Narrator
True to their intentions, the young wolves focused on strengthening their bodies and minds in the two years that followed. Chris, Bo, Rich, Sarah, and Moira all had different strengths and skills, but they focused as a team on progressing as much as possible. While it sometimes meant separate activities, they still pushed each other to succeed. Always focusing on bringing a better future to the Grey Peak Pack.
Moira and Trajan grew the most, as would be expected of someone who was supposed to be able to take over an entire pack within four years. Many packs passed on the Alpha role as soon as the heir had found their mate. Both Grey Peak and High Valley traditionally waited to start the handover when the Young Alpha had graduated highschool and usually didn’t finish until a few years after. Moira and Trajan didn’t seem to be using
P.o.V. PatrickThe first day back to school their junior year was already irritating and the Grey Peak pack members had only just gotten off the bus. Patrick had to deal with a whole new batch of freshmen who were just as loud and obnoxious as those who came before them. The entire ride, the groups sitting in front of and behind him kept babbling about how excited they were to get to take an hour off of school to come back for training. He’d long since decided to put a stop to that once he was Alpha. There was no point in sacrificing people’s education for a few extra minutes of practice in something most of them wouldn’t even do.Luckily Stan and Seamus had come to their senses after the warriors stationed at High Valley died. Stan wasn’t a warrior, but didn’t want to deal with the loss he saw all around him so distanced
P.o.V. Troi Everyone's excitement was palpable as Troi and Chris headed up the small flight of steps onto the stage. Troi smiled broadly to the group as they stood to the side and let Chris take the mic first. Rich catcalled him as he got ready to speak causing the room to burst into laughter. Troi shot a dark look into the crowd that got them to quiet down. Troi was pretty sure that’s why Chris wanted them there as well. He could have delivered all of the announcements on his own, but Troi didn’t mind helping him out with a bit of crowd control. He cleared his throat to start again, “Ahem. I know everyone, or at least everyone who will be of age, is very excited for this year’s Maben Ball. As with previous years, High Valley and Grey Peak will be working together to coordinate the travel, security, and accommodations for our pack members. Please see
P.o.V. TroiSitting around a small conference table at High Valley over our mid-term break, we couldn't help but feel frustrated. It was aggravating to keep getting stopped and chased and interrupted by people wanting to sign up to help with the ball plans and preparations. We were ready to call it quits and it was only a half way through the semester. We still had weeks of this. But when we got together the list we had so far and took it to Luna Martha and got to see the excitement in her eyes, we knew it was entirely worth it.Since she already asked us to be in charge of coordinating security with Commanders Rose and Alexi and Sylva was going to help with finding enough housing for guests, she started by going through the first batch of names with the two of us to figure out the best way to divide the participants. Luckily we had made notes on what
P.o.V. TroiIt wasn’t entirely unexpected that Silva might find her mate as we wandered the town. We just didn’t anticipate it being our best friend and future Beta. As we all headed towards lunch we couldn’t help but wonder if this would impact his desire for that role. Silva had her own responsibilities here that were just as vital. As far as anyone has said, in our generation she was the only one to inherit any of the mind link powers from the Leary side. If she didn’t take on the role when her dad retired, it would cripple our communication within the High Valley pack. Chris and Silva were practical and loyal, they would see her role as irreplaceable where we could find another for our Beta.Calming ourself, we refocused on Silva’s special, now extra special, day. As we all got to the restaurant and sat down to eat, Ch
P.o.V. PatrickHearing that Moira's second had found his mate in High Valley has been the best thing to happen so far over break. I know she's relying on him to be her "Beta" if she is made heir. For his mate to be from the banished arm of the family means the girl won't be permitted back here. So Moira is stuck with High Valley as her only option to be an "Alpha" or she has to give up her only intelligent supporter and will be easy to push over if father is swayed by the Neanderthals among the warriors to make her the next leader.I can't help but practically float the rest of mid term break. Even helping mother with the mundane task of picking out table linen, dishes, cutlery, and center pieces for the Maben Ball we are going to host can't dampen my spirits. It was smart of me to come to her as soon as I signed up. Moira didn't have a chance to put m
