Prime's mother looked at Colt as if he was the devil incarnate. She'd just refreshed her make-up after the public cremation and was still dressed in a simple black jacket and skirt as if going to a business meeting. And to a certain extent listening to the reading of Mr. Arthur S. Loope's Last Will was a business meeting.

The emotions had been dealt with during the burning ritual. The dead body was put on a 6-foot high pyre of solid wood. The seven men of Mr. Loope's current Inner Circle, two betas and five enforcers, carried their dead alpha on a wooden gurney in a dignified way. Over a ramp, they solemnly strode on top of the pyre to put down the gurney and the late alpha. To Colt's surprise the body of the deceased was completely naked. Colt understood from whom Prime had inherited is amazing alpha physique. Even in his mid-fifties, Mr. Loope seemed to have had the body of a fit 30-year-old, only his gray body hair betraying his age.

The seven men lit some torches to use them to put some thinner, dryer wood between the solid trunks of the pyre on fire. Quickly the other wood caught fire, and whole wooden construction soon started to burn brightly. Colt had braced himself for the stink of burned flesh, but he only smelled pine, sweet pine. He wondered whether the late Mr. Loope had smelled to his mate so irresistibly of pine like Prime did today to him, or whether this scent had been added to the pyre to cover up unpleasant smells during the ritual.

During the ceremony, at which not a single word was spoken, Colt had stood in the far back, together with his other pack members. They were guests -- actually they weren't even really officially invited guests, so they wanted to remain in the background as much as possible.

When the fire was at its biggest, the seven men undressed themselves and started to shift.

And they howled, howled at the fire for 30 minutes until the dead body had been burnt into black nothingness. Only then they shifted back and dressed themselves again in their simple black pants and shirts.

In a certain way this ceremony was very informal. There were no suits, no boys forced to wear ties, no women in over-dimensional black hats. The attendants were dressed nicely, but not exceptionally, as if they were going to a sophisticated barbeque on a sunny Sunday afternoon. There were no speeches, no recollection of how or who the deceased was, no priest or Shaman or anyone else adding his wise words attempting to convey the soul of the late Mr. Loope into the hands of whatever deity.

He learned later the present size and strength of his pack and the howling of his inner circle were the only signals for Mr. Loope's wolf life on this Earth; everything else would have been frivolous.

Mrs. Loope cried silently, being supported by Seb and her sister Flora, who preferred the name `Sylvia' for some reason. Colt saw Prime sitting next to his brother, without showing any emotion. He knew if Prime had been the designated alpha, he could have been the only one to say some words. As Prime wasn't the successor, at least for now, and Zef still had to be named and confirmed, none of them said anything.

Colt had tried twice to make Prime talk about his feelings about his father's passing, but the hunk had just waved with his hand as if he had long ago already dealt with those emotions. And Colt could relate. He wouldn't feel differently once it came to his `father's' death.

The future alpha Zef was a tall, dark, handsome man, as one would have expected from a potential alpha wolf shifter. His hair was dark brown and unusually long for a man up here. It nearly gave him an artistic aura, although the rest of Zef did not comply with that notion. His harsh face was masculine and showing signs of lots of work in the sun, a scar, rare for a shifter as they normally healed so well, covering his right cheek. Under different circumstances Colt would have looked at this man twice, but there were many reasons why that wouldn't happen nowadays. He wore a fashionable, but well-used black leather jacket accentuating his wide shoulders and narrow hips. His legs were strong, barely disguised by his slightly faded dark blue jeans. Everything of this man wanted to shout: `I'm a man, no excuses for that, deal with it.' And yet to Colt it seemed it wasn't as effortless as Zef wanted to pretend.

As Colt tried to avoid the people closest to the Inner Circle, who sat nearest to the pyre, he couldn't really see Zef's face, except for the scar, visible even from a distance. And he didn't want to.

