Reuniting Families

Edward POV

As expected, Steve Trueblood showed up with a full committee of pack members to identify, counsel and help heal not only the young people who had attacked us, but to help our pack members as well. Wolfgang did not leave Brianna's side the entire time Steve and his wife Grace were here, and Puck stayed with me, mostly in the office. I didn't know if the cats were fascinated with the Truebloods, or protecting us from them.

Several of the young people were from Steve's pack and he put them on physical, menial tasks as community service to their own pack. Yes, they were traumatized, but they have to see the consequences of their actions. They were his family and they suffered. Some were trained, but not strong. No team is strong without working as a team.

I found that the teenagers that presented themselves as humans, two of which that Brianna and I had killed, were from the Ohio Tribe pack. The other one, Matthew Walker, was still missing. Brianna fell into an old habit of praying. We didn't know to whom she was praying, but she still prayed for Matt's safety.

....

Brianna POV

We wanted to wait until Joseph and Sheila Millhouse to get here this morning to talk to the incarcerated young people and reunite them with the injured and dead. We wanted them to see the dead to feel the full weight of the consequences.

Joe came to the door and shook Edward's and Stephen's hands. Sheila hugged me and then Grace. Parents were exiting vehicles with lowered heads and quiet voices. We brought our guests to the outdoor firepit. It was equipped for a large party, tables with chairs for people to gather and eat. We had breakfast biscuits being handed out by rotating pack members.

The three Alphas quickly assembled all the guests and a committee of members from the Adhara Hill pack, including Carol and a couple nurses, Leo and Natalie, Keith and Claudia with Kevin, and the Cross family. I can tell that our young pack members who were serving us lingered a little longer than necessary to listen to our presentation with the pictures of the injured and incarcerated werewolves. Parents were screaming and crying, not believing that their sons and daughters could do this.

After the presentation, we went to the dungeons first, allowing the imprisoned to mix with their pack members. After more tears and lots of scolding, we moved to the infirmary. The tears were silent and the scolding was muted. Then we came to the dead. Fifteen dead. Fifteen young lives cut short by their choices and misinformation. It was time to dispute the rumors and show facts. We went back to the tables set up outside. Most of the attackers were going back with their packs. Only three were left in the dungeon and two dead were unidentified. Another dead attacker was identified by a schoolmate from the Ohio Tribe pack. His parents had died, but he was still a member of the pack.

Edward and I got on a small stage that was set up while we were visiting the dungeons and medical facility. Joining us was Natalie and Madison. I held a sheet over each of the girls as they shifted to their wolves, letting their runes glow. Edward held the sheet for me. "This is why we were attacked. There was a rumor that Brianna, my mate, is not a werewolf. She's not. She, and her daughters are part Lycan. They are also part Druid. Brianna's parents were Council members. So was the father of Natalie and Madison, who are twins, by the way. They have a half-sister, Danielle. She is scheduled to return to Arllington, Virginia, to take her place as a new Council member to replace their father, who has taken his own life!"

Gasps and questions erupt. Jenny, Danielle, Claudia and Blaire take us behind the stage for Natalie, Madison and myself to shift and change clothes. We get back on stage as a family, complete with mates.

"ENOUGH!" I bellow. "I know that it's a lot to process. Imagine my surprise, finding out that I'm actually Lycan, when I didn't know you existed." I told them everything - having twins, only knowing of one daughter, finding out Mark was a Council member and watching him kill himself in front of everyone, finding my Grandmother and my real name, and about the Goddess Serena and the God Sol.

Silence fell over the crowd. Edward spoke up, "Your Alphas and I have come up with a plan. This much information needs to be shared. We need to exchange Archives and students and training practices. Yearly dances are not enough. Each pack would send three students to each of the other packs for a three months. These three will train on the training field, learn in the Archives and learn in their schools."

"We need to support each other and work together. I know of a couple ideas that I am taking home with me, like that atrium!" Joseph Millhouse quips.

"I hope to extend the invitation of exchange with packs further abroad. For those of us with mates, perhaps we could contact their former packs and find out if they are interested. Perhaps we can exchange two, or even one student at a time. We don't want ALL our students away at once!"

"Don't the Councillors have Archives as well?" Danielle asked timidly.

"And they would be more extensive than all our Archives put together!" Andrew Cross was practically salivating.

"Dad! I can get in there with a low light camera and digitize them to print out for study!" Derek and his mate Kirsten were almost as excited, "with your permission, Councilor."

"I would love the company." Danielle was finally getting accustomed to being a social being with a family. "Plus, I want to find my mom and interview for a paid cleaning staff. I could use the backup."

"Having a connection to the Eastern States Council of Magical Beings is very lucky." Grace Trueblood was a Magical history buff, too. "A connection to one seat is fortuitous. A connection to two seats is unheard of. A connection to three seats is unreal!"

"That is why I want to include you as friends. I want you to watch over my family and I want to watch over yours. My daughters and I are targets. That can make you, as my neighbors, targets as well. Those, who have tried to hurt me are not above using those around me, including young people like Amber, whose mother owned the diner in which I worked. Someone besides Mark Wurtz is working against us." I let my heart out. We needed the three packs to unite, similar to States.

....

We started interviewing the attackers again, with parents and Alphas present. Finally, we started to get answers. Yes, the Councillor, Mark Wurtz, was in contact with Amber and a teenaged girl in each of the three packs. Marilyn Herman refused to attack her own pack, the Adhara Hill Pack. Her mother took away her cell phone for two weeks and uninstalled all her games on her cell phone and laptop. The girls became friends on social media. Of course, their friends also became friends and the rumors spread like wildfire. After seeing me in my Lycan form and wolf form, the girls understood that they had someone had lied. Another name came to the surface - Eric. Eric had a screen name of 'E Purest Wolf." No one had a clear picture of him or a last name. The girls swore that he was at the strategy meetings before the attack. We had to find him.