Hudson stared at Greyson for a long time, his hesitance clear on his face as he mulled over Greysons words.
"Tomorrow? I'll not be able to bring much with me then," He frowned.
"It doesn't matter. We can replace all of your material things pretty quickly. Once you're settled we can look at what you want to do with your future. I promise you, Hudson, life will be so different for you."
He lifted his eyes to meet Greysons, filled with a mixture of excitement and hope and suddenly, his heart was filled with guilt for what he had been forced to partake in earlier that day.
He had heard everything that his older brothers had plotted in order to destroy Greyson and his mate and although he didn't know when it would occur, he knew that the consequences would be devastating if they were successful.
"Greyson, I need to tell you something," He murmured, the guilt on his face apparent as he wrestled with his conscience.
"Listen, whatever you've done, it's in the past. Think of this as a new start."
"No, that's not what I mean, you don't understand." Hudson spat in exasperation, "I know I'm never going to be able to redeem myself in some ways and I'm grateful for the fact that you know I was coerced into things, however…" he trailed off, stepping back from Greyson as he straightened his back and set his shoulders in resignation.
"Hudson?" Greyson asked uncertainly, unease beginning to bloom in his chest as his younger brother's jaw set in determination and the words came tumbling forth.
"They have a plan to destroy both you and your mate's life. If they manage to pull it off, all of you…even if you manage to get away it's going to cause irreparable damage. Your lives will be changed." He rushed out as Greysons face darkened with pure animalistic rage.
"What?" He snarled, his voice dangerously low as Hudson swallowed nervously, "Explain."
"They have spies everywhere and we were already aware of your victory over the Daemon Lords incursion into the Alpha King's territory. It's actually one of the reasons that sparked fathers quest for allies surrounding his border."
"Ann is the Alpha Queen now, not her father" Greyson corrected, his eyes like black pits as they bored into Hudson's face, "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Well, we know the assault was a success and the majority of the coven was killed, but there were also a few that escaped. You know how Logan and Sebastian are…alway looking for a million backup plans and covering every angle in case they need to blackmail anyone."
"Go on..."
"They managed to get their hands on Ely, Narcissa's brother. He says that he was a flesh crafter…whatever that is..." Hudson answered as his lip curled in distaste.
"WHAT?!" Greyson roared in outrage, the sound sending nearby birds fleeing from their perches among the branches of the fruit trees within the orchard.
"They reached out to him and arranged a meeting this morning after Genevieve returned and told them everything. I wasn't allowed to remain for their meeting with him, but I know that they intend to use his connection to his sister Narcissa and that Eromaug Daemon to forge an alliance against your Queen, and to use your mate as a bargaining chip."
"Wait…hold on..Genevieve?! Why the hell is she involved in this?"
"I don't know," Hudson sighed wearily, "It's almost like Stockholm Syndrome. No matter what they do to her…she's desperate to please them. Although honestly, perhaps it's more to do with self preservation than anything."
"She's already spoken to Alpha Brad about leaving with them and is happy to do so…it doesn't make any sense."
"Perhaps she thinks that she'll have a better life amongst the Lycan Royals once they return to the kingdom," Hudson grimaced, "She has no idea that it's only going to get worse for her."
"This is going to sound terrible but I don't care what happens to her." Greyson snorted, "So they want to use Lexi to cement an alliance. How do they intend on getting her alone?"
Hudson shrugged apologetically.
"I don't know. As I said, they left me out of that meeting. All I know is that it's going to happen…I just don't know when."
Greyson scowled back at the pack house as he envisioned everything that he intended to do to his brothers if they so much as laid a hand on Lexi.
"Okay, well, at least we know to be prepared. Forewarned is forearmed and all that." Greyson said, narrowing his eyes as a figure came into view at the back of the pack house and headed towards them.
Hudson stiffened at his side as Greyson raised an arm to wave to the approaching figure.
"It's ok, you can relax. It's just Allen."
"Ah, your other mate?" Hudson asked curiously as Greyson almost choked on his own saliva and whirled to face him with a look of abject horror on his face.
"Fuck no!" He protested vehemently as Hudson stepped back and held his hands up in front of him defensively.
"Wow... okay. I'm guessing that your female has been blessed with two mates then." Hudson chuckled, "Lucky girl."
"She has two souls," Greyson began to explain but stopped at the confused look on Hudsons face and sighed, "It's a long story, I'll explain when we have more time."
Thankfully, Allens appearance diverted the conversation but Greyson didn't miss the way his brother's eyes slid appreciably over Allen's appearance, nor the approval in his eyes as he flicked back to regard Greyson, blushing slightly as if he had been caught out doing something that he shouldn't.
"Is everything okay here?" Allen asked cautiously, his eyes flicking between the two of them warily.
"More than okay," Greyson grinned, "Allen, this is Hudson. Take this as your formal introduction. He's my second youngest brother."
"Pleasure to meet you." Allen nodded as he stepped forward to shake his hand.
"My brother will return with us to the palace tomorrow." Greyson advised as Allen's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but Greyson continued before he could question his motives, "He has also informed me about my brother's planned betrayal. I think you need to hear what he knows because it concerns a serious threat to Lexi."
Allen's lips curled back in a snarl of fury, just as Greyson's had earlier.
"Tell me everything."