A young women in too short a skirt clung to Zef during the whole time, sobbing in an unnatural way; making Colt think she was just practicing for her acting lessons. Nevertheless, Zef kept her protectively close, sometimes gently wiping a tear off her face. Only later he learned Tina was the alpha mate to be, although Colt had his doubts that Zef and Tina were really mates as destined by Fate. Probably, she just wanted to marry up, and he just needed somebody curvy to breed future alpha pups with.

After a while, Mrs. Loope got up, still loyally supported by her sister, nodded to the seven men and started to leave the cremation ground with her head high. A shaken Seb and a stoic Prime followed her without a word, then the genuinely grieving betas and enforcers, afterwards the rest of the hundreds of people of the West Montana pack. Colt didn't know whether there was a hierarchy amongst those as well, he only noticed some few dozens of men and women, who looked a bit liked outcasts, most shabbily dressed or disfigured physically, left last, keeping their respectful distance to the majority of the pack.

Most of the pack went to a buffet like stand next to the lake, solemnly nibbling on ribs and beef sandwiches. There seemed to be enough food for every pack member to get fed. He wondered whether the death of an alpha was the only moment when even the lowest of the wolves would get their bellies full with good food. He hated that thought although he knew how the Chestnut pack had withheld food from Sam as a form of control and punishment as well. Anger grew in him, but he suppressed it. This was not his pack. He had already had helped one low level wolf of another pack, Sam, he couldn't help them all. And here he didn't pick up any scents, which could have guided him to a new pack member. He had to accept that packs followed rules which humans sometimes found cruel.

The closest family, the Inner Circle and some few other people whose role he didn't fully understand before the Last Will reading, followed Mrs. Loope into a tent which provided some privacy for the procedure.

The cremation had happened maybe three miles away from the house, at the banks of a small lovely lake. The scenery was breathtaking, in the distance some snow-covered mountains, around them forests of majestically tall trees, including pines, and wide meadows. The colors were intense blues, whites, greens and browns. He saw how Brian, CE and Sam took it in in awe; he realized if they had a choice they would live in a place like this, not in a crowded city like LA, not in a desert landscape like Arizona, and not where they lived right now to attend college with its pitiful hills and forests compared to Montana. He sighed knowing it was either he or they who would have to make a sacrifice in the future for the pack. He loved the postcard imagery of this place, but he also knew he could easily get bored here. And he would never find the right job in such a place which paid the salary he wanted or needed to support his pack.

He put his troubling thoughts away when Prime approached him. He looked so manly in his dark cargo pants, covering the black boots Colt had given him for Christmas, and his black shirt with the sleeves immaculately rolled up USMC-BDU-style. As they hadn't packed for attending such an event, this was the most formal clothes he had. They nicely showed off all his muscles and a bit of his tattoo, attracting the shy looks of several girls and few guys in this pack. With this shirt and the black undershirt, he could have worn his chain without it being noticed, but Colt had decided against it. Seeing how Prime was devoured by some of those people here, he nearly regretted his choice. Prime was his, he wanted to growl.

"Colt, CE, can you please come with me to the reading?" their Alpha asked with a low voice.

"Are you sure your mother is going to be fine with that?" Colt remembered her look.

"I don't care."

"Okay."

Colt followed Prime, who quickly fell back to walk next to his Meta. CE took Colt's left, and Colt walked `guarded' like a criminal on his way to the block.

He felt the stares when he entered the white tent, Prime pulling the cloth away to widen the gap. Some people started to talk, but he ignored it.

When Colt reached the front row, facing a desk with some few men dressed in business suits, who he thought must be some lawyers, and the betas, who looked at him without interest, Prime pushed him gently to the left.

He passed Prime's mother, who stared at him with the coldest green eyes, he'd ever seen. Her little nose twitched as if she'd picked up the scent of a filthy rat taking a shit. He held his head high.