P.o.V. Alpha DarrenIt had been a relatively quiet few days. With all the kids out of school, many of the pack members were spending time with their families or taking short trips. I made sure we didn't have guests so the omegas and warriors could have shorter shifts and lighter duties. I'd even given them the week off from handling the meeting areas since it wasn't going to be very busy.I was cleaning up one of the meeting rooms after a few of the elders stopped by when Troi burst into my head, startling Tybris who also didn't notice the mindlink opening, "Dad, where are you? We have serious news from High Valley. We need to see you now.""In the small meeting room by my office. Come straight here. I'll wait for you," I responded quickly. Even through the mindlink I could tell they were rushing this way a
P.o.V. ???I couldn’t help but be suspicious when Envy brought word that our spy made it out of HIgh Valley. From his last several reports it seemed like he was growing worried about being discovered. He was fishing for support or reassurance from our people whenever he delivered information for the last three months. When he suddenly went silent, we were sure that he had been caught and at least imprisoned. Dime and his partners were incredibly surprised last night when he was sitting at one of the rendezvous points seemingly without a tail.After the last instance of High Valley releasing someone to track us, Envy wasn’t taking any chances, “I had them take him to one of the safehouses on the opposite side of the river. We will hold him there for a few days and have one of your stand-ins go and pay him a visit. What do you want them
P.o.V. TroiWe couldn’t forget our father's cowardice after storming out of his office that evening, but avoiding spending time with him was easy as fall passed into winter. We spent every weekend and school break either working with the Grey Peak warriors with Commander Alexi and Leftenant Adrian or in High Valley. Part of us did understand his concern. However, if information on us had been passed to the rogues, it wouldn’t matter if we were in High Valley or Grey Peak. They were coming after Alphas so we would inevitably be a target if we weren’t already. It made far more sense to work to strengthen the overall security than to run away and hope someone else does.Before all of this, father was teaching us to be a strong Alpha who was not above any task our pack needed and would protect our people. But every time it came to the poi
RichBy the time we had finished handing everything over to Patrick, Trisha, and their group, Troi was long gone from the pack house. Even their scent was growing faint as Claud tracked them through the forest and up towards some of the overhangs. It was well past dark when he finally found more than a wisp of them and was able to hone in on their location.As he got closer I realized where they were. It was the overhang where we found the phoenix feathers as kids. Sure enough, they were sitting on that ledge looking out into the distance. They were so focused, they didn’t even acknowledge Claud’s approach. I shifted back and put on the clothes he’d carried before climbing up beside them.They still didn’t act as if they noticed anyone else here. I tried to wait, but eventually grew
Alpha DarrenWith the discovery of survivors, the path forward seemed much more navigable than when we were dealing with a pack that had been entirely destroyed. As Teddy and his uncle spoke it was like watching fog clear from everyone in the room. When he mentioned Trisha finding her mate the relief from the other end of the line seemed to turn to excitement. That was the moment I realized what that actually meant.While Fallon had planned for numerous outcomes from the party she threw the kids to help find their mates, I don’t think she actually considered the possibility that Patrick may be mated to the sole heir of an Alpha. For any pack with no one in line to inherit, having their child mated to the offspring of an Alpha was a clear path forward and made the succession very easy. From what Fallon has said, Trisha was not raised to lead her p
XXXThe group making their way through Flowing Waters was taking ages. I understand their caution, but we have already been out here for a day waiting for their arrival. I had to hope they would investigate the house enough to find the message we left behind for them to discover. If they did not take the time, we would need to attract their attention enough to be discovered but still not be seen as a threat. That would be far more challenging and may even backfire if everyone doesn’t play their parts right.Luckily they were as thorough as I expected and one of the ones investigating the pack house did uncover the message we left. I had the scout who was watching them cut contact at that point and made sure everyone in the cavernous hideout was ready to put on a show. These warriors would be easy. They were already going to be sympathetic, as lon
