Ian's pack was very rich to afford such a huge house to live.
There was so much room. It was all a little overwhelming. Kai kept his hands close to his body in the event he inadvertently touched something.
Ezra's tour was brief as he headed down a long hallway. "Your pack brothers are in a room up ahead. We put them in one of the smaller board rooms. It appeared they didn't want to be separated. I take it you're all used to sleeping in one room?"
Kai nodded. "There wasn't a lot of room at the lodge. We doubled up a lot."
"Must have been...crowded," Ezra said with a wrinkled brow.
“It wasn't too bad. In fact, it was nice to have the others close when the storms hit."
"I suppose it would be." Ezra drew to a stop and he rested his hand on the knob. "I'll leave you to visit. When the Elders are ready to talk, I'll come get you."
"Will...will Ian be there?"
Kai didn't like the idea of talking to the Elders without Ian there with him. What if he said something wrong? Or said something they didn't like?”
"I don't know. Things didn't go as planned and they're trying to figure out what to do." Ezra twisted the doorknob and pushed it open. "You'll be fine, Kai. You and your pack are safe in this house. I promise you.”
“Thanks, Ezra." Kai actually believed the beta.
He stepped into the room and was beset with the enthusiastic greeting of his omega brothers.
Ronan was beaming. “Did you see how big this house is?"
The others chimed in, rapidly firing questions at him. "Where did you go, Kai? Did you get lost?"
They all gathered in the far corner of the room and sat on the floor.
Sidney told them what had happened after he took off. "I don't know how Ian found me," he said, his cheeks feeling a little heated. He placed a hand on his face and laughed.
He's an Alpha and a really strong one. He kicked Barry's ass all over the place!"
"Then he told Ronan to drive us down the mountain. Gave us his phone!"
"Then he ran off to find you. It makes sense he could find you. They have that special ability."
"Come feel the sheets, Kai! They're so nice. I bet they are expensive."
"And the view of their garden. It's huuuge."
"What do you think will happen now, Kai?”
That was a question Kai didn't have an answer for. “I don't know. Ian is talking with this pack's Alpha and then I think their Elders want to talk to me."
"They t-t-tried to talk t-to us," Ronan said.
"We didn't know what to say. Maybe they'll blame us for what happened to our Elders."
“I won't let them!” Kai said with sudden boldness. Being around a new pack and their new rules and all these Alphas and betas who were being nice to them suddenly gave him courage.
His small pack needed him to be strong. He couldn't fail them. “I'll just go in there and tell them exactly what happened!"
The other omegas were cheered by that. Kai settled down while they talked about their adventure getting down the mountain.
He lost track of time before Ezra came to get him. "The Elders are ready to see you now. You can come back to talk with them after."
His previous courage turned to queasy butterflies as he followed the beta.
"How do you not get lost in this place?"
Ezra smiled at him. “You'll get used to it when you've lived here in a while. It's a pretty straightforward layout."
“I won't be living with Ian?”
"I um..." Ezra slowed to a stop before he turned to face Kai. “I don't think so but I don't know for sure. That's for the Elders to decide. Why? Do you want to?”
"I just.." Kai shrugged, suddenly nervous that his question had prompted so many more. “I feel safe around Ian."
"The Elders will be understanding, Kai." Ezra touched lightly at his lower back to indicate to keep moving.
“Are they grumpy?"
Ezra laughed suddenly. "When you get as old as they are, you gain that privilege to be grumpy."
Kai snickered. "I guess so."
Regardless of what happened, Kai wouldn't lose his nerve.
He would be strong, if not for himself, for his pack brothers.
The elders weren't as grumpy as Kai expected them to be. They looked at him with kind eyes when he entered the room, and with compassionate smiles on their faces. There were even a few female Alphas there. Sidney had never seen one before.
In quiet, non-bossy tones, they asked him to explain everything he felt comfortable divulging about the pack, about Barry's aggressive takeover, and especially what happened after.
He started out slowly, deliberately, in measured words.
The more he talked and saw they weren't judging him, the faster he got. All of it came out. Everything.
How his pack was small and they'd been struggling for as long as he could remember. How they were having trouble keeping their borders patrolled because there weren't enough Alphas.
How their money ran short and some of the omegas had to find jobs.
He choked up a few times when he talked about Barry's purge of the Elders and the Alphas. “He was sneaky at first. Barry would go out with an Alpha and come back with a story of an accident. That didn't happen too many times before the Elders caught on, but by then it was too late. The strongest of our Alphas had been killed in these 'accidents'. No one was left to defend the pack. The Elders weren't strong enough to take him on and he ruthlessly and openly started to kill them.”
Kai could tell by the look on the Elders' faces that they had no idea it was happening at all. And that their offer to absorb the pack had come too late.
It felt like forever that Kai answered their questions. The chair made his butt numb and he was thirsty.
Ezra brought him some water and he drained it quickly.
"Thank you, Kai," the oldest elder spoke slowly. "I know it's been painful for you to relive these memories. We appreciate your honesty. Ian said you
were a very smart young man."
Kai felt his pride swell with the praise. Ian thought he was smart?
"What can we do to make your integration into our pack comfortable?"
He opened his mouth, and then thought better of it, shaking his head.
"Nothing. It's fine here." One of the female Alphas leaned in. “Come on, son, out with it. Regardless of how our recalcitrant Alpha drones on about us, we really don't bite. We're not...what was the word?"
"Meanies," one of the other Elders said with a chuckle.
"Meanies," she repeated. “What were you going to say?"
Kai debated on whether to say anything at all. He and his pack brothers were still new. How much standing did they have with the rest of this new pack?
"I..can I stay with Ian?"
The Elders grew quiet as they glanced at each other before the eldest spoke. "You have been promised to another Alpha, Kai."
“I know. I know that. Ian told me a little of that. But..." His shoulders sagged. How could he tell them he didn't want that other Alpha? He wanted Ian.
Even here, he didn't have a voice.
How was this pack better than his old one?
"Ezra," the eldest said to the beta, "notify Ian he'll have a house guest for a few days."
Kai's head snapped up and he stared in wonder at the panel of Elders.
"Really?"
"Just for a few days, until we can sort this whole thing out and get everyone settled. I believe you are to see the doctor now?"
Ezra stepped forward, and with his hand on Kai's elbow, guided him to stand and ushered him out of the meeting room.
"Let's go see the doc, Kai."
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