Seb smiled a weak smile but quickly looked at the floor again. Prime sat down next to his brother, then Colt, last CE. Again, he was boxed in by these two big men. He wondered whether he really needed to be protected like this. What did they expect to happen during the reading of a Last Will?

There was a bit of commotion when Zef entered the tent. He walked to the row behind Prime as if he already owned the place. He acknowledged Prime with a nod, which Prime returned dryly.

Colt wondered what had happened between these two men in the past. "So you told him that you wouldn't challenge his claim?" Colt whispered.

Prime shook his head. "Not now, Colt, wolves can hear everything."

Colt nodded and shut up. He should have known this by now. He looked around. Two rows back he saw a man with a young boy, both had some resemblance to Prime -- the red hair was a give-away.

"My uncle Olaf with his son -- I think he is called Jett; he was only 4 or 5 when I left," Prime whispered.

Colt sat straight again, when he saw how the enforcers left the tent at the notion of one of the betas. They closed the gaps of the tent and positioned themselves around it, their shadows still visible on the cloth like good bodyguards. Nobody else would get into this tent over the next hour or so. And nobody would get out either, Colt realized, becoming uneasy.

Both Prime and CE looked at him reassuringly, both of them instinctively putting their hands on his thighs, squeezing them slightly. Seb, who had observed the scene, frowned a bit, but didn't say anything.

Mrs. Loope dramatically cleaned her nose with a delicate white cloth handkerchief, which she put back into her tiny expensive French handbag.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am the late Mr. Arthur S. Loope's attorney, Frederic White. I would like to express my condolences to the Loope family for their loss."

Mrs. Loope nodded royally, accepting the lawyer's sympathy.

And then he started to read all the legal gibberish Colt didn't want to engage with. He looked around carefully. The enforcers were still standing guard outside where they'd been before, the betas at the desk were still pretending to be busy reading stuff, as if to double check what the lawyer was reading out loud, Zef was still holding his head high in anticipation of his future status, while keeping his Tina close, and Mrs. Loope still played her role as grieving alpha mate worthy of an Oscar winner. She only once broke out of her role: when she caught Colt staring at her. Her eyes went cold again as if saying: `I know who you are! And I know what you've done to my son, perv!'

Colt quickly disengaged although he thought that was the wrong signal to a wolf shifter.

"Your late alpha didn't propose his eldest son as rightful heir or any of his betas. As Seb junior is too young, he cannot become pack alpha in line with the tradition of the West Montana pack. The deceased recommended Zef T. Andersson, currently Gamma of the pack, to be offered the alpha role," the lawyer summarized the situation. Colt wondered whether he was a wolf shifter as well, or whether human lawyers knew about wolf shifters.

There was some whispering in the crowd, but not a lot. It seemed most had expected that development.

"According to the tradition of this pack, Zef can be challenged for the alpha role. Prime F. Loope, as the oldest son of the deceased alpha, do you wish to challenge Zef for the alpha role of the West Montana pack?" Mr. White asked him formally, looking up from his papers.

Prime got up, cleared his throat and said to everyone in the tent: "No, I will not challenge Zef."

More whispers.

"Ian R. Tanner, Beta of the West Montana pack, will you challenge Zef for the alpha role of the West Montana pack?" The eldest of the betas stood up. He was in his late forties and looked a bit like a politician, with his impeccable hair and perpetual grin. "No."

The lawyer asked the same question to the other beta, and he challenge Zef as well.

Colt felt how the alpha in spe of the West Montana pack grinned behind him. There was even a satisfactory growl, which tempted Prime to change his mind.

"Tomorrow, the first beta of the previous alpha, Mr. Tanner, will induct the new alpha to the pack. This will follow the traditions of the pack and shall not be further discussed today." The lawyer made some notes. "When Zef has formally accepted the nomination as alpha, control of all of the pack's assets, currently under management of the West Montana Holding Co., will be transferred to him."

Fauna sighed, barely noticeable by anyone but Prime.

