Reckless Regrets
Chapter 49

Kade

“So, how are things going? What’s the plan for us to head back home?” I asked Xander.

“Everything is finished, and this is officially no longer Canyon Woods. I have to leave a Captain in charge while I’m back home who’ll be the go-to guy for important matters here, and he’ll then run it up the chain through us. I would have liked to use Simon or Gregory, but I’m sorry to say I can’t trust them. They seem loyal enough, but they sat back and allowed Thorne to do terrible things and never spoke up. I can’t have people who will turn a blind eye in a leadership position in my pack. You men love to call me on my bullshit, and even though I hate it at the time, I appreciate it down the line. That’s what I need here.”

“I get that, and I support it. Besides, I think Simon and Greg have burnt out anyway. They just want to live their lives away from all the decision making. We have anybody in mind to serve as Captain?” I asked.

“I was hoping for a co-captain type arrangement between Marisol and Nate. Marisol grew up in the inner circle, and Nate grew up having to struggle. Put them together, and they have a full picture of pack life and could be the perfect pair to keep things running smoothly here,” Xander replied.

“That’s perfect, Xan. I was a little worried about Marisol when she found out about all the changes and how she would accept her reduced role in the pack, but this would make it so everything isn’t fully taken away from her. She already lost enough with her dad, losing her rank in her home pack because of him would be an extra slap in the face.”

“She’s still losing her rank. A satellite captain can’t make executive decisions or major changes. Everything has to be approved by one of us, without fail,” he explained.

“By ‘one of us’ who exactly do you mean?”

“Our core eight members, so anyone from myself to Tyson. And the ladies. A directive from any one of you is to be obeyed without question because I know it will run through me before you’d approve it anyway.”

“What’s makes you so sure about that?” I asked. I was in an a*****e mood and hadn’t screwed with Xander in a while.

“Because you wouldn’t be my core team otherwise. I trust you seven implicitly, and I hope you feel the same. That trust means that you won’t do anything to this pack, which I’ve worked so hard to grow and expand. Blue Moon might as well be one of my children, that’s how much I love it, and I know that none of you would ever harm my children,” he replied.

“Ahh, f**k you, man! You had to bring the kids into the mix, and now I can’t finish what I started. That was low,” I complained.

“I knew exactly what you were doing, but Uncle Kade may be more loyal than Beta Kade; I had to do it,” he said with a laugh.

“Does this mean that Cameron and Nathan are coming back here?” I asked.

“That’s the plan. I haven’t told Nate yet, and I know it will be a lot for him to go from omega to Captain, but I’ve seen how much he’s progressed since he’s been with us. And he has a willingness to learn. The second you refuse to learn and grow, you become an ineffective leader. I don’t see that being a problem with Nathan.”

“I’d suggest we let him know now, and get him up here tonight or tomorrow at the latest. That way, he will be in place when Marisol comes home. It will be good for her to see how much things have changed and that you cared enough to leave some of the old pack ‘in charge.’”

“My thoughts exactly. I’ll get things set up, the sooner they are, the sooner we can go home.”

***

Nate was both excited and terrified to replace out that Xander wanted to make him Captain. When he’d left Oregon, he was a man at the very bottom of the totem pole with no respect who couldn’t even mark his mate. Now, nothing could happen without going through him first. It was a significant change, and even knowing where he started, I knew that he would be great.

Since it was still early in the day, Nate opted to pack up and head back immediately. Cameron was moved to the packhouse until everything here settled down. We didn’t see a point in him possibly getting lost on the shuffle, and he was enjoying himself with the kids, and the treats he and Morgan were always baking up.

When Nate arrived, he had a huge smile on his face that he couldn’t get rid of. It was refreshing to see.

“Alpha, Beta. It’s good to see you two, and thank you for trusting me with this position,” he said.

“Technically, I’m still a nobody. You outrank me right now, kid,” I replied.

He thought it over then smiled even bigger. He loved this.

“He’ll be Beta again very soon, so don’t get too used to it. And you may want to ease up on the smiles, this is going to be hard work, and I expect perfection; you ready?” Xander asked him.

“Yes, Alpha. I’m ready.”

“Good. First off, the packhouse here will be restructured. The top floor is reserved for ranked members when we are at this location instead of the main one. Below that will be where you, Marisol, and Cameron will reside.

It’s an entire floor, so there will be offices and other essentials in place that will be assigned as the need arises. The second floor will be for the house staff. This bullshit of them staying in the basement is over; I’ve been down there, and those are cells for holding rogues, not people who keep everything running.

