Aaron

"Erin!"

Great Goddess, why did things have to get so messy? Of course, I was surprised when Joshua and Wren suddenly announced that they were mates. I wasn't expecting my fellow beta to man up and confess so soon. And while I was glad they could be happy now, the fact that Erin had to get so screwed over in this was a side effect I would've liked to avoid.

But was it really avoidable? Erin loved Wren, I knew that at least. And Wren had loved Erin. I wasn't sure where Wren stood anymore if I was honest. He'd been upset over Erin's kiss last night, so that had to mean something right? And once Joshua entered his life, I was sure there had to have been some pull, even if Wren couldn't sense it.

In the end, Erin would've been hurt no matter what. And now it was my job to help him out.

"Erin!" I called out again, pushing away a tree branch from my face.

After a few minutes of stumbling around, I finally found him seated against a tree with his head in his hands. I slowly approached my best friend, sitting down next to him against the tree. Pulling my knees up to my chest, I sighed lightly.

"Why?"

"Huh?" I asked, looking over at him.

"Why now? Why me?" Erin asked quietly. "I was ready to try again with Wren. I knew I messed up, and I was ready to fix my mistake. But I was too late."

I remained silent, before slowly leaning my head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I had hoped Wren would talk to you before you found out like that, but it happened kind of suddenly," I admitted.

"What do you mean?" Erin asked suspiciously, to which I laughed lightly.

"I've known they were mates for a little while. I told Joshua he had to grow a pair and tell Wren, but I never thought he'd do it on the trip. I'm assuming it happened last night since I literally told him yesterday."

Erin laughed bitterly, his head softly thumping against the tree trunk. "So I kissed a mated man and I didn't even know."

"Don't beat yourself up over it, man. We knew it was bound to happen, that Wren would find his mate."

"I know..." Erin sighed, his body slightly deflating underneath my head. "Of course I know. I was the one who said we should take a break for that very reason. I just didn't think now would be the time I lost him."

"You haven't truly lost him. You two will always be connected in your own way," I offered.

"Of course you would say that. Geez, you can be such a softie sometimes. It's so weird."

I sat up straight now, glaring at him playfully. "Take that back, mister. I'm not soft."

Erin grinned mischievously, and I was relieved to see a little glimmer of his usual self. "You're just a huge, cuddly romantic at heart, and you can't deny it."

"Remind me again why I tried to comfort you? You obviously don't need it," I huffed, crossing my arms.

The idiot laughed at me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "Thank you, Aaron. I mean it. You always know what to say to make me feel better."

"Of course. You're my alpha; I have to be useful for something other than running the pack with you," I replied, rolling my eyes.

"Without you, I'm sure that as soon as our dads stepped down, I'd run the place to the ground."

"Probably," I mused. "But you won't, 'cause I'll be there to keep you in check."

We went silent for a little while after that, simply enjoying each other's company. No matter how normal Erin seemed now, I knew he was still really hurt. Of course, he was. But, I hoped he'd find his own happiness soon. He of all people deserved it. He was funny, intelligent, and was going to be a damn-good alpha.

"I don't wanna' go back now," Erin whined, running a hand through his curls.

"You're gonna' have to at some point. You have to talk with Wren, find some closure."

Erin groaned, standing up to brush off his clothes. "I guess we should head back then, huh?"

But before we could do that, we heard it: screams.

.

.

.

Wren

They came out of nowhere.

Marie and I were by the lake, cleaning our dishes and chatting when we heard a branch snap nearby. Marie perked her head up, her eyes darting around in search of anything wrong.

"Marie?" I asked in a whisper.

That's when we both heard the growls. There were multiple, coming from all directions. The owners of these growls soon emerged from the trees: a small group of ragged-looking wolves that looked very hostile. I didn't have to smell them to know what they were, though.

Rogues.