"Next to the pack assets, the late alpha had also made a Last Will for his private assets. His private wealth is to be divided into five equal parts to be granted to: first, his loyal wife, Mrs. Fauna Loope, as of immediately."

For some reason Colt felt that there was disappointment in the tent. Everything seemed so predictable, no drama of announcing children out of wedlock or secret mistresses as Hollywood artists would write. And the fact that no sum was announced felt anticlimactic. But he knew the private assets had to be assessed over the next weeks and months and then distributed fairly amongst the heirs.

"In addition, he wants you to have this letter." The lawyer took a yellowish envelope, handed it to one of the betas, who strode slowly as was appropriate for the situation to Mrs. Loope.

She took the letter, smelling it, recognizing the scent of her husband with a sigh.

"The second part of his wealth will be bequeathed to his first son, Prime F. Loope, as of immediately."

More whispers in the tent. Seemed some expected the gay son to be bypassed in this testament.

`F?' Colt asked himself what that letter in Prime's name stood for.

"In addition, your father wanted you to have this letter." Before anyone could get up, Prime rose and accepted an equally yellow letter from the lawyer, who nodded and made some notes on his papers.

"The third part will be bequeathed to his second son, Sebastian A. Loope, as of the day he is enrolled in an accredited college outside of Montana."

Seb looked surprised, his mother angry, but the rest of the audience couldn't care less. The late alpha had left money for his son to go to college, so what's the commotion? Nobody noticed the snub Seb had to leave the pack for his college. And Colt thought nobody cared. As of tomorrow Seb would be an unimportant Outer Circle wolf in the pack.

"There is also a letter for you, son," the lawyer said gently to Seb, who followed his older brother's example and got a similar envelope from the lawyer directly. The suited man smiled at him fatherly, pushing his round glassed up his nose and making notes on his documents.

"The forth part shall be used to set up a charitable foundation to support pack members who face financial difficulties without their fault. Mrs. Sylvia Mortimer, also known as Flora, is invited to head this foundation. In case Mrs. Mortimer declines, I am advised to find a suitable replacement. Mrs. Sylvia Mortimer, do you accept the late alpha's wishes and his conditions?"

"I do," she said quietly but proudly, avoiding her sister's look. It seemed a bit unusual that Mr. Loope would put his sister-in-law in charge of this, but not so unusual to be questioned by anyone in this moment.

"The last fifth of his wealth will be bequeathed to ..."

Colt didn't know whether the lawyer had suddenly become a Hollywood writer after all, as he interrupted his sentence dramatically to clear his throat and to use an elegant blue cloth handkerchief to wipe his mouth. He then pushed up his glasses again and continued to read.

"... will be bequeathed to L. Colt Parker, meta of Prime's pack, as of immediately."

"What?" somebody shouted surprised.

"What's a Meta?" somebody else asked.

"That's not legal," somebody else stated.

Chairs fell, when people sprang up.

Discussions became loud.

Mrs. Loope cried.

And Prime looked at Colt as if he'd never seen him before.

Colt was just stunned asking himself: `What the heck has just happened?'

Suddenly a voice worthy an alpha shouted: "This is not acceptable." Colt didn't know initially whether he meant Mr. Loope's Last Will instructions or the commotion because of it. "Sit down now!" Zef ordered.

Colt felt instinctively Zef had actually meant Mr. Loope's decision, but he had not challenged it publicly, as this could have provoked Prime to challenge him in return. And he could easily let two fifths of the late alpha's private wealth leave the pack if it meant he would become the undisputed alpha.

Quickly the aggravated group in the tent calmed down, obviously keen not to attract the wrath of Zef before he had even become their next alpha.

"Thank you, Zef," the lawyer said acknowledging the man's authority, raising his hand with another letter in his hand. But this letter was not yellow, it was white. It looked new, very new. "For you, Mr. Parker."

