We woke the next morning to glistening sunlight peeking through the cracks of the curtains. The candle had burnt down creating a solidified pool of wax on the dresser and Theodore was still beside me, gently running his finger along the bare skin of my arm.

I turned over to face him. His eyes had returned to their usual hazelly brown and he seemed more peaceful and relaxed than I'd ever seen him.

"It's dawn," I said with a sigh.

"If you close your eyes it's still dark out," he replied, kissing my neck before resting his head back on the pillow and closing his eyes.

I smiled, "We've got to find the patrol and Lou and Rose and Tobias before something finds us."

He shrugged, "I like it better with just the two of us. Can't exactly fuck if your brother is beside us, can we?"

I rolled my eyes as he gave me a cheeky grin.

"Come on, Theodore," I said.

I then reached for my shirt and slipped it over my head as he slowly sat up and shuffled to the edge of the bed. 

Within ten minutes we were back at the front door after stocking up on knives from the basement of the house. He, unfortunately, didn't have my weapon of choice (bow and arrow) but anything was better than being unarmed.

I noticed him take a lasting glance around the hallway of the house as we left before he shut the door behind us and let out a deep sigh.

"I hadn't noticed that tree last night," I said looking over to an elegant weeping willow that stood a few hundred yards left of the house. "Isn't it wonderful?"

It's sweeping branches hung down and trailed on the floor with pale green leaves that practically glowed in the sunlight. The trunk, just visible through the curtain of branches, was thick with folds of wrinkled bark, like the elderly skin of a wise man.

It was a beautiful tree but Theodore refused to even look at it.

"We'll have to leave the horse here," he said.

I furrowed my eyebrow and turned to him. I followed his gaze to one of the cedar trees where the horse was tied. It stood on three legs, holding it's fourth up in the air, clearly injured.

"It must have been from carrying two of us over rocky terrain for hours," he said pulling out a knife.

He cut the rope that tied it and ushered it to limp into the trees.

"It might survive," he replied, "It might not. But we need to focus on keeping ourselves alive right now."

I nodded as he returned to me and held out his hand. I gladly took it and we left, leaving no traces of us being at the house except our lingering scents and maybe a few crumbs of stale cracker.

We walked hand in hand through the territory all day until we reached the bottom of a mountain.

"If we get to higher ground, we have a better chance of spotting the patrol and everything else going on around the territory. We're also less vulnerable making camp up there tonight than down here," Theodore said, glancing up the rock face, "But it's a steep climb. Can you handle it?"

I nodded and swallowed. The first traverse was practically verticle and the top was hardly in sight but I could at least try.

But before I had chance to even take my first step, the sound of someone running towards us made my stomach churn.

I reached for my knife but before I could even withdraw it, Theodore had stepped infront of me, grabbed the man and was now throwing him against the rock. He pinned him there with his knife at his throat as I just watched wide eyed.

"Alpha, it's me," a familiar voice said, "Relax."

Lou.

Theodore released him and he rubbed his throat, "Fucking hell. I wouldn't wanna be on the other side."

"You should know not to creep up on me," he said, "And you're alive."

"Good to see you safe too," Lou replied with a smile before looking to me, "You escaped? And you still have Alpha Brynn's sister?"

I swallowed and there was a moment of silence.

"Call her Luna," Theodore said, placing his hand on my shoulder.

I was kind of hoping he wouldn't mention it.

"Oh..." Lou said his eyes falling back on me, "She accepted you?"

Theodore nodded, "At long last."

Lou smiled although it seemed plastic and stiff.

"Congratulations," he said, "To both of you."

There was a tense, awkward pause before he reached for his shoulder, "Anyway, Luna, I've got something I thought you'd want back."

After unstrapping something from his back, he held it out to me.

My eyes lit up. My bow!

"Yay!" I squealed reaching for it.

"You're easily pleased huh?" he replied with a laugh as I ran my fingers along my beautiful bow in glee.

"Thanks so much Lou!" I said looking up at him.

He smiled again and I wanted to hug him so badly but I noticed his eyes drift behind me to where Theodore stood and his smile dropped a little. He then took a small step back away from me and quickly changed the subject.

"Have you found the patrol, Alpha?" Lou asked.

"No," Theodore said, "I was going to ask you the same thing."

"What about Alpha and Luna Brynn?" I asked, "Please tell me you've seen them."

He shook his head and my heart sunk a little.

"Unfortunately not. But I've been working with another patrol and I was just on my way to update the cave guards of the situation," he said.