Marie and I both scrambled back in surprise. She immediately shifted, the sound of her clothes ripping bringing me back from my shock. We had to call for help right now. Marie was strong - she might be small, but she trained with Ryder all the time - but there was no way we could take on a handful of vicious rogues with just the two of us. I wouldn't even be of much help. Pathetic, I know, but I haven't trained much in years. I keep my wolf fit, yes, but not combat-ready.

One of the wolves lunged at Marie and they tumbled around. I stood up quickly, getting ready to run and get our mates, when a body crashed into mine, but not before a stinging pain flared across my back. A scream ripped from my throat as I went down, but my head banged against a rock and silenced me as stars exploded behind my eyelids. It snapped its jaws in my ear, pressing into the wound it'd just given me. I cried out in pain as its claws dug into my flesh, but I could also feel something warm oozing down the side of my face.

My body froze in pain, but I tried to push it away so I could fight the wolf off. I was surprised when it didn't clamp its jaws around my neck and end me right there. Rogues usually didn't care who they attacked as long as they got something out of it. They were selfish, greedy, corrupted wolves who went too far and were exiled from their packs. They often created their own little rogue packs instead and these packs liked to attack their former packs out of vengeance. Or, they'd attack to try and conquer land for themselves. They were vicious and nasty, but they weren't dumb.

So it made me wonder why they were attacking us. It made sense in a way. Kill off the future leaders of a pack in one go, then attack the packs and aim for the command again. Still, why now? How did they know we were out here, too? And who's to say they did know. Maybe they just smelled the dominants and decided to attack. It sounded suicidal when putting it that way, though. So, it had to be planned then, right?

But who planned this?

My head began to pound and I couldn't focus properly anymore. My thoughts began to break apart and fade away despite my want to keep them together. Then, the weight on my back was abruptly lifted. The sound of snarls and snapping brought me out of my daze. I tried to sit up or at least roll over onto my back, but whatever the rogue had done to it kept me from moving, along with my head. So, I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed to the Goddess that none of my friends got hurt.

When the snarls stopped, I peeked my eyes open. Right in front of me was one of the rogue's body, marred with multiple scratches and bites. It didn't look like it was breathing. The smell of blood filled my nostrils and I wanted to puke up the breakfast we just ate. Not only that, but the pain radiating from my back was nauseating, too.

"Wren!"

Joshua. Of course, he's the one to come to my rescue.

"It hurts," I grit out, squeezing my eyes shut again.

I felt a warm hand run through my hair but it brushed against my head wound, making me flinch. It paused, pulling away from my hair to pull my shirt up. "The rogue tore up your back. What happened?"

"Wren and I were washing the dishes when the rogues appeared. I tried to fight them off so Wren could get help, but a rogue clawed his back and pushed him to the ground. I lost track of them after that," I heard Marie fill in for me, and I was grateful.

My brain felt fuzzy like I wasn't present anymore. It was getting harder and harder to understand what was going on. I was turned onto my side and I saw Joshua looking down at me, but he looked blurry. I almost wanted to laugh, but that quickly faded away when someone brushed my back.

"We need to get them both medical attention. Wren's bleeding from the head and Marie's wrist looks broken," someone else spoke up.

From there, things became fuzzier. Someone lifted me up and I was carried somewhere. The feel of leather helped me to realize it was a car. But after that, I couldn't focus enough to stay fully conscious.

.

.

.

I opened my eyes to find myself in a bed. My head was bandaged and I was turned on my stomach. The first thing my eyes met was Joshua's worried face, but it relaxed when he noticed I was awake.

"You're okay," he whispered, and I noticed the red rimming his eyes.

"Were you crying?" I asked in a whisper of my own.

My concentration was still lightly scattered, but it was getting better. Given our quickened healing abilities as werewolves, I knew I'd be okay. I just needed some time to heal and rest up; I had no doubt I gave myself a concussion. Joshua looked away bashfully. "Maybe," he mumbled. "I was worried. We just found each other. I didn't want to lose you."

My stomach did a little somersault at his words. He was so corny. It was still odd, but more endearing now. "I'm fine," I told him.