Prime got up and got it from the lawyer bringing it to Colt, who accepted it without any reaction or word.

The lawyer made some notes and said. "This concludes the summary of instructions of the Last Will by Mr. Arthur S. Loope. You will all receive the appropriate legal documents in the next days. It might be advisable to get your own legal counsel for this process." He got up, collecting his notes and documents, nodded to Mrs. Loope, Prime and then the betas. "May he enjoy the Eternal Hunting Grounds. Good afternoon."

One of the enforcers had opened an exit in the tent, and people started to stream out.

"Prime, please get me to a quiet place." Colt asked quietly.

"Sure."

"How did you do that, Mr. Parker?" Mrs. Loope interrupted his plan.

"Do what, mother?" Prime asked.

"Getting friendly with my husband."

"I didn't know your husband," Colt answered honestly. "I didn't even know he knew me."

"Well, somehow he knew you. Unless you bribed the lawyer."

"Mother!" Prime growled.

"Oh come on, Prime. Did you think of me at all?"

"What?"

"How do you think I feel now that everyone knows now my first born alpha son has a meta?"

"You could have told them, you obviously knew," was Prime's lame reply.

Colt needed space, needed quiet, needed to think, his INTJ trait demanded it. "And if you excuse us now, I have to digest all of these surprising events."

"I know what you're up to," she said with a lifted finger.

Colt shook his head. Obviously, she knew more than him then. "Prime, CE, let's get out of here now." And without looking at the angry old woman cursing at him silently he left, surprised how people made space for him to exit the tent without CE needing to clear the way as he normally did in overcrowded bars.

They ignored the buffet, picked up the surprised Brian and Sam and left for their rooms.

"What the hell is going on here?" Colt asked.

Aunt Flora had gotten them trays full of food, which had been still waiting in the kitchen in case they would run out of it on the buffet. CE had been eating as if he had been starved over the past years, so had Sam, who just waited respectfully enough to start after Prime, showing the respect his Alpha deserved and not wanting to get at the wrong foot with him again.

Now that everyone was full, Colt and Prime had retired to Colt's room, while the rest of the pack took a nap.

"I don't know. I haven't dared to open the letter, yet."

"Neither have I. How come your father knew about me?"

"I have no clue."

"He must have known you're at our college. He must know somebody there who reported back to him about your situation."

"But why?"

"Maybe he cared more about you than you thought," Colt hoped for his Alpha marine.

"But why?" Prime was lost for words.

"Maybe you should read your letter."

Prime sat down looking at the letter with watery eyes. It said `Prime' in his father's old-fashioned handwriting.

With sudden purpose he ripped it open, taking out four pages, this time neatly printed.

"Want to be alone?" Colt asked.

"No, please, read with me."

"But ..."

"Colt, you're my Meta. I have no secrets from you, irrespective what my father writes here.

"Okay." Colt sat down next to him and started to read.

"Prime,

When you read this, I must have moved on as Fate wished for me. I hope the Eternal Hunting Grounds are as luscious as folklore has it. And you must have found your Meta. (I have prepared a second letter in case you haven't but that letter was destroyed by our lawyer the moment he handed you this one.)

Let me first say that I have always loved you, that I never banned you because you came out to me, that I have always known one day you will become a powerful, wise and caring Alpha of a pack to be reckoned with. Banning you was maybe the most difficult decision I have ever had to make in my life. Let me explain to you why I had to do it.

The day before your birth a small woman approached me in front of the hospital where your mother was in labor. The woman said she was a Shaman and wanted to tell me about a prophecy.

Despite being a wolf shifter I never believed a lot in that stuff, so I tried to fob her off trying to get to my wife. She said: `You will be blessed with a strong alpha wolf pup. One day he will be the alpha wolf of one of the strongest packs in the world, but it will not be yours. His new pack will be a meta's pack and change the world forever.' I didn't listen to her ramblings, but she didn't give up. `Your wife will give you a second son many years in the future, but she will barely survive that birth and be incapable of giving you further pups afterwards.' I got angry. `Your second son won't be an alpha, but it cannot hold you back, Seb.'

