***The atmosphere in Jeremy’s suite was a solemn one. It was almost midnight. The only dry eyes in the room were that of Jeremy’s. He was focusing every ounce of energy he had left on acting calm to enable the others relax. But it was obviously not working. Even Philip couldn’t hold in his grief. He kept disappearing into Jeremy’s bathroom to weep.“Dude,” Jeremy growled when Philip joined them after staying inside the bathroom for about ten minutes. “Pull yourself together. You’re the fucking alpha.”But Philip couldn’t even give his usual flippant responses. He just stood quietly beside Stan with his head bowed. Jeremy sighed as he gently rubbed Ryan on the back. He was proud of how composed his mate looked. His eyes were wet but he’d managed not to break down. Jeremy was grateful because he really didn’t know whether he could handle it if Ryan did break down. There was a sudden shimmering of light which made everyone tense up. The High Priestess stood before them by the time the s

***Ryan stretched and turned his head to look at the clock on his bedside table. It was already half-past seven. He usually slept in on Saturdays but he had scripts to mark so he had to get out of bed. He reached out to pick up the framed photo of his and Jeremy’s wolves from the bedside table like he did every morning, and stared at it. It was a beautiful picture. Ryan smiled, remembering the day his and Jeremy’s wolves had spent the night in the suite. Though he’d been out most of the time thanks to their naughty wolves, that day had been special. Philip had brought him that framed photo the morning after Jeremy’s departure. He told Ryan that their wolves had looked so sweet cuddled up together when he entered Jeremy’s suite that morning after the arena combats, he hadn’t been able to resist taking the shot. Philip had captured it like a pro. It could easily win the national geographic picture of the year award. Ryan ran his fingers over the image of the red wolf in the shot…his ma

***“Is there a problem?” Ryan asked, taking in Paige’s demeanor.“I think so.” Paige started packing what was left of their breakfast, their conversation forgotten. “We’re all to converge in meeting room two in ten minutes.”“Who and who?”“You, me, Lip, Stan, Mama G, Dad, Deloris, George, Pete…you know George and Pete don’t you?”“George is the head hunter right?” At Paige’s nod, Ryan smiled smugly and added… “And Pete is the head assassin.”“Good job.” Paige moved towards the cute kitchen in the suite. “It’s an emergency meeting of sorts. All the other Betas will be there too.”“Whatever it is must be serious,” Ryan murmured, following Paige into the kitchen. “Why do I have to be part?”“You’re the alpha’s mate, Ryan. You need to know what’s going on.” Paige explained as she washed her hands.“Philip is the alpha, Paige.”“Lip is only acting.” Paige sighed. “When will you get it into that head of yours that being an alpha’s mate makes you an alpha too? Come on, let’s go.” Paige gra

***“He has a point,” Stan said.“Shut up Stanislav,” Paige growled.“What? I think Ryan is exactly who we need for this battle.” Stan insisted. “You didn’t see what he did to Katie, Slip.” An admiring twinkle appeared in his eyes. “Having him on our side will be a big advantage if those people are as ruthless as Deloris says they are. What’s all this about anyway?” His eyes turned onto the warlock. “What does that clan need the blood and bone marrow of the top alphas for? Do you know why, Deloris?”Deloris looked at Stan helplessly and gestured for a pen. But even as she was being handed a pen and a writing pad, Ryan felt something push him. He suddenly felt suffused with so much energy. Was it because he was angry, Ryan wondered. He couldn’t help but observe that every time his power had manifested itself, it had been triggered by anger. Was that it? Did anger trigger whatever powers that he had? That wasn’t a good thing, he frowned. But at that very moment, he had an urge to do som

***Phillip, the acting alpha of Stanton Pack and his warriors stood at marked points around a large stretch of bare land. There were forty pack members, standing in groups of fives, with each group standing at a distance from the other. It was dawn and all was quiet. Apart from the alpha and his squad, there was no evidence of life on the land. After making sure that all the vantage points were covered, Alpha Philip raised a hand to signal someone in the group that was made up of four women and a man.Deloris saw Phillip’s signal and nodded. She had in her right palm eight coins, each representing a group. Their strategy was to first rescue Camilla, bring down the invisible barrier shielding the fortress, and then attack. Camilla had to be rescued first because should the clan see or sense any intruders, Camilla would be killed. Although they didn’t know the exact powers that Ryan had, the squad from Stanwood Pack hoped to use it to their advantage. Deloris had assured Ryan that she’