TYSON On Wednesday, I filled in for some trainers in the morning, followed by a run of the pack. I had to keep shifting back and forth between my forms since I wasn't able to mindlink with Blake's pack members, which got exhausting after a while. By lunchtime, I was more than relieved. As I entered the packhouse and made my way to the kitchen, I wiped some sweat from my forehead and let out a deep breath. I was pleased to see that Connie had left out my favorite for lunch—Texas beef chili. I quickly reheated it in the microwave and took a seat at the kitchen table, bringing over a bottle of hot sauce and pulling out my phone so I could look through my calendar. I smiled to myself as I noted my evening was empty of obligations and I'd finally have a chance to relax. I'd never worked so hard as an alpha before. Partially because of what I told Gigi—my whole family helped with running the pack, so it wasn't quite as much work. What I hadn't told Gigi, though, was that it was also beca

BLAKE We had all expected to have some more time to get settled, go over strategy, and plan before shit hit the fan. But we should have all known better than to expect war to be predictable. While our warriors stayed at the neighboring Lune Nordique Pack, the alphas, including Alex, Tyce, and Alpha Antoine of the Lune Nordique Pack, with his mate Luna Marie, settled at the Bois Sombre Pack in their packhouse so we'd be able to get to the front lines as soon as the attack hit. And just like that, two days after we arrived, right before dawn, we got the alert that enemy troops were proceeding. We all sprinted out of bed, throwing our clothes off and turning to wolves as soon as our bare feet hit the ground outside, making our way past the border, hoping to meet them outside the territory and keep the pack safe. We advanced with the Bois Sombre Pack warriors at our heels, knowing the others should arrive shortly. While I was against it, Alex had made sure his own troops were stocked w

BLAKE I groaned as I forced my heavy lids open, fluorescent lights above me, a small bed below me. I shifted, but that was a bad idea. My whole body was still sore, the blood pumping through my veins still scorching me. It somehow felt heavy as I breathed, as if something was blocking the air's passage. I gave a cough and blood trickled out of my mouth and onto my chin. Fuck! "Hey, you okay, bro?" A familiar voice said next to me, more raspy than usual, probably also in pain. I wiped at my chin, the red of the blood staining my arm. "I think so," I replied, turning my head to look at him, and familiar amber eyes stared back at me—Jasmine's beautiful eyes. But it wasn't her, although I desperately missed her and would have given anything for those brilliant amber eyes to have been hers. "Goddess, this wolfsbane shit blows," Tyce groaned out. "Yeah," I agreed, barely able to move because of it, thinking that all that suffering for all those years at Grey Wolf University and

TYSONAfter my body was able to metabolize all the wolfsbane and finally heal properly, my brother and I started planning the memorial service we'd have to hold later that week. The final count for our pack was ten dead, which was a very good number considering, especially since we had never trained for battle with wolfsbane. The experience still traumatized me, and I was determined to follow through on my dedication to becoming tolerant. No more fucking around. Practically dying out on that battlefield was a huge wake-up call.The Wednesday following the battle, after all our warriors had a chance to recover, we boarded the chartered flight back to Alaska. A part of me was desperate to get back to Vermont and see Gigi again, but as alpha I knew it was my duty to visit all the families of the fallen warriors and give my condolences. Considering it was my idea to fight this battle, I knew it would be wrong to expect my dad and grandpa, or even my beta or gamma, to do that. No, it was t

TYSON Thankfully, it was just my dad this time. He was at least semi-rational. My grandfather, on the other hand, was a total nutcase. My dad was giving me an intense stare, his forearms flat on his desk, fingers intertwined. "So, care to explain why you had Trav load up a good chunk of our warriors and send them to the east coast for a battle that had nothing to do with us?" "I'm the alpha. I'm allowed to make decisions for the pack now. Technically, I don't have to run it by anyone." He let out a deep sigh. "Yes, but battles are a huge cost to our pack. We can't be making rash decisions." "Why do you assume the decision was rash?" I cut my dad off. "Tyce," he said in a very patronizing way. "What else am I supposed to assume when you don't even discuss this with your grandfather and me? We're the ones that have been running this pack while you're off fooling around with your porky skanks." "Don't call them that!" I bellowed, clenching my hands into fists. I'd always let my fa