She called me `Seb.' Nobody had called me that since my childhood to distinguish me from my own father who had also been named Arthur.

`If your son doesn't leave your pack by the age of 18, it will be bad luck for your pack, your pack will be vanquished.' I called her a stupid woman, but she continued: `Your alpha son will have his first shift when he is ten, the day when his brother will be born.'

Now, Prime, you surely know that male wolves shift during their puberty, and no wolf pup has ever shifted so early. She was clearly not right in her mind.

`And your alpha son will not be interested in taking a female mate.' I told her full of rage that I won't have a fag for a son, but she continued undisturbed, and for some reason I didn't make her stop. `The day he confesses that to you, it's time for you to send him away and never get in contact with him again, for the health of your pack and all other packs of the world. That's Fate's will.'

Finally, I closed the door to the hospital behind me cursing at her. With the security guards holding that mental pseudo-Shaman back, I ran to my wife who was in labor with you.

I had nearly forgotten this incident, until Seb was born 10 years later. That it took so long for a second child made me wary already. But on top, your mother nearly died during the labor; only an emergency surgery kept her alive, but the doctors told us she never could become pregnant again. You know female wolves heal not as easily as us males. The Shaman woman had been right so far.

When I came home that morning to get a change of clothes, I saw you coming back from the woods naked. You obviously had had your first shift. I had failed you as a father; I wasn't there for your first shift. But moreover, the Shaman had been right one more time: Your first shift had been on the day of the birth of your brother Seb, and you were barely ten. I am sorry, Prime.

Again, I forgot about the prophecy thereafter. No, I wanted to forget it, although something about you always reminded me of it. I couldn't deny it anymore when you told me you were never going to be with a female.

Over 18 years everything this Shaman had told me had happened. So I had to believe that you staying with me would threaten my pack's survival.

I had to protect my pack, and maybe you. That's why I banned you. That's why I never got in contact with you in all those long years. That's why I forbade anyone in my pack ever to contact you, including your mother and your brother. They hated me for it, but they obeyed.

Despite not getting in direct contact with you since you left, I followed your every step. I saw pictures of your graduation from the Marine Corp's boot camp. I was so proud. I worried about you in Afghanistan, always happy when I heard from my contacts in the military that you had made it back safely to the States.

For many years I worried about you not finding your destiny, not finding the meta. I started to doubt my decision listening to this stupid woman. Until I heard from good sources you had found someone special. A smart young man, who accepted you and your pack as meta. I cried tears of joy for your happiness, and of relief of having made the right choice for my pack, for you and for myself.

Now, I am no more, I will hand the fate of my pack to Zef. I know you have never liked him, but he will be a good alpha for my pack until it's his time to step aside. Not skilled like you, but good. I beg you not to challenge him and to follow your destiny.

Wherever I am right now, I will try to watch over you, your meta and your pack, as I will try to watch over my pack. And I hope I have played the role Fate has chosen for me well.

Be strong, be fearless, be loyal, be caring.

Be the Alpha you are destined to be.

Always with love,

Your father.

PS Please share this letter with your meta.

Prime cried. He cried like little boy.

Colt hugged him like a little boy, not saying anything, just letting him know he was there.

"I ...", Prime wanted to start, but couldn't.

Colt gave him some paper tissue, so Prime could clean his nose.

"I always thought ..."

"I know."

"I was wishing hell on him. I was nearly happy when mother told me he had died. I never understood."

"He seems to have been a remarkable man and wolf. A shame I never could meet him," Colt said, clearing his own throat.

"Thanks. Whenever I find the Shaman, who did this to us, I'll kill her."

"Who? Betsy?" Colt asked with a gentle smile.

