On the first day of the month, Alpha Omar, the pack farthest away from us on the East coast, received a plain white card with the number “5”. Alpha Horik received the same card with the number “4”; he lived slightly closer. A third card was sent to Alpha Trissur, only a few hours away from us, with the number “3”. A bordering Alpha was given the number “2” a few days later.
Theo called the Alphas together when the third card was received. They decided to come to our territory and the neighboring packs when the number "1" was received to prepare for the battle. Hundreds of thousands of wolves from across the country camped in our territory, sleeping outside in their wolf forms, coming inside Gabriel’s packhouse to eat and bathe.
Caddy and Bodhi came with their Warriors and wolves who volunteered to fight. I made up the guest room for them to stay inside, but they insisted on sleeping outside with their pack. I knew Theo wanted to do the same, but he wouldn’t dare leave me by myself.
Packs across the continent were joining together, ready to fight for their own freedoms as they received threats from packs on their borders. We were not the only ones fighting this battle, and that somehow made it better and worse at the same time.
Two days after the wolves arrived, a Warrior from Gabriel’s pack noticed a white envelope was hung on a tree at the edge of the territory. Theo brought me along when he went to open it. We trudged through the territory, nearly a mile and a half of the forest, and came to the tree. Alpha wolves stood behind us, waiting for Theo to open it.
I stood next to Caddy and Bodhi as he peeled the envelope and took out the last card. He took it out slowly. It was a plain white card like all the others, but there was no number inside. Instead, there was a smear of blood.
Theo lifted it and smelled it. He turned to us, confused.
“It’s deer blood,” he said, looking at the other Alphas and then locking eyes with me. The Alphas became tense and turned in fighting poses as footsteps quickly approached.
They relaxed when they noticed it was one of our wolves, but he was panting, shaking, and nervous. His Alpha barked out an order to tell them what was wrong.
“They’re here.”
Zero.
Fate
I didn’t move an inch from Theo’s side as we made our way back to the territory. His hand gripped mine too tightly. He walked faster than me, and I jogged to keep up with the wolves.
The Alphas were preparing for war, their faces like steel, bodies shaking on the verge of shifting. Caddy’s face was dark, like nothing I’ve ever seen on him. Bodhi’s expression matched his, and they grabbed each other’s hands.
We broke the tree line and came into the clearing where the warrior led us. Our wolves had already shifted, a portion of them were in the clearing but most were still tucked back in the trees.
Reed Porter stood in the middle of the clearing, casually dressed, kicking his heel back and forth.
Theo pulled me along with him at the front of our group, walking towards Reed with disdain in every step. I trailed behind awkwardly, trying not to shrink away from Reed’s wolves. It was difficult.
“It’s not too late to hand over your prey,” Reed angrily yelled, narrowing his eyes. Theo growled low in his chest. “You really think one little human is worth all of this?”
“It’s not about one little human,” Theo growled.
“You’re foolish, Theodore. Just like your father was, and where did it get him?” His eyes closed a little, and he tilted his head to the side, peeking over at me. Theo stepped in front of me and snarled, more beast than man.
“Don’t look at her. And don’t talk about my father.”
“I don’t know how you can even stand to look at her, let alone mate her. She’s food, she’s not a fucking Luna.”
Theo didn’t take kindly to that, and I had to give him a hard tug on his hand to keep him from starting the battle right then.
Theo mind-linked someone quickly as Reed glanced at all the wolves. From behind me, someone touched the top of my arms. I whipped my head around quickly and saw Eli and another guard.
“Go with them,” Theo murmured. I stared at him for a moment too long, and he pushed my hip to encourage me. I stumbled a few steps with them. Theo grabbed my hand and stopped me just long enough for him to place a kiss on my palm.
We turned, and the wolves parted just enough to give us a walkway. I walked first; Eli and the guard flanked me from either side. Halfway down, someone stepped into the parted area, and we stopped moving.
I noticed Albia’s blonde hair and looked at her, confused, trying to catch her eyes, but she was paying no attention to me. She walked fluidly, staring straight ahead at something behind us. We moved to either side of the pathway so she wouldn’t walk straight into us and watched as she continued on her way.
Theo looked back to find where I was and turned fully around as Albia quickly approached. He grabbed her arm menacingly as she came up to him, but in one sharp shake, she broke free. He growled at her disobedience. She was unfazed.
She continued marching until she stood right in front of Reed Porter. He started breathing deeper and moved in towards her. His right hand reached out and touched her cheek gently. She shivered.
“Mate,” Reed growled deeply. He then blinked rapidly, shaking his head, muttering the
