The Alpha's Stolen Luna - Chapter 129: Chapter 129

: Sutton
We ended up staying out the rest of the night, arriving back at the homestead just after sunrise. We walked up to the house hand-in-hand, feeling lighter than we had since the events at the cabin. Lucas felt more open but focused. We were ready to move forward, wherever that would lead us.
When we walked in the back door, I was surprised to see Jaden in the kitchen with Max and Uncle Rodney. Aunt Lara was busy making breakfast. I immediately went to help her. She’d been slowly recovering from the shock of things as well. She was hurting, but I think she was more worried about Jack than anything else. Still, she was coping well enough.
Lucas greeted Jaden. He seemed less surprised that he was here so he must have requested he come down. Indeed, Lucas greeted him and tried to start talking business but Lara put a stop to it. Insisting that everyone be fed before they started working. However, the moment we finished clearing up, Max got down to business.
“We have a few talking points that need to be addressed,” he said as we sat back at the table. “First, we’ve got a body in the town morgue that needs to be handled. The question is how?”
We looked to Lucas. The final say was his above anyone else’s.
“I’ve decided to allow Conner and Jack to give Daisy a funeral,” he conceded. “Cremation will still be required and the funeral itself must remain private. But I want to give them what closure I can. I’ve also decided not to publicly denounce her.”
Jaden raised an eyebrow. “You’re sure about that?”
Lucas nodded. “Jack is too close to me. Denouncing his mother as a traitor would make his place in the pack far more precarious than he deserves. I won’t let the rest of the pack turn on him now.”
I squeezed Lucas’s hand supportively. Proud of his compassion.
“What is going to happen to Jack?” Aunt Lara asked worriedly.
Lucas looked at her with a gentle smile. “I think Conner would agree that he should be with you and Uncle Rodney,” he told her. “You’ve raised him just much as Daisy did. More so even. He belongs here.”
Aunt Lara looked so relieved and incredibly grateful. Both of them did.
“That being said,” Lucas continued, “before he can get settled in here, I need him to come back to Thorncrest first. We’ll need you to come with him, Aunt Lara. Just to help keep him comfortable. He’s still not talking, but we’re going to need him to.”
“But Lucas…”
“We know it’s not ideal,” Jaden interjected. “If it could be avoided, we would. But Daisy told him to help her, which means he could have information that we can use. We’ll be as tactful as possible, I promise. We’re not looking to traumatize him any further.”
Aunt Lara nodded in agreement.
“Now that we have the second order of business dealt with,” Max said, “it’s time for the most concerning matter.”
He lifted a bag from the floor next to his chair and pulled something out. It was wrapped in a piece of fabric and made a heavy thud as he set it in the middle of the table. Max flipped the fabric over to reveal its contents and I stiffened slightly. It was the gun Daisy had used.
I wasn’t the only one with a reaction to the weapon. Actually, it seemed like everyone else in the room was even more uncomfortable than I was. Lara was ghostly pale and almost shaking.
“I don’t think I need to say it, but this is a huge problem,” Max stated. “Daisy didn’t just stumble onto this. I can’t see her having the thought process to hunt one down either. It’s not like she had an abundance of knowledge of human culture. Let alone any idea where to find one in human territory. I mean, come on, the woman barely drove a car.”
“I think we all have a pretty decent idea where she got it from,” Jaden said. “It sure has hell wasn’t from human territory.”
“Don’t say that, Jaden,” Lara scolded fearfully. “I can’t even think about the idea of guns coming to the packs.”
“Well, I hate to break it to you, Mrs. Lara, but the evidence is right here,” Max said. “There’s no denying it’s a concern now.”
“Waid, I’m confused…” I voiced. “I know that firearms aren’t exactly part of the lycan way of life, but surely they’re not that much a novelty here.”
“All guns are banned in pack lands,” Lucas informed me. “Throughout all of Lycuria. Not even humans are allowed to possess one while in our territory. It’s one of, if not THE strictest royal laws we all abide by. As such, this weapon posts a whole contingency of problems.”
“Where it came from. How it got here. Why they gave it to Daisy. Who the hell taught her how to use the damn thing,” Jaden started to list off. “We’re obligated to report this to the Royal Council but should we do that before or after we answers those questions? If we wait, will we be in more trouble than if we didn’t? If we don’t wait, will we still be allowed to find answers to those questions?”
“So, basically, it’s complicated, is what you’re saying,” I said.
“Extremely,” Lucas confirmed.
“Why is the law so strict?” I asked out of genuine curiosity. “I understand not needing them since you have your wolves, but why outlaw them entirely? I mean, don’t get me wrong. Growing up with humans, I’m well aware of the destruction they cause and I’m not saying it’s a bad law. I’m just trying to understand why this is so serious for lycans.”
“Guns threaten the hierarchy by which we live,” Jaden said solemnly.
“Our way of life depends on the structure of authority,” Lucas said. “As you know. An Alpha’s ability to command his people is paramount even if it should be used sparingly. That power has ended battles and stopped wars on many occasions throughout our history. But an Alpha’s command can be defied.”
“But it hurts,” I said, remembering the sick pleasure Anders and Mason got from telling me how bad defying them would be. “It can be deadly even, can’t it?”
“It can, but it’s not an instantaneous,” Lucas said. “If you can withstand the pain long enough to achieve whatever you want to achieve, then the command is essential powerless.”
“It takes a split second to fire a gun,” Max said. “All it takes is a mild ability to defy an Alpha to shoot someone.”
“Meaning that a wolf with a gun could do a lot of damage before being subdued,” I said, the weight of the situation setting in.
“Exactly.”