"Her? You think it was her?" Prime looked at him with angry watery eyes. The forests in them were beaten by a blizzard.

"I would bet my ass," Colt said quickly.

"Fuck, this is just too weird. We might have to go back to her for another reason."

"Another, what's the first one?" Colt asked confused. "That she wanted to lead us into a trap?"

"Later, Colt. Need to digest this."

"Okay. What's on the last page?" Colt asked pointing at Prime's fingers.

Prime dried his eyes. The forth page wasn't part of his father's letter but and printed letter from the Chase bank, with an ATM bank card glued to it. He tore the card off the paper. "What do you think is this?"

Colt scratched his head. "I guess your father knew it takes time until an inheritance is settled. Maybe he put some money in an account on your name, and that's the card to access the funds."

"Wow, he really thought ahead."

"He loved you. So I guess that was just a tiny little gesture for him to take care of you at least after his death.

They sat silently next to each other, Prime looking repeatedly at the letter, playing with the black card in his right hand.

"Want to read mine?" Colt asked.

Prime looked at him. "Sure?"

"Affirmative," Colt teased. "I wonder which secrets your father has on me, but I want you to know them."

Colt's letter was much shorter. But it also included a letter from Chase with the similar bankcard showing his name. Actually, his official name as per the birth certificate, even if the lawyer today had read his name, as he preferred to use it.

"Leuk C. Parker?" Prime asked confused.

"Yep, my official first name is `Leuk,' I think it's Dutch or something like that."

"But I thought Polish German ..."

"He, we are Americans, combination of a lot of nationalities."

"I guess so."

"My father hated the name. He thought it was `Luke' misspelled, so he used my second name Colt. And I went with it."

"Okay. Is it okay if I continue to use Colt as well?"

"More than. Let's see what your father wanted to tell me now," Colt stopped the conversation about his name.

"Mr. Parker,"

"Fate has decided that I would never meet the young man who will help my son to find his destiny as prophesied. Fate is cruel I have learned, and you surely have read Fate has asked a lot of me in my life: banishing my first born son, Prime, pretending I disapproved of his choice of not wanting to mate with a female, sacrificing our relationship to protect his destiny and the survival of my pack.

Fate also has chosen not to let me know what you and my son will achieve one day. It wasn't needed; the health of my pack would have been enough to follow the Shaman's instructions, as much as it pained me personally.

As I will never fully understand Fate's wisdom of providing my alpha son with a meta, I just want to ask you from one leader to another to take care of my sons. I urge you to protect Prime in the way Fate has decided, to support him, to love him like only a meta would know how to do. I assume Seb will never be one of your pack members, but I still ask you to support Prime in looking out for his brother. It would be unfair for him to lose his brother a second time.

I only can wish you all the strength, wisdom and luck of the Moon and Fate to fulfill your and my son's destiny.

Sincerely,

Arthur Sebastian Loope

Alpha of the West Montana Pack

After some minutes, they had recovered from the emotional attack of the letters and Colt asked: "Did your mother also tell you not to challenge Zef?" pointing at the letter.

"Yes. She made me, so Zef would protect her status."

"How?" Colt asked, folding the paper putting it back into the envelope.

"She told me who your mother was."

Colt couldn't close his mouth. "What?"

"Yes. But I'm sure it was a lie anyway. She just wanted to get me away from you. If she had succeeded, I would have challenged Zef, and she would have stayed part of the alpha family."

"She's a special woman. So will you tell me who supposedly my mother is?

When Prime whispered the name in disbelief, Colt surprisingly said: "I suspected that. -- But the real question is how we get to the files of your father."

Prime looked shocked, shocked at how calmly Colt took the information about his mother, shocked at Colt thinking about sneaking in and looking for his dead father's documents. "Why?"

"I feel he has info about you and me. And I feel your mother has read this information. Or maybe he told her."

"Well, we better be quick. Tomorrow this house is Zef's."