TroiWe weren’t taking any chances with our guests until we had people reporting back from Flowing Waters everything they found. Our warriors reported that Trisha and Teddy stayed away from the rest of the pack and basically in a few rooms of the packhouse over the next few days. The only time the three weren't with him was when he went for his runs with dad. Then they'd stay together wherever he left them until he returned. When he did, the boys would bail while he and Trisha spent time together.The warriors who followed the boys reported that Teddy sometimes made brief phone calls. Usually that evening or the day after he would report something to the leaders. Dad wouldn't let us work with Tyko to listen in on his conversation. He still doesn't fully believe us that there is something suspicious about the wolves from Flowing Waters worth being
EnvyEverything clicked into place as Patrick spoke. His sister’s deeper voice when we were in the room upstairs definitely struck a nerve and I realized now she was the one taunting us after the failed High Valley assault. It also explained the way she was included at a critical level in the discussions of possible attacks on packs, though with twins it was possible they would both have a role in running the pack. Even knowing his sister’s ferocity and backing, I couldn’t help but be a little excited. We had found our way in to get through the pack defenses at Grey Peak and probably High Valley.I laid the groundwork for getting him away from the pack with the lure of power of his own. I could feel Strigga’s discomfort at our manipulation of our mate, but I made her understand he would be joining us in the end. If we told him t
PatrickIt was hard to know how to help Envy with everything going on. I was slightly glad we had not completed the marking process. I only occasionally got pangs of stress from her instead of the full blown grief she was clearly under. Moira’s suggestion that Envy stay in my room was completely shocking, but I later realized she must have said that just to get us out of her hair and annoy Mother all at once. Mother was entirely opposed to us staying there together alone, but didn’t want to push the issue openly where others would wonder why. Then she may have to admit she was worried about Colm or pretend she was against us completing the mate-bond for some reason. Either of which would also have benefitted Moira so it was really a win-win for her to make the suggestion.It worked for us. While we didn’t mark each other, we were able
TeddyCaleb’s quick thinking following Patrick’s sister and her friends seems to have paid off. I was able to call and warn our Boss and work out a plan quickly. The rogues torched the pack buildings and burned the bodies after the attack, so all evidence would be untraceable. By the time anyone went to investigate, everyone’s scents would have been wiped clean. He got off the phone with me and I deleted the log of the call. I continued the path I walked and turned towards the training fields. Exactly five minutes later he had one of the guys who joined up with me from Flowing Waters call me. In the brief call, he filled me in on happenings at the base while I acted as if I found out the world ended.I looked up dramatically before running toward the training field to find any leader really. It lucked out that the Beta was there and I
RichAs if the whole issue with Patrick finding his mate wasn’t enough, now Troi was having to deal with what looked like a war against packs and a potential spy or assassin inside ours. They’ve pushed themselves hard since we all were presented to the pack. Basically doing double duty here and High Valley as well as school activities and warrior training. They started to seem more on edge once people in our friend group started finding mates. It got even worse when their dad named them heir and Patrick got sick and they had even more to deal with. I was waiting for them to snap and I could see the moment it was about to happen.When they began to bulk up and I could see Trajan pushing forward, I knew they had reached a breaking point. I couldn’t tell if it was the news of all the attacks or something with Patrick’s mate or thei
TroiWhen Trisha pulled away she shot an embarrassed and scared glance at the everyone present that caused Mother to burst into tears and pull her into a bone crushing hug. Even Dad went over to mutter words of support and how we’d do everything we could to help and that he had the best warriors already on it and had rallied allies. Patrick kept in physical contact with his mate the whole time and pulled her back into his chest as soon as Mother released her. Trisha’s eyes were red, but we noticed that there were no signs of tears on her face, Patrick’s shirt, or Mother’s shoulder.Something about this whole situation felt wrong. Teddy said he got a call from a friend at his pack who said that something had happened. But that was only a couple of hours ago at this point and the coven’s scrying showed that the attack was fa