CHAPTER 5: CHOICES

TRAVIS

“Is this a smart decision?” Mark asks as we walk away from the locked bedroom, ignoring the way Louisa keeps screaming and pounding ag the door

“It is the only decision,” I mutter as we walk away. “You saw how she was. She refuses to listen. Wouldn't even allow me to get a word in.”

“Well maybe it's because you had her children locked up.”

“Don't act smart with me,” I growl at him. Still annoyed by the fact that the woman I have been looking for has not one child but two with another man.

And let's not forget the fact that she is my mate.

Louisa… is my mate.

I don't know whether to leap for joy of finally finding hee or break someone at the fact that someone has already gotten to her first.

Just what kind of an asshole leaves a woman with his children and vanishes.

“Bastard.”

“What did I do?!” Mark exclaims as he gives me a grieved look

“Not you,” I say as I walk into my study. “The bastard who has the children. How can he abandon his family like that?”

“Who said he abandoned them?”

“Do you see any other wolf demanding to let them go? Why was she the one to come for them? Why not him?”

“Isn't that a little not old fashioned misogynistic you?”

“I am not misogynistic,” I growl as I take a seat. “Old fashioned maybe but I make no apologies for believing that it is a man's prerogative and duty to protect his woman and children. And I don't see that happening.”

“Fair point. What do you want to do now?” he says as he takes a seat in front of me.

“I don't know,* I say on a sigh. “She doesn't look like she is willing to calm down anytime soon.”

“You can start by letting the children go.”

“You think I haven't thought of that?” I mutter. “I want to let them go mad not just because Louisa is my mate. The idea of having children that young in the dungeon doesn't sit well with me. But apart from that, you know there are people in the pack, especially the elders who don't care that they are children. They see them as rogues nothing more and as such they should be put to death. How do I let them go without getting backlash from those assholes.”

“Hmm. You can always go with my suggestion and just kill the old fogeys.”

“And be known as a tyrant? No thank you.”

He leans his arms on the desk as he looks off, deep in thought.

“What if…” he starts

“Go on.”

“What if rather than just letting them go… we incorporate them into the pack. Set them up with the pack training them with the rest of the wolves. Earn their loyalty.”

“Hmm.”

“It is also a good way to ensure that Louisa- sorry, I mean the Luna- doesn't leave. You do intend kn making her the Luna, right?” he asks

“You think, I don't want to?”

“Just needed to be sure. So, what do you think?”

“I think,” I say as I get to my feet. “Befoee we make any decision, we should get a basic understanding and knowledge of who they are and where they come from, sor you think.”

“You are going to question her?” he asks as he gets to his feet with me

“Are you serious? She will havey head the moment I walk though the door. No. I am going to quartion the kids. With any luck, thwya ew much as we ran thwoe mother. And also, have Tammy eeun to the pack. Louisa is going to need someone she can trust if my pan to make her stay here is going to work.”

“I will get right on it.”

*****

The dungeon, when I walk in, is more dull and subdued than normal.

It is probably because wod the fact that a atngw woman had handed their asses to what I would have called the toughest wolves I have ever trained

Their self-esteem must have taken a hit.

“Alpha,” one of the guatds greets as I walk through a corridor.

“Where are the kids?” I ask as I walk past him

“We had them moved to a miew swcuee cell after… well, after what happend earlier. As per your orders, thy have not been integrated or tortured.”

“Good.”

This part of the dungeon has been repurposed to an underground prison cells with smooth concrete walls and a faintly sterile smell of disinfectant. LED strip lights run along the ceiling, casting a cool, white glow that eliminates shadows andakes the paininwes uncomfortable while the air is cool, circulated by a quiet ventilation system that hums faintly in the background.

The twins are kept in a room-sized cell, separated by reinforced glass walls with an electronically controlled sliding door. The space is minimally furnished, with two single beds with plain white bedding, a small metal table with two chairs, and a corner shelf stocked with bottled water, snacks, and basic hygiene items. A small digital clock embedded in the wall keeps time, and a high-definition security camera silently monitors their every move from above.

The twins a girl and a boy are sitting side by side, their matching dark eyes taking in their surroundings with sharp intelligence inisla doe normal kids their age.

But then again, they are rogues.

They must have lived in constant vigilance

Their brown hair is neatly trimmed for those status and they are both wearing identical gray sweatsuits most likely provided by us.

As I stare at them, the boy begins to fidgets with a piece of string he found, his restless energy evident in the way his fingers moves while the girl leans back against the wall, arms crossed, her demeanor calm but his gaze watchful.

They don't seem scared and I can't tell if it's because they don't understand the danger they are in or that they are every confident in their mother.

“Okay then,* I say as I take a seat on one of the chairs. “First question, who is your father?”