Twelve

Chase's blood boiled as Jonah retold the horrors of that afternoon. His mate was attacked by the lowest form of scum this world had to offer. And after he'd met with her and threatened her life, Helena proceeded to offer inappropriate favors to him to ensure her safety and release. Not only was Chase disgusted by her actions, but her offers would do nothing except piss him off more than he already was.

Tali was sitting on his lap, wrapped around him, as they discussed what their next move was going to be when there was a rap at the office door. "It's open," Chase barked at the solid oak.

Nash poked his head in, clearing his throat and offering a curt nod to his luna. "I heard I may be needed," Nash spoke firmly. Jonah nodded to reassure Chase that he had summoned the male and that the info hadn't been leaked already.

Nash's hair, which usually stood spiked at the center of his scalp, was wet and laying flat. As if he'd just stepped out of the shower. "You didn't need to rush over. We were still discussing what to do next, but we don't seem to have any ideas," Tali said, perched on her mates lap still.

Nash offered a quick shrug and smiled at her. "Making enemies talk is more fun than making me look better than I already do," he winked at her and they laughed. Chase felt his wolf stir at their familiarity.

Although, he was glad one of his own approved of his mate, he didn't quite like his mate being such close friends with another male. But he forced that spike of jealousy down so he could focus on the problem at hand, which was the traitorous former alpha of his mate. Who seemed to be eager to meet his end at the hands of the Midnight packs alpha.

Then again, Chase smiled as he imagined Tali covered in the bastards blood. Maybe he'd be nice and allow his chosen to end the life of the man who tried to destroy her. The same fucker who tried to end their son.

Chase couldn't contain the murderous thoughts any longer and stood up, sitting his mate on her feet and stormed out to the interrogation hut. "Nash," he barked for his best interrogator over his tense shoulder.

"What's the plan," Nash chirped, falling into Chase's pace. There was no plan. Chase wanted this female to pay for attacking his mate. And he wanted blood for it.

"We end this fuckin' war. Now," he growled, feeling his wolf scratch the surface. Oh, yeah. It was going to end. And it would end with more blood shed than it began with. "It'll get worse before it gets better. Make sure the enforcers are ready."

Nash sent his alpha a knowing smirk, an excited twinkle in his eye that Chase caught before he sprinted off. Nash had been waiting to kill off the fuckers that had been tormenting their pack for years. They tried stealing their territory many times and each time, it ended in a whole lot of blood shed and the Midnight pack coming out on top.

If Todd had any sense in his dense brain, he'd back out before this got out of control. If he had too, Chase was willing to spill every drop of their blood to ensure the safety of his own pack. Tali, Mei and the pups may not have been his pack originally, but they definitely gave him more to fight for. They gave all of them more to fight for.

Chase kicked the door to the hut in and flipped a few switches to begin recording. He pulled a chair out and sat across from Helena, yet again. This time he was getting answers.

"So, are you ready to talk? If not, I have one of my enforcers on stand-by," Chase snarled at the dumb bimbo. Her purple hair was unruly, the usually tight curls were knotted and sloppy on her head. Her signature white bow, according to Tali, was now covered in dirt and grime and not so white anymore.

Upon closer inspection, Helena's skin-tight, short skirt was ripped up the thigh, showing more skin than needed. It looked as if it caught on a jagged rock or something as she was dragged in. And one of her heels was broken, the metal spike hung onto the bottom of her shoe by a strand.

"I'm not speaking to you. After the way you treated me, you're lucky you're still breathing, alpha," she growled in her irritating, nasally voice.

"You attacked one of my pack," Chase sneered. "It's within my grounds to discipline as seen fit upon these circumstances. Pack law. Now, tell me why you attacked Tali." He leaned back in his seat with his feet crossed at the ankle and his hands clasped together behind his head.

Helena glared at him, her lip lifting in disgust at the mention of Tali. "That bitch deserved worse than me smashing her head into the car. How's her head anyways? Hopefully she has a concussion. Or is dead. Dead would be preferred," she smiled coldly, boiling his blood as she disgraced his mate.

"Oh, she's great. Not even a scratch. So, what would convince you to attack her? Your mate perhaps," Chase picked at his nails, acting as if he wasn't interested in the conversation. In reality, it was taking all of his willpower not to reach across the table and strangle the bitch. Who did she think she was laying a hand on his mate?

"Todd? No. He didn't even know she was there," she sucked her teeth irritatingly. "Although, her punishment could have been worse if he knew she was. I'll let him know next time I smell her near us." Chase's eyes lifted to her and caught the smirk on her dirtied face.