"And what is the situation?" Theodore asked.

Lou took a deep breath.

"Those men that attacked us aren't the only ones posing as Pheonix soldiers," he explained, "Other patrols have been attacked in a similar way. They are put in a position where they require back up at which point Alpha Kane's men come to their 'rescue' dressed as Pheonix soldiers. It's genius and we need to warn the men guarding the elderly, women and children not to trust anyone they don't recognise by face."

Alpha Rivers nodded, "Good idea. Tell them that if in doubt, ask a question that only a current Pheonix soldier would be able to answer too. We can't risk Alpha Kane finding a weakness like our civilians. He will exploit it mercilessly."

"What will you do?" Lou asked.

"We're heading to higher ground with the hope of spotting the patrol. Lennon, April, Miles and Asher must be out there somewhere. So are Alpha and Luna Brynn. But if we can't find them, I'll gather another patrol of trusted men. We're too vulnerable right now, especially as we are clearly on their wanted list."

Lou nodded, "Well, I hope you find them."

He then turned to me, "Good luck, Luna."

I smiled and my eyes darted to the floor before Lou left me alone with Theodore.

We climbed that mountain for hours. On many occasions, I had to accept Theodore's hand to help me cross wide gulleys with my small legs or to get me up to a ledge that my arms fell short of.

But with raw skin on my palms from the rock and cramping shaking legs, we eventually reached a moment of flat where a beautiful mountainous lake sat glistening in the sun. It was sheltered by the moutain we had yet to climb leaving the water calm and still as I collapsed beside it.

"Can we break here?" I asked, "This is exhausting."

He smiled and sat on a rock beside me, "We're safe up here," he said, "There's no chance Alpha Kane's men would climb that without a good reason."

"It was hideous," I replied, "Do you do this often?"

He sighed and looked out over the lake, "I used to come up here as a kid."

"On your own?" I asked.

He nodded, "When I wanted a moment of peace. It's a good escape up here."

I bit my tongue so badly wanting to question more.

"Well, your pack really is stunning," I said as I looked out over the calm water.

The Nightingale pack was fairly flat so I was still in awe at the landscape of the mountains and hills, stretching up into the sky, dressed in robes of the green of the evergreen trees and crowned with grey masses of rock.

"It's your pack too now," he said.

I turned around to see him still sat on the rock taking a drink from his freshly filled water skin.

"It's strange," I replied, "I never thought I'd even set foot on Pheonix territory and now it's going to be my home."

"I can't say I was expecting an alliance with Alpha Brynn either. And I certainly didn't think I'd find his sister to be my mate."

I smiled and shuffled so I was sat at his feet, "How old are you, Theodore?"

"Twenty-six," he said. "Why?"

I thought for a moment before biting my lip.

"It's just..." I began, "I remember when I was a kid, a couple of years before my father died, so maybe fifteen years ago, I was in the woods at home. In the late afternoon, Tobias came running to me and told me I had to get home immediately. When I came through the door, my Dad was picking up his bow and he told me that they had to go and defend the pack from evil. They said they'd be back in the morning and everything would be okay. That night, I watched out my window hoping to see them emerge from the trees. They didn't and it was long after dawn before they returned but I did see somebody. There was this boy. Too young to be a soldier but he wasn't a fellow Nightingale either. He had dark curls and tanned skin and he was tall for his age but I could tell he was only about ten or eleven. And he looked so alone and lost and I wanted to let him inside and let him be safe from the evil my father warned me from but by the time I got to the door, he had vanished."

A silence followed and I eventually looked up to see Theodore's jaw tight and his eyes fixated ahead.

"You should have known better than to let strangers in your house," was his only response.

"He looked like you, Theodore," I said. "And I know now that the 'evil' they were defending Nightingale from was the first of the Pheonix attacks."

Theodore looked down at the sand of the lakeshore, "Well my father used to take me with him on pack business. My training to become Alpha started early."

He then looked up at the horizon. His face straight but the muscles in his neck strained.

"You were a kid."

He shrugged.

"You said Alpha Brynn went to fight with your father that night. He's only three years older than me."

"Going into battle aged fourteen is a bit different to aged eleven," I replied, "What did your Mother say?"

He looked up to the lake once again and tilted his head back with a sigh, "Do we have to go into my childhood again?"

"No," I said, "I'm sorry. It's just strange to think I saw you when I was seven years old and I had no idea."

As we continued up the mountain, the most beautiful sunset stretched across the entire sky. Golden threads of evening light were woven through the clouds which were already basking in a pink hue.

