PROLOGUE - Part 1

COLE

It's been a few weeks since Skyler and I completed the marking. I am a little surprised, but Elijah and Nathan seem to understand that I still need to touch her a bit more than they do. I believe it may have something to do with how long it took us to come together. The mate bond is still pulling me to her, wanting... No craving, her touch and love, which we are getting a lot of.

Skyler has still spent private time with both Elijah and Nathan. We haven't all been with her at the same time as even though we all love her, we still are not ones to share. Whenever we are out in the pack, we are a unique and united team, but when it comes to being intimate, we like our time with her on our own.

I am brought out of my head as Skyler enters the kitchen. I smile and stand. She makes her way over to where I am and I pull wrapping her tightly to my body in my arms. I take a deep breath of her scent and as she pulls back a little; I pull her up and into a dominant kiss. She melts into me but returns the dominance in a kiss of her own. I have noticed over the past few weeks now that she is connected to all of us, as it should have been all along. She is a lot more confident and doesn't hesitate to give her opinions on anything. She pulls back from her kiss and whispers,

"Good morning!"

I smile, "Good morning Luna. How was your night with Nathan?"

She hits my arm playfully. This doesn't anger me or Xander anymore. We love this playful side of her and it's good that she can do that now with little to no fear of me.

"Cole! I've told you about calling me that..."

"I know. It's just cute to watch your reaction. It makes you touch me!" I smile slyly.

She hits me playfully again and then gives me another quick kiss before pulling out of my arms and starting breakfast. We have others that cook at the packhouse for the pack, but here in our home, Skyler loves to cook and her cooking no matter what it is tastes divine.

I sit and watch as she hums and dances around the kitchen. Just as she finishes, I hear 4 sets of little feet along with two sets of bigger ones following them. I smile as Samuel, Emma, Marcus and Claire run down the stairs and take a seat at the table, we are joined shortly by Elijah and Nathan who also sit down at the table.

"Morning! Everyone, sleep well?"

I don't miss the satisfaction that spreads over Nathan's face as he looks at Skyler. I smile as does Elijah, as he didn't seem to miss the look either. The girls say,

"Morning... Yes, Daddy."

The boys say, "Morning Dad... Yes, we slept well!"

After Emma called me Daddy the day Skyler marked me, all our pups have called me that or a variation of it. Skyler goes to sit in the chair next to me, but I still feel that craving to hold and touch her. She lets out a small, surprised scream as I grab her and pull her onto my lap. As the others fill the plates in front of them, we take it, in turns feeding each other.

Once everyone and everything was eaten, the pups put all the plates in the sink, pick up their backpacks and wait by the door. Nathan gets up, walks around to us, places his hand on Skyler's cheek and gives her a dominant kiss as he talks to her over their private link.

As Nathan steps back, Elijah is next. He gets up, walks over to us, places his hand on her cheek and gives her his dominant kiss. After he pulls back, Elijah, Nathan, Samuel, Emma, Marcus and Claire all leave the house, heading first to the school and then the office. I pull Skyler tighter into me and give her my own dominant kiss as I growl over our private link,

"Tonight you are mine..."

Skyler giggles into my kiss. I reluctantly pull back and allow her to get off my lap. I get to my feet and again pull her back into me. I bury my nose in the crook of her neck, taking a couple of deep breaths. I then kiss our combined mark and listen to her low growl and moan mix, Xander then growls,

"Careful... I might just skip work and stay to devour you!"

"Xander, I have things to do as well... I will see you both later..."

I chuckle as she pushes me away from her, back towards and out of the door. She then closes the door, preventing me from coming back in.

I smile at how far we have all come in the past few weeks and make my way to the office at the packhouse. I close the door after I enter and move to sit at my desk. I then turn my attention to what Elijah and Nathan are talking about. It is then I see Alexander sitting on one of the sofas with Greta on his lap. Nathan nods to me and then continues,

"So, we are still feeding Lex false information? Alexander, how's the follow-up on him and who he informs?"

"It seems he talks to a few rogues and the occasional higher guard from some of the lower packs. The rogues only really want to know when and how to cause more mischief rather than anything like the invasion Alpha Christopher enticed. The others are still being looked into..."

"Have we found the other spy yet?" Elijah asks.

"No, not as yet... They are a little more careful than Lex and whenever they give out information, it is much more inconspicuous. They seem to make it just enough to keep whoever they tell coming back for more, but not enough to get themselves caught or even under suspicion..." Alexander answers with a sigh.

"Greta? Does Harper have any insight?" I ask.

"We have been monitoring a few of the pack members but whoever it is must be one of the higher-ranked guards or one of their family members as we have to really concentrate to hear what they are thinking... And sometimes that is hard to do without getting caught staring at them, most of them don't stand still for very long so it is hard to hide in a tree and monitor any of them from there."

She snaps her head to me and switches to our private pack link,

"Cole... Xander... Get your head out of the gutter. That is not something that I need to see or even hear..."

"Sorry... How did you?"

"You had your defences down... It was like you actually sent them to me..."

"My apologies. I didn't expect the completion of the marking to make me want her so much more. I hear I have you to thank for that..."

"I have noticed that. I suspect that when the mate pull settles down, your natural Alpha blocks will return... It was nothing that any friend would do for one they care about. Skyler asked us for our help as she wanted to be as close to you as she was meant to be. All Harper and I did was soften the effect of what her father installed into her, and then the rest was up to her... She was the one that had to decide if she wanted the terror her father made to rule over her or if she was going to rule over it. Since you are here and the marking is complete between you, I believe she chose the latter..."

"Thank you anyway."

I nod my head towards her and try to push the images that suddenly return of Skyler sprawled out on the bed underneath me screaming for release...

I look over at Greta when she lets out a low growl in my direction and I let out a little chuckle. I then turn my attention back to what is being said.

"Greta?"

She snaps her head to Nathan and says, "Sorry, Alpha!"

Greta glares at me for getting her into trouble as Nathan repeats his question.

"How long would you need them to stand still to have a good scan of every guard's thoughts, even the high-ranked officers?"

"I'm not sure as Harper's magic is still growing from being suppressed while I was in Alpha Christopher's service..."