EMMETT As Jacinda and I were escaping, several wolves tried to stop us. It was easy to overpower the warriors and keep moving, but when Dustin was waiting outside the holding facility, I knew we were in trouble. As beta of the pack, he’s strong than me, and there’s no way I could beat him one-on-one. Fortunately for me, Jacinda stepped in, and when she touched Dustin, he slumped lifelessly to the ground. I have no idea what exactly she did to him, and for a split second, I panicked that I was behaving treasonously towards my pack, but Jacinda assured me that he would be fine. After rejecting the pack, I told Jacinda that she would need to ride on my wolf so we could get to a safe location quickly. She agreed, but when I shifted into my red wolf, she stood there just staring at me for several long seconds. My wolf began to preen because his mate was staring at him. I’ve never seen him respond to anyone like this, and it’s hard to believe that just 24 hours ago I was prepared to

ALEKSANDR We had just walked away from Dustin and Drea less than 10 minutes ago when she mind linked me asking me to return. Initially, I was excited thinking maybe my efforts really did work, but then I realized that she didn’t say that he woke up, she said ‘Something is happening.’ She didn’t sound happy or excited. She actually sounded nervous. My mood quickly shifted as I turned to Rieka. “Love, something is happening with Dustin, we have to go back!” Her mouth dropped open as she gasped and lifted her hands to cover her shock. Without speaking another word, we both turned to head back down the hall where we’d just come from. ----- RIEKA I could feel Aleksandr’s emotions transition from excitement to worry before he told me we needed to go back. As we rushed down the hall, I could tell that Aleksandr was holding himself back so he wouldn’t just run off and leave me. We reached the door to the room where Dustin and Drea were, and I heard a commotion before the door was eve

RIEKA“Jacinda?!” I whispered excitedly.She stood there staring at me, not speaking. I quickly glance around to make sure no one was nearby.“Where have you been?” quickly stepping closer to her, “What’s going on?”She continued to stare without answering my questions and I suddenly felt nervous under her crimson gaze.“Jacinda?” my voice sounded more timid this time.A slow smile inched across her face, and I could see her fangs elongated for the first time.“Your blood smells so appetizing,” her smile widened as she took a step towards me, “It makes my mouth water every time I’m near you.”I began walking backwards as I kept my eyes on her. She followed me at a steady pace that matched my own.“I thought we were allies.”I almost tripped over my own feet, but I caught myself before I went all the way down. She was close enough to reach out and grab me now, and I scrambled to put a little more distance between us, but it was useless.Jacinda was faster than me, and I knew that i

ALEKSANDR When Ace asked to be assigned patrols, my first instinct was to panic and fight back against the idea. Rieka had already been attacked, and we’d increased security around her children. Why on earth would I risk putting him out on patrol?! Then he argued his point, and quite well I might add. Rieka linked me to let me know that she would defer to my judgement on this, and I had to make myself stop and really think it over. Logically, if he was my biological son and had been through all these trainings, I would have already put him on a patrol shift by now. But would it be the same in these circumstances, with threats lingering? “I’m sorry, Ace, but I’m going to need some time to think it over.” He looked disappointed, and I knew it was a bit of a copout on my part, to stall for time, but he also didn’t argue. I mean, I didn’t say no, so he still had hope. Ace turned to leave, and although he was disappointed, he held his head high, like a true alpha. The door click

ALEKSANDR Meeting with the team was so much easier now that I could pull Rieka into any group mind link. Ivan was the first to arrive, but Jericho and Gina showed up shortly after. Although she wasn’t officially part of the leadership team, I also included my mother in this meeting. The value of all of her years of experience as the packs luna was immeasurable. ‘We need to prepare the pack to take on Jacinda if she shows up here again.’ I explain to the team as they all gaped at me. ‘She is powerful enough to hold me back, but I don’t think she can’t take on an entire pack by herself.’ ‘Do you really think she’ll try to return?’ Jericho challenged. ‘I hope not, but we need to be prepared just in case she does.’ ‘Honestly, we don’t know the strength of her power,’ Rieka chimed in, ‘We never really discussed that with her. We know she is strong, but everyone has their limits. Our best chance of beating her is by trying to overwhelm her with the size of the pack.’ I nodded an