There will be teams coming in over the next few months for renovations to ensure everything from the kitchen to the bathrooms is modernized. This is Blue Moon now, and everyone will know it as soon as they step on my territory.”

“Wow. That’s major, Alpha. Omegas have never stayed on a main floor in the packhouse,” Nate stated.

“I know. I’m sure you noticed that at our main location, the omegas live in the village with the other pack members. I don’t have the room to expand the village too much right now, but when I acquire more of the surrounding land, that will be the top priority, and the second floor would then transition to guest quarters. Do you approve?” Xander asked him.

Nate looked shocked. He’d probably never in his life been asked his opinion on a significant change like this. Especially not by his Alpha.

“Yes, Alpha, I approve. Will you be using one of the pack’s construction companies for the renovations? I’m guessing that would save a good bit of money,” he replied.

“We hold licenses in multiple states, including Oregon, so yes, Black Enterprises will be doing the work. I’ll be able to control the pace and ensure it’s done properly,” Xander proudly stated.

“Why don’t we go up to Nate’s new office then we can go over all the plans,” I suggested.

He tried to suppress the excitement, but I saw Nate slightly jump when he heard he had an office. Xander chuckled and led the way to the third floor.

“You’ll get to settle into your room in a little while, but we’ve got a lot to cover, and I’d like to get back to my family soon, we’ll just push through.”

“Whatever you need, Alpha, I’ll get it done,” Nathan replied as he took a seat in front of the desk.

“Good. The first thing I need is for you to move out of my seat. This is your office Nate, not mine. You sit behind the desk, Kade, and I sit in the visitor’s chairs.”

“Right. Sorry about that.”

Nate relocated to the proper spot and settled in.

“Feel good?” I asked.

“It feels incredible,” he replied.

“That’s what I like to hear. Now let’s get to work,” Xander firmly stated.

***

We worked for hours going over everything that Xander wanted to be corrected, upgraded, or changed to bring things up to his standards. Nate appeared overwhelmed initially, but Xander had a detailed step by step plan that spanned an entire year. Things were going to start happening very soon, but there was a realistic goal for completion.

By 8:00 PM, we’d finished, and Nate went to move his things from the basement to his new room. Xander and I relocated to Thorne’s old office, which was now Xander’s, and set up our laptops to check in on the progress with Tyson.

“I’d love it if we could see what was going on with the girls, rather than just knowing their locations. Knowing where they are only gives us half the picture if we can’t tell what they are doing,” I thought out loud.

“It’s sad to say, but if Marisol isn’t with Tyson, it wouldn’t be hard to guess what’s she’s doing. Gabby is tougher to pin down,” Xander replied.

Once the feed was live, we were relieved to see that both women were in the room with Tyson. Curiosity got the better of me, so I patched in with a question.

“Tyson, how did you manage to talk the guards into letting you have not one but two women in your cell?”

“I was wondering that myself,” Xander said as we waited for an answer.

“I told Madam Crispy that I don’t like to clean or share. She’s making more money off me in one day than she would have in an entire week, so I get whatever I want,” came his reply.

“I’m not reimbursing him for that,” Xander said.

“I doubt Tyson cares. He needs something to do with all the money he had stashed away, so let’s just roll with it.”

“If you can speak to Whalen, try to convince him to patrol the medical bay tomorrow at 9:00 AM. That’s when Matilda and her warlock meet,” Gabby told Tyson.

“Are you sure about that?” he asked.

“I’m positive. They’ll both be there,” Gabby replied.

“Perfect. Troublemaker, I need you to work on that spell, so it’s time for you to go out and mingle a bit. You’re looking for someone you can easily manipulate, and that shouldn’t be hard to come by in here.

Gabby, you go with her and maybe play wing-woman. A guy can barely turn down one pretty face, but two is damn near impossible. If you have any trouble with anyone, make sure you let them know that you are with me, and that should set them straight. If not, I’ll come down for a chat.

I need to replace Little Bear and see if he can get his hands on some tools for us. Once I expose Crispy to her stick figure, that will be all the distractions we need to get out of here. If all goes according to plan, tomorrow night, we should be on our way home.”

I was impressed at how smoothly he pieced together a cohesive escape plan and excited to watch it unfold. This was like the best movie I’d seen in a long time, and I couldn’t wait to see how it ended.ed.