Surrogate for My Brother-in-law - Chapter 96: Chapter 96

Leo and I couldn’t start planning our wedding right away. There was too much to do. While no one had died in the attack, pretty much every able bodied fighter in either Leo’s pack or Ethan’s was injured.
The Rogues would not give up. Rory was bound and determined to have his revenge. He’d hurt Leo, badly, but he wanted him dead.
Once I was recovered enough to leave the hospital, Leo and I moved into the empty guest house on the border between Leo and Ethan’s territory. My mother brought Sable there, and Ethan sent his youngest sibling, Elise, Erma, and Eli. His manor still lacked basic security features, like doors.
Most of Leo’s pack had still been housed in the small guest cabins surrounding the main manor. A little over half of those had survived. Now Arthur’s wolves and Leo’s shared those few cabins, doubling up living quarters. It was cramped, but no one complained. It was only temporary, until the Rogues were dealt with and a new manor could be built.
“We can’t wait for the Rogues to regroup and attack again,” Leo said.
He, Ethan, and I were settled around the dining room table. There were maps and lists piled everywhere as the two alphas worked diligently to come up with a solid plan.
“We have to act,” Ethan agreed, “We have to attack first. But most of our fighting force is still in recovery.”
“I could heal them,” I offered.
“No!” Ethan and Leo shouted together.
“No,” Leo repeated more quietly. “Tess, we nearly lost you.”
“I’m a healer,” I protested. “I’m better now.”
Leo shook his head. “It’s just… too early. And there are too many injured wolves for you to heal them without risking your health.”
Ethan nodded. “You’re our only healer,” he pointed out. “If you expend all your strength getting our fighters on their feet, who will heal the injured later?”
“Then what do we do?” I asked. “Do you expect the children and the archivists to fight?”
“I think those old librarians have more fight in ‘em than anyone gave them credit for,” Leo muttered, but shook his head. “No, I do not expect our non-combatants to fight.” He rested both hands on the table and leaned forward. “I expect the other packs to fight.”
“Other packs?” I asked.
Leo nodded. “The main strength of the Rogues is their numbers. They have members from every pack, all those who were banished or left for whatever reason. No single pack can stand against them for long.”
Ethan added, “We won last time because our packs fought together, and there weren’t as many. This new king, Rory, has spent more time on recruitment. He’s got double the number of fighters his father gathered. They’re not a few rogue wolves, they’re an army.”
“We have to match that,” Leo said. “And that means the smaller packs, the ones who relied on us for defense, and the older packs who hid behind our packs and hoped we’d hold the line will have to step up.”
“If no one pack can beat them, what, do you expect all the packs to fight together?” I asked. “I mean it sounds nice, but it won’t happen.”
“Why not?” Ethan asked.
“There are too many grudges and rivalries,” I said. “Like, none of the smaller packs will join us because they still resent my father. And I know Alpha Raine’s pack won’t fight alongside Alpha Heinrich’s pack because he tried to annex them, claiming no female could be a proper alpha.”
“You know a lot about pack politics, huh?” Leo said.
“I was an alpha’s daughter,” I said. “I had to pay attention, so I wouldn’t say or do something stupid around a visiting alpha.”
“Hm,” Ethan said. “I can’t help but think Rory had the right idea, trying to recruit you as an intelligence source. If I’d known about you years ago…” he sighed. “Well, your talents are better put to use as a healer anyway.”
I wasn’t sure what he was talking about, so I looked to Leo for an explanation. He just grinned and shrugged.
“Ethan’s scouts have been bugging him about you,” Leo said, which told me exactly nothing. “But you’re right, about the inter-pack rivalries.”
“So what are we going to do?” I asked.
“I’m going to raise my own army of… not rogues, exactly,” Leo said, “but similar.”
“Huh?” I asked.
“Every pack has its misfits,” Ethan said. “and a lot of those have flocked to Rory. We are going to offer them a better choice. Well, Leo here is because he’s the big, shiny hero.”
“One of these days you’re stepping out of the shadows and taking proper credit for all you’ve done,” Leo said.
Ethan shook his head. “Maybe. Not today though.”
“So what’s the plan?” I asked.
The plan turned out to be quite simple. Leo and Ethan were going to summon the other alphas to a secret meeting. Leo would explain his position, and request the alphas allow some of their wolves to volunteer for his mixed pack army.
The main idea of course was to gather a fighting force to face the immediate threat. A combined army of wolves, just a few from each pack, would be enough to overwhelm Rory’s Rogue forces.
Leo’s hope, though, was to keep the army together. He wanted to form a new kind of pack. He wanted to make a place for the misfits and loners. The wolves, like me, who just didn’t quite fit.
They’d have a chance to prove they were more than misfits. And they’d have a place to call their own. They could climb the ranks through merit and service, regardless of their bloodlines.
The alphas came to the meeting, but they weren’t happy with Leo’s plan. They claimed they would need every able bodied fighter to protect their own packs. It didn’t matter if some of those wolves were not happy with their place, it only mattered that they could fight.
A few of the alphas were willing to cooperate immediately. Alpha Raine was one. Interestingly, Alpha Titian also suggested several of his wolves who he felt would do well in Leo’s proposed mixed pack army. The rest of the alphas took a bit more persuasion.
Leo pointed out that the wolves might well leave their packs either way. It wasn’t just banished wolves who joined the Rogues, after all. He told them how his own brother had worked with Rory for months before he was caught and officially banished.
Leo spoke passionately and eloquently. He laid out his hopes and his plans. He was blunt about the dangers facing every pack. He made it clear that he could not save them all again; not without help.
One by one, the alphas accepted the inevitable. Plans were drawn up, both to spread the word to the individual packs and to provide the misfit wolves with a path to join the new combined pack.
Leo decided that instead of rebuilding the manor he’d inherited from Arthur, he would build a new kind of pack home. It would have a main building, but that would not be a mansion. Instead, it would hold an auditorium for meetings, weddings, and the like. There would be a cafeteria and kitchen so the whole pack could eat together. And of course, there would be a new archive. But there would be no opulent suites of rooms for the alpha and his family. Leo and I would continue to live in the guest house adjacent to the main building. Any mated wolves would be provided with a small cabin placed around the property. The unmated bachelors would live in a series of comfortable barracks nearby. Like in Ethan’s pack, there would be no servants. Chores would be shared among the whole pack, including the alpha’s own family.
Leo’s original pack formed the core of the new pack. Arthur’s wolves were allowed to join up, or disperse into the other allied packs as they chose. Most, interestingly, chose to stay with Leo.
The army of misfit werewolves grew quickly. But would they be able to form a cohesive unit in time to face down Rory and his Rogue forces?