~Steven's P.O.V~I sit next to Allie, just staring at her while she sleeps. I know it may be creepy but she's just so beautiful. I rub the back of her hand with my thumb and then pull it up to my lips and gently kiss it. Her eyes flutter open and big grin pops up on my face. "Good morning." She squints her eyes adjusting to the light. "Hm morning." She grunts out. She adjusts herself in the bed to sit up more. Looking around the room her eyes land on mine on top of hers. I clear my throat and pull my hand away. "Sorry about that.""It's okay. You don't have to be sorry." She smiles at me and I can't help but to smile stupidly back at her. "Are you thirsty? Lilly brought you a coffee a little bit ago. It should still be warm." "I'll just have some water but remind me to tell her thanks."I hand her the cup of ice water and she gulps it down like she hadn't drank anything in months. She finishes the last sip with a sigh. "Man my throat was dry.""It happens after burning the wolfs
~Mark's P.O.V~I look at out of the window and see Mark and Allie walking back. I head outside to greet them. "So, what was the surprise?" I give Allie a great big grin and nudge her with my arm."He set up a picnic for me." She gives me a small smile and then looks back down. "What's wrong?" She shrugs."I'll catch you guys later." Steven says and walks off towards the back of the house. "What's up with him?" I ask her and she shrugs again. "Allie? Are you okay? Did he say something?" "No. He didn't do anything wrong." She looks up at me for a second before putting her head back down. "I'm going to go lay down for a little bit. I'm still pretty tired." "Oh. Okay. Do you want me to walk you up to your room?" "No. It's okay. Thank you though." She says as she turns away to go into the house. I just stand there and stare at her, watching her go through the door. I wonder what that was about. I head off to the back of the house to find Steven. I looked around the back area of th
~Lilly's P.O.V.~Five am came way to quick. I roll over to turn my alarm off and then back to wake Mark up. "Mark? Baby time to get up. We gotta get on the road." I say as I shake him. "Wha....huh?" He answers with a groggy voice. "We're going on a trip to help with some rogues remember? You said you wanted to go with me." "Yeah. Um yeah. I'll get dressed." Now that he's awake, I get up and head into the bathroom and start the shower. After a quick wash, I jump out and wrap a towel around me and brush my hair. I apply a little bit of makeup. I usually never use more than some eye shadow and mascara. So far I've been lucky with having near perfect skin and I'm thankful for it. I throw some clothes on and head out to the bedroom to find Mark half asleep and barely dressed. "Babe come on. We need to be on the road soon." "Okay." He says. I go over and help him get dressed. He really isn't a morning person. Once he's dressed we head down to the kitchen. "Here's some coffee for the
I hear Mark trying to start a conversation as Zeke and I ascend the stairs. We come to a door with two guards standing outside. When they see Zeke, they stand straight and open the door for him and I to enter. Once in the room I immediately see a girl and boy probably no more than sixteen huddled in the corner. They were covered in dirt from head to toe and clinging to each other for dear life. "Hello there. Why are you guys huddled in the corner? You have the whole room to do what you like." They don't say anything. "Come now children. I need some information but you're going to have to talk to me." Zeke says as calmly as he can. He reaches towards them and they try to cower even more corner even though they are as far as possible. "We won't hurt you. We just need help figuring something out." I try. They cower from me as well."Zeke, can you give me a few with them? Alone?" "Sure. I'll go have some food prepared." He says and then walks out the door. One he's gone I move closer
I walk back into the room and see that Forest had wrapped himself up like I had River and was laying next to her on the bed. These poor kids. They just lost their parents and now are in a strangers house. Hopefully they stay here. I know Zeke and Jason have been talking about having kids and since that's not possible without some medical assistance, they will just have to adopt. If they don't, then I would talk to Mark about taking them in. Either way they were getting a home. I don't want them going back out there by themselves. I lay their clothes on the dresser and find a piece of paper and pen on the small desk in the corner. I start writing and then realize they might not be able to read but decide to write it anyways just in case. They're smart kids. They'll figure it out. I leave the note on top of the clothes and head out of the room closing the door quietly behind me. "If they wake up, please let me know." "Yes, Alpha." The guards outside their door say in unison. "Thank
We make our way down the hallway and we come to the room the siblings were staying in. "Have they woken yet?" "Not yet Alpha Lilly." "Okay thank you. Zeke, I'm gonna check in on them real quick." He nods. I open the door just enough for me to peek my head in. Both of them were still sound asleep. It didn't look like they had moved an inch. I close the door and Zeke and I make our way down the hallway and down the stairs.. "Is it just us four?" "Yup. I only wanted the ones I trusted." I smile.We get to the meeting room and Angie and Adrian were snacking and chatting. "Okay. We're gonna get started. My patrol caught two rogue teens crossing into my land yesterday. They are upstairs sleeping at the moment. Lilly has already gotten some information from them so I will let her speak." He says as we both sit down. "They told me that just a couple days ago they were in the woods with their parents when they were attacked by hunters. They lost both parents that night. Their mother had
