First, | can’t provide for Grace, now she’s providing for the pack because | can’t. | have to be the most ipetent Alpha on the


    net. Thankfully, she has faith in me, but it means that | need to speak to Rik and Liam sooner rather thanter. Now that the


    Alpha challenge is done, | will call and set up a time to meet with


    them.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org.


    | go to the dining hall and meet with the new individuals that want to be put into the patrol rotation. | pulled one of the patrol


    leaders into the meetings so he could discuss the current structure of the patrols. | realize | need to run patrols. with the team so


    | can see how it flows and where our weaknesses are in the borders. | would have already done it but mating with Grace took


    precedence and being newly mated, it’s hard being away from her for long periods of time.


    We''re nearly done when | hear a howl go up. The patrol leader lifts his head, listening. “There’s someone at the border, Alpha.


    Would you like to go see who it is?”


    “Yes, let’s go.”


    We take off, headed in the direction of the howl. “How do you know it’s not an attack?” | ask, since we’re jogging at a steady


    pace, rather than shifting.


    “Different howls. It will be great when we have a pack link. We''ve learned tomunicate in wolf form, but it’s much easier with


    a link.”


    When we jog up, | see a woman, and what looks like a baby in her arms, kneeling on the ground. One of the patrols is squatting


    down next to her. “Alpha. This is Amber and her child.”


    She looks up at me. “You’re the Alpha here?” Her face is bruised, and | can smell


    blood on her.


    “Yes.” | say, walking closer and bending down in front of her. “You''re safe now.”


    She throws herself into my arms and sobs. | hold her until she gathers herself.


    “Can you walk?” | ask her.


    “Yes.”


    | keep my arm around her and guide her back to the packhouse. “How old is your child?”


    “She’s just a month old.”


    SONOI SIT


    +15 BONDS


    “Who did this to you?” | ask as the packhousees into view.


    She looks at me. “Hunters. They''ve been getting bolder. | was lucky to get away, but they may have tracked me here. I’m sorry.”


    | turn and look at Daniel, the Patrol Leader, and he takes off to alert the patrols.


    We walk into the back of the packhouse, and | hear an angry growl. | look up and see Grace, Maia shining bright in her eyes at


    me touching another she—wolf. | watch as her nose goes up and she smells the same blood that | did. Her eyes go back to


    brown, and she rushes over.


    “What happened?” She asks.


    “Amber was running from hunters and came here for safety.” | tell her, thankful that she was able to take in the situation quickly


    and not misinterpret what was happening.


    “Summer? Where do we have an empty room?” She asks, just as Amber lifts her nose in the air.


    “Mate.” She says quietly. | look up and see Carlos standing absolutely still, looking at Amber.


    Grace looks behind her and then back at Amber. “Okay, let’s put you in one of the empty rooms on the Beta floor.” She says


    looking me with wide eyes.


    “Summer, what is ready on the Beta floor?”


    Ayoung woman grabs a pad of paper sitting on the counter. “Uh, the one right next door to Beta Carlos’s room.”


    “Amber,e with me.” She says before turning to me. “Do we have a pack doctor?”


    | look at Carlos. He’s still in a trance looking at his mate. “Carlos, do we have a pack doctor?”


    That snaps him out of it. “You''re hurt.” He says before taking in the baby. “And you have a child.” He says quietly. | watch has the


    hope in him detes.


    It''s my incredible mate that steps in. “How about we get her settled and seen by a doctor before we jump into other discussions,


    okay Carlos?” She says as she guides Amber to the stairs.


    “Of course. We don’t have a doctor, but we have someone with some medical training.”


    “Get them for us.” Grace tells him.


    TT4


    “Cammy, can you make a te of food and give it to Ell or Carlos to bring up?


    “yes Luna.”


    “Eli, can you help Noah unload the car? | got twoputers, one for you and Carlos to share for now and one for me to use for


    the packhouse supply tracking and shift scheduling.”


    I''m about to take the te of food upstairs, when the howl goes up. This one | recognize immediately. Danger.


    1 turn and shift as 1 jump out


    e door. | feel Noah shift right behind me. | hear another howl go up, before it is abruptly cut off. | head in that direction and when |


    get there, | see that there are 30-40 hunters with arrows and guns, firing at my pack members.


    Louis snarls ferociously. How dare theye here and attack my pack. | can see multiple pack membersying on the ground,


    some in mid-transition, so | know the hunters are using silver. | hear the bullets whizzing by my head, but I jump into the fight


    without hesitation, noticing that Noah does the same.


    | feel a bullet hit my shoulder as Louis‘ ws rake down the body of a hunter, eviscerating him where he stands. As an arrow


    laced with wolfsbane hits my nk, | grab the arm of another hunter aiming an arrow at a pack member and I rip his arm from his


    body. The wolfsbane is slowing my movements and pack members are being taken out at an rming rate, but those of us still


    standing continue to tear into the hunters.


    Maiaes flying out of nowhere. She takes an arrow to her nk, but it barely phases her. | take another bullet to the thigh, the


    silver burning a hole into my body that Louis can’t heal.


    Maia begins cutting down the hunters, ripping heads from bodies, slicing


    through flesh and bone. Grace may have never learned to fight, but it’s in Maia’s Guardian soul. Her skill and lethality are


    extraordinary.


    | continue to fight, feeling my strength wane as the wolfsbane and silver try to force me to shift back. As | look around, | see


    many of our pack members are lying unconscious, forced to shift due to their injuries. Many aren’t healing and | can’t tell how


    many are dead and how many are injured, needing medical attention so they don’t die.


    Thankfully there weren’t more hunters. The problem is their weapons. Without those, there wouldn''t have even been a fight. As


    Maia takes out thest of the hunters, | limp to her, making sure she isn’t hurt too badly. | can smell the wolfsbane on her and


    she’s barely using the leg where the arrow punctured.


    Louis licks her face and whines at her before surrendering to the darkness.


    +15 BOAICE


    Cooper


    Author


    Carlos found his mate, but she has a child? And, how about Maia showing off her