"Hmm. So, you're telling me, you attacked another pack without the okay from your alpha?" She nodded, still smirking. "So, this was the act of a rogue is what you're telling me?"

Chase felt satisfied as her smirk began to falter. Her eyes widened in horror. "Rogue? No. I'm not a rogue. I'm part of a pack," she stammered over her words.

"I'll ask again, did your alpha know you attacked one of another pack," Chase leaned forward in his seat, eyes glued to hers.

"Todd didn't know, but that doesn't mean I'm rogue," she insisted, eyes pleading.

"To commit an act as big as this one without your alpha's command, that makes you a rogue. You know it as well as everyone," Chase's eyes danced with humor. Helena was freaking out now. Her previous demeanor all but vanished.

He internally smiled as her eyes brimmed with tears. "Please, don't kill me," her voice came out barely above a whisper. Chase ignored her as he rose to the intercom.

Pressing the button, he watched her like a hawk and spoke in a dominate tone, "Jonah, please bring my luna to the hut. Thank you."

Realization hit her like a ton of bricks, her mouth dropping and her face paling. "Luna? Tali is… But… Oh, my goddess… Oh, no," Helena began to panic, her heart pounding against her ribs so hard, Chase could hear it clearly from across the room.

"Oh, yes," he smirked. How he was enjoying the fear this female was going through. "Do you know what the punishment for attempted murder on a luna as a rogue is?"

He knew she was aware as her eyes darted across the room for a way to escape. Helena was visibly shaking by the time Tali entered the room. Tears fell down her heavily makeup'd face as soon as her eyes fell on his mate.

"Tali, please, I didn't know," she was crying so hard, her words came out choked. Tali didn't say anything or show any signs of acknowledgment until after she greeted Chase with a kiss.

"Helena," Tali tsked as she slowly faced the female. "You look like shit." Chase smiled at his mates teasing tone. He watched her hips sway as she walked across the room and handed a bag to Helena that he hadn't noticed before.

"What," Helena took the bag hesitantly, watching Tali closely as she slowly opened the bag. Looking down, she gasped. "Why?"

Tali sat down casually, crossing her ankles beneath her. "I know how much looks mean to you. Just because we're enemies now doesn't mean I can't be kind." She nodded encouragingly at Helena as she pulled a brush out of the bag. "Go ahead."

Once Helena began brushing out the knots that formed in her hair, Tali turned to face Chase. "Love, could you ask Nash to come here," she asked in a soft, yet loving tone. He nodded once and commed for Nash who must have been right outside the door because he entered shortly after.

He approached Tali and knelt before her. "Luna," he lifted his head to meet her gaze. "What may I do for you?"

Tali tilted her head to the side and smiled at him adoringly. "Oh, Nash. Such a well behaved male. I was wondering if you could bring me some of your jerky? My friend here," she nodded to Helena, "is feeling a bit peckish."

He looked over his shoulder and eyed the woman before nodding and leaving the hut again.

Once Helena was done fixing her hair, she met Tali's eyes. "Why are you doing this? I offended you," she looked down, overwhelmed with shame of her own actions.

Tali reached over and rested her hand on top of Helena's. "To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing. I don't know if this is going to slap me in the face by the time it's all said and done, but I guess I'm willing to risk it."

Helena pulled her hand away, a look of disgust evident on her face. "What do you mean?" Tali sat back in her chair again and twiddled her thumbs.

"I don't know if I get a say. Pack law and all. You attacked a luna. Whether you knew it or not at the time, it's still a crime that's punishable by death. Everyone knows this. But, if I have a say in the final vote, I'll ask that bygones be bygones. I don't want your death on my conscience. Or your blood on my mates hands." Helena eyed her curiously.

"So, you're just going to forgive and forget," she was having a hard time understanding why she'd just let her go.

"I'm not you, Helena. I'm not Todd. I don't want anymore death. Too many have been lost. When is it all going to end? When do we say enough is enough? I don't want to see anymore. I don't want my son to see anymore. And you should want the same for your future pups," Tali looked up to meet her sister-in-laws eyes.

"You took my pup from me. There will be no more," Helena's tears began anew.

"The one Mei just had? You're not too late. End this. All of it, and we'll start out slow. Visitations to overnight visits to moving in," Tali looked over her shoulder at Chase and nodded to him. He smiled and nodded before walking out of the hut.

"Visitations to see my own pup? How ludicrous is that," Helena barked through a sob. She rolled her eyes at Tali who offered a shoulder shrug.

