Lauchlan The Betrayed (book 2 of Hell in the Realm series)

CH 8

Lauchlan

He was walked up the stairs by his mother and father, his mother holding onto his arm the entire time, and he stopped to talk to a few of his friends on the way, who were seeing him for the first time in five years, and were not only surprised to see him, but happy to have him back as well.

His father waved them all off. “Let my boy get some rest. He’s been travelling for weeks; you can catch up with him after he gets some sleep.”

Lauchlan didn’t mind greeting everyone as he saw them, and he wasn’t all that tired. To be honest, the days in the realm were a bit longer than they were here, so he was used to the long hours. “Did you see the girl on the road, was she doing well… no harm came to her?” his father asked him.

“Oh, um” Lauchlan’s attention was on his father once more. “No, I didn’t see her, just one elite warrior, though I smelled her, of warrior status herself, off down a trail.”

“That she is; a good fighter. Now son, did you boys run all the way here or leave early? You weren’t supposed to be home for another week, the celebration is already planned for then, not now.”

Lauchlan smiled, “The wars in the North Eastern part of the realm have settled a lot, we’ve managed to sort out some treaties, and most of the packs have started to settle and accept inter-species breeding more.

“So, there was less tension and the rabid’s, they seemed to have dwindled or moved on elsewhere. A proper military camp has been set up, no more tents, all proper barracks, runs a bit like a pack out there now, and the higher ups even managed to get a retired Alpha Blooded wolf and his unit to come in take over as the War Generals.

"So, the boys and I were no longer needed, and by the time we would have been allocated to a new encampment and made our way there, our enlistment period would have been over. So, we were simply released early to go on home.” Lauchlan explained it to his father.

“Well, that is some good news for the king. He’ll be relieved to have a little bit of peace and quiet from one part of his kingdom, I dare say. Hopefully it will start to settle down everywhere in the kingdom and be a safer place for all those that live there.” His father nodded “Now to pack business, we’ll be holding your return celebration on the full moon son.”

“Oh, is there perhaps something you know that I don’t know, that will happen this full moon for me?” he smiled right at his father, hoping it was to do with him getting his Mate.

“Not at all, son, only you and Amora know what you talked about, and only she knows about those things?” his father chuckled softly. “Now I believe your mother has been working really hard on your new suite.”

“New Suite?” he asked, turning to look at his mother.

“Yes, your Alpha Suite is ready for you to move into it. I spent the past year working on it.”

Lauchlan chuckled. “A whole year.” He shook his head. “All I need is a bed and shower in there.” And that was all he needed. Learned to need very little in a war camp.

“Ah, but here it is different to the kingdom and the war-ravaged lands.” His father clapped him on the back, “Your mother is thinking ahead, to when you find your Mate and have pups of your own.”

“Yes, and we do want her to like it here and be happy and comfortable.” His mother smiled at him.

He was walked to a section of the parkhouse, on the top floor, where he could see his unit were also strolling along with their family’s all their suites were down there. His mother pushed open a door that had the words Alpha Lauchlan engraved onto a plaque. He smiled at seeing it. It was nice to see his name like that, knowing this was the room he would always reside in.

“Now son, you and the boys relax and unwind, blow off some steam and well…” his father chuckled, and his mother whacked him one, and he understood his father’s meaning, find a girl to have fun with “settle back into pack life over the course of the next few weeks. Before I start training you and the boys to run the pack, meet our allied packs, we’ve got a few new ones since you left that you’ll have to be introduced to.

“You’ll also have to apply for university and get a few degrees under your belt to help run the human world businesses, but that can actually wait until after the university year starts in late August. I believe you've missed the application cut-off date for the January semester, so you’ve got plenty of time to choose subjects and find the university you want to go to,” his father nodded.

That was a long time, eight months of rest and recuperation. “That’s almost a full year,” he commented.

“Now son, don’t think you’ll be slacking off the entire time,” his father laughed “There will be plenty of pack-related things, like allied meetings and mating balls, got your first Alpha Meeting to attend out in the world, as well, and there will be allied assistance too. It’s not a walk in the park. You’ll find the time will fly by, but you’ll get weekends off, unlike in the realm.”

Lauchlan just nodded, and finally pushed into his new suite, only to see it had been decorated in earth tones, and was very neutral with pops of mid-greens and oranges, kind of like how the trees here were when it was springtime. He smiled at his mother when she asked if he liked it as they walked about.

The suite had four bedrooms, and a nice view from his master bedroom, which had a big, curved window that was all glass and had inbuilt curved seating. There was a table there before it for sitting and drinking at he thought. It showed a view of the front of the packhouse grounds and down into the pack itself.

“That will come in handy for when you find your Mate, and she goes into heat, a place for you two to sit and eat between bouts. You can still watch over your pack as well.” she smiled at him.

He just nodded. He did like that his suite was at the front of the packhouse and not the back, and their packhouse was only three storeys high, so if necessary he could simply drop from the balcony off the living and dining area right to the ground, instead of racing through the packhouse, and out the front or back door to go off and aid the border patrol if need be.

Nothing in the pack was over three storeys high, too hard to heat properly in the bitter cold of the snow-covered winters. “I like the suite mother, thank you.” It was nice and spacious and that fireplace in the master bedroom, that was a nice touch. He could see it being a romantic place to spend time with his Mate when she came along.

“I’m glad you like it,” she nodded. “I tried to take inspiration from your old room but made it more masculine, of course. And yes, I know when you find and bring home your Luna, she’ll likely redecorate it to her liking all over again, but Mates can take years to come along. So, I want you to be comfortable until them.”

“I’m certain I will be.” He nodded.

“Now you surprised us by coming early, so I’ll have the fridge and pantry stocked later after you get some sleep. But we should have a nice family dinner, all of us and your unit, all the siblings too, in the private dining room.” He saw his mother look at his father.

“Plan away sweetheart.” He smiled at her. “I think that is a very good idea. They’ve not seen their brothers and sisters in years, and they are all grown up now.”

“Will you be sending Alexander off to serve?” Lauchlan asked curiously.

“No, only the actual heir needs to serve son. Alexander wants to study law and doesn’t need to be off to war. Your little sister Celine will go off to Alpha College and then come right back here. Not many will send a daughter to the kingdom to participate in wars. You understand that yes.”

“Hmm, too brutal.” Lachlan nodded. “Certainly not a place for she-wolves that don’t have full escorts or aren’t pure-blooded and can’t handle those around them. It’s very unruly in the kingdom and 90% un-mated males in those war camps.” He sighed, so it certainly was not a place for his little sister. He wouldn’t send any she-wolf to the kingdom to join the military ranks.

One could never be certain of their safety even inside a military camp, because the Wolfen Realm was run like it was the dark ages, and sometimes it was still seen that the females of their species didn’t have rights, depending on the encampment.

Wolves were aggressive is what he’d been told once, and fights over who wanted who, happened all the time. He’d seen some of those Alphas sell their female children off just to make money for themselves, to gain alliances with other bigger, stronger packs.

He was actually grateful for growing up and living here in the Human Realm and not the Wolfen Realm, where the savagery of their species kind of went unchecked in parts of the realm. Because they had their own laws that were old or ancient, and those Alphas that refused to give up their packs to their offspring, especially their daughters, they just used them to get what they wanted, regardless of what she wanted.

There were many outdated laws that needed to be stopped, he thought. The Wolfen Realm could take a page out of the Human Realm, he thought. It would see a lot of the brutality of their home realm cease, and they could evolve as a species, and become fully civilized; get along with all the other realms, he thought.