When I walked into the pack dining hall, I saw many family members from both sides of the family, Council members, and the few pack members I had Charles invite. Charles came over and whispered, "Goliath got here just about ten minutes ago. He went to his room to clean up and said he would be a few minutes later but not to hold back dinner. Just asked you to save him a seat by you."

"Thank you, Charles." He nodded his head in acknowledgment. He turned to walk out, "Where are you going, Charles."

"This is a time for family and close friends. I will see you at the pack meeting." He turned and started to walk out.

"Charles Wayne Black, get your ass back in here. You are part of our family and close friends network. I don't ever want you to imply you're not. Now come with me and get a plate at the food bar. The pack was great to set up."  He then turned toward everyone else. "Tonight, I would like to request no condolences. We will eat. Praise our Moon Goddess, Selene, and enjoy each other's company. Then after we eat, we will share what I know, which isn't a lot." He then dragged Charles over and filled his and Charles' plates. He guided him to the head table. He indicated Charles to sit to his left. He then called out, "Aunt Tiana, come and sit the second chair over from me. Your mate will be here soon.  He can sit between us and brief me on his finding after we eat.  The Schwartz sit next to her. Elder Solomon sits next to Charles.  Elder Betas and Mates sit by Elder Solomon. Elder Deltas and their mates sit by the Schwarz. The rest of you sit wherever and enjoy fellowship. It's been a while since many of you have seen each other. Eat and mingle. At 7:45 pm will hold a briefing. Then we will attend the Pack meeting set for 8:30, which you can attend or go to your rooms. It will be televised on our Pack channel." He then sat down and started eating. He knew, as the pack alpha, no one would eat until he took a bite.

Uncle Goliath showed up as the last people fixed their plates and sat down. Tiana saw him come in and motioned him to her. "I made you a plate."

He kissed her. "Thank you, T. I will admit I am starving. Haven't eaten since breakfast this morning." He then sat down and looked at me. "I got some information."

"Eat. I announced at 7:45 everyone here would be briefed. Followed by a pack meeting at 8:30. You have about 40 minutes to eat before we consider briefing everyone. Enjoy your meal."  He nodded and took a bite of his food.

When 7:15 rolled around, the people in the room who were done eating got up and walked into the kitchen with their plates. They rinsed it off and put their stuff in the dishwasher. The pack members started clearing the buffet table.  By 7:40, everyone was back in their seats.

I stood up in my chair, "I want to thank you all for coming to give support during this rough day. The first thing I would like to do is to ask Doctor Schwartz, our pack doctor, to give an update on our pack members."

Doctor Schwartz stood up, "Today, we had the alpha siblings and guard mates go down in pain. I felt it was in their best interest to sedate them.  We also had mothers going down too. Once again felt they should be sedated. Thankfully we had Doctor West from Green Valley Pack arrive with my grandmother. He has been helping me with the patients.  We discussed it and felt it was in the best interest of the patients to keep them sedated until tomorrow. We have extended family arriving like you. They will be assigned various patients, and we will gradually clear them to go home with their families. We want to revive just a couple of patients at a time.  We will request the family call to set up their time. Some pack members are handing cards with our number on them." He then sat down as the cards were handed out.

I stood again, "Elder  Janet, Elder Beta Davis' mate, would you please stand and update me about what you have been doing this afternoon?"

She stood up, "myself and the other top elders set up a counseling center. We had several teens and a few adults stop by. We were there to listen and talk with them. We set the center up near the school. We had many teachers show up to assist. If they wanted to talk, they could. If they wanted to do something physical to release their emotions, they could go to the pack's obstacle course in either wolf or human form. We have volunteers signed up to operate it 24x7 for the next week. We had about a dozen show up to talk but had about three dozen doing the obstacle course. We did have to break up one fight, and one of the enforcers just took them over to the sparing ring." She then sat down.

Then I stood up again. "Next, I would like for Councilman Goliath to give his report. This will be the first time I will be hearing it." I sat down as Goliath stood up. Solomon switched chairs with Charles and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"This morning at 9:05, there was a car bomb that went off at the Lycan Prison.  We had five inmates escape. Three guards and two bystanders were injured, but no reported deaths.

