My Lycan Mate of Suicide Forest

'August and I are getting things from the treehouse and my house if you need anything,' Greta texted her brother while she was waiting for August down by the Jeep.

'Alone?' his response came.

'Some friends met us.' She texted back.

'Call me if you get a chance without eavesdroppers,' he sent.

Greta frowned at her phone and looked up to the treehouse where August was still talking with Sage and his sister. Liv and Vera were chatting by the tree. Greta climbed into the Jeep and closed the door behind her before dialing her brother.

"What is it?" she asked when he picked up.

"There is a delicate matter that I haven't had a chance to deal with yet," he replied hesitantly.

"Okay… Are you going to tell me what it is?" she asked.

"Uh," he sighed deeply. "There are some things of August's at your house. They are from her mom's. It would be confusing if she saw them before I have a chance to talk to her more about my visit and everything that happened when I was gone."

"Oh. Shit. Okay," Greta replied.

"Yeah. Do you think you could make sure she doesn't see that stuff yet? I will find a time to talk to her about it tonight," he said.

"Okay, you got it," she answered.

"Thanks, sis. You are both okay, though?" he asked.

"Yep. All good. We'll probably just head back now," she said.

"Alright. Be safe. See you later," he replied before hanging up.

Graeme sighed and set the phone down on his father's desk. Rather than wait, he and Sam had moved it out of storage and up into the office along with the desk Sam's father had used. They were going to share an office for the time being.

The office was large enough, and it would be beneficial having Sam within throwing distance while they waded through whatever shit came their way, which was going to be substantial. But he was ready, and the fierce hunger that flashed in Sam's eyes as they discussed how to move forward as Alpha and Beta told him that Sam was ready as well.

Sam had been waiting for this opportunity his whole life. Unlike Graeme, he had never stopped wanting the leadership he was born into. It was natural. It was his birthright. It was what he was trained for, and that part of him had never been allowed to come into being until now.

"Do you think we'll actually be sitting at these desks much?" Sam chuckled, leaning back in his chair behind the desk that was facing Graeme's.

"I sure hope not," Graeme replied. "We need to sage this room or something and get the stink of the elders out of here. Purify it."

Sam laughed. "I'm sure my mom has something for that. Should I call her?"

"Actually," Graeme's eyebrows shot up, and he walked around to sit on the corner of his desk. "I want to bring Sylvia in officially."

Sam's forehead creased. "I don't follow."

"We can't rely on the elders for guidance, even if we are stuck with them for the time being. But that doesn't mean we don't need wisdom or guidance, especially since we know not the entirety of what we will face. I was thinking of bringing in an alternative set of elders. Some that don't thrive on the kind of power and greed and prejudice that seem to have been at work here for far too long," he explained, growling at the end of it.

"I want to know what it was like here when my father was Alpha," he mumbled to himself. "All I have are the memories of a child."

"You are thinking to bring in my mother as an elder?" Sam asked.

"Yes, Charlotte, too. We don't have an alyko elder, but Charlotte's knowledge of the alyko and her experience with those who were of her close family will be akin to one. They will both bring important alternative perspectives. If your father were here, he could instruct us about how everything operated in their time…" Graeme said, and they both became quiet. They had both lost their fathers—both of them leaders of this pack.

"Mother will be a good one," Sam smiled. "They shared everything. I am sure she would appreciate being involved. She never stopped hoping that you would return."

"Will you see if we can get them both in here sometime tomorrow? Perhaps we can have Sylvia over for dinner tonight to christen the old place," Graeme suggested.

"Christen the old place? Is that how it works?" Sam chuckled.

"The old place made new," Graeme grunted. It was hard believing he was going to be staying in his childhood home again. He had avoided it for the memories it brought, but this would be different—with all of them there. His mate, his pregnant sister, his Beta. There would be enough life in its walls to resurrect the joy that had lived there before and hopefully overshadow the grief.

"Are you sure you are okay with staying there? All of us?" Sam asked, apparently reading Graeme's thoughts.

"Yeah," Graeme answered. "It will be good. It's about time we open the house again, and I don't like the thought of having you and Greta so far after what happened. Let's see them come after us when we are all together. The Hallowells will be a united front."

"Okay, but don't expect Greta and I to behave just because you and your mate are downstairs," Sam chuckled.

Graeme groaned. "Seriously?"

"What? I'm just being honest. And if you think that you are going to be stalking around the house acting like my father, I can already tell you right now we're going to have problems," Sam chuckled some more.

Graeme threw a pen at him. "I have no plans to act like your father," he smirked.

"You get protective of your sister," Sam said. "Are you sure? You're not going to barge into our bedroom if it sounds like…"

"Samuel!" Graeme interrupted. Sam erupted into a fit of laughter.. "We'll look into sound proofing the place or something," Graeme managed and raked a hand down his face and beard.

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