The End of an Era

         Helena and Jillian stood watching the fire for what felt like hours. The entire pack and guests came to honour her father. They’d left long ago. Helena knew she couldn’t shed any more tears.

         “What are we going to do? He’s supposed to choose which of the St. James were to lead. Without Nathan here, there’s no clear leadership.” Jillian said, wiping her eyes with a tissue.

         “I honestly don’t know. I don’t believe I’ll sleep until I do. For all I know, someone here plans to take over. It’s not safe here for me, and I can’t see it ever being safe again.”

         “I guess you have two choices. Abandon the pack, or put yourself at the mercy of whatever is decided.” Jillian wasn’t joking about the situation. Helena came to this conclusion hours ago.

         Helena knew she’d need to choose one of three options. Run away, dishonouring herself and her pack. Leaving them without leadership. Effectively disbanding the pack and giving up her family’s legacy. Finally, leaving it to the strongest wolf. She could stay and mate with that wolf, continuing her family’s legacy. If that wolf didn’t already have a mate. Who knows if that wolf would be a St. James’ brother or someone completely unsuitable? She’d never mate with her fated mate. Because she couldn’t abandon the one, she mated with and, in turn, her pack. She didn’t have that in her. She couldn’t go through all that. There must be a way to fix it satisfactorily for everyone.

         “You’re right. I don’t see myself leaving with a clear conscience. I can’t let some stranger takeover. That stranger might be harmful to the survival of this pack. They might be mated. Could you see how awkward that would be? Loyalties would become divided.”

         “I wish I could help you. I really do, but it’s not my place to tell you what to do.”

         “It’s alright. I know what I need to do. It’s just nothing has an acceptable outcome for everyone.”

         “All you can do is the right thing for the majority. Go talk to the St. James brothers now. The pack’s already settled most of our guests in the guest cabins. Take your time with the St. James’ and don’t be afraid to ask for time. Your world just turned upside down. Find out what their ideas are before you tell them anything. Who knows, perhaps they are no longer interested in the leadership of this pack? You know, too hot for their comfort.”

         Helena nodded to Jillian and, with her head downcast, she returned to the packhouse to search out the St. James brothers. It didn’t take long to find them. They appeared to be arguing in her father’s study behind the heavy wooden doors. She knocked and waited to receive permission to enter. When she received it, she entered and closed it behind her.

         Both brothers appeared surprised to see her and stepped toward her as if they wanted to comfort her at the same time. Chris waved her to the sofa, and she settled on it with the men on either side of her.

         “Now, what can we help you with?” Chris asked as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“Are you okay? Do you need anything?” Brian added as his hand came to rest on her knee.

“I don’t know where this is all going. I came to talk to both of you to find out what your ideas are about how to proceed.”

“Well, you can stop right there. We aren’t going anywhere right now. You aren’t safe. Which means you aren’t leaving our sight anytime soon. Understand?”

“Which one of you will take the position of Alpha? My father wanted me to mate with whichever one that will be.” Helena wasn’t sure where this was going.

“Right now? We’ve decided neither of us will declare ourselves Alpha until everything has settled down some. As for mating, we’ll cover that later. After one of us takes the position of alpha. Right now, we must secure the pack and find out what happened to Nathan. Your father deserves no better.”

“Nor do you deserve any less. Together we’ll set this pack to rights and after that you can choose which one of us will be your mate and Alpha of this pack.” Brian assured her.

Helena felt like she was at a tennis match trying to see the speaker. “So, how will this work? Am I supposed to see both of you? Then when the time comes, pick between you?”

“Effectively? Yes. Chris and I will use our skills to guarantee the safety of the pack and you. One of us is always being with you. We were just discussing the lack of security with so many out of pack guests on the pack’s land. You aren’t safe alone. Someone may try to kill you or mate with you for the leadership of this pack. We can’t have that happening on our watch.”

What the two men didn’t admit to her or fully to each other was their attraction to the little wolf between them was more than just the feelings of a summer fling. They didn’t want to give her up, and they both feared how she’d react to them sharing her as their mate. After all, they were two halves of a whole. A moon wolf and a midnight wolf. One white as snow and the other as dark as a moonless night. Legendary, and probably why her father summoned them. Hoping that one would add their unique genetics to his family line.

“We promise to find out why and who is behind the attack. Where Nathan is. You won’t be in danger anymore. We’re here to see to that.”

Helena couldn’t understand how they planned to do all this. Right now, her mind was too numb. “I can’t choose between the two of you. I… I don’t know either of you well enough.”

“We aren’t asking you to choose yet. We’ll continue as we are until we settle everything. Choosing between us will be the last question that you’ll find the answer to. Now what do you plan to do today, now that your father’s funeral is over?”

“Lillian and I planned to tour the medical centre and make sure no one needs anything. Maybe help with bandages and care.”

“Good. Chris will go with you. I need to stay here, as I’m waiting for a few phone calls that I’d rather take in private.”

“Sounds good. Let’s go get you changed into something a little more appropriate for working in the med centre. When we’re done, we can start moving our things into your apartment.”

“What?!” Helena stood up and turned on Chris. “What do you mean?”

“We both said we won’t leave you alone. That includes at night when we sleep. We’ve slept together. This is the next logical step. I’d rather move into your apartment than the alpha’s apartments. It doesn’t feel right taking them over right now. We’d like to respect your father’s memory, at least until we have all this settled.”

She couldn’t believe it. Neither asked once if this was okay with her. Now Helena understood what Lillian meant by finding out what the two wanted to do first. Helena stood there, speechless.

“I’ll move my things now while I wait for the calls.” Brian stood up, embracing her, and dropped a kiss on top of her head. “See you later.”

“Come on, sweetheart. We have a busy day ahead of us.”

Finally, Helena got her voice back and found the words she wanted. “No… No. Neither of you is moving in.”