I answered, “Yes, I do know that. So does Melanie. Someone ALWAYS wants to talk to her, but they can wait until she is ready. Is Theo taking Ezra with him back to their pack?” Dad answered, “Lucas and Theo are having words with Ezra. Lucas went first because Theo is still processing.”
Dad paused then added, “I’d imagine Theo will ultimately want to keep Ezra here and come visit. It’s what I’m going to advise, because Theo won’t want that man in his territory near where memories of Aaron are.” That made sense.
I honestly couldn’t imagine how Alpha Theo felt. I’d known the man my entire life, and he was practically family to us. If I didn’t know that one of my brother’s was spelled to go crazy, I’d feel like a bad brother and I’d be pissed.
When Melanie stopped running, I teased her about her announcement delivery. We took a moment for her to collect herself. When she was ready, I popped her back where everyone was waiting. I frowned taking in the tone of the room. What the hell?
I linked EJ, “Why does everyone look mad? They weren’t mad when I left.” EJ answered, “We filled them in on the whole Ezra, Robert, Melanie being hunted thing. They aren’t mad at her.” Ok that was fine. Oden told me, “Pepper is going to get this conversation moving.” Drake made that declaration instead of Pepper though.
Melanie sighed, “Ok… what do you want to talk about?” Tristan snorted and my wife bit her lip before adding, “It was alittle funny. I thought more than T would laugh though.” Jason said, “We just got some upsetting news.” Melanie frowned.
I felt her hurt barrel into the bond and nearly growled the room down. My mate asked, “Why is it so bad that I started and run the Resistance?” Jason faltered, “What? No, not that.” Melanie checked her watch, and I felt her confusion swirl around.
My wife admitted, “I have no idea what you could be upset about then.” Which annoyed her quite deeply. Sam said, “We can talk about that another time, Ladybug.” My mate’s mom walked over and hugged her.
When my mother in law pulled back, she kissed my wife’s forehead. Sam told her, “I have always been proud of you. This, your Resistance, is an amazing accomplishment. The more we learn about what you’ve been doing while you were taken gets more impressive by the second. It’s baffling how you stood so strong.”
“It’s heartbreaking what was done to you, and I wish I could change that for you. How you chose to deal with the situation though, it’s so impressive Ladybug. You were just a teenager, but you rose to the challenge.”
“You fought for people who didn’t have the skills to do so. You were the voice of those too beaten down by a system to fight back anymore. Or at all. I won’t lie and say this doesn’t scare me, it does. There’s a target on your back, and I feel like it just gets bigger the more we learn. It was big enough for me as your mother when you were just in the Resistance.”
Melanie reasoned, “It’s not like a lot of people know that I run everything…. It’s a small group of people that has that information. Other people just think exactly what you guys did. That I’m high up in the Resistance… and that I recruit people because I was in placed with the Hunters.”
Uncle Bjourn asked, “Roughly, not including us, how many people know you run the Resistance?” Melanie answered immediately, “Twelve people.” Ok, that was a doable number, and I could figure out most of the names.
Hastein surmised, “That’s why Kingsley can do whatever she wants whenever. Because you don’t care if she does what you ask or not.” Melanie nodded, “I mean… well… Kingsley often does what I ask… but we talk about it. I don’t want her to be uncomfortable where she is and….”
Hastein snorted, “Cousin, I broke her again. Do fix that.” I leaned down and kissed Melanie. When we broke apart my mate was flushed. Oden purred, “We should take our mate to bed and celebrate all her impressive accomplishments.” I was onboard with that.
Gage chimed in, “How firm is that only twelve people knowing before us thing?” Melanie replied, “Ummm very?” Phil asked, “Is that a question?” Sierra answered, “It’s not.” Dad asked, “How much of the Ring’s network do you have?”
Melanie said, “Probably sixty-five percent at this point. I’ve had to go slow.” Uncle Bjourn said, “And that’s why you didn’t have to ask to add Gunner or Micah to the system. Not only is the system yours, but it’s your call.” Melanie nodded.
Drake asked, “How did you always know when someone was in danger around here?” Melanie sighed, “I’ve tapped into several people’s phones. It goes around their network when they think they will deliver a blow to the allies.”
“It’s not smart, but it works for me. They do it to get everyone excited, but really it gives away their plans. I also have a very large network. Just because people aren’t in the field, doesn’t mean they don’t feed us information.”
“In the forgotten packs, all the pack leaderships think they have everyone so brainwashed they can speak in front of Omega’s, and those they consider pack slaves, freely. When youdo that… people talk. They don’t seem to understand that you can push people so far, and when they feel they can do so, they’ll fight back.”
“Even if it’s in a way that is perceived as small. Like sending a text on a phone I got for them… they feel powerful. Anyone who has felt powerless likes to feel like they have control or power over something. Or they got one over on the bad guy.”
“Especially, if that person is one of your tormentors. Anything to damage their happiness, or plans, is something those people jump at. People from all over the world want to fight, but they don’t know how. Giving details and hearing later how plans fell apart made them feel hope. That’s what those people all live for, and when you give it to them they want more.”
Tristan said, “You must have a lot of people ready to take over packs then.” Melanie nodded, “I do. Some aren’t ready… quite yet. More than a few need mentors. That’s a hard thing to get people, without… other people knowing.” I laughed because that sounded a little familiar.
I teased, “Big brother, I think some of your mentees lied about how they took over their pack.” Melanie sighed, “I mean that’s… it’s not like we…. as the Resistance, can say we went in and killed people. The Ring would catch on. The rogue attack story pisses the Ring off more than we do because it makes them feel like they lost a pack on a chance. They also happen to be chasing down rumors of a rogue group that doesn’t exist… and that amuses me… on a very deep level.”
Dad laughed, “Son of bitch.” Melanie quickly said, “I sent you the information that there was no new rogue King gathering rogues. I didn't want you to be looking. I didn’t know you guys had been for a few months before I found out. You did that so quietly… so… it’s kind of your fault.” Caleb snorted.
Gage teased Marshall, “Yeah, dad. You’re supposed to loudly look into things so my hacking Luna can tell you that you’regoing down a path that’s unnecessary.” Melanie winced, “I mean… it would be helpful… but I know why they were doing it quietly.”
Dad asked, “Just how long have you had my calendar hacked?” Melanie turned bright red and answered, “A while.” EJ linked me, “Elise said she’s definitely hacked yours.” I replied, “Of course she has.” That was a given, at least in my mind. I was sure the second Melanie learned how to hack… she’d gotten into my schedule.
Uncle Bjourn questioned, “How much will you give us on what you have?” Melanie tilted her head, “That depends. Do you mean why we’ve interfered and what we’ve acted on in the past? I can give that to you. We are basically caught up and act as new intel comes in.”
“I already set Micah and Prince Gunner up with an account in my network. They will get the information that we would. Well… not all of it. Only certain people have that access code… so… mostly. As I said though, you guys can’t act on a lot of that, or it will be clear we are working together.”
My wife squeaked slight when she said my Uncle Gunner’s name which had her friends looking amused. Uncle Bjourn argued, “Not really. We don’t have Fairy powers. We have those contacts of yours, and we can wear masks.” That was all true. Hastein added, “No one would know it was us. Just like they don’t know it’s you.”