Then at 9:35 am and 9:37 am, two car bombs went off near the counseling center. The enforcers are there. Honestly, they do not know how many bodies are in the cars now. The license plates did confirm it was this pack's vehicle. They are finding car debris about 300 feet out."

He looked at Charlie, "There will be no bodies for the memorial." I knew my eyes turned black. I felt Solomon's hand grip my shoulder tight. Several growls happened in the room, including me. Goliath put his hand on me. "Calm down. There is more. They did find a bike and a pup's near death close to the car. He wore a silver bracelet, so we doubt his pack realized he was missing. The blast did burn the bracelet into his skin. He did have surgery to have the silver bracelet and pieces of medals from the car removed. He most likely witnesses the explosion. He is now in ICU. He might be able to tell us what he saw if he comes out of it.

They know a group walked into and out of the car bomb area to a nearby farm. They found werewolves' blood but no bodies. It was from a farm belonging to Young's family. It is still early in the investigation.

They don't know if the bombs are related since they were different bombs at both places. At this time, there are still more questions than answers." He then sat down.

After a few moments, my eyes finally reverted, and I was back in control and not my wolf. I stood up, "Once we can get their remains back, we will plan a memorial for my parents, brothers, and the guards. I will be sitting down with my other siblings and the mates of the guards."

I take a deep breath, "the other things the elders and I discussed will be announced at the pack meeting.
Doc, tomorrow I will be at the hospital at 8; 00 am. I will be there to greet each guard mate's family. We will wake their family mates up first. We will have a security detail assigned to bring each family to where Charles has each family staying. Then once I am sure they are all taken care of, we will start waking up my siblings."

There is one good news I will announce, but it will not leave this room. I can only command my pack members not to discuss it now. I want Councilman Goliath to control the supernatural council here, not to discuss what I will share. Aunt Maggie, to you Lycan members who are here, please use your Luna command to do the same thing. I will ask you on the count of three to say I COMMAND YOU TO THE SEAL OF SILENCE UNTIL ALPHA CHARLIE RELEASE YOU FROM THIS COMMAND."

Councilman Goliath and Luna Maggie stood up, "One, two, three."

Then the three of us used our command voice, " I COMMAND YOU TO THE SEAL OF SILENCE UNTIL ALPHA CHARLIE RELEASE YOU FROM THIS COMMAND."

The room was quiet for a few seconds. Many necks were shown to their perspective leaders. Then I heard a chorus of either, "Yes, alpha," "Yes, councilman," "Yes, Luna," or "Yes, mama."

I looked down at Solomon, "I know you know what I am going to share and won't say anything." I then looked at everyone in the room. "Today, I was approached by someone who informed me he found his mate. His mate is my sister, Beth. Before anyone asks about Guinevere, he has an identical twin and is sent for him. He will be here in a couple of hours. Once confirmed and my sisters are awake to acknowledge them. I will release you from the vow of silence once they acknowledge and announce their mates. Everyone is to act surprised. We all deserve to hear some good news from this sad day. Now I must head to a pack meeting to make these announcements, plus a few more. You can join it, head to your room to rest, or even watch it on Channel 19, our pack channel."

Goliath, Doc, Solomon, Grammy, the elders, and their mates headed to the field where we had our pack meetings. I saw we had pack members and the rouge village members standing around. When I started walking through the crowd, one wolf started howling.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

More wolves joined in. It was done in human and wolf forms. It sounds sad and mournful. I kept walking, knowing this was done out of love and respect for their former leaders. I walked up the front and the steps onto the stage. I was followed by family and friends who came with me from dinner.

I listened for a few minutes, looking over the pack members and rouge villagers. I raised my hands to indicate quiet down without saying a word. It slowly quieted down. I went to the microphone. "Thank you for the respect you showed to our lost pack members. Tonight I called a pack meeting to share some reports about today's happenings. The first thing I want to say is don't listen or create gossip. If I hear about it, I will not hesitate to muzzle you. That is not displayed as a threat but as a promise. I had a few people give me and my family reports today, and I will call them up to share with you. I want the same respect shared with them as you would me. You all know him if you have been to the pack clinic and hospital. Doctor Schwartz.