I stopped for just a moment to admire it before I felt Theodore usher me up.

"I know somewhere we can shelter tonight but we have to keep moving or we'll be climbing in the dark."

As Theodore warned, Darkness quickly descended which made climbing the treacherous cliffs and boulders only more difficult.

But at long last, Theodore stopped on a small ledge and after helping me up, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Behind him was a small opening into the rock face leading to a cave.

"We're safe up here," he said, "No food but at least we can rest without fear of being ambushed."

He then glanced out across the territory. The sun had almost completely set but the last remnants of light made it just possible to see the trees below.

"Nothing," he said with a sigh, "I can't see or hear a single soul."

"Maybe in the morning we'll have better luck," I said taking his hand, "Come on. Let's get some sleep."

I slept well all night. We had no wood to light a fire up here but Theodore's body kept me warm and his arms were comfortable enough, despite the hard rock beneath us.

We awoke to the shrieking of crows and the daylight seeping in through the entrance to the cave.

"Oh fuck," was the first thing Theodore said upon stepping outside.

I followed his gaze out to see a cloud of white that had engulfed the moutain. After picking up my bow, I followed him out into the mist, the moisture wetting my hair and bringing a chill to my skin.

We could hardly see two metres ahead of us, let alone the territory below us.

But with the hope that it would clear as the day went on, we kept climbing.

At long last we reached a plain of flat. I scrambled up and looked upwards into the white, expecting to see the faint grey outline of another looming tower of rock.

"This is the top," Theodore said much to my relief, "And of course this fucking cloud is still here. We're not gonna see anything."

I sighed and dropped to the floor.

"So now what?" I asked.

"We have two options. We either wait a little longer for the cloud to clear meanwhile our soldiers fight for their lives down there. Or we join them and pray to find someone that has some idea of what is going on," he said.

I took a heavy breath.

"What if we can't?" I asked.

"Then we're on our own," he replied.

He sat down beside me and I rested my head on his shoulder.

"Ten minute break first?" I asked.

He smiled and nodded, "Sure. It'll be easier on the way down."

But only a couple of minutes into our break when my legs had only gained a fraction of their strength back, I noticed something moving within the cloud.

I squinted, trying to make out the shape. It was getting larger, darker and more defined. After a few moments, I realised it was moving towards us and I instinctively reached for my bow as we both got to our feet.

The figure of a man.

But not just any old man.

I closed my eyes, feeling days of tension release.

"Tobias," I whispered as he emerged from the mist.

I ran towards him and before he had chance to process my presence, I launched myself into him and squeezed him in a tight hug.

"Thank God," I whispered as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Where've you been?" he said, breathing a deep sigh of relief, "I've been worried sick."

"With Alpha Rivers," I said gesturing to Theodore who stood a few metres away quietly, "Looking for you and trying not to die," I replied, "But where's Rose?"

The slight relief on Tobias's face instantly vanished.

"I don't know," he said.

"We were ambushed one night and we had to separate. I haven't managed to find her since," he replied.

Theodore suddenly looked to us and stepped forward, "You've searched the territories and no sign?"

"Three times over," he replied, "I came up here in the hope of a better view but..."

"Fuck," Theodore said.

I turned to see him taking a deep breath and running his hand through his hair.

"What?" Tobias asked.

"She's not here," He replied, "She's almost certainly still alive but they've taken her."

"How are you so sure?" he asked, "Because it's what they do. They have a big all-male army and she's a beautiful young woman. That's what happens."

I felt my stomach plummet into my knees.

"You mean...?" Tobias said in a deep growl.

"Yes," Theodore said, "I've seen it before."

"Then we have to go and rescue her," I announced, beginning to march across the top of the mountain, "What are we waiting for?"

"Walk into their camps with an army of three? Are you insane?" he asked grabbing my arm and pulling me back. "And have you got any idea where to even begin looking for her?"

"We'll head North. Capture some of Alpha Kane's men. Get information out of them. She's got flame-red hair and she's a Luna. She stands out. If they've seen her, they'll know," I replied.

Theodore didn't let go of my arm but he looked over to Tobias.

"Sounds like a start to me," Tobias said.

"And if we find out where she is, then what?" Theodore asked.

"We'll think of that when we get to it," I said, "Because the longer we stand here the longer she has to spend with those disgusting men."

Theodore nodded, "Fine we will go North. But we are not fucking attacking one of Alpha Kane's camps without a thought out plan, understood?"

I nodded, "Let's get going."