"Well? Are you going to tell us what they said?" Adrian questions. "Some said they came from the north, others the south. Some think a werewolf is hunting with them and helping them wipe out the rogues. Everyone says something different. The only thing that has been the same every time is they are human hunters with knowledge of us. They know what weakens usand they know how to kill our kind.""It has to be the old families descendants. They must have kept journals about our kind and they've decided to pick up where their ancestors left off." I say. We need to stop these hunters before they kill more of us. It's the only way to keep our packs and our families safe. Werewolves made a pact with humans long ago to not kill each other and we've kept that pact, even the rogues. Sure there are a few that don't care about the pact and killed humans but they were dealt with by our high council. "Who wants to go hunting?" Adrian says with a big smile. No one answers him. "Seriously? They ar
~Mark's P.O.V~When we arrive home, I carry Lilly inside and up to the room. She fell asleep on the ride home and I didn't want to wake her. I gently lay her in bed and cover her up and head downstairs. "Steven, we're home. Do you know where Allie is?" I open the door to the dining room and see Allie and Steven sitting at the table eating dinner. "Oh. There you are." "How did things go?" "Well Lilly told me a little bit on the way home before falling asleep. Hunters are back and they are killing rogues. Zeke and Angie sent teams to find out how many there are and where they might be headed." "Good. If they're going after rogues, it won't be long before they come after packs. I sent John and Killian to search the towns up that way to see if they hear anything." "Okay." I put my head In my hands after sitting down. "You okay?" Allie asks. I look up at her and give a small smile. "Yeah. Just had a little issue. You know Adrian?" I ask turning my attention to Steven. He closes hi
When we arrive to Anthony's, Steven and I both look at each other. In such a short amount of time, the place lost its shine. It looked run down and if it wasn't for the structure holding everything up, it looked like it would fall apart. We get out of the car and walk up to the front door where Steven knocks. No answer. He knocks again and after a few moments, a young girl answers the door. "Hello Beta Steven, Alpha Mark. Can I help you?" She says in a small voice. "We need to talk to Alpha Anthony. Can we come in?" He replies."I'm sorry. He's not feeling well. Can you come back later?" She tries shutting the door but I stick my foot in the doorway. She tries closing it but she's not strong enough. Steven pushes his way in. "Not feeling well? He's a werewolf. We don't get sick." I tap Steven shoulder and when he looks at me I point around the inside. Everything was thrown about, nothing was left untouched by dust, chairs were broken. "What the fuck happened here?" "You're mate
~Mark's P.O.V~Steven and I jolt up standing when we hear someone scream. We both instantly take off towards the house rushing up the stairs. I burst through the bedroom door, making Lilly and Allie jump. "What is it? What's wrong?" Allie just looks at me with a big smile on her face and her hands behind her back. "You two should talk, I'll meet up with you later Lilly." Allie says, still smiling like a fool. She grabs Steven and pulls him with her. "Come with me. Let's go get something to drink." Once the door closes, I look back at Lilly. She almost looks worried, I can't tell what's going on through the bond. Her emotions are all over the place. "What's going on Lil?" I ask her and she goes to sit on the bed. "Well..." She starts to say when her eyes glaze over. Once they return to normal, she finishes her sentence. "We'll talk about it later. Apparently the council is here." She gets up from the bed and heads towards the door. "What do they want now?" I ask. "I'm not sure
~Lilly's P.O.V~I storm upstairs to my office. I don't know why I had an outburst at such a small thing. What is wrong with me?"I'm gonna go with Steven to work on his car okay? I'm here if you need me." "Okay.""I love you." "You too." I close the mind link. I go back to my work, trying to get my mind off of what happened. A few minutes in, I hear a knock at my door. "Yes?" The door creaks open and I see Allie peek her head in. "Can I come in?" "Of course." I tell her. I had nothing against her, Mark's the one who upset me although I'm not sure why. She comes in and takes a seat in front of me, putting her elbows up on the desk staring at me. I shake my head and go back to work. "Whatcha doing?" She asks after about 20 minutes of staring at me."Work." I say without looking at her. "What kind of work?""Just some paper work and financial.""Oh. Ohhkay. Sooo want to talk about what happened downstairs?" "Not really." I say with a sigh. "Well are you okay?" "I'm fine." "L
~Mark's P.O.V~I wake up feeling something wet and cold on my chest. I look up to see Lilly drooling on me. Gross. I laugh and try to slide out from under her as gently as possible. Once I'm out from under her, I head to the bathroom and grab some Tylenol and a glass of water and set it on the bedside table for when she wakes up. I head downstairs to the kitchen to get some breakfast. As soon as I walk in, Allie comes running up to me and hugs me. "Good morning brother!" She says excitedly. I groan. "Coffee. Please." Marie hands me a cup and I take a few sips and then look at Allie again. She's beaming."What's gotten into you? Why are you so happy this early in the morning?" I look at the clock and it was only seven a.m.."I don't know. I just woke up happy." She smiles at me. Wait. What's on her neck? "Allie? Did, um, did something happen last night?" Her cheeks go bright red and she looks away smiling. "Nope." I move her hair from her neck. Yup. I did see something. "Really?