I stepped back, and he said, "This morning between 9:30 to 10:00, our pack felt the pain of losing our former alpha and luan pous their guards. We saw a few pack members die as they experienced a deep loss. We even saw our alpha stagger, but he stayed up. I want to thank the many pack members who assisted in getting our members to the hospital, where I determined it would be in their best interest to sedate them until tomorrow. When their families who are part of other packs get settled in their temporary lodging tonight, a hospital member will arrange for them to meet at the hospital to give support as they are brought out of sedation in the morning. Then a security detail will escort them back to their lodging. I do ask the pack to give them time to heal."  He stepped back from the mic and went to stand by his mate.

Elder Janet stepped up next, "Hello. My name is Elder Janet. My mate is Elder Beta Davis.  Many of you know me, but a few guests have not met me. Today when we realized what had happened, we set up a counseling center for those who might want to talk about our pack loss. We also know with us being wolves; sometimes actions work better. With us not knowing the reason for our loss and tightened security, we arranged for the wolf and human obstacle course to be opened so you could run and work out in either form in a safe environment.  On my way over here, I was stopped by a few teachers. We now will give the pack to pound out their anger in the form of an old fashion barn building. We will be offering you a chance to work with your hands. We have a storage warehouse instead of a barn that needs to be built for the school. It will be a way to work out in various ways. The school cafeteria will be opened up to serve food.  This counseling center for talking will be open 24x7 for the next week. Then will reevaluate if it will need to be extended." She then stepped back.

Councilman Goliath said, "Many of you are wondering what happened today. We at the supernatural council were informed a little bit after 10:00 am there had been a bomb going off at 9:05 am at the Lycan Prison. There were five escaped convicts. We had three people injured but no fatalities.

We were then notified of a car bombing about ten miles from the Counseling Center that Jocelyn had helped create. Two explosions were heard in several nearby communities—one at 9;35 and 9;37. Debris from the two vehicles was spread about 300 feet or more. The only way we could identify anything was the license plates. They were both assigned to this pack.  There was a nearby witness. It appears to of been a pup on a bike wearing a silver bracelet. He did undergo surgery and is in ICU, fighting for his life. We pray to the Moon Goddess he survives and can maybe give us a clue to what happened."

One pack member asked, "Are you saying we will have no bodies to set on the memorial?

Goliath replied in a somber tone, "That is correct. Alpha Charlie, his siblings, and the mates still will plan a wonderful memorial once the enforcers who are investigating the scene release what they can to us."

A few cries were heard, and soothing tones were being made. A few growls were done too.  I then stepped up to the microphone. "Stop the growling now. I know I am pissed off about this too. This leads to what I have to share. With the turmoil of my family's death, I had a meeting with the Elder Senior Beta Davis Smythe, Junior Beta Samantha Johnston, Delta Trainers Hank Garden, Elder Delta Trainers Hank Garden, Elder Delta Trainers George Roush, and Elder Delta Trainers Joesph Kite to come out of retirement and take over their old jobs. Elder Alpha Solomon of Green Valley and Junior Beta Caspian to take over Alpha responsibilities." I looked at Caspian, "I know I haven't talked to you yet, but you know how this pack runs especially the rouge village. It is not the typical pack. Your dad knows how that village runs. I feel you can handle any crisis that might come up. I am asking Elder Solomon to step into my position."

A pack member cried out, "Are you abandoning us?

My eyes turned black, "NEVER WILL I ABANDON JUNIPER PACK. AFTER THE MEMORIAL FOR OUR FALLEN PACK MEMBERS, MY WOMB MATES AND I, ALONG WITH WARRIORS FROM OUR PACK, GREEN VALLEY PACK, AND LYCAN PACK, ARE GOING AFTER THE SONS OF BITCHES WHO MURDERED MY PARENTS, BROTHERS, AND GUARDS. THEY WILL PAY, AND EVERYONE WILL LEARN YOU NEVER MESS WITH THE JUNIPER PACK."

The pack and started clapping, yelling, howling their support. "NOW, LET US SHIFT AND DO A PACK RUN IN MEMORY OF OUR FALLEN MEMBERS." I shifted, my clothes ripped to pieces, and I took off running, followed by all those who were then. We ran long into the night.

What do you think about Charlie's plan to seek justice for his parents?

Do you feel he is abandoning his pack?

Today is March 13, 2023- this story is still being written. What are some things you would like to see happen if this book is still written when you read it? Your suggestions might be used in this book or future books.