The Alpha's Mother-In-Law's Forbidden Love (The Cresta Chronicles)

Jude POV

A pile of Alpha paperwork sat on his desk, gathering dust. Glancing at Bram, he asked, "How long has this been accumulating?"

Bram answered quickly. "I dug out from under it. This is mile high, but it's not oceans deep so you drown in it. And look." He pointed to tabbed and bookmarked documents. "These ae the ones I thought needed attention as soon as possible."

Impressed, Jude smiled with warmth. "I know I can read your notes better than Harland's. His looked like ancient indecipherable symbols."

Bram woofed with laughter. He pointed to a smaller pile on the opposite end of the desk. "Luna Ravyn needs to get up to speed, and I thought she could take some of the work off your paws. She's excellent at planning and detail."

Jude smiled approvingly. "Your mother never liked her own office--I wonder if Ravyn will prefer the solarium like she did?"

With a shrug, Bram said, "Who knows? It's clear that they agreed on many things. Ravyn has the same tastes in furniture ... she loves tradition like Mom ... her family is her world ... who would have thought the biggest change with getting a new mother would be getting a new father of sorts? And I don't mean Daxius, even though I like him. I'm probably not making much sense."

His son had grown up so much. 

Jude draped an arm around him. "You are making sense, son. More so than you ever have."

Hades whispered, "Our boy is a good boy, and an even better Beta. He'll be an Alpha that makes the other packs sit up and howl."

Bram blushed at Jude's praise. "I have something else to say, but promise you won't laugh."

Pressing his hand to his heart. Jude nodded at his music box, a gift from the dwarves. "I swear on my dwarf opera memorabilia and music boxes."

Relaxing, Bram exhaled. "I'm ashamed to admit this--"

"I'm your father. There's nothing you could say that would make me laugh at you or shame you in any way." Jude smiled encouragingly. "Tell me."

Gathering courage, Bram said, "You sound even better now that you have Hades living inside you. I'm sorry if that sounds awful."

"Smart pup," Jude said, with Hades joining in. "Yes, we somehow do sound better together. It's impossible, or should be. I don't blame you for feeling a little funny inside, expressing those feelings. Fenrir's guts, it's a surreal experience, having three beings inside my body--Arcturus, Hades, and me."

With humor and perfect timing, Bram replied, "Three of you to tackle all this paperwork? Sounds like a winning strategy."

Jude howled with laughter, until tears poured down his cheeks, and Bram joined in. "What have we got?" Jude wheezed, still chuckling.

Bram thumbed through the paperwork and showed Jude the documents.

"Pack Inventory and Supply Management For the Winter."

"Updated Shifter Federation Inter-Pack Trade Agreement. (Signature Required)"

"Updated Trade Agreement with Scapolite Dwarves. (Signature Required)"

"Trade Counter-Proposal from the High Elves. (Signature Required)"

"New Trade Route Connecting Brighmere, Silverpaw Pack, and Lugdunum. (Signature and Council Approval Required)"

"Proposal For New Supply Caravans."

"Revised FY (Fiscal Year) Budget. (Council Approval Required)"

"Pack Enforcer Activities."

"Intelligence Chief Reports."

"Contract With Hemming Paints, Evenhide Pack. (Signature Required)"

"Agreement with Wildefell Witch Circle. (Signature Required)"

"Pack Property Status."

"Property Dispute With Evenhide Farmers. (Potential Trouble)"

This last one made Jude's wolf sit up and howl. 

Jude pulled that document, the papers crinkling and fluttering with a swoosh. "Evenhide property dispute? Did I let that one slide? When did this happen?"

Bram blushed. "I did, too, and Harland."

Jude scowled, pacing, reading the document. "This is not good. This looks like we buried this problem on purpose. That we stuck our heads in a hole in the ground because--"

"DAD. It doesn't matter. What matters is solving the problem."

Jude huffed. "We had all the Evenhide leadership here--"

"During your bonding ball, and a crisis. Do you want to tell the council what that crisis was?" Bram looked in his eyes. "Let me take responsibility. I didn't bring it to your attention when Evenhide was here. And I ... I wasn't doing my duty out of grief as a future Alpha."

"BRAM. Ultimate rule of leadership. The people don't care who was to blame or what happened as long as it gets fixed." Jude stared into his eyes. "I love you for being willing to stick your paw in a trap, but let's just attack the problem. Together."

Hades agreed as they read over the property dispute.

The problems arose from a small farming commune on the Evenhide side of the border. They claimed that the Silverpaw Pack expanded the border, taking away part of their farmland. Jude couldn't remember any such expansion, but that meant nothing.

"Bram, pull all Silverpaw territory maps for the last fifty years."

A quick search by Bram of the massive books titled "Silverpaw Territory Maps" yielded several oversized volumes that could help them. As they both leafed through the laminated maps, Jude began to see a pattern. The Evenhide border seemed to move gradually east, splitting the commune in half.

He shifted into his wolf form and reached out to Dane via the mind-link.

"Dane, it's Jude. How close to the border are you?"

* * * * *

Dane POV

Jude's voice from out of the blue made him skid in the wet grass, nearly stepping on a nest of cobalt blue electric snakes. Fortunately for him, they all appeared to be asleep. The sizzle from them felt and sounded lethal. Patch and Anneliese gave the scene a wide berth, since Anneliese had had her own painful encounter with the reptiles three years ago. Dane never experienced that particular horror, and he didn't plan to start now.

"JUDE! Next time, warn me when you're going to use the mind-link."

"I hope this isn't a bad time," Jude thought apologetically. 

Hades couldn't resist a cheeky response. "Don't fall into a hole."

"Thanks for your concern," Dane snarled.

"Ignore him," Jude advised.

Sighing through his nose, Dane asked, "What is it?"

"Do you know the Goose Creek Orchard Commune?"

Dane tensed. He hadn't wanted to bring up this particular dragon's nest with Jude, especially with the bonding and then Hades transmigrating into Jude's body. 

"Dane? That's a long, loud pause. You usually make it when you're trying to find the words."

Dane howled with laughter, making Lilia gaze at him with concern. Then, she tuned into the mind link, and a knowing look crossed her face. "Sounds serious," she thought.

"It is," Dane, Jude, and Hades thought. 

Dane added, "Two words. Goose Creek."

Lilia's thighs hugged him tightly. "I was wondering when we were going to do something about that dragon's nest. I didn't want to bring it up to Jude or Mother--but it's high time that we deal with it."

"Agreed," Jude thought. "I just can't imagine we'd seize farmland that belonged to someone else. There has to be some mistake."

Dane sighed, standing still. "I remember it differently ..."

Jude's voice sounded stricken with pain. "Did it happen over the last three years?"

"Longer than that, and little by little, according to the farmers," Dane replied. 

Jude's groan was deafening. "Oh, so I can't even blame my grief."

Dane woofed, finding a silver lining temporarily. "That's why you're a good Alpha. Unflinching honesty. Truthfully, I should have noticed what was happening, too. We both need to correct this."

Jude howled with determination through the mind-link. "Ravyn, Bram, and I will meet you at the commune."

Ravyn's voice echoed through the link, startling them all. "Dane's right. Jude's right. This is both Silverpaw's and Evenhide's responsibility. Let's take care of it together. We'll be there soon--because Eirika and I just had a vision ... everything is about to explode!"