Destiny's Tethers

Chapter 24 - Function Prelude

A/N: Again split this chapter into two parts given the length

I thought it would apropos with all the stuff that is about to go down at the event haw haw
......

Meanwhile, in the Silver Arrow Pack

The Alpha and Luna Ceremonies should have meant retirement for former Alpha Bradley. It should have meant relaxation, the opportunity to finally take a step back and let his son and his chosen mate run things. He should have been resting at home, drinking beer or watching television or something, instead of sitting in the Alpha's office - formally his and now his son's - working.

To say he was furious at Alpha Aaron was an understatement. He was already a few months into his rule and his leadership of the Silver Arrow Pack was less than stellar. His pack members didn't respect him, and he had no idea how to reach a level of understanding with them. Most of them just followed him because they had to.

And his idiot Luna wasn't doing much better, spending time bragging and gossiping with what small circle of friends she had and then intimidating others into getting what she wanted. When it came to actual pack matters, Luna Kylie would rather push for her own choices and refuse to compromise, resulting in many of the conferences and meetings arriving at stalemates, with important pack decisions being postponed again and again. And her reputation amongst the pack, while no longer openly addressed, might have been worse than his son's.

This was all Olwen's fault. She could have accepted the amicable separation from Aaron and still retained her place in this pack, but no! She had to make a scene in her departure and cause a chain of events that resulted in Beta Kayden's family leaving and the relationship between his son and his chosen mate to become strained.

And now because of all that, the Silver Arrow Pack had to admit they were unfit to hold the function this year and pass the duties of hosting of the Moon River Pack.

Some of the fault is yours too, Bastian muttered ruefully. If you hadn't done that all those years ago, Tess would still be alive and Aaron wouldn't have found the drugs in your office.

Shut up! Bradley reprimanded the wolf in his head, infuriated he would mention his deceased mate at this time. Tess is already dead, and there's nothing more we can do! It was the rogues who killed her!

Bastian reluctantly fell silent. Since the death of their mate, his wolf had only become more compliant to Bradley's instructions but experienced a feeling of overall numbness at the loss of Tess. While he'd had disagreements with his human over the years, the she-wolf's demise had taken its toll on him to the point where he was just like any one of the Silver Arrow Pack members - he followed Bradley's instructions because his human was the only thing he had left to live for. As wrongful as his actions had been.

......

Alpha Aaron was currently making the rounds in an attempt to settle a few minor pack disputes, but it was his Delta and Gamma doing most of the heavy lifting given how distracted he was at the moment.

After that embarrassing incident a few months back, Luna Kylie had only given him back bed privileges a few days ago, and even now they slept separately in the same bed and still weren't intimate that much. The only exception was the she-wolf's heats, but even then they just did what was needed and then went right to being apart.

On her end, Kylie maintained her disgruntlement about Alpha Aaron calling out Olwen's name during their last encounter, while Aaron couldn't risk a repeat of that incident thanks to the disobedience of his wolf - who was still up to his usual tricks. Had the drugs caused Ares to become more rebellious, was it his natural state, or was it both?