It's almost 10, so I head down to the kitchen to find Marie. I look around and can't find her. She's always in here. I look around a little more and happen to see her through the window in the garden out back. I head outside to talk to her. "Marie?" She jumps. "Sorry. What are you doing out here?" "Oh nothing dear. Just getting some fresh air. I have everything set up for tonight. Just give me the word and I'll get things set out for your arrival." "Thank you Marie." I lean over and hug her. "I truly would be lost without you." She hugs me back. "I know dear." "Welp. It's time. I'll mind link you with her answer.""I'll be waiting." She smiles and I head off to the front door to wait for Allie. I turn around the corner and see her there waiting for me. "Hey. You ready?" "Yup." She replies. "Let's go." We both start stripping our clothes and shift. When I look at Allie, I'm stunned. Her wolf is so beautiful. I've never seen her in wolf from. She's pure white except for one li
~Lilly's P.O.V~Waking up the next morning I feel refreshed. Yesterday went better than expected. Arthur has had it out for my family for awhile. I still don't know what happened Ed between him and my grandfather but that shouldn't affect me but for whatever reason he thinks it does. I look over at Mark and see he's still sleeping. He looks so peaceful. So beautiful. I lean over and kiss his cheek. He stirs but stays sleeping. It makes me smile. I climb out of bed, careful not to wake him and head to my office. Might as well get some work done. Not long after I sit down, I hear a knock at my door. "Yes?" I call. "Just me." Steven says as he opens the door. He closes the door behind him and sits in the chair in front of me. "So how bad was it?" "Well, Arthur thinks I gave the orders to kill two Alphas to take over their packs and gain numbers so that I can one day attack the council and take over." He stares at me before laughing. "Not a bad plan. Man that Arthur sure is smart to
"May we begin now?" Arthur says. "Yes, sorry." Lilly answers. "Now, we are here to hear your side of things. Your testimony if you will, about why you sentenced two Alphas to death." Arthur says, almost sounding like he's accusing Lilly of treason. "Well, like I've already said, Gregory tried to kill my mate simply because he didn't like his status when he was part of Gregory's pack. Adrian also tried to kill my mate thinking if Mark was out of the way, I would become his Luna." Lilly explains. "I didn't do it to gain numbers or power." "Do you have any proof?" "I have a couple witnesses but I was hoping to not involve them. I was hoping you could take my word on this since I have never given the council reason to doubt me nor has my father or grandfather given reason.""Until now. From what I understand you had plenty of time to inform us of what happened before you sentenced them to death and you chose to only inform us of the events that happened after the fact. Why is that?"
The house was buzzing the next morning. People were running around making sure the house was clean, even though it always was, and everything was put in place. I walk through the house looking for Lilly and find her in the back yard in the garden. "What's going on?" I ask her. She turns to look at me and smiles. "The council is coming here. They'll be here in a couple hours. They want to see my reports in person about the two Alphas and a beta that have been killed on my orders." "They can't just take your word for it? I mean I doubt you'd lie to them." She just shrugs. "Policy I guess." "Well...let them come. It's not like we have anything to hide." "No, but taking in Gregory's pack makes it look like I did it for numbers." "But you didn't." I say confused. "I know that. We all know that, but to them it looks like I'm trying to take over other packs. They will probably question some of his pack members and Sienna. That also includes Allie." "No. After all she's gone through,
~Mark's P.O.V~When Lilly and I get downstairs, Steven is untying Sienna's hands. She looks up at us with a tear stained face. Once she's free, she rushes to Lilly and falls at her feet. Head down she tries to control her crying. When she finally does, she speaks so lowly, it's almost hard to hear. "Please forgive me. I am so sorry for what I've done. I didn't want to to it but he's my mate and Alpha. It's no excuse I know but I am truly sorry." She keeps her head down. I look at Lilly and see that she is staring at the young girl at her feet. She takes a deep breath and simply says, "I am not the one you need to apologize to. I am not the one you should ask for forgiveness from." Sienna looks up at her and then looks at me. She goes to open her mouth and I cut her off. "Stop. I forgive you. Please stand up." I hold my hand out for her and she hesitates before looking at Lilly for permission. I see Lilly nod out of the corner of my eye, and she grabs my hand and I help her up. "I u