Joshua breathed out. We then both focused our attention on the door as it opened. "Oh, Wren's awake."

"Hi, Mark," I greeted, my eyelids weighing down for a moment.

"Hey. Glad to see you're doing alright."

Wait.

My eyes popped back open. "Are we in your pack?" I asked Joshua.

He nodded. "Yeah. It was the only option we had. You and Marie took some damage."

"What happened to Marie? Where is she?"

"She's okay. She's with Ryder and the others. The doctor set her wrist and checked her scratches to make sure they wouldn't get infected. Everyone else is alright."

After that, I closed my eyes again for a quick nap. A couple of hours later, the doctor came in and Joshua helped me sit up while the doctor talked with me. My back and head both felt a lot better, but they still ached if I moved too suddenly. The doctor left after telling me to be careful and rest up for at least a few days, just to make sure my concussion fully went away. The entire time, Joshua was right there.

"Be careful," he said, reaching out to grab my arm as I slowly stood up.

"I didn't hurt my legs, Joshua. I'm okay," I reminded him with a small smile.

He didn't let go even after I was fully stood, and instead slipped his hand down to intertwine with mine. His other hand reached up to brush my hair away from my face. "I'm glad you're okay," he murmured.

"Yeah, I'm glad you're okay too. The attack was so... sudden."

Joshua sighed. "Yeah, it really was. We were lucky we had so many powerful wolves present. And Marie was amazing holding them off for us to get there."

I frowned lightly, trying to grasp at a thought that kept popping up in the back of my head. But every time I thought I had it, it disappeared. It was frustrating, and I hoped I could remember soon; whatever it was, it felt urgent. I closed my eyes for a moment, feeling exhausted despite sleeping for so long.

"We should get some food in you and get you back to bed," Joshua said.

I nodded slowly, my eyes still closed. I heard him laugh a bit, so I peeked my eyes open again. "Don't laugh."

Joshua cracked a grin. "I'm sorry, you're just really cute."

Warmth flooded my cheeks as I looked away. It was weird hearing that from him. I had to keep reminding myself that he was my mate. It still felt so weird, but a good weird. I was happy that I found my mate and he accepted me.

We left the room after that and Joshua lead us into what seemed to be a common room. So we were in the packhouse. It was kind of odd knowing Joshua lived here. He'd been around for so long that I almost forgot he was the future beta of a different pack.

"Wren!"

I looked over to see everyone seated on some couches. They all stood up and walked over to us.

"We were worried," Marie said with a frown.

I glanced down at her wrist, wincing. "Me? You're the one with the broken bones!"

Marie grimaced. "Don't have to remind me."

"I'm glad to see that you all are doing well," a voice spoke up.

"Alpha Kristen, thank you for allowing us to stay here for a bit," Erin said, dipping his head in respect.

She smiled lightly. "As if I'd turn you all away. You're more than welcome to stay until those two heal completely."

She then turned to look at Marie and me, a look of shock crossing her face when she noticed Joshua's hand in mine. Her eyes moved up to look at Joshua. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Was all she said.

Joshua looked down bashfully, fully aware of what she was asking. "I'm sorry, Alpha, it was a bit complicated. I couldn't explain it at the time. But it's okay now. In fact, I think I might be able to come home soon," he said.

At his words, a sudden realization hit me. "Wait..."

Joshua turned to look at me, confusion written all over his face. "What's wrong?"

"Joshua, I can't leave my pack."

And just when I thought everything was going well. Darn it.

~~~

Tbh I didn't really like this chapter. I felt like Wren was so weak, but I knew that he really wouldn't have been of any help. Besides, his and Marie's injuries were the perfect excuse for conflict to arise lol.

And speaking of conflict, I'm sure you all kinda figured rogues would pop up if this isn't your first werewolf book XD

But don't worry, this wasn't a one-time plot device. I intend on using rogues a lot ;)

Stay tuned for more insanity and please stay healthy and safe!

Thank you so much for reading <3

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