Chapter 466: Beta Visit 2
"We didn’t hear from Thundering Falls after the map was disconnected," Sam thought aloud. "Maybe that is an indication that Alpha Galen was replaced."
"Replaced. That is one hell of a euphemism," Graeme sighed heavily. "Well, I guess we are going to find out." If it were indeed the case, Graeme couldn’t help but feel that it would be one more potentially volatile issue that Violet had brought to their pack.
He had resisted pressure from Greta and Sam to put Violet back in the dungeon after most of her physical wounds had healed. He couldn’t imagine someone who had been through what she had been through being locked up afterwards. She had been attacked, assaulted, marked against her will, had her wolf taken from her, and then lost her mate. Even one of those things would be difficult to recover from, but all of them together—it was incomprehensible. He couldn’t imagine how traumatic it was for her.
Graeme was furious about the announcement Violet made to the pack with all that had been insinuated, and those emotions had not left him. But Violet was clearly not well. It was obvious to him that she was suffering a great deal.
Assault similar to what Violet had gone through was something that August had suffered in her past as well, and perhaps that is what made Graeme go lenient on Violet in the end. The well of August’s emotions seemed to exist within his own soul, and while he had not directly experienced what she had gone through earlier in life, he felt the totality of her character that existed because of those experiences. And he held a deep empathy for anyone who experienced what his mate did.
How could he bring himself to give Violet the harshest punishment possible? She was not well, and she needed help. But if Violet brought a war to their lands because of her stupid decision to leave their pack and walk straight into trouble, that was going to be hard to swallow.
"There is no way Violet is in the pack house, right?" He asked Sam.
"She is supposed to be on house arrest," Sam replied with a look that showed just how disapproving he was of that decision. "But even if she left her house I doubt that she would come here. That is unless she felt compelled to make another grandiose announcement to the pack."
Graeme groaned at the thought of it. "Sylvia has been a great help to her. Hopefully if something like that were coming, Sylvia would sense it. She sees Violet everyday."
"Violet has been refusing her lately. Did she not tell you?" Sam’s eyebrows knitted together. How did Graeme not know that? He was certain that his mother had told him.
"Oh, now that you mention it... I do recall Sylvia saying something about that," he said, raking a hand through his hair. His attention had been so consumed with August and this unknown threat that was apparently headed their way that it must have slipped his mind. "She is still at her house though."
"There are no reports otherwise," Sam said, that disapproving tone in his voice again. "Lucas offered to check in on her once a day and you refused. Do you remember that?"
Graeme’s eyes snapped to his Beta with a warning in them. He wanted Sam to speak his truth and be honest about his opinions regarding decisions that were to be made in the pack, but sarcasm was disrespectful. He would not tolerate it.
"The decisions I made regarding Violet’s situation were due to her unique circumstance and the trauma she has sustained," he growled. "It would not be appropriate to have a threatening male checking in on her at all hours of the day. If the goal is to work on Violet’s recovery, then it has to be done with those things in mind. Sylvia is more than capable of reporting back about whether Violet is home on a given day or not. And Cressida said she would alert us if anything was wrong."
Sam resisted the impulse to shake his head in disagreement. These decisions were not smart, in his opinion. And he found it very difficult to understand how Graeme didn’t see how obvious that was. Violet had been through a lot, yes. No one was denying that. But she was a very serious threat when it came to her potential and at least prior determination to cause unrest within the pack. She claimed that their Luna was not true right before she insinuated that Graeme had violated his mate bond with her!
Graeme saw the silent arguments running through his Beta’s mind.
"Make a note," he growled again. "After all of this shit is over, we will be developing a mental health center and training for every pack member so they can understand the importance of it. We can’t expect Sylvia to handle every difficult case. It’s a wonder how we never had something like that after mom and dad were killed."
Sam scribbled a note on his desk without a word.
Lucas’ loud steps echoing against the wooden floor of the hallway reached the office before he did. It was his way of announcing his coming arrival with the guest.
"My Alpha," Lucas bent formally in the doorway to demonstrate his respect for Graeme in front of the outsider. "I present Beta Ranier from Thundering Falls."
"Thank you, Lucas," Graeme rose from his chair as Beta Ranier walked in and bowed respectfully as well. "Beta Ranier. What brings you to Maine?"
"I apologize for not calling first, Alpha," the male said sincerely before his eyes rose to meet Graeme’s. He froze, a look of shock arriving on his face.
A muscle feathered in Graeme’s jaw at the tension that suddenly bristled in the Veiled around them. The male was obviously taken aback by Graeme’s golden eyes.
Ranier tried to recover from the surprise at finding this Alpha to have the same eyes as Cassian. What was happening to the leadership in the lycan packs?
"I did not set out to come here," Ranier said, diverting his gaze from the otherworldly golden hue of Graeme’s. "I tracked a member of our pack here. He was looking for his mate, and he was not sure what pack she belonged to. He has been gone for some time now, so I set out to try to find him."
"You tracked him here?" Graeme repeated.
"Yes, Alpha. Has an outsider not arrived on your lands recently?" Ranier asked, imagining these two males meeting. It could not simply be a coincidence that Cassian had come to a pack where the Alpha resembled him, could it? This was too bizarre.
"Are you speaking of Cassian?" Graeme asked, his gaze darting to Sam’s.
"Yes, that’s right. Alpha Cassian."