"It's going to be hard. I know. But Mei has rights. And if she feels he isn't safe with you, certain measures will be taken. I'll be there to help yo-"

"Why would she think that? Why would my sons safety even be questionable," Helena's eyes fell to her hands that were folded on her lap. Tali could tell she was hurting and she wanted to help even though the woman attacked her earlier that day.

"Me. The pups. Instead of taking proper measures, you guys left us out in the woods to die. She overheard Todd making the plans with the pack elders. Which is why she thinks what she does," Tali stood to get a glass of water from the opposite side of the room.

"I didn't have any part in that though," Helena interjected. Tali could understand the females need to clarify, but it didn't make Mei's decision any less commendable.

"It's not you Mei is concerned with, which is why," there was a light knock at the hut door that made her smile. "Which is why Mei agreed to bring him here for you to meet," Tali finished as she opened the door and ushered Mei inside.

Helena stood tall, eyes wide, as Mei walked towards her with the baby. All that was visible was the tuft of black hair at the top of a tiny head. The rest of the baby was swaddled in a blue crocheted blanket that Mei had made weeks prior to the little bundle being born.

Helena reached a hand out to touch the baby's head when a ferocious growl echoed outside the hut. The little boy jumped inside his neatly wrapped blanket and frowned in his sleep.

"Sorry," Mei whispered. "Jax has become very protective of him," she explained with a loving smile to the pup in her arms. Helena sat down slowly, eyes glued to the pup still.

"So I can't touch my own child," the heartbreak was evident in her voice as it wavered. "What did you name him," she asked, finally meeting Mei's gaze.

Mei walked over to her and placed the pup in her arms. "We didn't name him. He isn't ours to name," she stated as her own heart shattered. Tali walked over and wrapped her friend in an encouraging hug.

Helena looked up from the pup she was now hugging tightly. "I wanted to name him Davin. After Tali's dad. But things didn't go as planned."

"No, but it's not too late," Tali whispered back. Helena's tears overfilled and poured down her face.

"It is though. Todd… I can't bring Davin, or whatever you choose to name him, into a broken home. I know you guys have seen it," her voice grew soft, as if all her strength was drained from her.

Tali rested a hand on her shoulder, offering some of her own strength. She remembered. Todd and Helena were not true mates. The goddess didn't pair them as a mated pair. And you couldn't consume a pup unless you were true mates. Which is why Mei had to be their surrogate.

Todd turned away his true mate and took in Helena because she was the most beautiful in the pack. He wanted to own the one female every male wanted. He even killed her true mate to prove he was the strongest, therefore, the only option for her.

She remembered a few occasions when Helena tried to leave him and he had threatened not only her life but her parents lives. It got so bad, he went to the extent of slaughtering her brother in front of her.

As much as she wanted to leave, she couldn't. Todd wanted to control her. And bringing a pup into that lifestyle, Helena was doing the right thing by being honest with them. Even if it broke her heart.

The girls admired her for being able to admit when she couldn't be strong enough. "I will take care of him, Helena. I promise. And if you ever get away from Todd, you can come back," Mei leaned down and hugged the woman as she cried softly on her sons head.

"I'll never get away from him. He won't let me go," the female was defeated and broken down. Tali's heart broke for her. Even though her and Helena never got along, she knew the woman hadn't deserved the hell she'd seen Todd put her through. She was just never strong enough to speak up to her own brother. And there was a possibility that she thought Helena was just a stuck up, spoiled brat. She never really saw that Todd was in the wrong.

At least not until a few years ago when she'd witnessed him strike her and split her lip open for speaking her mind. Then Tali knew and she tried to defend Helena ever since but it soon became evident that the more she stuck her nose in their business, the more he took it out on Helena later that night.

Then she stopped getting in the way and just allowed them to have their 'arguments'. She couldn't listen to the female get beat every night anymore. Not for her own acts of sticking up for her.

"I was thinking Antonio. Toni for short. What do you think," Mei smiled down at Helena, trying to lighten the mood.

"Toni," she whispered, as she traced his chubby face with the tip of her finger. "I think it's perfect." Little Toni smiled at her in his sleep, causing all the females to fawn over him. She looked up, still smiling and asked Mei, "Could you keep in touch with me? Send me pics and updates on him until I'm able to be in his life?"

Mei wiped the tears from the females eyes. "Of course we will. And we expect you to visit as often as you can. Without him." No more had to be said. It was a silent agreement among the women that the pup needed to be protected from Todd. And they'd all ensure that happened.