The Pack's Nemesis (Quirin's Story) novel Chapter 20

Quirin

+23

When Kier went inside at the beginning of warrior training, I knew someone was missing. Most days I start training and he makes sure that everyone got their asses out of bed to come to training. So, I wasn’t surprised when he went inside to collect the stragglers. I was, however, surprised, when it was Arlo who came out. He’s one of the few that loves warrior training. He loves the opportunity to hit someone, so he’s never late.

‘We have a problem, Alpha,‘ Kier says in the mind–link, joining me at the front of the group as I take them through the warm

1. up.

‘What’s that?‘

‘I caught him mouthing off to Luna,’ he tells me.

Raif growls angrily and everyone’s head snaps to me.

‘Is Kennedy okay?‘

‘Yes. She said she was and it didn’t look like he touched her. There was something with one of the omegas, but I’m not sure what that was about. She may have been with our Luna when Arlo approached them, but I’m not sure.‘

“Arlo you’re with me today,” I bark out loud. He glares at Kier, but nods.

I proceed to spend the next two hours kicking the shit out of him. He’s a good fighter, but he’s not an Alpha. “Alpha, is there a problem?” Slater, his brother, asks at the end of training, seeing how badly I pummeled Arlo. “Your brother apparently needed a reminder of who your Luna is mated to. I would suggest that anyone who thinks that they can mouth off to their Luna, take note. This is your future if you EVER disrespect my mate.”

“Yes, Alpha,” the warriors say. Slater reaches out his hand to help Arlo up and I slap it away. “He gets up on his own. He thinks he’s better than me, thinks he mouth off to my mate, disrespecting boht of us, then he can be man enough to pick his own ass up off the ground,” I snarl.

I know he’s hurt. I dislocated his shoulder, I heard a rib snap, and he started limping about an hour ago.

“Get up and get to my office,” I tell him, walking away. “Kier!”

“Right here, Alpha.”

“Grab food for the two of us and join me in my office,” I say, moderating my tone. I’m not angry at him. “Also, check in with the omegas and make sure my mate was okay when you left her

“Will do,” he says, walking off to toward the kitchen.

I reach out in the mind link and gently touch Kennedy’s mind. I can tell she’s busy working through her list for the hospital. I don’t sense any concern or worry, other than what she’s going to order. I’m not sure why she’s worried about it, but I’ll leave her to figure it out. I know nothing about hospital equipment or supplies.

Once I know she’s okay, I refocus on my plans for Arlo. I’m going to give him two choices and he gets to decide his fate. When he hobbles in, I don’t invite him to sit. I let him stand. Depending on his decision, he may not be here long.

10:20 Wed, Jan 29

Chapter 121

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Kier walks in a moment later, sitting a plate of food down in front of me. He pulls up a chair and sits at my desk, following along by digging into his breakfast.

“The way I see it, Arlo, you have two choices. You can leave the pack or you can take extra patrols. You apparently have too much energy if you have time to be disrespectful. Those are your choices. You have five minutes to decide.”

“Alpha…” he begins.

“If you’re going to make some excuse for what your Beta witnessed, save it. I don’t want to hear it, and it will only encourage me to kick you out of the pack. If that’s your choice, keep talking” I say, my voice as hard as steel.

“And if you don’t think telling your Luna to’mind her own business and calling her a pup isn’t disrespectful, then I’m sure your Alpha can change your mind,” Kier says. I growl again, glaring at Arlo.

“First of all, anything that happens in this pack is as much her business as it is mine. Second, use my pet name for my mate again, and next time, you won’t walk away. That’s MY–name for her. NO ONE uses it but me.” It makes me wonder if this was why Kennedy asked me about calling her little pup. I wonder if someone else has called her that name in a derogatory way. I feel very possessive of my nickname for my mate. It’s ALWAYS been my name for her.

“I’ll take the patrols, Alpha,” Arlo says.

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“Are you sure? You disrespect my mate again, and you won’t have a choice. I’ll kill you. Are we clear?”

“Crystal.”

“Go get some food. You start your extra patrols this afternoon. I suggest you let your wolf start healing you between now and then.”

When he walks out, I turn to Kier. “Tell me what you walked in on earlier,” I say.

He goes through it for me, letting me know what he heard, and that Kennedy didn’t back down, even though Arlo was towering over her in an intimidating stance and basically snarling at her.

I’m proud of my mate, but this interaction makes me want to work with her even more. If this had been one of Jasper’s warriors, they wouldn’t have stopped at intimidating. They would have taken her or killed her.

When Kier leaves, I check in with the kitchen omegas to make sure that they send food over for Kennedy if she doesn’t come back for lunch. I have a feeling I’m going to have to make sure that food is sent over for her every day. She’s a bit like her mother when she gets involved in something. She loses track of time and forgets to eat. Luna Yara isn’t my

responsibility, but Kennedy certainly is. I’m going to make sure she stays strong, especially if I’m going to be training her in the evenings.

I got my first patient,‘ she says excitedly.

‘You did? Who?‘ I ask, going through the list of warriors in my mind to try and figure out who went to see her.

‘Is he okay? ask.

“Yes. I told Susie to keep an eye on it and to come back if it looks like it’s getting infected.

(+23)

‘Good. Are you ready for dinner?‘ I ask, anxious to see my mate after being away from her all day. Not only that, I want to make sure she’s okay after the ordeal with Arlo and to hopefully see a smile on her face that reflects the mood I’m feeling from her.

At that moment, there’s a knock on the door and I smell her citrus and mint scent. I’m not sure if it’s me or Raif who pushes me to the door so we can see her. When I do, I’m rewarded with her radiant smile. The one that blasts the darkness out of me and makes my dick stand at attention.

“I’m your mate. I want to always make sure that you are taken care of. Shall we?” I ask, holding out my hand.

“We shall,” she says, putting her hand in mine. Tonight, when we walk into the dining hall I can feel the difference in the pack. I’m not sure if word about what happened to Arlo has gotten around or if they are responding to the difference in Kennedy, but either way, the glances that we’re getting feel more positive.

We get our food and I stand by watching as Kennedy gets the information about tonight’s meal and who made everything. She compliments certain things as she goes along putting food on her plate.